“You have to stay close,” she told him. Her fingers tightened on his. “Or it will stop working.”
Finn, not sure he could speak through the bubble, nodded.
“Ready to try it?” she asked, voice soft.
Then they were dipping underwater.
Finn’s first instinct was to hold his breath. Iris pressed her hand to his chest, a silent reminder to breathe.
Stomach tensing, worried about sucking in water, he took a short, quick breath.
And got oxygen.
He tried it again, deeper.
Then again.
Iris smiled at him.
Then, hand tightening on his, she threw her body into a swim, pulling him down with her.
The water grew colder and darker as they swam deeper.
All around them, the ocean came alive.
Finn caught sight of another mermaid’s brilliant white tail, the bright red of an octopus swimming past; schools of colorful fish parted around them, welcoming Iris home.
She led him past an endless, colorful coral reef, introducing him to things he’d only read about in books: the tiny, mischievous dragonettes, the singing eels, the stunning, almost fake-looking glimmersharks.
Iris paused their swim to nuzzle a few dolphins who seemed eager to see her, though he had no idea if she could understand their clicks, whistles, and squeaks.
Eventually, she pulled him deeper still, until he could reach out with one finger and brush his hand across the sand at the ocean floor.
Before he knew it, she was leading him through awhalebone gate, then toward a towering castle with coral spires and glowing towers.
They swam down the halls of the palace, sat on the coral throne, and slipped into her childhood bedroom.
“Iris?” a voice called, making them both turn.
Then there was another mermaid in front of them, looking like a younger version of Iris, but with a slight bit of blue in her blonde hair and a deep navy tail.
“Shelly!”
Iris flew at her sister, dragging him along with her with their joined hands. It had him as a one-armed part of a three-way hug as the sisters bounced up and down and twirled in a circle before finally breaking apart.
“And you must be Finn!” Shelly threw both her arms around him, squeezing him like they were old friends. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
“You too,” he said, testing his underwater voice. It had much more of an echo than his land voice, but he didn’t choke on the water or anything.
“Finn took me out on a boat today. And I convinced him to give this a try.”
“It didn’t take much convincing,” Finn said.
“I just got the invitation to your wedding yesterday. Mother and Juna are so excited.”
“They’re coming to the surface?” The shock and hope in her voice had Finn squeezing her hand tighter.
“Of course they are, silly. Arden said he would be by to measure us this week for gowns.”
