Page 54 of Sea of Evil and Desire (The Deep Saga #1)

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Morgana

T he Mer were all floating belly-up, just like my dead goldfish had as a child, a look of contentment spread across each of their faces.

The explosion—a bomb of what appeared to be calm—had seemingly come from my webbed fists. I looked down at them in awe.

A whimper from my side alerted me to Edward’s presence under the table.

“What happened?” I swallowed as I looked around the room.

“Y-you—” he stammered, pointing at my hands. So it had been me.

The last thing I remembered was Pisceon’s rough hands on my shoulders. That was when the bomb had gone off, rendering all the Mer in the room senseless. The glass panes from the window threw colored shadows on their faces as they drifted to and fro in the swell.

“A-are they dead?” Edward breathed, curling himself out from under the table.

Princess Glacies was hovering above my head, and I pressed my palm to her chest.

“Her heart is beating.” I exhaled the words. Thank god it was beating. Thank god I hadn’t turned them all to dust. There was no doubting that I had powers, but not being able to control them made me dangerous.

“We ought to leave at once,” Edward hissed. The cape of the pearl-cloaked guard floating above his head stroked his cheek.

I rushed to Finn and pressed my fingers against his neck. He had a pulse. His father’s lightning was no longer scorching him, but he floated motionless like the others. His dark locks wafted in the swell, his eyes were closed—the lids bruised indigo—and his lips had parted slightly. I brushed his hair from his forehead.

“Are you coming?” Edward pushed past me.

“I can’t leave him.” I nodded at Finn’s lifeless body.

“We have to. He can’t be trusted.” Edward’s voice was icy. “There’s a reason the Mer are stunned, and I am not.”

I didn’t move. Some of Finn’s actions had been questionable . . . but he was still Finn .

“I—I can’t.” I shook my head, and tears built inside me. I was putting Edward in danger by lingering.

“Do you believe they’ll allow us to leave the castle with an unconscious Mer draped over your shoulders?” Edward gripped my arm and pulled me toward the doorway.

I swallowed.

“Morgana . . .” Finn’s voice was weak.

I swung around to see that he had righted himself.

“What happened?” He dragged his gaze over the other floating Mer. Angry red streaks still decorated his body where the lightning had struck.

“I don’t know. I did something.” I looked at my hands again, as if expecting to see answers.

Something welled in Finn’s eyes as he surveyed me.

“We need to leave before the king wakes up,” Edward said anxiously, tapping his foot as he stood in the doorway.

“He’s right.” Finn’s dark eyes surveyed his father’s lifeless body. “You need to go now .”

“What about you?” My throat constricted.

“I need to handle my father. He will never stop hunting you if he thinks you are the key to one of his plots.”

“Are you going to kill him?” My eyes were wide. “But, the trident . . .” I reached for him, remembering how the lightning had encompassed his body.

“I’m not going to kill him.” Finn’s face darkened. “I’m not a monster. Even though he’s tried his best to make me into one, he is still my father and all I have left.” He exhaled a breath, squeezing my hand. “Although I must admit a part of me wants to kill him for what he’s done to you . . . for what we’ve done.” His thumb brushed gently across my fingers.

“When he wakes up, he might kill you ,” I choked out.

Finn chuckled, but there were dark rings under his eyes. “That was nothing.” He waved his other hand. “I would let him burn me to splinters if I knew it would keep you safe.”

“You promised you wouldn’t talk to me like this anymore,” I muttered, pulling away from him, but I didn’t mean it.

“Don’t you get it?” He cupped my face. “I’ve never been scared of death, but now I’d go happily just knowing that we’ve had this.”

“H-herm.” Edward’s cough reminded me of his presence.

“Go,” Finn said gently. “I need to stay here and ensure he doesn’t send guards after you.”

I didn’t move.

“My father may be stronger than me, but I know his weaknesses and how to manipulate his mind.” His eyes glimmered. “He must be convinced of my allegiance so we can figure out what he’s up to.”

I reached for Finn’s tattooed arm once more, and he pulled me against his chest.

“There is a second half to the prophecy,” I said hoarsely. “My grandmother confirmed it.”

He ran his hands through my hair, his tail beating slowly as he hovered above the floor. “Then we will find it together,” he whispered, thumbing my jaw and lifting my face to his. “We will find the whole thing before we decide what to do.”

He gently released me and moved back, pulling my hand onto his chest so that his heart beat against my palm. “We will save my people together and bring peace to the clans.”

Utter silence filled the room as we stared at each other, broken only by Edward tapping his foot impatiently behind me.

“You asked me about destiny once, and I realized when you cried for peace that we were meant to meet.” Finn caressed my hand, which was still pressed against his chest.

“Why do you think that?” I asked, looking up at him. Tears were trying to fall from his dark eyes, but the ocean was quickly claiming them.

“My father is incapable of love, and my mother was scared of it. But you have shown me that the best way to protect my people is to love them, and that means trying to keep the peace before going to war.” He looked away from me at his father’s floating body, and when his eyes found mine again, they were filled with fire. “I never cared that I was in an arranged marriage because my mother taught me to focus on my duty. ‘Love destroys us,’ she told me. Amor perdot nos .” He sighed. “But I realize now it destroys us in the most devastatingly beautiful way, and I would destroy myself a thousand times for you.”

