“Well done,” I said. “Can we get him out of here?”
Creon and I felt around the gap. A boulder blocked the cell entrance. It was wide, roughly rectangular. We pushed, but it didn’t budge. We would need a team to move this.
“We’ll come back,” I whispered, throat tightening with guilt. The truth was, Evagore was our priority. We had no time to free the prisoners one-by-one.
“No!” said the merman inside. “Get me out of here. Please.”
I backed away, deflating. We had to stay focused. I motioned for Creon to follow.
The merman rushed at the gap. He pressed his face against it, shouting after us. “Wait! I can help if you let me out!”
A few lengths ahead, Anthias dragged Guenevere around the cavern, still keeping her in a headlock.
“Are we close?” he said, to no response.
The other young mermen had crossed the dome to search the far wall. Dione and Galene had disappeared somewhere ahead. We needed more help.
There was a flash of darkness and a huge splash. Something erupted at the surface. Screams broke out. Everyone scattered. I instinctively threw my arms over my head, my mind leaping from human explosives, to the dome caving in, to a crashing meteor.
There was a mass scramble to get away from the object, and—
“Cannonbaaall!”
A lanky merman uncurled himself from the eruption of bubbles. His hair was wilder than ever, like he’d escaped a windstorm.
“Spio?!”
I looked from him to the top of the dome, where the sliver of daylight had grown wider. Pieces crumbled from the edges and rained down on us.
Spio turned at the sound of my voice, face brightening, and said, “Proof.”
In his hand was a black, opaque crown. Locks of black hair clung to it, severed at the ends. I gaped. I’d spent my life looking at that crown—and not once had I seen it detached from its owner’s head.
My throat constricted. Of everything this orphaned crown represented, one victory rose above all: Meela had succeeded. She was alive, and she had the serpent under her control.
“Now we have what we need to rally everyone,” said Spio slowly, misreading my expression as confusion.
“Brilliant,” I said, voice strangled.
He shoved the crown into his bag and glanced around. “I thought the plan was to talk to them quietly.”
“Everyone from Kori Maru and Utopia showed up.”
Spio nodded, taking in the carnage with an air of mild interest. “Huh.”
“We’re trying to find Evagore. There are prison cells in the walls.”
“Challenge accepted.”
He took off.
I cast my senses around the cavern to check on the others. They were still running fingers along the walls, feeling for gaps.
A mermaid called out from the next cell.
“My name is Medea,” she said. “Please, I am not a criminal. I was South Pacific government. I never did wrong.”
“I believe you. We’re going to get you out of here soon. Do you know where the queen is?”
