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After the mermen came to install the bars—an event which I shamelessly hid in the bathing room the entire time—I swam out and finally got into a change of clothes. I picked something easy to move in, something dark and not so fashionable, snickering as I slid it over my body.
The merlady on the telly could kiss my fin.
I chose a black dress that I found hidden deep in the recesses of the princess’ closet. It was unlike any other attire she had, which made it the perfect fit for me; black with long sleeves and a short train that was easy to flap my fins in. I tucked my hair beneath a dark hat and attached my beloved blade to my waist before shoving the chair in front of the doorway and getting the lava globe.
If the princess had escaped from under everyone’s noses, then she’d most likely done it from the inside of this room. Specifically, from the inside of that cove. That meant there was probably another hidden doorway down there that led somewhere else. And I intended to find it.
After securing everything in place, I went to the panel, pressed my palm against it, and swam all the way to the cove. I scoured the muddy floors until I found a messenger bag that I wrapped around my shoulder and shoved the disk into, as well as a handful of golden coins and rubies. Once I found the doorway, I would find someone who could repair the disk. I needed it fixed so I could watch that recording, find out who had been chasing her, and discover who ended up poisoning me.
After securing everything tightly against me, I began looking for a possible exit. I pressed my palms against the cold stone walls and began feeling for a panel like the one in the bedroom. I scoured nearly every inch of that cove, swimming up the ceiling and along the walls. There had to be a way out. There had to be.
The more time passed, the more frustrated I became. The princess couldn’t have gotten out if there hadn’t been a doorway. Was it hidden like the entrance to the cove was? Or was it simpler? I pressed my hands along the edges of a dark wall, and to my luck, I heard the now familiar sound of stones scraping together. I held my breath as bricks parted to form a small doorway. I swam through it and turned around in time to see it close by its own volition.
I hoped there was a way back in, or else Captain Saber would have my head.
Loosing a breath, I turned to observe my surroundings. I was in a dark alleyway of some sort in a place I didn’t recognize. Granted, I hadn’t been given the royal tour of Eramaea, so that wasn’t surprising. Beyond where I floated, noises and activity could be heard. I looked up and saw the pink spires of the castle behind me. Okay, so I was close to the castle, but why did everything look like I was in a poor part of the city?
I dropped my lava globe inside my bag to avoid drawing attention and swam forward a few strokes. I didn’t make it far before I suddenly found myself with company. Three mermen swam into the mouth of the alleyway. I froze and watched as the three hauled a fourth merman and shoved him painfully against the stone wall.
Their voices were too low to hear, but then one of them shouted a curse and shoved his fist straight into the fourth merman’s gut. The merman grunted in pain and slid down the length of the wall, his dark tail curling under him. The others didn’t waste time and began attacking him, kicking at him with their tail fins, throwing fists and curses in his direction.
I floated in petrified silence until one of the mermen pulled out a two-legger switchblade.
My tail was moving before I could command it to stop, hand reaching for the blade at my waist and pulling it out. I charged at them with a fierce cry, placing myself in a protective stance over the injured merman. The three mer looked at me with eyebrows raised. Here in the mouth of the alley, the light from algae was bright enough to see their faces.
They had the features of sharks and eels. Sharp rows of teeth sneered at me and lidless black eyes that looked like they could devour my soul glared. I fought back my shudder and held the blade tightly in my hands.
“I reckon y’all should get goin’ now,” I said breathlessly. My body ached in places where the poison still lingered. I refused to let it back me down, though. This merman was in trouble. He needed my help.
“And who are you to be givin’ us orders, bottom feeder?” One of the mermen puffed his chest out and looked at me with indignation. I refused to acknowledge his question.
“Leave him alone,” I spat.
The three of them looked to each other before turning and smiling at me. Their smiles chilled my bones.
I barely blinked as the one with the blade lunged forward. I dodged, blocking the blade with my own. Too late I realized he’d been the distraction because the mer to my left grabbed my wrist in his tight grip. The one to my right slapped my other wrist, sending the weapon clanking to the ground. I thrashed my tail out, hitting a solid body. I smiled with satisfaction when one of my captors gave a grunt.
Fighting back only seemed to make them angrier. Suddenly, they had me pressed against their bodies, a forearm at my throat and blocking my gills from taking in water to my lungs.
“Seems like you need to be taught some manners, bottom feeder.” I thrashed, but he only held me tighter. My gaze flicked down to the merman they’d hurt. He was slowly getting up, his hand sliding up along the stone wall.
“Don’t you know it’s not polite to harm a lady?” he asked. His voice was deep, smooth, and dangerous. It was the kind of voice where nightmares were born. The kind that lived in shadows and held secrets. The kind that was a weapon itself. The kind I imagined whispered in mermaids’ ears promises of pleasure and adventure. He looked up, and I swore I caught a glimpse of evil in his black eyes. The merman holding me loosened his grip, the surprise in his gasp evident. Before he could say anything, however, the black-eyed merman was attacking.
I barely had time to cry out as he lunged towards us, the blade I’d discarded tight in his fist. When had he picked it up? The tip of the blade came crashing towards us, piercing the flesh of the merman behind me. He howled his pain and dropped me. I fell through the water, fanning my fins and twisting just in time to see the battle that ensued.
