Page 74 of Sea's Secret

“Okay,” she said slowly. Her face held confusion, but I was not about to explain. She was a mermaid. She was unfamiliar with human modesty. That was just a part of her mermaid culture.

I turned without saying anything and walked to the edge of the ship where Sands stood.

“Oh, good; it fits you,” he said, looking behind me as we approached.

“Yes, it fits well. Thank you, Sands!” she said happily as if what she was wearing was not making it harder for me to breathe, which was not ideal when about to dive into the sea.

“Anytime,” he said with a wink to her.

“Yes, thank you, Sands. Thank you so much, once again, for meddling,” I grunted.

He chuckled. “Here to be helpful.”

Helpful? Now, that is a word I would never use in this situation.

“Now, make sure we are not seen,” I said, walking up to the railing of the ship. I motioned for Meria to come beside me. Then I dove into the sea. I desperately needed to cool off, and my last hope was that the cold sea would calm my heart.

Meria

“He's showing off for you; I doubt he can outswim you,” Sands chuckled beside me.

“Is he a good swimmer?”

“Yes, always beat me, but you are one of my favorite people because you will defeat him,” he winked.

I laughed and turned to look down below. The sea called to me–the waves humming, like the melody of a song–the song that lived within all mermaids’ hearts, a song of home and of peace. I wanted to be embraced again by the sea. Without another thought, I dove from the ship. Once I was engulfed by the sea, my tail appeared, and it felt like a best friend had come back to me, one I had missed more than anything else. I breathed in the cool salt water and smiled. I dove, twirling around as I went; then once reaching the bottom, I swam back up and jumped from the water with a call to the sea within my melody and upon my lips. The calls of the mermaids were magical, and we rarely used them as father said that they had once lured humans to us, but I could not hold my voice back. Once I swam a bit, I found Dominick floating on his back, looking at the stars.

“Do you feel better?” he asked as I swam up beside him.

“Much better. I needed this so much. Thank you, Dominick.”

He turned to look at me, his eyes capturing mine in the moonlight.

“You look so right here.”

“Well, I was a mermaid first–”

“I will try and make sure you can do this as often as possible. I am sorry I did not think of it.”

“I should have realized how much I needed the sea. It was foolish of me to think I could be fully human.”

I did not know how long we were out there when, suddenly, I felt something in the water below us. A moment earlier, when I had first reached the bottom of that very deep sea, there was only sand, down below us, but I was very aware of the dangers within the sea, and I knew that things could change quickly.

I dove back under and searched the water. There was something coming, and I could sense it. I called out in my mermaid song of peace. I was hopeful that it was a school of fish, even a pod of whales. But as I waited under the water, I saw the fins of sharks. I burst from the water to see Dominick still floating.

“Dominick, there are sharks. We have to–” but just as I was trying to warn him, my fears were realized, when with a grunt, Dominick was pulled down into the depths of the sea. His arm was in the jaws of one of the largest sharks I had ever seen.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dominick

That was my end, and I was not sad at all. Well, maybe a little, because I wanted to make sure that Meria would be okay. But if the sharks had their way with me, that would give her enough time to get back onto the ship. Instead of death, however, my head breached the surface, and just as the breath I had been holding was released, there was a scream.

Who is screaming?

As I floated in the water, I saw the fin of a shark and felt a second distinct sharp pain in my arm. I cursed as I saw the water around me, dark red with my blood, attracting even more sharks to us.

“Dominick!” I heard Meria shout, but I could not see her.

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