She avoided my eye. I wondered what she was keeping from me. Was she more worried about her family than she let on? Or was it something else—something about her friends?
Abruptly, she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Whoa, hi—”
She clapped a hand over my mouth. “Listen.”
Something was drifting below us. Its shape on the current resembled a squid that was at least my size. Was that it? I tuned my senses to our surroundings.
There. Something was approaching from the north. It was more substantial than a school of fish, like a pod of whales. But no. These auras were more distinct than whales.
Lysi and I looked at each other. After three long, frustrating, but glorious days without encountering a soul, it seemed our isolation had come to an end.
CHAPTER TWO - Lysi
Curfew
Whoever this approaching group was, something about them was off. A darkness seemed to drift down the current.
I pulled Meela in the opposite direction.
“We need to move.”
After everything we’d done to try and kill King Adaro, I had no doubt we were wanted dead or alive. The question was how wide the news of us had spread.
“Lysi, who are they?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know.”
I would have sooner drowned than let anything happen to Meela. I’d brought her into this civil war, and I owed her more than this.
“Army?” she whispered.
“I don’t think so. I feel both mermaids and mermen.” As I said it, I doubted myself. Adaro might have split his armies by gender in the past, but now that he had the serpent, I had no idea what his strategy was. I stopped. “Wait.”
The group was approaching from far behind us, but there was also someone lingering up ahead.
“This way.” I took off in another direction, dragging Meela with me.
“Couldn’t we just act casual and hope they pass?” she suggested half-heartedly.
“Mee, we’re enemies of the crown. If someone recognises us …” I shook my head. I had to keep us from being discovered. It was too dangerous. “Let’s dive.”
We plunged deeper into the blackness.
To my horror, the distant bodies followed. Several figures drew closer, and fast. Were they closing on us?
It was no question. When we turned, so did they. An icy feeling engulfed me.
“They’re tailing us,” I said. “Go.”
We put on a burst of speed. Meela kept pace, making long strokes like I’d taught her.
A landscape of coral sprawled ahead, breaking the emptiness. We plunged in, weaving through the peaks and valleys. The terrain would stop our pursuers from feeling us on the current. Unfortunately, it also prevented us from feeling them.
I listened, but the crackling reef muffled outside noise. Everything was a jumble of activity as the reef fish cleared out of our way.
“Lysi,” said Meela, voice breaking, “what are they going to do to us?”