The merman crumpled to the muddy ground, holding at his bleeding wound. The other two advanced, but they were no competition. With a few kicks of his tail and twirls through the water, the others fell, injured as well.
The mysterious merman pointed the tip of the blade at them in threat. “You know now who I am?” he asked. It chilled me to my very core. The mermen stared at the tip of his blade and released shocked gasps before nodding vigorously. “Leave now, scum, before I change my mind and run you through.”
The three mermen didn’t need any more persuading. They got up and swam away as fast as they could. And they didn’t look back.
My heart beat so loudly I was sure the black-eyed merman could hear it. He turned to me, illuminated by phytoplankton in the dark. His hair was black and curly, the strands spinning down the back of his neck. His skin was a dark, coppery color, his tail black with jagged, pointy fins. He wore a black jacket with the spiked teeth of barracudas coming out from the shoulders. His nose was straight and pointed, lips full. A single silver cross dangled from his ear, and with the blade in his hand he looked frightening.
He tossed his hair aside with a single jerk of his head. Commanding. Powerful. Dangerous. I held my breath as he swam towards me. But I didn’t back down. Would a merman I really just tried to save, a merman who had saved me, really harm me?
“Foolish little fish,” he muttered.
I blinked. “Excuse you?”
“Those mermen would have chewed you up and spit you out like this morning’s breakfast.” He lifted the blade up and pushed it through a sheath at his waist.
“Give me my blade back.” My hand snapped out in command. I didn’t just get it back from Captain Saber to have it be taken all over again by some tadpole.
His thick dark eyebrow raised. “You might want to look again, little fish.” He nodded at the ground. Cautiously, I took my eyes off him and found my black blade on the ground where I’d dropped it. I quickly picked it up, weighing it in the palm of my hand as I looked at the one sheathed at his waist.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, sudden curiosity nagging at the back of my mind.
“I made it.” Those dark eyes danced with mirth, his lips tightening into a line that made me think he was trying not to laugh at me.
“Don’t lie to me,” I snapped. I was sick of everyone lying and treating me like I was incompetent and stupid just because I was from Lagoona. It was insulting at the palace, and it was definitely insulting coming from this stranger. “That weapon was made by the Black Blade.”
His eyebrows rose, his lips twitched into a smile of mischief. “I know.”
“B-but—”
He made a noise of annoyance, and quicker than I could blink, he was suddenly grabbing me and pushing me against the stone wall. The rough edges of rock and barnacles dug painfully into my back. I gasped, lifted my weapon, but his hand clamped against my wrist, pressing it tightly against the wall.
“Enough talk, little fish. You owe me for saving your life just now.”
I gasped, my breathing heavy but quick. “You’re the Black Blade?” That was all I managed to choke out. All I could think to say. It was the only thing my whirling mind could grasp onto. This merman was the outlaw? The one who had escaped the tight clutch of Selection? He was the one who freed mer from their fates?
The image I had conjured up of him suddenly fell apart, and I didn’t know if I should weep, laugh, or rejoice. I didn’t want to believe that he was telling the truth. I swore I’d never be so gullible again. Not after what happened the last time I’d believed a lying merman. My fin flared in response to the thought, and I shoved it away. He couldn’t be the Black Blade, but... I’d seen him move with my own eyes. Quick, sharp, and silent. A shadow in the night. He’d been all but a blur slashing through the water.
“You’ve heard of me, then?” He was warm against my skin. Close. He was too close to me. I trembled in fear. “Then you’ll know what I am capable of.” His free hand, the one not holding me down, suddenly came up to my face, fingers sliding down my cheek. “And you know I will not leave without payment for my services.”
The slimy barracuda! And here I’d pictured him to be heroic.
“I have money in my bag,” I gasped.
He shook his head. “A pretty mer like you? No. I don’t want your money.”
I swallowed the rising tightness in my throat. Somehow, I managed to push the question out through my fear. “Then what do you want?”
He smiled and hummed a dark sound that slid down my neck and to my fins. “A kiss,” he whispered.
My heart thumped a rapid beat in my chest as the two simple words registered. I became suddenly all too aware of his dominating presence looming over me, pressed against me. Of his flashing white teeth. The curves of his dark lashes. The hungry gleam in his eyes.
“A kiss?” I whispered back, disbelief heavily coating the echoed words.
His fingers toyed with the skin at my cheek before gripping my chin in a tight grip. He inspected me in a way that made me feel all too vulnerable. And still, my heart was beating faster and faster the longer he stared.
“One,” he said. “One kiss for your savior.”
I didn’t want to yield. But there was something all too hypnotizing about his expression. About the way he looked at me. I promised myself I’d never let another merman pull me in like this, and yet I couldn’t help myself as I leaned towards this beautiful stranger.
One kiss.
One kiss couldn’t hurt, right?
“Okay,” I found myself whispering. My breathing grew heavy, languid, and so unlike myself. I tried not to think about that. “One,” I agreed. “Just one.”
He smiled triumphantly, and that was all the warning I got before he bent down and crashed his lips to mine.