Page 31 of Cruel Tides

“Good!” Echinea picked up her stick to poke around her bucket of shells. “These look like they’re just about done cooking. This will be the greatest Captain’s Feast this kingdom has ever seen!” Both of them giggled, and then Echinea looked up at me, throwing a signal with her brow that told me that now that her friend was back, she was ready for me to leave.

“Listen, Echinea. Adults can be dangerous,” I warned, leaning in so she knew I was serious. “If you see him again, don’t go near him, okay?”

Echinea scoffed, but it needed to be said. Even if he had helped her, I still didn’t trust the sea wizard. Sure, he’d helped me, too, but he’d also tied me up in a dungeon, so…

“She’s an adult. Does that mean she’s dangerous, too?” the other merfry whispered as soon as I stepped away.

My lips quirked while the bushes behind me erupted with giggles. “Yeah, right! She didn’t even know not to stand on the edge of the pier. If I wanted to, I could have pushed her right in.”

Two merfolk glared at me as I headed for the warehouse, but I kept my eyes forward. I had no clue where Leander was, but I didn’t want to stick around longer than necessary. When I crossed underneath the rolled-up doors, I immediately regretted coming in alone.

Numerous heads turned, poking out of makeshift bedrooms and stopping mid-conversation to look over at me. I scanned the crowd for glints of gold, but didn’t see Leander or his father anywhere. As I was about to run back to Barren, a knock shook the building. Then there was another knock, followed by the loud clang of metal.

The merfolk didn’t seem to care. They snapped back to what they were doing, the entire warehouse decidedly ignoring the noise even as a low, wailing groan echoed up to the ceiling. But not me—I cared. My feet had dashed toward the sound even before my eyes had settled on the storeroom it had permeated from.

Another blow, and the door in front of me shook, the metal grinding on its hinges as something—someone—yelled from within.

My eyes fell over the door’s placard.

Storeroom 2B.

The place Leander’s dad had taken him when he’d come back to me, bloodied and bruised.

I couldn’t move—could barely think—as panic flooded me.

When the next painful scream echoed from inside the storeroom, I screamed back, clawing at the door’s handle, but it was locked from within.

I rattled the handle, but the heavy door barely shook. “Leander!” Panic had me smashing my shoulder into the door, my fist pounding against it. If he was in there, I needed to save him. To stop his pain. I didn’t know what I could do against King Eamon or one of his captains, but I couldn’t wait here for them to finish. I had to try. In a tight, raw voice, I pleaded, “Please.”

A lurch in the door jerked me forward, and I buckled against the doorframe as I struggled to catch my balance. “Lee—” My eyes jumped to the face of the person who opened the door. Deep coal eyes, slick hair, a chin lined with old scars, and blood. So much blood. It speckled his face and sat in the coarse hairs of his beard.

He wasn’t who I’d expected, and given the expression on his face, he hadn’t expected me either. “What are you doing here?” he asked, but my breathing stalled as I looked around him, my eyes immediately drawn to dark pools of liquid smeared across the concrete.

Why was there so much blood?

Behind the door, another voice called, “Let her through. That’s his daughter.”

Without thinking, I took a step inside. “E-excuse me?” My fists shook, my blood in my face draining away like the pools on the floor as I stared at the other captain. I recognized him instantly—Echinea’s father. His arm muscles bulged, slick with a sticky crimson fluid as they wrapped around a struggling man, restraining him.

Blood flowed down the captive’s hair, raining down on the concrete in sickening drips whenever he swung his head. Hunched forward, he struggled to escape from the captain, his clenched teeth grinding with desperate groans.

I would never forget the build of his shoulders, the way he held himself like nothing in this world could ever phase him.

Papa.

I’d once believed he was invincible. Unshakeable. And I’d trusted him more than anyone or anything in this world. He’d been my comfort, my joy. But that was another life—not me as I was now.

“Nerida?” he gurgled, spitting out blood around the name as his wild eyes fought to angle toward the ceiling.

Hearing him say the name he’d given me struck like a fiery brand, and I stumbled backward, repulsed in a way that pools of blood hadn’t even accomplished. Whatever was happening in this room, it wasn’t what I’d expected. If I’d known Papa was in here, I never would have barged in. I would have ignored his screams like the merfolk outside?—

“No,” he roared, thrashing even harder. “No!” It seemed whatever fit he was having, my presence had amplified it tenfold. “I can’t look at her! Don’t make me look at her!”

Echinea’s father grunted, his arms straining around Papa like he was holding back a raging bull shark. A violent shiver ran through Papa’s body as his elbows jerked, thrashing wide with a growing sense of desperation. “I can’t—I can’t!” Words gushed out like the blood from his mouth. “I can’t!” he repeated in a crazed, panicked burst.

“Hurry,” Echinea’s father called out. “I won’t be able to hold him much longer.” At the captain’s word, a woman leapt from the corner of the room. Despite stepping forward, her eyes remained focused on the bloody floor, turning her face a few shades paler. Her hands shook as they flew out, landing on Papa’s shoulder. He bucked away from her touch, but his fight was short lived. Papa’s arms slumped, his strength draining until he trembled as he mumbled more words. Whatever she was doing was working fast.

It was almost like magic.

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