The retort is quick on his tongue, but I cut in. "Can we please not do this now? I'll explain everything as soon as we fix him."
Zale presses close on my other side, claiming a hand to bring to his lips as we keep our pace to the pool. His silence weighs heavy between us, but there's only so much my nerves can handle at once.
One problem at a time.
I'm nearly running to keep pace with the longer legged men around me, and it's still not fast enough. By the time Aukai is being laid down half in and out of the water like I direct, the tension in my shoulders is taut enough to snap at any moment.
"I'm sorry," I warn my mates, locking eyes with each of them before sinking to my knees at the wounded mer's side.
My fingers drift over the jagged cut in Aukai's arm and then lower to another gash in the top of his thigh. It's highly improbable I have anything left after performing whatever miracle it took to get us back here, yet that doesn't stop me from reaching for it anyway. It slowly responds. Too slow. There's no chance I'll be able to save him at this rate.
I don't realize I'm crying until the droplets are rolling down Aukai's skin. A warm body presses into my back before a hand locks over the top of mine.
"Let's do it together, love," Zanthus murmurs into my ear, bringing a fresh round of tears.
I can barely make out Zale and Zephyr kneeling down into the sand at Aukai's other side. My three mates are willing to help me after I disappeared then resurface with another man at my side. A naked one to boot. The love I have for them warms me from my head to my toes.
Zanthus' magic brushes against me, and I let what I have left mesh with it until the salty water begins to creep up Aukai's body. It fills both of the tears in his skin, staunching the flow of blood and knitting them back together right in front of us. It's amazing to watch but also semi-disgusting as well. Still, I don't dare turn away.
There are a few more stressful seconds before his breath starts to even out. From nowhere, that faint pink line I'd seen outside the barrier flares to life the brightest red I've ever seen. Gasping, I jerk backward, forgetting Zanthus has me securely locked within his arms.
"Rubi?" Zale utters. My eyes flash to his as he asks, "What is it, damselfish?"
How do I tell them they aren't my only mates? That fate has chosen yet another for me. Another round of tears floods my eyes. What if I caused this?
"I only meant to return the favor by saving his life," I tell them on a sob. "I didn't mean to."
"Little siren?" Zeph starts but is quickly cut off by Zanthus.
"What didn't you mean to do, love?"
"Talk to us, damselfish," Zale pleads.
A new voice breaks into our conversation. "I believe she's referring to us being mates."
Zanthus' arm tucks me tighter at Aukai's words. His voice is scratchy as though it's been awhile since he used it. I reach for him as he tries to rise up on his arms but quickly change my mind and pull my hand back.
"Are you okay?" I ask him.
He nods, poking the spot on his arm where there's no sign of any injury. Then those red eyes find mine. "Thank you."
"Thank you first. " I smile, wiping the back of my hand across my cheek.
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, care to give us a rundown of what just happened and who in the realm you are?" Zanthus asks with barely concealed fury at my back.
"I was in the bath," I tell them, taking the lead with a fact they already knew. "One second I was there and the next, I wasn't. When I woke up, it was to Aukai saving us from a monster."
"How did you leave the barrier?" Zale asks.
At the same time Zanthus barks, "What do you mean a ‘monster’?"
"I don't know how it happened." I shrug then shudder. "The monster was huge. One of the biggest sharks I think I've ever seen in my life, but something was wrong with it."
"It was tainted by darkness," Aukai supplies.
"Sharks aren't all that uncommon in the concealed depths of the deep," Zeph drops with a grin.
Zale nods. "They don't look too friendly either."
There's no way to describe to them the feeling of that creature, and I hope they'll never get the chance to figure it out either. I wouldn't be able to fathom one of them being eaten the way we almost were.
Aukai clears his throat softly like it's paining him to speak, "This was no ordinary fish, Your Highness."
Zanthus stiffens further. "You know who we are?"
His reply is a quick dip of a chin. "I do. I was born in the kingdom to the north, Sewayne, under King Bruinen's rule." If he notices my body tensing, he doesn't show it as he adds, "The darkness that has possessed that monster outside your barrier is the same that attacked us and dragged our entire kingdom to the bottom of the sea."
I listen to his explanation of the decline of his kingdom with no other emotion than fear. Even now, knowing his people are trapped just as ours, there's only one question that matters until we can figure out how to break the curse. My gut says it and the darkness, or its puppet masters I should say, are working together.
"Bruinen still alive?" Zale asks calmly.
I'm grateful he did because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to bring myself to do it. Then my heart drops into my stomach at Aukai's nod, making me feel like I'm going to puke when he tells us that their savage leader was one of the deranged that they had locked away beneath their own barrier.
"How did you manage to escape?" Zanthus questions skeptically.
Aukai's gaze clashes with mine. "I followed what I'm now assuming is a lifeline to our mate here."
Zanthus' huff pushes my hair away from my shoulder as he replies, "She's not yours until she claims you."
"Who was your mother?" Zephyr asks, cutting in. We all look to him like he's lost his mind, but his expression is a strange one I've yet to see him wear.
"Bahari," Aukai answers without hesitation.
Zephyr makes a pained noise in the back of his throat, and I reach out for him instinctively. He brings my fingers to his lips with a sad smile. One of the details of Aukai's story had been that his mother was killed during childbirth. The Zs mother had been stolen by Bruinen's clan. Putting the two of those together sends a shock of understanding through my brain, and a tear slips down my cheek. The back of Aukai's knuckle brushes across my cheek, catching it on the way down.
Then two things happen at once. I feel Zanthus suck in a breath like he's getting ready to reply as Zale moves to push Aukai's hand away from me. Immediately, there's a burning sensation that rips across my left bicep. I hiss in pain and jerk out of the reach of all four males just in case it's contagious. Wouldn't matter either way because they're all in some form of shock taking in the brand around their own arms.
"Oh my god," I squeal, glancing down. Where once clean, albeit sand-covered, tan skin was, there now sits a beautifully crafted tribal tattoo of sorts. "What's happening?"
"Our clan markings." Zanthus glows pridefully.
Zephyr's grin matches those of his other two brothers. "Looks like you've officially been honored into our clan, little siren."