Page 21 of Emerge

I didn't have time to say anything as the water rushed into the room. I shifted and grabbed Riley around the waist as the outer doors opened.

I could already see the tunnels the pods shot through were damaged and didn't waste any time heading to the surface. I had no time to look back to see what was happening, but in my periphery, I caught a flash of an explosive leaving a submarine.

My heart raced as we neared the surface. Riley's face was straining from holding her breath. She just needed to hold on for a few more seconds.

Something hit me from the side, and we tumbled in the water, my arms trying to hold onto her, but the hit was too hard. I recovered quickly and an eardrum-shattering sound hit my ears. I covered them and looked around frantically for Riley.

A flash of purple caught my attention and Riley slammed into me just as a shark—definitely not Bubba— came at me with open jaws.

Her eyes were wide and panicked. Sharks were circling us, and she clutched onto me. She opened her mouth to speak and then slammed it shut when the high-pitched noise came out of her mouth. She'd told us her mom spoke normally to her underwater, but she didn't seem to have control over her siren's voice yet.

The sharks had quickly surrounded us, and we didn't have a way to escape. I could still hear the faint booming of explosives and my own panic spiraled out of control inside of me, thinking about my sister.

"Riley. Come to me and this can all stop." The voice was distorted and coming from the direction of the submarine, but I knew immediately who it was.

I glanced over at Riley, who was gritting her teeth like she wanted to say something. Her siren form was something I'd not thought much about. She mentioned her mom had a purple tail, but that was it.

That wasn't it.

Her hair fell down her back in a glistening wave of brown that was laced with purple. Her skin was clear, and her eyes were the color of the greenest emeralds. Her nipples were covered with patches of purple iridescent scales that matched her tail, which started just below her belly button.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

Her voice had taken on a seductive quality and my eyes felt heavy hearing it. She mouthed sorry and turned in a circle, trying to find an exit from the shark whirlpool we were stuck in the middle of.

"Is that a seal?" She pointed to the left of us, squinting.

I turned and looked, and racing toward us was Cecilia, with Bubba not far behind. They stopped before they got to us and Cecilia held out her paw.

"What the-" Bubba opened his mouth and chomped down on her foot. "Bubba!" I went to swim forward and Riley grabbed me with more strength than even a triton had.

All the sharks stopped circling and their eyes went to Cecilia, who was bleeding from her front foot. She started swimming away, with Bubba right behind her. I wasn't happy with their ploy to help us, but it worked. The sharks took off after them.

"Why would she do that?" Riley's voice returned to normal and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"They're trained to protect us. Even if that means doing stupid shit like that." I swam in the direction of the house because there was no way I was going to risk Dylan turning his fire on the city.

We weren't safe anywhere now.

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