Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) (20 page)

I couldn’t bear the thought of the army watching me hunt for them like some fish wench, so I gathered food while everyone slept.

With each fish I caught and beheaded, I pretended it was Strymon.

I formed a pile of tiny corpses on the raft.

For a half-tide, the world was peaceful. Gentle snoring and lapping water whispered in my ears. Then the waves glimmered as the first rays peeked over the horizon. Fish dashed about, hunting for breakfast. Too soon, activity stirred on the raft, and I hadn’t slept all night.

I tossed my armful onto the pile and submerged before anyone could bother me.

I pushed myself into a tangle of weeds to get at the fish inside. Kelp wrapped around my neck and arms like a noose. Sensing some kind of activity, I pried away a log to reveal a sardine haven.

“No one hides from the fish wench.”

I’d just stuffed one in my mouth when Axius appeared next to me.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said, drifting closer than necessary.

That sense of confidence wafted at me like a cloud of whale pee.

I untangled myself from the weeds with little grace.

“I wanted to apologise,” he said in that low, suave voice. “I didn’t mean to threaten your relationship with that other guy.”

“Sure,” I said, trying to keep feelers on the scattering sardines.

“It’s just, you really caught my attention.”

I picked a bone from my teeth.

“Lysi, I’ve felt something special since you came here. Like you and I were meant to—”

His words dissolved as I surfaced to add more catches to the pile. It had gotten significantly smaller in that short time. Mermen pulled themselves over as they awoke. They saw me rise with fresh catches, but I ducked back under before they could say anything.

“ … usually the centre of attention when I go out,” said Axius. “Maybe partly my looks—I definitely got my mother’s hair and my father’s strength.”

I scanned the overhead raft. The sardines had vanished. I resorted to picking clumps of sea lettuce. When I rose to add them to the pile, everything I’d caught so far had gone. A group of guys hovered nearby. I bit my tongue so as not to snap at them.

I dove to find Axius talking about his parents’ estate, how it was actually an ice castle or something.

Eventually, I turned to him.

“… should be making enough to buy my own business centre out west,” he said.

“Axius, I’m really not interested. Also you’re scaring away my fish.”

He carefully pushed a lock of hair across his eyes. “All right. I can take a hint.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“I’m here if you change your mind,” he said. “Where we take this passionate adventure is up to you.”

I tried not to pucker my face.
Passionate adventure?

“Thanks—”

“But I think if you give this a chance,” he said, drifting closer. “You’ll find something special between us.”

I squinted at him. Maybe if I hid on the other side of the raft for a while I could lose him. I swam purposefully in that direction, irritated when he followed.

“Are you and that guy engaged?”

I considered lying, and then thought he might ask why my hair wasn’t jewelled to mark the engagement, and then wondered if it would make a difference for him either way, and by that time my hesitation told him the answer.

“Lysi, a pull of the universe made Adaro send you here, and that same pull made him send me here. I think it’s f—”

“No. Do not say
fate
. Everyone gets drafted. Nothing magical brought us together.”

I stopped, realising we’d swum the entire perimeter of the raft. Above us, a mackerel pushed its nose into the weeds, trying to get at a sardine.

“Not much of a romantic, are you?” said Axius.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to stay calm.

“I promise I’ll be a better boyfriend than that weird geek.”

I rounded on him.

“Axius, I swear, if you don’t shut up and leave me alone I’m going to punch you in the face.”

He faltered. My eyes had filled with blood.

“Am I bothering you?” he said, deflating, as though realising there might be a chance I wasn’t interested in him.

Someone slid into the water behind Axius. Junior caught my eye and nodded in the direction of the floating junk that had been our meeting place.

I smiled a little, and regretted this at once, because Axius seemed to take it as a sign that I’d fallen in love with him. He made to grab my hand, but I casually pulled it back to scratch my nose.

“When this is all over, Lysi, I’d like to introduce you to my parents. My mom has a great place up in the Bering. You’d love it. We’ve got dolphins. I could teach you sports.”

Junior dove and disappeared.

