"What do you mean?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."
My stomach twisted. I'd upset him, which was the last thing I wanted to do. I mentally kicked myself for being so ignorant.
"I'm sorry," I said.
River brought his tail to his chest and hugged it. "It's fine."
It clearly wasn't fine, but he didn't want to talk about it. I wished River would open up to me, but just wishing wasn't going to make it happen. I had to gain his trust piece by piece since it had been shattered once before.
I wanted to give River a moment of privacy, or at least as much as I could while we were trapped in a cramped cage together, so I didn't stare at him. I curled up against the opposite steel bars and wondered how to get out of this mess.
After hours of being shaken by the rumbling boat, it finally slowed down. I sat up, eager to see where we were. The poachers docked the boat on a shabby wooden pier that was built haphazardly. I was surprised it held their weight as they dragged the cage off the boat and onto shore.
River and I remained quiet as the poachers hauled us to our destination, which came into view around the corner. Just like the pier, the cabin was shoddily built by unskilled hands. A stiff wind could have torn it down, but unfortunately for us, it was currently still standing.
The inside of the cabin looked like any old cottage, but without any warmth or welcoming atmosphere. It was dirty and dusty, and the poachers clearly didn't care for its upkeep, which made me think they didn't intend to be here for long. That was bad news for us.
I made a mental note of the cabin's layout as they dragged the cage to a back room, which turned out to be a bathroom. A dirty tub with no shower curtain stood in the corner. Strangely, the walls were covered with black foam panels that didn't belong in a bathroom. I squinted at them, wondering what they were for.
My thoughts were interrupted as the poachers dumped the cage on its side and opened the door. River cried out as he fell sideways. The poachers quickly left the bathroom and locked it from the outside.
We were trapped—and I realized with a sinking feeling in my chest just how much danger we were in.
9
River
Today was officiallythe third worst day of my life. Yesterday was the second, obviously, and the first was the day Jim broke up with me. Tomorrow would probably be the fourth worst day of my life, and the next day the fifth, and so on…
At least I wasn't stuck in a cage anymore, but this room wasn't much better. It was disgusting and filthy. The window was slathered in dust, the tile floor had dirt tracked all over, and the tub was stained with rust even though it looked like it had never been used.
As soon as the poachers opened the cage door and threw it down, Castor leapt out of it. He was looking around the room, probably looking for ways to escape. Meanwhile, I hadn't moved. I was still lying sideways and stewing in my own misery. I hadn't even dragged my tail out of the cage yet.
"… Gonna make us so much cash."
"Seriously, can't wait to sell this thing."
The poachers’ muffled voices from the other side of the door only dampened my spirits further. They were talking about me. I was thethingthey were going to sell to make 'so much cash.'
Castor was poking the foam panels on the walls with narrowed eyes. "Wait a second. I know what these are. They're to soundproof the room. Those damn humans... They want to make sure nobody could hear us if we called for help. Either that, or they don't want to hear their prey screaming."
I didn't care. I shut my eyes and sighed deeply. What was the point of any of this? What was the point of trying to escape? It didn't matter what I did. If it wasn't humans torturing me, it was shifters. I wished I hadn't been born a mer. All it did was make my life suck.
Still fiddling with the foam panels, Castor thumped his tail in frustration. "We could rip them down, but I don't think it would be worth it. I doubt anyone is around to hear us anyway."
A storm of emotions welled up inside of me. It was coming on so strong and fast I couldn't hold it back. Hot tears stung my eyes and my throat tightened up.
"Who cares!" I cried out.
Castor looked at me with wide eyes. "River?"
"It doesn't matter," I wailed. "None of this matters! Just let them do whatever they're going to do. We can't escape, so why bother trying?"
Castor's jaw dropped. He looked shocked.
"You couldn't break through the bars, and now we’re in a stupid soundproof room where no one’s around for miles to hear us, and the poachers are just gonna sell us to make a buck, because that's all anyone ever cares about! People only care about themselves!"
