She felt it out for about two seconds before saying, “It’s fine.”
I hesitated, and then hurried to catch up. “You sure? It feels huge.”
“She’s a basking shark.”
“Shark?!”
Lysi chuckled. “I promise it’s fine.”
I took her word for it, but stuck close beside her.
Sure enough, when the thing materialised from the blue, I let out a small scream. Its mouth was open wide enough to swallow both of us whole, the white and grey insides resembling a cavernous ribcage.
Lysi grabbed me before I could jet away. “They eat krill and plankton, Mee. Look. No teeth.”
We watched it drift past us and continue down the current, mouth gaping as if letting out a long and silent scream.
Teeth or not, the last time I’d seen the inside of a mouth that big was when the leviathan tried to eat us. The memory didn’t ease my nerves.
“How are you supposed to tell if something’s going to attack you or not?” I said, crossing my arms.
“It’ll take practice. Try and feel her energy.”
I concentrated, but felt only the vague aura of an animal and ripples as it coasted by. How could Lysi even tell it was female? Would I ever be able to read auras as well as her?
As the sun sank, we pushed harder, agreeing it would be better to find the Reinas than to stop and spend the night alone. My body was ready to crumple with exhaustion. The only thing keeping me moving was the will to survive.
As we reached the Aleutian Islands, Lysi said with enthusiasm I could tell was forced, “The Bering Sea is just over the trench.”
Each time we breached and I saw those billowing volcanoes, a familiar, grim feeling closed over me. It was a hollow sadness, like the Aanil Uusha was hovering overhead, waiting to claim someone. I’d felt the god of Death every day on the Massacre, as I stood on the deck of the Bloodhound staring at those islands.
I found refuge each time we submerged. It was as though the underwater world pushed new life into me. I thought of the green ribbons I’d hung in my bedroom as a kid and wondered, not for the first time, if I’d always been destined to be a mermaid. I was in love with the sea.
I kept my feelers out for signs of the Reinas as we wove between the landmasses, determined to find something other than a basking shark before sundown.
Running aground must have been common near the Aleutian Islands, because we found two shipwrecks within an hour of each other. The first was a small battleship of sorts, resembling a block of concrete and definitely uninhabited. The second was more industrial and eerie, with the crumbling appearance of having been smashed against the seafloor. Its hull was shattered, the deck cracked. I could see the life preservers still fastened aboard. Plant life and barnacles covered the ship to such extent that it blended into the landscape, and I couldn’t find a name painted on the side. Judging by the undisturbed wildlife, though, I guessed the ship had never been inhabited by merpeople.
One thing we did find was an excess of sharks—and not the basking kind. Lysi assured me the sharks wouldn’t bother us as long as they didn’t smell blood. Still, they had powerful, predatory auras, and I couldn’t help feeling nervous as we passed by.
Continuing through the cascade of volcanoes, we glided silently over a dark trench, the depths of which might have plunged to the centre of the earth, for all I knew.
We passed another ship—this one half submerged and leaning against the shore of a small island. The waves crashed into it, sending sprays high over the rusted frame.
As the sun touched the horizon, we came upon a fourth wreck. It was wooden, a more traditional structure with two masts and a bowsprit.
“This isn’t it,” said Lysi. “I’m sure we’re looking for a trawler.”
I swam low over the deck, scanning the webs of ropes and splintered masts. The mainmast had crumbled sideways so it leaned against the foremast. This was a brig—slightly different from the Bloodhound in its rigging, but the skeleton was similar enough to send a shiver through me. On the Massacre, our loyal ship had barely survived long enough to bring us home. The thought of dying in a shipwreck in the iciest part of the ocean still haunted me.
My skin prickled, stinging faintly.
“What is that?” I said, rubbing a hand over my arm.
I turned to find Lysi a few reluctant lengths behind.
“Iron. The wood’s probably laced with it.”
I had a terrible, constricted feeling in my chest. Had this been one of our own Massacre ships? What if the crew had been killed, and this ship had been left to float away until it hit the islands and sank?
