Page 78 of Surfaces
“I’ll give you one night,” Valdez quipped.
“I’ll give you a thousand,” Keelan parried, not to be outdone.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Stavros added softly at Julian’s side. “I don’t think any of us have ever seen you drink.”
“I’ll bet he’s wild,” Felipe commented.
“I’ll bet so,” Stavros grinned.
“You won, you have to drink!” Keelan pointed out illogically, spurred on to join with the others.
“Drink it!” the other contestants chanted as Julian and Stavros sat and joined our little circle.
Julian sighed and took the bubble skin from me. He tilted his head back and squinted his eyes in disgust before the bubble even touched his lips.
I smiled at the camaraderie amongst this circle of men, waving as Mateo swam clumsily over to join us, Taft trailed him and gave me a grin that was quite distinctive—missing a tooth.
“What are we all doing?” Mateo asked happily before someone shoved the skin into his face with a laugh.
This—this is what I wanted, what I’d secretly hoped the tournament could be. Sitting around the campfire with my competitors teasing one another, all of us relaxed and happy.
Navagio might have been a low point—but look at where it had brought us. I glanced around the circle and my chest grew warm as I saw Stavros poking Julian in the ribs, making him laugh. I saw Valdez tempting Mr. Whelk into a game of tug of war with a bit of knotted silk. Watkins came up behind Keelan and the siren moved over so the shark shifter could sit next to him.
The moment was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Then Mr. Whelk bit Valdez’s finger, making the pink dolphin shifter howl.
I started to laugh along with the others, but movement flickered in the corner of my vision, and I turned to see just what it was, possibly a crab or something, scuttling along.
It wasn’t.
The movement along the sand became a ripple as the ground started to shift beneath us. The earth wavered and rippled.
We all struggled to stand and swim up as screams ripped through the campsite and, all of a sudden, thousands of stone fish rose up from the dirt inside the ring of tents.
They were horrid, disgusting looking creatures — covered in yellow pustules that looked like a cross between a wart and vomit. The edges of their fins were scalloped and yellow and their tails swished threateningly. I couldn't see their eyes, but their frowning mouths opened up, and gaping black holes appeared.
The sight sent everyone around me into a panic, sirens screeching, mer yelling — bubbles flying as everyone tried to swim away as quickly as possible. But the knot of people was tangled with stonefish, everyone bumping into one another as they struggled not to touch one of the most poisonous fish in all of the ocean.
Stonefish shot venom out of their back spines, venom that could kill a limb—turn it black as death, or even kill a man if there was enough poison.
Strangely enough, I didn’t feel fear. I had the rush of adrenaline making me alert, eyes wide and darting. Inside, there was also a tingle akin to excitement that was whipped up by fury into the shakes—my fingertips trembled.
There was no chance that we’d just stumbled upon a group of stonefish. They were solitary creatures, and it wasn’t mating season.
We’ve been set up.
I didn’t have a chance to think beyond that before the crowd around me suddenly tightened like a noose. My betta fish fins were crushed to my spine, and I nearly fell down to the stonefish swarm.
A strong set of arms reached out and yanked me against him. I looked up to see Valdez’s face contorted with rage. It was only as the pink-haired shifter struggled to swim us up himself that I saw exactly why our entourage had drawn in upon itself.
Stonefish weren’t the only threat.
Only seconds after the stonefish arose, we were surrounded by a thick ring of lionfish. The orange and white striped lionfish had venomous spines protruding from their fins like spider legs that could poison with a touch. Their bright zebra stripes and clown-like spots on their fins were a mockery, because those fish were anything but funny.
Sard.
The ring of lionfish tightened around us, some darting overhead.
