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“The loser attacked me!”

“You gonna try to kill us?” Cove pulls my hair.

I yank hers. “You guys need to stop saying my dad’s a murderer!”

“He is one.” Earwig gets in my face. “You may as well stop defending him. Just makes you look as guilty as he is.”

I spit on her, not that it does much good in the ocean. Then I kick my tail and punch, not caring who I hit where. Or that I’m giving into them. I can’t stand quietly while they keep lying about my dad.

Fists slam into my face. Nails scratch my arms. A blade digs into my arm. They all speak over each other. I fight back as best as I can, but it’s three against one. I’m disadvantaged in every way. Someone hits me in the nose. Blood gushes out. I can taste it when I breathe in the water.

One of them pins my arms back. The other two wrap a rope around me. I struggle against them, not that it does any good. I can’t get away. The ties are tight, and they burn against my skin. No matter how much I struggle, I can’t move.

Then I remember that weird electrical power my dad and I were using against those fish. I try to summon it, but fail. Disappointment washes through me.

“Have a good night, killer.” Earwig slaps me across the face.

I gasp. They’re leaving me here. “Are you coming back for me in the morning?”

“And be late for our classes?”

“Don’t let the fish eat you.” Cove’s tone holds a song to it.

They all three giggle and start to swim away.

“You better rethink this!” I fight against the rope, but it still won’t budge. “Do you really want to do this to the king’s daughter?” I hate playing that card, but what other choice have they left me? Cove is right—I’ll be fish food if they leave me here. “Think about it.”

Earwig gets back in my face. “Believe me, I have. I’m not scared of you or your father. He doesn’t deserve to be on the throne, and you don’t deserve to be the heir. I’m going to throw a party the day Drake Ayers is removed from the castle.”

“You’re not worried about what the king will do to you for this? Despite how you feel, he is the king. And I guarantee you, he will be all kinds of pissed off when he hears about this.”

“Good. Then he’ll realize just what he’s up against.”

“You? He’s not going to be afraid of you.”

“No, but he’ll realize how serious his opposition is. And once he hears my name, he’ll know who my father is. Then your dear daddy will wish he’d stayed on land. He’s going down. You all are.”

With that, they leave me to be fish food.

Part of me wants to yell for them to come back and release me. This is crazy. Insane. They’re going to get me killed. And they don’t care. That could be what they want. Probably is. But Halen would know they were behind this. She’s the one who told me how much Earwig hates me. She’ll tell my parents, then those three will pay. But what good does any of that do if I’m dead?

A howl sounds in the distance.

Fish howl?

I struggle all the harder against the ties. Doesn’t do any good other than to give me rope burns.

More howling.

My mind conjures up an image of those sharp-toothed fish my parents and I fought. What if they travel in packs down here? They could be the underwater equivalent to wolves.

I reach around the tree as far as I can. If I can reach where the rope is tied, I can try to undo it. Free myself. Then at least I wouldn’t be attached to the tree while fish kill me by eating me slowly, bite by bite. That image sends a cold chill through me.

Can’t … reach … the knot.

How am I going to get out of here? Where’s a cell phone when I need one? Is there some way I can contact Halen or my parents? Or anyone. I’d take that awful Mrs. Middlebrooks at this point. Or even Bash. No, not him. I’d be mortified to have him see me like this. The last thing I need is to be a damsel in distress and have him swoop in.

No. I’m getting myself out of this. How, I don’t know. But I’ll find a way. If only I could reach the knot. It’s too far. I’ll dislocate my shoulder if I reach back any farther.