I turned quickly to find a guard approaching. Double checking our surroundings, I ensured I was completely submersed in the shrubbery, and then, the waiting began. When the armored guard swam past our hiding place, Laziel shot out ablast of power, catching his mouth and ankles with a force the guard did not expect.
He yanked the guard into the kelp bush and secured his limbs, quickly stripping him of his uniform. The guard writhed against the restraints, but Laziel held firm.
Part one complete.
“Two short blows,” Laziel ordered quietly as he shoved the perfectly fitting uniform over his own clothing.
I pulled the wave pipe from around my neck and blew into it two quick whistles, loud enough the guards surrounding the prison hesitated before congregating at the front entrance.
Exactly as we planned.
Laziel buckled the belt around his waist, right above the line merging his skin to his scales, and when he looked up at me, his expression changed. His eyes hardened, fists gripping the uniform coat until his knuckles turned white, and his lips stayed downturned.
“Forgive me,” he muttered, jaw tight. He struck me across the face with a surge of water and shackled my wrists tight before I could even ask why he desired forgiveness.
I fought against the silver shackles as Laziel pushed me toward the Abyssal Hold entrance.
I will kill him.
“Keep fighting, and you’ll only hurt yourself,” Laziel muttered close to my ear, so I writhed harder. The metal tore into my skin, pain searing across my flesh. The mer shoved me before him, earning a gasp I didn’t mean to expel. If this were how I were caught, I would arrive in the enemy hands with dignity.
Heat simmered beneath my skin, broiling and begging to be released—Noctis. Stone by stone, I focusedon blocking our connection. I needed all my brain power to escape, and Noctis was a distraction.
Two guards at the gate stood at attention, confusion wracking their faces.
“Laziel,” one of the guards greeted cooly.
“Thal’Maruun sent me to deliver herpet,” Laziel spat.
No way.Laziel was one ofthem.
“You caught the loose sacrifice?” one asked in bewilderment.
Laziel pushed me forward with a grunt as if presenting his trophy. Their eyebrows lifted, eyes widening.
“Touch me and find out what will happen to you,” I hissed.
The guard ignored me, only speaking to Laziel as if he was accustomed to looking over prisoner snarls. “How?”
“Where do you think I’ve been all this time?” Laziel huffed as if offended. “Why I haven’t been on the rotations?”
My blood boiled. Laziel was sent to capture me, and I fell right into his trap. I fought against the shackles, ripping further into my flesh with each tug.
I’m going to make sure he struggles to detain me.
“Well,” one of the guards said, tilting his head past the gates, “you know where to take her. Kizar will notify the Lockwarden at next round.”
Laziel didn’t hesitate, only walked around the patrolling guards and into the Abyssal Hold with me as a prisoner.
Darkness embraced the corridors like an unwelcome hug, seeping into each crack in the wall, the corners of every room, and the bones of every merfolk and ocean creature imprisoned. Volcanic stone torches hung in sconces along the hall, only serving to cast dreary shrouds as Laziel shoved me around the bend.
He abruptly stopped.
“Turn around,” he ordered quietly, and his hands fidgeted with the shackles. They fell from my arms, a sudden relief. “I would understand if you never trust me again.”
I spun and lunged toward the mer. My blade rested just above the lump in his neck, taunting him to swallow once and end it all.
“One more move like that, and I’ll carve the lesson into your bones.”
