A sensation ripples down the side of my bubble, and a scream horror movie-worthy slips from my throat. I said I'd rather drown, damn it. Why can't I just be given that one last request?
Another push against my barrier, this time at my back, has me slamming my eyes shut. I don't want to see the creature. It's not necessary for me to know how I'm going to die.
When the next prod pushes the bubble flush against my skin, a whimper leaves my throat, but I swear to whoever is listening out there that I will find a way to come back and haunt those cruel mermen.
All of a sudden, my bubble is shoved hard from my left side. I've got to be traveling through the water because I felt the first initial push before my right-side smashes against the barrier.
The next thing I know, an explosion goes off around me, and my back slams harshly onto what feels like concrete. It stills what little breath I had left in my lungs, but it doesn't halt the tears. Something warm presses against my cheek, and I automatically flinch away.
"It doesn't make any sense," Merrick says, his voice registering through my haze of panic. "It should've worked. Maybe we missed something significant with the curse. Or, it could be the talisman. There's a chance it got in the way. She may have to go back without it."
I barely notice Zanthus' growl before my eyes fly open, and I try to crab crawl away from where they're hovering over me. It doesn't get me very far when I realize everyone that we passed on the way here is now standing around us. Some expressions curious or still hopeful, others concerned. At least none of them look my way with the defeat I feel in my heart.
Turning my attention back to the triplets who are still watching me, I accuse, "You said you would be there with me. You lied. I was alone. It was so dark, and something kept touching my bubble. Why did you leave me---"
The last of my accusation ends with another sob.
I distantly hear Merrick telling the crowd to go about their business and to give us space. It wouldn't matter because I can't see through my tear-filled eyes anyway. The three Zs are large blobs as they move slowly toward me.
"Damselfish," Zale starts, "we didn't leave you. Zeph and I went through the barrier as soon as you did. We had no idea that your running start would propel you so far away from us."
"What are you talking about?" Zanthus asks in a full growl this time. "How long was she alone?"
Clearly not talking to me, I leave the others to answer.
Zephyr takes up the role. "Brother, she was more than ten leagues from the barrier."
Zanthus curses under his breath right before I feel the same warmth as before on my cheeks. I hiccup, and my cheeks slip between his palms. Large thumbs swipe underneath my eyes in an attempt to stop the waterworks.
"I'm---" hiccup "sorry."
"I'm not---" hiccup "normally a crier."
Whatever I could say next is completely forgotten as Zanthus' lips slant down over mine. The saltiness wets both our lips as he kisses me and makes me forget what I was upset about in the first place. He acts like he doesn't mind the small catches in my throat where I'm still fighting the few leftover hitching sobs. They simply get swallowed by his passion.
By the time his lips leave mine, I'm clinging to his biceps like my life depends on it. Kissing my forehead, he lets me go long enough to slide hands behind my back and underneath my knees. He lifts me with ease, and I let him take us back towards their castle. Keep. Home. Whatever. I don't have the strength to internally battle with myself over words, let alone argue that I don't need to be carried.
There's doubt in the back of my mind that he'd let me down anyway. No matter how much of a fight I put up.
"I don't want to go back to bed," I tell him quietly.
It goes without saying that some sleep would go a long way after everything that just happened, but I'm not ready to be alone yet. Thankfully, he doesn't protest my request. Instead, veering towards a hallway off the stairs in the main hall. It's a tad bit darker this way, but their magic-filled light sources prove their usefulness, not leaving us in the shadows. Though it doesn't stop the uptick to my heart, and I place a hand over it to keep it steady as I close my eyes.
"What's wrong, Rubi?" Zanthus asks, chest rumbling through my arm.
I shake my head and beg the tears not to come back.
Our bodies come to a stop and my ass meets a hard surface. Not ‘til then do I dare open my eyes, and it's only because I need to make sure they're not all going to leave me in here alone.
Zale moves to stand shoulder to shoulder with Zanthus as Zephyr hops up on the little counter, leaving no space between our hips. They each make sure they're touching me. Three heavy, warm palms on different spots on my thighs.
"I'm sorry it took us so long to get to you, little siren," Zephyr apologizes with his head hanging so low that beads brush the tops of his thighs.
I want to tell him it's okay or make him feel better, but I can't. A sick feeling still sits in the pit of my stomach. This brush with death felt closer than when I fell overboard from the cruise ship. At least then I could still breath air, and there was the light of the stars.
Once, when I was younger, I remember playing hide and seek with some kids at a birthday party, though, I can't remember who it was even for. Long story short, I accidentally locked myself in the basement, and it took them hours to realize I was even missing. It wasn't exactly like an everyday average basement either. No, this one didn't have any of the little windows around the top edges of the wall nor did I know how to turn the lights on. In that small-time frame, my young child brain imagined every kind of monster and bug that could possibly come out to get me. I laid at the crack at the bottom of the door and cried.
Two things came from that, too. I wasn't invited to any more parties that I can think of, or my parents at the time could've avoided them. Most importantly, though, was the fear of the dark that I never seemed to completely get over. Being in the water like I was took that fear to a whole new level.
With his free hand, Zale grasps my chin between his thumb and index finger before tilting it up to face him as he asks, "What are you thinking about that has that frown back on your face? You couldn't possibly think we'd leave you out there, damselfish. Two of the things our clan prided ourselves on most was loyalty and promises. We said we'd be there, and we were. It just took us a little longer than we'd planned. I apologize for scaring you."
I try to let my face drop like Zephyr's did a few seconds ago, but I'm not as lucky. Zale doesn't allow it.
So, I inhale, count to five, then let it back out again before addressing them. "I understand, and I'm not mad anymore. It was just dark, and I was alone. Then something started messing with my bubble, and I freaked out."
Zanthus' expression drops into a deep scowl, but I've got a good feeling it's not directed at me.
Letting my eyelids drop, I whisper the one thing that breaks my heart to say, "I don't know if I can do that again."
"Are you or are you not the same Eurybia Murphy that squared off with me since day one over nothing more than a dress?" Zanthus curtly questions.
A huff of a laugh slips through my lips before I can stop it, and I bring my gaze to his.