“What?” I said.

Overhead, the mackerel kept burrowing into the raft.

“For real! You can see them when you come stay with me.”

I didn’t have time for this. The guys would meet without me. I needed to get rid of this suckerfish.

“No,” I said. “I’m not coming to stay at your weird … dolphin ranch.”

“Why not?”

Abruptly, I snatched the mackerel from overhead and bit it behind the skull, killing it.

“Look, I’m supposed to be gathering food. Can you take this up for me?”

He hesitated, and then gave a lopsided smile that was probably supposed to be charming.

“Anything you want, beautiful.”

He drifted upwards—apparently too cool to swim normally. The moment he breached, I dove.

“How about you be the fish wench for a while,” I mumbled.

I shot away at top speed, finding a favourable current at a deeper swim.

I hoped the guys had waited for me. What were we meeting about? More planning?

The bottom was fathoms away, leaving me in emptiness. The timber raft grazed my skin as a single, faint energy. Something else moved far below. I couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe a giant squid, but I couldn’t be sure.

Some distance ahead, deeper still, a smaller body moved. I felt it out for a moment before deciding it was Spio. I dove to catch up.

My lungs tightened with the pressure. I normally didn’t have cause to dive this far, and here was the second time in two days. Blackness pressed in from below. Looking at it made my stomach churn like I’d swallowed a school of guppies.

“How was the great white?” I whispered as I caught up to Spio.

“A bit frisky, but you know how sharks are. It was just a matter of nimble spearwork and keeping her mouth occupied.”

We stopped in front of Coho, Pontus, Junior, and Nobeard. They were suspended in the middle of the twilight layer.

It must have been too risky to meet anywhere else with Strymon lurking around.

Pontus carried a chert longblade, but the others were empty-handed. Spio wore his favourite hat. Nobeard had found his eyepatch—or he had made a new one.

“How’s your boyfriend?” said Junior.

I groaned.

The guys burst into muffled laughter.

“I’ll gladly defend your honour next time,” said Coho, cracking his knuckles.

I smiled, feeling a rush of fondness for these guys. My brother would have made the same offer.

“Show him your demon side, Lysi,” said Spio. “Remember that time you scared the flippers off that scuba diver? He would’ve killed us with that blowhole thing if you didn’t bust the fangs out.”

“I think you and I remember that story differently.”

Something approached from the side. We turned, listening. A merman.

We stayed frozen, not daring to move.

The commander appeared. I relaxed a little, though he projected a grave aura.

“The target is on his way,” he said at once, keeping his voice hushed. “He is taking the planned route and will be passing the mine this afternoon.”

No one said anything. I glanced to Spio, my pulse quickening.

“I presumed I would receive more warning than this, but can you all be ready to go immediately?”

“Yes, sir,” said Pontus.

“Follow the long currents in the open. Pontus knows where to switch and where to break for the shallows. Pontus, you will share the directions with the others in case something happens?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Coho, remember to arc the shot. From that distance, the impact will be light, but it will be enough to detonate the mine. I trust your aim.”

Coho nodded.

“Hide among the coral until the explosion happens,” said the commander to the rest of us. “Once you have confirmed the target is dead, split up as planned.”

He paused. I caught a fiery determination that hadn’t been there on our first encounter at the Moonless City. At once, it made his aura seem years younger, yet I somehow knew he’d fought a lifetime of battles for King Adaro.

“There is something we all need to understand about this plan,” he said. “I know we are all eager to bring a new, free regime to the North Pacific, but this is not the time for heroics. If anything goes awry, your priority is to keep yourself safe and hidden. We must keep our identities secret so we can try again, and again, and again. If you attempt to help a comrade instead of fleeing, you risk being revealed and tried for treason. Understand?”

The guys nodded. I hesitated, but nodded, too. So if anything went wrong, we were supposed to save our own tails. The thought wasn’t comforting, but I supposed it made sense; we had to be able to try again. We owed that to everyone we were doing this for.

