I lowered my head into the water. Before I could talk myself out of it, I took a deep breath.
Logically, I’d known it would work. But even though air flowed into my lungs, I still gasped and raised my head above the water.
No time for that. Now that I knew I wouldn’t drown, I dove deep, making myself inhale. The pelt seemed to hum, and I could feel which way it wanted me to go.
I let it take me, forcing myself to take deep even breaths, instead of the shallow pants my adrenaline-flooded body wanted to take.
I’d wondered if I would need weights to help me swim down into the depths of the ocean, but the pelt seemed to take care of that, almost propelling me through the water.
Below me, a city of coral unraveled, and I floated within a few feet of the bright colors. A fish darted out, striped in orange and black, and I backpedaled, my movements ungainly in the water. The lionfish ignored me, and I was enveloped in a school of tiny silver fish as they swam past, going about their business.
I suddenly understood why people did this. It was an almost meditative experience, and I’d forgotten to focus on my breath as I stared, entranced, as a lobster scuttled out from where it had been hiding beneath the coral.
I couldn’t wait to tell Samael about this.
The thought was enough to get me moving again.
The pelt was a presence in my mind, urging me deeper. I ignored the little I knew about how deep the human body could go and how long it could stay underwater, forcing myself to trust the selkies.
It was darker now. I didn’t know how deep I was, but I craned my head, spotting the glimmer of light on the surface of the water far above me. My hand tightened around the pelt. If something happened now, I’d never make it to the surface before running out of air.
Focus.
Steel wrapped around my foot. I kicked out automatically, flipping onto my back and swinging my Nim Cub. My attacker simply bared his straight white teeth in a nasty smile. I’d found a merman. He watched me some more. Then he reached for my pelt.
I lashed out with my blade. He jerked his hand back and surveyed me. But he didn’t attempt to take the pelt from me again.
His hand was still around my ankle, and he turned. With a flick of his tail, he was dragging me through the water. All I could do was hold on to the pelt and grind my teeth as he hauled me behind him.
I studied the merman as he swam. His back was all hard muscle, wide shoulders, beefy arms. And that tail, which powered us through the water, gave me no opportunity to strike out.
I had a feeling he was enjoying pulling me behind him like a ragdoll. He was swimming fast enough that the pelt streamed behind me like a cape, my hold on it the only thing keeping it from coming loose. I had no doubt that if it did, the merman wouldn’t stop to prevent me from drowning.
If I could remove his hand from around my ankle, I could bury my Nim Cub in his side. I had a kidney shot in this position, but all I could do was hold on to the pelt and wait for him to stop moving.
I was so intent on studying him for weaknesses that I almost missed it.
A figure appeared in my peripheral vision, and I swiped out at him, but it wasn’t me he was after.
He slammed into the merman, who was forced to release my ankle. I kicked out, driving myself backwards in an effort to give the fighting mermen some room.
Strong arms clamped around me, keeping me in place. I slammed my head back and the arms loosened slightly, but whoever had grabbed me managed to hold on. My knife hand was trapped down by my side, but at least I’d retained hold on the pelt.
For now, whoever had grabbed me was merely keeping me in place. The merman who’d been dragging me through the water was now surrounded by more of his kind, all of them wearing identical, pissed-off expressions.
They were having some kind of argument. Not only were their mouths moving in an unfamiliar pattern, which told me they weren’t speaking English, but I couldn’t hear anything they were saying.
The merman who’d taken me glanced my way and then back to the others, throwing up his hands and saying something that didn’t exactly appear to be complimentary. I gaped as a merman with long red hair hauled back and smashed his fist into the first merman’s face.
I knew a broken nose when I saw it, and it appeared the merfolk bled blue. Interesting.
The other merman turned their backs on him as he cupped his nose, and, finally, he got the hint and swam away.
All attention was now on me.
The arms holding me let go, and I attempted to swim free, but he’d only released me in order to grab the pelt.
I shook my head, silently begging the mermen in front of me, but they merely folded their arms and watched clinically as I fought to hold on to the only thing keeping me from drowning.
