Page 30 of Drenched

I tried to meet his gaze, but the pressure behind it made my knees weak. “We didn’t mean, “

“Mean to disturb the balance?” he interrupted. “But Pearl.. You did disturb the balance. And you consumed it… the algae.”

I froze, the blood draining from my face. “It was an accident,” I whispered.

He stepped closer still, crouching so that his face was level with mine. The motion was unnervingly smooth, his body moving with a predator’s grace. His dark eyes seemed to pull at me, peeling away every layer of my defenses.

“Do you understand what it’s done to you?” he asked with an impossibly calm voice.

I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes. “No,” I choked out. “What do you mean?”

“The sunlight,” he said, his voice softer now, almost gentle. “It will burn you. Your body isn’t what it was. You’re changing.”

The words sank into me like stones, dragging my thoughts down with them. At once my mind went to Amanda, her pale skin, her dark eyes filled with terror for the sunlight. The way she had wanted to die instead of living in the darkness. I thought of the mice, specially Willy. How slow and tormenting his death was after being exposed to the sunlight.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, that’s not… that can’t…” My voice broke, and I pressed my palms to my face, trying to block out the memories.

“You saw it,” Rynar’s voice whispered in my mind, like a low tide pulling at my thoughts. “You knew what would happen. And still, you took it.”

“I didn’t have a choice!” I snapped, anger flaring through the fear. “Jonathan would’ve sold it to the highest bidder. I couldn’t let him, “

“So you consumed it,” he interrupted, his tone darkening. “You thought you could protect it by making it a part of you.”

“I didn’t know this would happen,” I whispered as my voice broke.

He leaned in closer, locking his eyes onto mine. “Oh Pearl, you knew what you were doing. You definitely knew. And just because of what you did, you are alive. I saved you.”

“And..what about the others?”

“The others are dead.” His voice invaded my mind again and reality, the graveness of what happened, hit me.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. My knees buckled, and I slid down the wall. “No, you’re lying.”

“You know I’m not.” His tone didn’t change, as if the deaths of my friends meant nothing. He stepped closer, and I flinched. His webbed claws flexed at his sides, and the heat of his body pressed against the damp chill of the cave. “They were claimed by the ocean.”

“Then why didn’t you let me die?” My voice cracked, desperation bleeding into every word. “Why didn’t you let me go with them?”

He crouched in front of me, towering over me even at my level. “Because you belong to the ocean now. To the Abyss. And to me.”

A sick jolt shot through me. “I didn’t ask for this!” The words came out raw. “I didn’t want this! I don’t want to belong to anyone.. Or anything!”

My stomach twisted. “I don’t belong to you,” I hissed.

He tilted his head, that unsettling smile curling his lips and brought his webbed claw to my cheek. I flinched but he still touched me. “Not yet. But soon, you will be.”

His touch and his words made my skin crawl. “You disgust me,” I spat as my voice shook with anger.

His fingers slipped away, leaving a faint heat on my skin. He stood, towering over me. “Hate me if you want. It changes nothing.”

Before I could respond, he turned and stepped into the blue hole. The water rose around his legs as he lowered himself in. I followed him to the edge, anger bubbling inside me.

“You can’t just leave me here! I can’t stay here!” My voice shook.

He paused, looking back at me. “You can, and you will. The water chose you. You’ll understand soon enough.”

Then he sank deeper, his body disappearing into the water. Just before he vanished, his tail flicked upward, a flash of silver scales catching the algae’s glow. The water rippled, then stilled, leaving me alone.

Chapter Twelve