Past her, the leviathan snapped at the belugas. They zipped around her enormous body, spinning and chirping like this was all a game. Spio swam with them, pulling chunks of bloody meat from his bag and tossing them into their mouths.
Lysi forced me the other way.
My back stung as the water rushed over it, bringing tears to my eyes. I didn’t want to see what the wound looked like, picturing a black hole over my spine, torn at the edges—and then I had to stop thinking of it for fear of throwing up.
Adaro was trying to push his way out of the chaos. Spio threw dead fish at him so they bounced off his face. The belugas swarmed closer to catch the falling morsels.
“What about Spio?”
The serpent twisted and snapped, keeping Spio moving.
“He’ll catch up,” said Lysi. “Don’t stop.”
We kept swimming until the commotion faded behind us. The current still churned, but with the serpent thrashing so violently, I imagined such a scene would cause a stir in the water for leagues.
The floor rose, and we followed it to land where a cave opened, the surface pulsing with the tide. It was fully enclosed, the tiniest flecks of light peeking through the ceiling.
Lysi breached, panting. “Up here.”
I didn’t question her. We pulled ourselves from the water and further inside the dark cave. The clay was cool and smooth beneath my hands and tail. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Lysi.
“I thought … I saw you get hit in the chest—”
She shook her head. “Blow dart. It didn’t go deep. It had a sedative. They wanted to knock us out for questioning.”
I moved closer and reached out, tracing my fingertips over the place it had hit, searching for a wound. “How’d you get away?”
“Spio’s attack belugas.”
Tears flooded from my eyes. “I thought you were dead.”
I kissed her, half crying, unable to believe she was there.
She pulled back, eyes raking over me. “Mee, are you all right?”
I wanted to nod, but I couldn’t.
“You’re in pain,” she said, voice breaking. “What did he do to you?”
I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”
Before she could say anything more, I turned around.
She let out a small scream. She seemed to try and speak, but instead dissolved into tears.
“Don’t,” I said. Her sadness was as bad as the pain.
“This is my fault—”
“How could it possibly be?”
“I failed you. It’s my job to protect you.”
I grabbed her wrists. “Lysi, it’s not. I know I’m new to all of this, but you can’t possibly think it’s your responsibility to keep anything from happening to me.”
She gazed down at the clay with puffy eyes. “I’m trying to understand everything Adaro has taken from you. I get it. I should have been more sensitive to that.”
“That wouldn’t have made a difference. This is my own doing. I haven’t been thinking clearly.”
