You keep this up, kid, you’re going to end up undoing all my hard work.
I know.
But you’re going to do it anyway? That’s what I call stubborn.
I can’t go back in there with her. I just can’t.
You know they were just looking out for you … in their own way.
I know.
Zarek looked away, his jaw working. I knew I was putting him in a tough spot; I was his patient, but Kona was his king. No loyalty he had to me could trump that relationship and I didn’t expect it to. Down here, I was getting pretty damn used to old alliances trumping new ones.
Can I at least offer you a ride? he asked after a few minutes.
I thought of Mahina, of the seahorse ride she’d given me all through the castle and to her house. Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but once again I refused to let them fall. I’m fine, I told him.
No, you’re not. And besides, you’re slowing us down, which is dangerous out here. We need to get to safety as soon as possible.
I wanted to scream. I knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear. Every time I turned around, someone else was taking away my right to choose. Still, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anyone got hurt because of decisions I had made. Kona’s people didn’t deserve to suffer because I couldn’t get my crap together.
I’ll go back in the subbloon, I told Zarek, ignoring the protest in my ribs and head and hand as I swam faster, trying to catch up with Mahina.
You don’t have to do that, Zarek told me. I’m more than happy to give you a lift.
I glanced over at the healer, wondered what his game was. He was usually so standoffish that it was a surprise to see him being this sweet and helpful. Unless—Did Kona put you up to this?
Actually, Kona’s probably pissed I’m over here. He’s been waiting for you to tire out and call uncle so he can swoop in and save you.
I closed my eyes. We’d been together almost a year and he still didn’t know me. Right now, I would rather drown than ask for his help.
I said as much to Zarek, who didn’t seem surprised at all. He just smiled and said, Why do you think I’m here?
That solidified it for me. I gave in gratefully, let him pull me into the shelter of his arms before we took off speeding through the early-morning ocean. It was a measure of both my exhaustion and my trust in him that I managed to close my eyes and sleep through the next several hours of the journey.
We surfaced late that afternoon, off the coast of a small island in the South Pacific.
“Where are we?” I asked Zarek as we swam ashore.
“An island off the coast of Australia. It’s been in Kona’s family for centuries.”
We walked slowly out of the water. This was the first time I’d stood on my legs for more than a minute or two since I’d been injured. I was a little leery of it, expecting pain with every baby step I took. But I’d underestimated Zarek. There was nothing but a slight tenderness left, just enough to remind me to be careful.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, surveying the golden beaches, numerous caves, and wild copses of trees.
“We like it.”
“This is where he’s brought his people? The ones who managed to escape from the Leviathan?”
“And those from other selkie and mer clans who fled their own lands after the invasions.”
“How many of you are there?” I asked, braced for disappointment. After all, to the best of my knowledge, Mahina and I were the only two people to get out of Coral Straits.
“A couple thousand, including Kona, three other selkie kings, and a merKing.”
I whistled. That was a lot of royalty to have in one place. Especially when the few kings I’d met tended to be a lot more hotheaded and spoiled than Kona.
Zarek snorted. “Tell me about it.” Then he grabbed my hand and started hustling me up the beach. “Come on, then. Let’s go in, get some food. And then you need to go to bed for about twenty-four hours, just to ensure that head injury is on the road to recovery.”
I made a face at him but didn’t argue. Besides, as long as I was following the healer’s orders, I wouldn’t feel honor bound to go make up with Kona and Mahina. Especially when I was still so pissed I could barely see straight.
A large buffet of fruit and sandwich items had been laid out beneath a billowing white canopy, so obviously we’d been expected. As we settled on the beach to eat, I looked around, tried to spot signs of the thousands of people who were supposed to be on this small island. The only ones I saw, however, were those working the buffet, keeping the dishes replenished and the water pitchers full.
“So, where is everybody?” I finally asked. “I don’t see a house or a hotel or anything.”
“No. Kona’s parents chose to keep this island as close to nature as they could. There is a small building nestled in the trees up there that is basically a working kitchen. But there are small coves all over the island. Most people are staying in those.”
I nodded. I was a little leery about sleeping in a cave—visions of spiders and scorpions and any other number of nasty creatures came to mind—but I would reserve judgment. Besides, I wasn’t exactly in a position to be picky. Anything was better than that damn dungeon.
As we ate, I peppered Zarek with questions about the island, the state of the clans, the Leviathan. I was trying to amass as much information as I could as quickly as I could so I would be able to form a broad picture of what we were up against. I knew what Kona and I were facing, but what about the others? What sea horrors had invaded their lands?
And finally, as we pushed our plates away, I asked the question that had been on my mind since we ran into Kona outside of Coral Straits. “If you have all this set up here, what were you guys doing so close to my territory? Wasn’t that just tempting the Leviathan or Tiamat or even Sabyn to come after you?”
Zarek looked surprised. “Well, yeah, but you didn’t expect Kona to just leave you there, did you? When he realized all of the clans had been invaded, that it wasn’t just his, he went crazy trying to get ahold of you. When he couldn’t, he headed out to find you on his own, not wanting to endanger any of his people by asking them to come on what I’m sure he thought was a suicide mission.”
“But you went anyway.”
“A bunch of us did, and we had to leave a whole host of volunteers behind. He’s our king. If he believes something or someone is worth fighting for, we’re going to believe him. He and his family have never led us astray before.”
He picked up my dried-seaweed plate and his own, headed for a nearby trash can. I sat where I was for a while, watching him and the others as I went over his words in my head. Kona, who hadn’t been able to dump me fast enough on the swim back from La Jolla, had risked everything to come get me. To make sure I was safe. He must not hate me as much as I thought he did, or as much as he wanted me to believe.
I wasn’t sure what that meant, didn’t know if we’d ever be friends again, but I figured if he could forgive me for breaking up with him, then I could forgive him for drugging me against my will. I stood up and, after brushing the sand from my legs, went to find him.
He was about half a mile up the beach, under another huge canopy. Only this one looked more like an operations center than a dining area. He was alone, standing over a large round table covered in some kind of papers that he seemed to be studying in great detail. Next to him was a forgotten plate of food and an untouched pitcher of ice water.