“Retrieve your weapons and anything you need for the journey. Meet northwest of the raft, just out of range. Leave immediately. Do not linger. Do not let anyone see you.”

When no one said anything more, the commander turned and vanished.

A mixture of unease and excitement permeated the group. I couldn’t tell who was feeling what. My own emotions rampaged. I felt mostly terror. This had all happened so quickly. In a matter of days, I’d gone from alone and imprisoned, to part of a band of rebels.

We separated so we could return to the raft from different angles. I rose slowly, depressurising. It was just enough time to let me spiral into a full-blown panic.

I was going on a mission to murder the king. What if we failed? What if we succeeded? This would be a complete upheaval. Would Adaro still have loyal followers after he was dead?

At the surface, I grabbed my one possession: my Iron Hook of Doom. I’d kept it inside a tire for the night.

I turned to find myself nose-to-nose with Axius.

I groaned.

“There you are,” he said. “Sorry I lost you back there. I can’t keep up with that streamlined little body of yours.”

I wrinkled my nose, wishing I’d never hear the words ‘streamlined little body’ again
.

He seemed to have groomed his hair in the time since I’d ditched him. It fluttered across his face like a blanket of silk.

“Listen, I know you have your reservations, but I feel like you’re the perfect girl for me.”

“Ax, you don’t even know me.”

He motioned to my body. “Well, physically, you’re like, bang on.”

“Ew.”

“I like your stylish carelessness with your hair and makeup. You’ve got more to offer—like being clever, and feisty, and great to talk to.”

I leaned around him, searching for the others.

“I mean, you’re the shy type,” he said, “and that’s okay. I like that. You’re a great listener.”

Activity stirred on all sides. When I concentrated, I sensed a couple of bodies moving northwest.

“Why do you have your weapon?” said Axius. “Are you going somewhere?”

“No,” I said, a bit too quickly.

His eyes widened. He waited for me to continue, for once, more interested in listening than talking.

“I need to take this for inspection,” I said.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me. I’ll go with you. I need to get a replacement. Broke mine in half during the battle.”

He drifted closer, waiting for me to lead the way. This guy was worse than a parasite.

“Do you, uh, have the pieces?” I said.

“Part of the handle. You should see it—”

“Good,” I said. “They won’t give you a new one without proof that the other is destroyed. Otherwise they think you’re hoarding.”

“Since when?”

I shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’m relaying what they told me when I arrived.”

“You’re a smart girl, Lys—”

“I’ll wait here while you go get it.”

His face seemed to melt into childish delight at the prospect of my waiting for him. I almost pitied him. Almost.

“I was thinking—”

“Go!”

He smiled, and then drifted upwards. Once again, the moment his head broke the surface, I took off.

He was not the sharpest tooth.

I veered left, and then stopped. Strymon and the commander were two fathoms away, talking in low voices.

“You will trust that each of my plans has a purpose, Strymon.”

“Of course, sir. But as First Officer, it is my duty to know these plans and help advise.”

“And as commander, I try to avoid placing all my eggs in one reef.”

Something glinted in the corner of my eye. Spio disappeared behind the raft with what must have been the most conspicuous weapon I’d ever seen. The long, bone handle led to a three-pronged iron tip. The middle prong, the largest, had been wrought to hold a blue stone that was so pure it seemed to glow.

Strymon glanced over, then back to the commander.

“Sir, it is the king’s order to keep the unit whole. Any division weakens our—”

“Did it occur to you that I might have received separate instructions?”

“In the interest of unity, sir, I would expect further instructions to be shared with the officers.”

“Not if the king has reason to distrust certain officers.”

Strymon recoiled. “Sir, I … you know I have only …”

I dove below the hanging weeds, taking a direct line to our meeting place. I pushed down any uneasiness, deciding I wouldn’t tell the guys about what I’d overheard. The commander could deal with Strymon. We didn’t need more stress looming over us.

They were waiting. Coho fixed a wooden crossbow across his back.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Boyfriend troubles?” said Junior.

I shot him a glare. He raised his hands in mock surrender.