Page 51 of Emerge

"Olivia?" She didn't respond to me and turned her head back in the direction we were headed.

A submarine came into view and my heart sank. If he was parading around in a submarine, the tritons had no hope. I'd seen what it was capable of, and if the triton's defenses didn't stop it before, they weren't going to stop it now.

Olivia headed straight for it and I swam in front of her, stopping her. "Olivia, he's the enemy. He's killed tritons."

She stared at me and then a tentacle came out of nowhere and wrapped around my waist. I pushed at it, trying to remove it as it tightened. She continued to swim next to the submarine, which was already moving. It was like it had waited for us.

I opened my mouth to let out a scream and another tentacle covered my mouth. The one weapon I had going for me was now useless.

We stopped in an area that was devoid of life on the seafloor and the side of the submarine opened. Dylan and my mom swam out. After experiencing the underground facility, I assumed the submarine had a similar chamber that filled with water before it opened.

Dylan looked nothing like a triton like he had before. He appeared as he did as a human from the waist up and his tail was the same teal color as Poseidon's. He was magnificent in a creepy serial killer kind of way.

My mom stopped as soon as she spotted Olivia with me trapped in her tentacle. Her eyes went wide and then she quickly regained her composure as they swam toward us.

"Olivia! What a pleasant surprise! You're even more exquisite than I hoped." At his words, she moved her tentacles around as if showing them off. "I see you've brought me a present."

I narrowed my eyes as he threw his head back and laughed, sending bubbles everywhere. My mom wasn't showing any emotion on her face as she floated next to him. Did she really not care that her daughter was being held hostage by tentacles?

"The tritons are headed this way. This shouldn't take long." He gave Olivia a high five and swam toward the seafloor.

My mom put her hand on the hilt of the knife that was strapped around her waist. I was surprised to see it, and my fingers itched to touch it. She looked between me and the seafloor, a look of panic in her eyes.

She seemed to make up her mind with what was troubling her and swam to me, placing the hilt of the knife in my hand that was poking out from the tentacle that was wrapped around my body. Olivia had turned and was staring off into the distance, paying my mom no attention.

"I love you, sweetie."

I pleaded with my eyes for her to tell me what was going on. She took one last look at me and then swam down to the seafloor where I could barely make out Dylan's dark figure at the bottom.

Olivia spun to face the other direction as a large group of tritons approached. She held me in front of her, blocking herself from view. We were going to be the distraction and dread traveled down my spine.

At the front of the tritons was Finn and two other men. It was clear from their larger tridents and their ornate helmets and chest plates that they were the admirals. They came to a stop as they assessed the situation from a safe distance.

Where were Blake, Jax, and Morgan? I searched the group for them but couldn't spot them. I clutched my knife tighter, trying to calm myself down. I couldn't move it at all, so trying to stab a tentacle with it wasn't an option.

I caught Finn’s eye, and he held up his hand to silence the other admirals. He swam forward a few feet and narrowed his eyes. "Riley, what are you doing here?"

I widened my eyes at him and then looked to the seafloor. He followed my eyes and pointed his trident that direction with a shout. He took off, the tritons following him.

A loud boom pushed us all back like a wave had hit us. The tentacle slipped off my mouth and I screamed, directing it at Olivia. She let out her own scream and covered her ears.

I darted away from her and swam as fast as I could after the tritons. Another loud boom came from the seafloor and knocked us back.

"The siren is coming after us!"

"Where'd the monster go?"

"He's breaking open the seafloor!"

A handful of tritons turned back and pointed their tridents at me. I wanted to swim away but needed to save my mom. As mad as I was at her working with Dylan, she was still my mom.

"I'm not here to fight." I held up my hands and their eyes went straight to the knife. "You can have Dylan; I just want to help my mom."

My words fell on deaf ears as they circled me. There were five of them and their tridents looked sharp. Was this how I died? I like sashimi but didn't want to be turned into it.

I shut my eyes, wishing I would have been able to tell my mom I loved her one last time.

"Move an inch and we'll skewer your asses." My eyes popped open at the sound of Jax's voice.

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