Page 82 of A Sea of Secrets
The merman blocked my blows, and we descended into a scrappy brawl, rolling around on the ground, trying to inflict pain in any way possible. I pinched the skin of his triceps, making him squeal like a pig. He bit my hand in retaliation.
I suddenly found myself beneath him and his hand slammed down on my face, pressing me against the floorboards. “I’ll stay away from Starfish and the rest of the pod. I’ll leave you all alone, I promise. But Ace, I gotta rescue my sister.”
“You should have found another way instead of fucking with Fallon.” I jabbed one of my fingers into his gills and let my electrical power loose. He fell to the side, steam coming from his ears like some ridiculous cartoon character. Panting, I rose to my feet and scowled down at him. “I won’t let you hurt her.”
Zane didn’t reply. I waited, but he lay frozen on the floorboards, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
“Zane?” His face was blank, his chest still. “Merman, stop fucking around.”
He didn’t move. Not a word or a hint of stupid sea nonsense. Not even a breath.
“Fuck.” Panic seized me and I fell to my knees and put my hands flat over his heart. I was pissed before, but now, I was beyond angry. “You better not fucking die on me,” I growled, pumping my hands on his chest. “Wake the fuck up, Merman.”
Sweat beaded on my forehead as my muscles moved on pure will alone. Every inch of me felt bruised and beaten. I probably looked like a mirror image of Zane, the only difference being that I was fucking breathing.
“Shit, mother fucking, shit,” I spat, breathing heavily. Dread pooled in my gut at the possibility that I had actually killed him. It’s a real joke, life. One moment you are determined to achieve something, and the next you realise it wasn’t at all what you wanted. Life was a shitty comedian.
Electricity pulsed from my hands, eliciting a shock through Zane’s system. Hope fizzled faster than it had risen, and I tried again, sending another shock whilst continuing my compressions. This was not how the merman was going to die. Not on my watch. One more push and I did something I never thought I’d do in my life. I pressed my mouth to his, breathing air into his lungs.
“Come on,” I groaned before breathing into him again.
I was almost scared shitless when he suddenly gasped, coughing and rolling onto his side. I couldn’t help but stare at him, frozen in the moment, as though I was sitting on the edge of a cliff. Then time sped up and I was on him, my hand clasped around his upper arm.
“You killed me,” he rasped, looking up at my stupidly relieved grin. “You actually did it.”
“I’m s—” I swallowed, shaking my head. “Don’t make me do that again.”
Zane smiled up at me from a pale face with his hand over his chest. “How else was I going to get you to kiss me, sneaky shark?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” I dropped back onto my ass, sitting beside him and pressing my side to his. I wasn’t going to voice what the need for contact meant, only that it was there.
He turned to look at me, his smile short-lived as his face dropped into a frown. “I really am sorry. I didn’t know what else to do, but I couldn’t ignore the messages. They have Zuri, Ace. They have my sister, and I couldn’t tell anyone or…”
The whole situation was fucked up. If Zane was telling the truth, then not only did they have his sister, but now House Jupiter had information on his dad and manipulated a situation to hurt Fallon whilst driving a wedge into our group. I’d always known they were playing a dirty game, but I’d let my guard down. It wasn’t going to happen again.
To say I was relieved that I hadn’t killed the merman would have been an understatement. The sight of his lifeless body would haunt me for the rest of my life and probably be one of my biggest regrets. I’d been pissed and I’d let Victrus’ games trick me into almost killing Zane. I wouldn’t fall for his bullshit again.
“Don’t worry,” I told him, staring off into the distance. Everything was going to shit, and we needed to have each other’s backs now more than ever. As angry as I was at the merman, it all came down to the fact that I’d trusted him. Unfortunately for Victrus, I still did. “We’ll figure it out.”
Zane closed his eyes, breathing out deeply. “Another dolphin detective adventure.”
I huffed a laugh. “Something like that.”
Wehadbeensoclose. So freaking close to completing our mission. I didn’t know how it had gone so wrong, but it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered now except making it out of this final tournament alive.
Luna was right when she warned me. We should have gotten the hell out of dodge when we had the chance. Now, our reckless plan meant we’d failed at retrieving the weapon on top of losing all hope of winning the crown. Everything we’d done, every battle we’d faced… was for nothing.
Fuck this place. And fuck Celeste. She’d lamented all the death, yet here she was, pinning this monstrosity of a tournament on us. A fight to the death? I mean, fuck, hadn’t this place claimed enough of us already?
I looked around as the guards marched me through the Damascon Hollow streets where old buildings loomed, halfcrumbling or in complete ruins. If they weren’t providing weapons, there’d be enough debris in this place to work with. Broken windows, metal sheeting, rusted poles and wiring. It was almost laughable. Until I saw who I was fighting. Then I really did laugh, if only out of disbelief.
“Crystal? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The person opposite looked entirely different to the curvy blond who’d once assaulted me in the communal bathroom. Her once-perfect hair was dull and cut short. The makeup she’d put on did nothing to hide the dark circles beneath her blue eyes. She’d lost weight, too. It was evident in the hollowing of her cheeks and the lack of curves she’d once flaunted.
“Hi, Fallon,” she said. Her voice was notably tired and drained.
“No snide remark or insult for me tonight?” I said in a lame attempt at lightness.
