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Poseidon, they were sexy. I couldn’t stop admiring them. Over the images running through my head—namely of me running my hands all over their chests—I barely remembered what we’d been talking about.
“I bet you’d be a screamer,” said Nemo.
I coughed and spluttered, thumping my chest. Were they thinking along the same lines as I was?
“One nibble from a shark and you’d cry like a baby,” said Nemo.
Heat flushed my cheeks. Nope. I just had a dirty mind.
“Oh, really, Nemes?” challenged Fin. “I’d wager you’d faint at the sight of a shark fin.”
Both boys burst into laughter. The sound was like music to my ears. Sweet and sexy. I could listen to them all day.The camaraderie between them touched me. Complete strangers, thrown together in battle, had forged a friendship stronger than steel.Times like these really made me enjoy being in their company. It was refreshing and exciting.
Hooves clomped behind us, signaling the servants had brought our horse and wagon.
“I’m going to go get Gill,” Fin said, excusing himself.
“Thank you,” I told the servant.
The young man nodded then disappeared back around the corner of the tavern.
I started to climb onto the wagon, and Nemo lifted me. He climbed up behind and claimed the seat next to me. I really liked the way he made it known he wanted to be beside me all the time.
His eyebrow rose. “Another game?”
“No way.” I laughed and put a hand on his chest.
His hand covered mine, holding it there. We stared into each other’s eyes. Warm honey tones circled his irises.
“Gill’s gone,” Fin said, interrupting Nemo and me. “Left in the middle of the night.”
Flipping hell!I knew it.Lava bubbled and churned in my chest. If I saw him again, I’d punch him for disobeying an order.
“For Poseidon’s sake.” Fin grabbed a log from a wood pile and hurled it, and it smashed onto the ground some feet away.
Fin’s outburst startled me. Nemo pressed me protectively to him.
I couldn’t believe what a foolish idiot Gill was being. We hadn’t submerged in the lake for very long. The mermen needed a good soaking. Half a day’s worth, at least, in order to moisten their scales.
I grabbed Nemo’s arm. “We have to find him. He’s too weak.”
“Stubbornness and recklessness are that man’s vices,” Fin replied, jumping aboard the front of the wagon and taking a seat beside Nemo. “You’ll never change his mind. I learned that the hard way.”
Something told me I shouldn’t ask. Doing so would only serve to fuel my anger. But I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know more about the mysterious Gill. “How?”
Nemo chuckled. “Gill was a real, royal pain in the ass when he first joined the battalion. Talking back. Refusing orders. Disrespecting the generals. Fin felt sorry for Gill and was lenient with him because the merarmy was his last chance. One time, Fin covered up a fight between Gill and another mersoldier. When one of the generals investigated the matter, Fin was demoted for not reporting the incident.”
“When he wants to be, Gill is a talented mersoldier,” Fin said. “I build careers. I don’t destroy them.”
Part of me pitied Gill. From what I’d been told, it appeared he didn’t know how to channel his anger. I related to that. Many times, I had returned to my chambers after a merrealm meeting, wanting to tear someone’s head off. To blow off steam, I’d channel all my energy into my artwork, painting up a frenzy. Perhaps Gill needed a hobby so he could do the same thing. Otherwise, he might get thrown out of his battalion one day.
Hearing this made me see the mermen in a different light. Fin was a kind and supportive leader, not a harsh, intolerable one. He ruled with heart and not an iron fist. In Gill’s case, that was the best thing he could hope for in a leader.
My heart was heavy. Leaving Gill to his own devices spelled trouble for him. The collector’s hunters were still out there. Gill wasn’t fully rejuvenated, and while we’d escaped a small band of pirates with the help of the resistance, how would we fare against an even bigger group if one ventured our way? My gut ate away at me, telling me we couldn’t leave him to fend for himself. But my mind screamed at me to choose the safer option and continue to the sea.
I bit my fingernails. This was one of the hardest decisions of my life. Did I leave a one of my merfolk behind and risk him getting recaptured and dying? Or should I do everything in my power to stop him? If we could catch up to him, we could knock him out and steal him away to the sea!
Something my father had said to me when I’d been ten cycles old floated into my thoughts. Sometimes, in times of conflict, you had to make sacrifices for the greater good in order to protect the lives of the majority. During that cycle of Haven, the prevailing currents had failed to bring the nutrient-rich warm waters that fertilized Tritonia’s crops. Our people had starved, and many children and elderly merfolk had died. My father had reluctantly sent three missionaries to his brother’s kingdom, begging him for food, knowing this might upset the shaky peace that had existed between us. In return, my uncle had killed them and sent their heads back to my father. At the time, my father had prepared to retaliate and fight for the lives of his slain men. I’d talked my father out of seeking revenge. Hundreds of merfolk had then perished from starvation, and many more suffered under my uncle’s cruel regime. Because of me, my father hadn’t saved them. What a valuable lesson. I’d never make that mistake again.
