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“Soon,” she shouted back.
“Now!” he demanded, and Willow laughed and rolled over. “Danger!”
Willow sat up and saw a yacht fast approaching.
“Water, dive, dive,” Ern ordered.
Willow didn’t hesitate as she saw a dinghy detach from the yacht and head towards her. She cursed because the tide was out, and it was a race. Would she beat the dinghy, or would it catch her?
Willow was thigh-deep when something knocked her off her feet. She scrabbled for purchase, and a flipper appeared under her hand. She moved to grab hold of a shell.
Nester, one of the turtles, had already been in the water, and he was able to come closer than Ern could.
“Dive, dive!” Ern’s voice squealed frantically. Something entered the water and just missed her head. Willow’s eyes widened as Nester dived deeper, and they were near enough face-to-face with the seabed. Nester was swimming full out with Willow kicking her feet to help out.
Bullets hit the ocean, and Willow screamed as a harpoon narrowly avoided Nester. She could see the shadow of the boat above them. She cursed the clear water as she and Nester were easy targets for those chasing them. Intense minutes ticked past as more bullets hit the water.
Suddenly, a nose hit her leg and Willow looked back and saw they were deep enough for Ern to take over. She patted Nester and grabbed Ern’s fin. He instantly shot off. Finally, the seabed dived deeply, and Willow heaved a sigh of relief as they got out of reach of the seeking bullets.
“What was that?” Willow complained as they swam towards the palace.
“Danger, danger,” Ern squeed and changed directions.
Willow frowned and looked around. She saw a dark shape heading straight for them, and her eyes opened. What the hell? Was that a submarine?
“Go to the palace. We can protect ourselves better there,” Willow cried.
Ern clicked a no, but Willow insisted.
Finally, keeping up a punishing pace, Ern dived in and out of the reefs, trying to lose the tracking submarine, and headed for the palace.
Willow had no idea who was after her or why they chased her, but she knew they meant harm. As they neared the palace, she could feel the currents becoming rife with chatter. Ern and his pod called for assistance, stating she was under attack and needed defending. The door opened as they approached the tower where she held court, and Ern headed straight for it. Moments later, she was inside, and the doors slammed shut.
Willow knew that didn’t mean she was safe. The submarine might have missiles, or the boat above may be able to track them. Unlike the yacht or dinghy, the submarine could see them despite their depth. She raced through the palace to the viewing room, which was a small tower in the middle of the building with windows all around.
Once there, she looked for the submarine and hoped they’d lost it in their frantic dash through the coral reefs. Willow prayed they had because she couldn’t fight a submarine off, and she had no idea who was attacking her this time.
Chapter Twelve.
Poseidon/Jase
The moment he entered the water, he felt and heard the calls to defend Willow. A pod of dolphins was crying out to anyone nearby. He headed straight for the palace, knowing Willow would have holed up there and sent his own demands for an explanation on the current. The dolphins returned a jumble of images to him, which took a few seconds to sort out.
Poseidon saw Willow lying on a beach, and then she sat up and looked to the ocean. A dinghy appeared in another scene. Willow took to the water. A turtle helped her escape in shallow water until a dolphin dragged her deeper. Other images showed bullets and harpoons hitting the water. Poseidon nearly heaved when he saw how close one came to hitting Willow’s head. She’d been oblivious, but he wasn’t.
Poseidon caught images of a frantic chase through coral reefs, and his anger grew as he saw a submarine. He had a target now! He shifted into his Uber merman and swam furiously forward. Invade his waters? His realm? Attack his mate? How dare they! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the palace appear in the distance as he quickly closed the gap between him and his mate.
The submarine wouldn’t see the palace as Poseidon had hidden it from humans. However, the congregation of sea life forming around it gave away something was hidden there. As he closed, he saw it was a four-man submersible with a harpoon and net on the outside. There were also underwater missiles attached. They’d clearly adapted the vehicle to hunt in the water. There was no doubt in his mind that these were Hunters. Who else would have such equipment?
Poseidon didn’t give them a chance to fire. He slammed a tenacle into one of the cylinders and broke it in half. Poseidon didn’t pause, and broke the other. Nobody would fire missiles at his mate.
Sea life continued to swarm to protect the palace, and Poseidon yanked the submersible around with large whales battering it to help. Sealife swarmed the submarine, and Poseidon peered inside the glass view screen. Four humans stared at him with fear and panic on their faces.
Poseidon took in their uniforms and noted the emblem they all wore. Hunters. With a roar, he used to his tentacles to begin tearing the submarine apart. Frantically, those inside began hitting buttons but too late. Sharks tore out the engines, allowing water to flood in. Poseidon’s own tentacles had smashed cracks in the screen and water was leaking in through that, too.
Those inside would drown.
He stared at the humans inside with an evil grin as they struggled to attach breathing masks.
