Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(53)

She stopped, trying to see up through the water to what awaited her on the surface. As she did, she felt a tug on her left hand and gasped, afraid that it was one of the sharks. Looking down, she was surprised to find that a tiny orange octopus, no more than seven inches in diameter, had wrapped a short, stubby tentacle around her pinky finger. It had round eyes and tiny triangular fins on the top of its head that looked like ears.

“This way, mermaid!” the little creature squeaked, pointing with another tentacle.

“But the sharks—” Becca started to say.

“Oh, they won’t touch us. They’re afraid of me,” the octopus said. She raised one of her tentacles and flexed it, like a bodybuilder showing off a bicep.

Though she was still scared, it was all Becca could do not to burst into laughter. She followed the absurd little octopus up through the water toward a cavernous room that contained both water and air.

As Becca broke the surface, she found that she was floating in a very large indoor pool. Three of the pool’s sides were sheer, tiled walls, but the fourth ended in a shallow ledge. Beyond it was a room for humans. Its floor was carpeted. Shelves full of books lined the walls. Flames crackled in a large fireplace.

Floating by the ledge, all in a row, were ten mermen. They all held spearguns, and every single one of them was trained on Becca.

“Who are you and why are you here?” one of them asked. “Answer the question.”

“Those are two questions, actually,” Becca pointed out, removing her hood. “I’m here because I need the duca’s help. My name is Rebecca Quickfin, and I—”

“Becca?” a voice called out, one that she had longed to hear ever since they’d parted.

“Marco?” she called back, uncertainly. “Where are—”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Becca saw a blur on the edge of the pool. She heard a splash. And then a human surfaced.

A human with warm brown eyes and a beautiful smile. His brown hair, sopping wet, lay plastered across his forehead. Drops of water rolled down his handsome face.

“Marco!”

And then his arms were around her, and his lips were on hers. And there was no possible or impossible, no calculations or formulas or theories. There was only her heart, and the huge, wonderful, terrible feeling that filled it. Love.

A few seconds later, though, she remembered that they were not alone, and she hastily broke the kiss, embarrassed.

The ten mermen had lowered their spearguns. Some were busily examining the triggers now, others were looking at the ceiling.

“Um, sorry,” Marco said sheepishly. “I got carried away. I can’t believe it’s you, Becca. I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I guess that explains the warm mako-shark welcome,” Becca said, arching an eyebrow.

“Sorry about that, too. We saw you on a hidden camera, but we couldn’t see your face under that hood. One of the Praedatori grabbed you and pushed you inside. We had to make sure you weren’t a death rider. No one knows we’re here and we want to keep it that way. How did you know?”

“I didn’t know. I hoped,” Becca admitted. “Big-time.”

“I see you met Opie,” Marco said, nodding at the orange octopus, who had now made a bracelet of herself on Becca’s wrist.

“I have,” Becca said, smiling. Opie smiled back.

“She’s a new breed. Opisthotheusis adorabilis. New to humans, at least. She was injured when we found her. A storm had pulled her away from her nest and really tossed her around. I brought her aboard our boat to treat her and tried to put her back when she was better, but she wouldn’t go. Would you, Opie?”

Opie shook her head.

“You’re going to have to go back home one day, though.”

Opie turned red. She shot a jet of water at his face.

“Hey!” Marco said sternly, wiping his eyes. “I thought we had a talk about manners!”

Opie turned blue. Ashamed, she scuttled up Becca’s arm to her shoulder, then buried her face in Becca’s neck.

Marco rolled his eyes. His suddenly dipped under the water, then surfaced again. “This stuff’s too heavy,” he said. “I can’t stay afloat.”

As he swam to the edge of the pool and boosted himself up, Becca realized he was wearing a shirt, tie, jacket, trousers, shoes, and socks.

“You dove into the pool in your clothes?” she asked.

Marco nodded. He glanced at his wrist and grimaced. “And a really nice watch,” he said. He took it off and laid it aside. “You must’ve come a long way. Are you hungry?”

Becca shook her head. “I don’t have time to eat. We’re in trouble, Marco. Serious trouble.”

Marco paused in the midst of removing one of his shoes. His eyes darkened. “What kind of trouble? What happened?”

“Sera was taken. By Vallerio, we think.”

Marco’s expression darkened as Becca told him exactly what had transpired. “We want to attack Cerulea and take her back. I came here to ask you to help us.”

“Anything, Becca,” he said. “What do you need?”

Becca took a deep breath. This was it. Her plan. It would live or die now, depending on Marco.

“I need a super trawler,” she said. “Actually, I need fifty. Can you get them for me?”