The red-eyed stranger replies wordlessly to my inquiries with a head turn back towards the small amount of light piercing the gap between us and the open sea. It's obvious the darkness is receding by the glow his tail seems to emit in the harsher light. If the monster is leaving then this may be my only chance for escape. If I focus hard enough, I can mentally touch those threads connecting back to my Zs. They shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm just hoping I'm not too terribly far away. Swimming with my tail isn't one of my strongest attributes at the moment.
As the muscles in his face relax in the shining brightness of the cave, I make my move. Picking a maneuver Easton taught me for whenever I find myself without a sword, I jam the bone part of my palm into his solar plexus. His arms immediately release me in surprise as he doubles over unable to catch his breath. I'd wanted to stun him long enough to get a head start not permanently damage anything. He did save my life, after all.
The wheeze as he tries to speak is still there in our minds. That must hurt worse than I thought it would. I can only make out one word before I'm squeezing through the crack that leads to my freedom.
Don't.
I don't wait around to find out what else he tries to say. This may be my only chance. Harshly flicking my tail propels me forward at a speed I didn't think was possible. Our small pool beneath the barrier doesn't have the space for this kind of training, and I must admit, the feeling is exhilarating. If I can manage to make it back to my mates, I'll be sure to have them bring me out here more often under their protection, of course. Now that I know the pressure won't kill me and neither will drowning.
My body is cutting through the water so quickly, the sandy bottom looks to be a blur, but speed obviously has nothing on the monster from the abyss who apparently set a trap to draw us out. And was dumb enough to fall for it. I should have taken the chance on trusting my instinct and stayed with my rescuer. Now I can feel the creature breathing down my neck as it gains on me.
This is how it ends for me, huh? Caught out in the open alone. I wish I could've at least helped break the curse tying my mate and their people down here. It's the biggest regret I'll be leaving this world with, other than the heartbreak my sweet princes will suffer at my death. Determination floods through my veins reminding me I'm not the helpless human I was when I first arrived in this realm. I have magic now.
Begging for help from the water, I feel it propel me faster along as I reach for the mirror of Zale's that I haven't had a chance to play with yet. Focusing on the currents, I force a hard stream toward us. Unfortunately, I’m ill-equipped to handle the pressure, and instead of helping, I'm thrown sideways into a small batch of coral. It scrapes my arm and up the right side of my ribs, leaving a nasty gash that's already leaking blood into the water.
As if drawn in by the sight and smell, the creature finally makes itself known. My lips draw back as I let loose a blood curdling scream in my head. Anything I could've imagined is worse than what I'm facing. Rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth promise a most painful ending. Even more disturbing are the eyes. Where there should be some sort of eyeball, there's nothing but empty sockets. It's as though death himself has taken the form of this massive shark tearing through the water to get to my blood.
We're both so completely locked on each other that neither of us see the red streak before it slams into the monster's side. Even still, its reflexes are like none I've ever seen in any ocean life. He whips his head to the side, teeth grazing down Aukai's arm before batting him off to the side. The shark's move is defensive but still sends Aukai sailing into another batch of coral, a fresh dose of blood turns the water around us even murkier. By the time I've got eyes on the two of them again, the monster is heading straight for the kill.
GO NOW! Aukai screams at me, wearing the anguished expression of a man not wanting to die but willing to do so in order to save my life.
Unacceptable. Untangling my fins from the coral and ripping a few in the process, I swim as fast as they'll allow to where he's been unable to move. There's no clear plan in my head; I just know that I'll never be able to live with myself knowing I let him succumb to this fate.
Reaching out to the threads tying me to my mates and their magic, I pluck the blue one hard. A swift gush of water shoots up underneath the shark forcing him upwards. It's a short-lived victory as it throws the thing off course but allows him enough room to simply turn a full circle back around to us. I try to reach for the magic again, but it leaves me exhausted and empty-handed. I've never practiced to this much of an extent, and I’m simply not ready for it.
A hand grasps mine and my jaw goes slack as I turn my attention to Aukai's mangled body in the coral. Whatever he's trying to do is giving me a boost of energy. For the smallest of seconds, I can almost see a faint pink line between us. Taking all he has to offer, I conjure up the strongest image of the Keep for motivation, hoping some form of inspiration will hit to get us to safety. Time just doesn't seem to be on my side as the monster rages on us.
Straining to the point I fear a brain aneurysm, I tuck all the power flowing through my body close, preparing to blast the thing with everything I have. Even if it kills me, it couldn't be a death worse than the one he promises. Throwing myself in front of Aukai, keeping our hands intertwined, I wait until the beast is feet away before turning all of that pent up magic loose.
A flash of light cuts through the water and momentarily blinds me. The next thing I know, my tail is shifting back into my human legs which promptly drop my ass on the ground. There are shouts of alarm, but I ignore them as I twist to find Aukai's hand going limp in mine.
We're both naked as the day we were born and it's saying something when that's the least of my worries. Especially as male voices flood the space around us.
"Aukai," I prod gently with a couple light taps to his cheek. Blood flows freely from his arm, pooling beneath him at an alarming rate. When he doesn't answer, my voice becomes frantic. "Aukai! We made it. We're alive. Wake up, damn it!"
"RUBI?" Zanthus' voice booms, parting the spectators like the Red Sea. Material is draped across my shoulders right before my mate's body collides with mine. Tears flow down my face as he soaks my fear up like a sponge.
"What the hell, Rubi?" he demands, rubbing smoothing patterns down my back. "What happened? We've been looking for you everywhere. Are you hurt?"
I try to reassure him long enough to keep him from losing his mind, but we've got more pressing issues at hand.
"Zanthus, we've got to take him to the pool. He'll die if we don't," I plead.
His brows drop scary low as he gets his first look at Aukai lying naked behind me. I don't give him the chance to snarl orders to have the mer detained or worse.
"Please, he saved my life," I beg.
One flick of his chin toward one of the taller males off to the side and he's hefting Aukai up into his arms. We rush through the gathered crowd with the two of them on our heels. An out of breath Zale and Zephyr meet us as we're strolling through the front door of the Keep.
"Little siren," Zeph whispers into my hair in a relieved sigh. "I leave you alone for two minutes, and you disappear on me."
"A conversation we'll be having later about that," Zanthus hisses at his brother.