“We can’t let them do this!”
I pulled hard, forcing her to look at me. “Meela, you have to be careful now. You can’t trust humans anymore.”
Everyone was shouting. Some mermaids still climbed the ship. Others tried to back away. Meela’s mouth opened and closed as though trying to get air. My insides seemed to melt with her pain.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s nothing we can—”
Something occurred to me. I glanced around, taking inventory. Even the guards swarmed the boat—only a few hanging back to keep the circling marlins under control.
Deiopea caught my eye.
My heart thudded faster. I grazed Meela’s arm to get her attention. She cast me a distracted glance. I nodded at the boat, and then to Deiopea.
Meela’s expression changed as she caught on.
The boat lurched. There was an uproar, and everyone moved in like piranhas.
I smelled blood. Moments later, a cloud bloomed near the stern.
Meela met my eyes, her face pleading—but we couldn’t save those people. This was so far out of my control.
The marlins must have smelled the blood, too, because all of them began fighting their way closer. A guard swung his longblade at one but it dodged the weapon swiftly.
In a blink, all the marlins were plunging into the frenzy, ignoring commands. The guards closed in, shouting.
There was no time to consider.
“Go,” I said.
Meela, Deiopea, and I turned tails to the surface and shot downwards.
For several moments, we swam headlong. No one called after us. The lightening sky overhead did nothing to help us hide. We kept going until blackness engulfed us.
The current shifted. Someone was following us—but made no sound. Unless my senses were mistaken, this was the silvery mermaid and merman who’d been behind us the night before. They fled quickly, a few fathoms closer to the surface than us.
“Bolters!” a guard shouted.
Meela grabbed my hand. “Faster!”
My senses picked up a flurry of activity, and we plunged, Deiopea sticking close beside us.
The same merman shouted, “Marlins!”
I glanced over my shoulder and a chill ran down my spine. Two marlins had broken away from the boat. They shot after the couple, a few fathoms up. The couple was weak, tired. The marlins closed in, twice as fast, twice as powerful.
Screams broke out and blood spread through the water like a cloud. The marlins were a whirl of slashing beaks and tails. They lunged at the couple again and again.
“Look out!” said Deiopea.
Another marlin sped away from the boat, heading for the three of us.
There was nowhere to hide. The water was too open. Our only option was to outswim it.
“Are mermaids faster than marlin?” said Meela, voice high with fear.
“Just keep going. Long strokes.”
Despite my worry, she kept up. I didn’t need to slow my pace.