My blood thrummed as he ran his thumb across the top of my hand. “What are you saying?” I breathed.

“We need to go!” Edward tugged on my elbow. Finn allowed me to be drawn away but didn’t release my hand. I kept my eyes locked on him as I stepped toward the door.

“Wait—the guards.” Finn shook his head as if pulling himself together. “I could use my magic, but when they awaken, they’d know it was me. We need to find the prophecy before my father, or Taranis does, and the best way to do that is to convince him that I am using you to help find it.” His eyes were pleading as he looked at me.

Edward yanked on my arm.

Finn kept my hand against his chest. “Can you trust me?” he asked.

“Not on your life!” Edward cried, his eyes blazing. He tried to pull me away again.

I shrugged him off and slipped a hand into Finn’s dark hair, my gaze searching his weary eyes. His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him.

“Yes, I trust you.” My eyes burned as I said the words.

Finn kissed the tears that formed on my lashes. “I can’t take back the things I’ve done, but from the moment I saw you on that jetty, you began working your way into my heart. I don’t deserve your love—not now. Maybe I never will, but I can promise you that I will spend every waking moment of every day trying to earn it.” His voice was hoarse.

I was crying now. I could barely see Finn through the tears bursting from me. He pressed his lips to mine, and I shut my eyes, savoring his closeness.

“Oh, for pity’s sake!” Edward’s cry startled me.

I choked back my sobs and, despite it all, stifled a giggle.

“You need to leave.” Finn let me go, flicking his tail and gliding backward. “If you need me, I’ll be there in a second.”

Edward grasped my arm again, and Finn let him pull me through the door this time, but his eyes remained locked on mine.

I pressed myself into the sandy wall, hardly breathing as I monitored the passage ahead. The hallway outside the war room was deserted, and we hurried along it. The glass bulbs flickered eerily as we passed.

“If we see anyone, act normal, purposeful,” I told Edward confidently, but my voice was shaking.

“Can’t you just knock them out?” he whispered as we reached the slimy banisters that ran along the open areas of each level.

“No! We can’t count on that. I don’t know how to control my power.” My nostrils flared, and I stopped him at the top of the final set of stairs.

Inhaling, I steadied my breathing as I scanned the curved banisters and roughly hewn steps. Two guards were waiting at the bottom with their backs to us. Their cloaks billowed in the swell, and I noted the tall spears gripped at their sides. They turned their fierce eyes on us but did not apprehend us as we passed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. How long did we have until King Neptūnus woke up? Would he hurt Finn again? I shook the thoughts from my mind. I needed to get Edward out of here.

More guards stood at the front entrance, their presence blocking the way. Beyond them, the blue ocean awaited us. My heart pounded, and it took all my willpower not to dart through the exit, dragging Edward with me.

“And where are you two going?”

I winced at the cold voice behind us as we slipped through the archway. Edward stiffened at my side.

Drawing myself up to my full height, I turned. It was Alga. Damn .

“We are acting on Prince Aigéan’s orders.” I moved my shoulders around in a manner I imagined was regal.

Alga’s eyes narrowed. He twisted his magnificent steel-clad torso and looked over his shoulder to his comrades at the foot of the stairs. Noticing no disturbance in our wake, he surveyed us slowly before nodding.

My breathing steadied only once we’d passed beneath the archway etched with the Runes of the Ocean and descended the jagged path winding through the Mer village below.

“Oh, bollocks. I quite forgot about this part.” Edward pulled me to a halt.

Shit, the ravine.

The dark cavern stretched before us, the black rock bridge a mere crack across the center. Finn and I had swum right over it, but Edward didn’t have that option.

“If I recall correctly, these waters had no guards.” A grin split Edward’s pale face, and he stepped onto the bridge.

I followed, trying not to look down. He was right; I couldn’t see any guards ahead, only the backs of their chipped likenesses on the archway at the other side. I focused on visualizing the Mer suspended in calm, hoping to use my powers to hold them there until we were safe.

Edward spun around and winked at me as the slippery rock bridge dissolved into solid ground and sand. “Hah, that wasn’t too dreadful.”

“Edward!” I cried as his leather boot slipped.

Fear widened his eyes, and he teetered precariously. His foot hesitated on a narrow ledge. Then, the stone beneath him crumbled with a sickening crack. His arms flailed as he slipped, his scream swallowed by the cavern.

I dived for him, using my webs to thrust me forward. He had managed to grip the rock face, but his hand was slipping.

I dropped to my knees and reached for him. My fingers had barely brushed his wrist before he slid further. The dark cavern yawned before us, its jagged walls glistening.

“Hold on!” Tears burned my eyes as I gripped his arm with all my strength.

Edward’s wide eyes locked on mine, his other hand scrabbling for a hold. The weight of his body strained my muscles, but I dug my knees into the rock, anchoring myself.

I pulled, inch by inch, until Edward’s free hand found the ledge. When I heaved him back onto the bridge, our breathing was ragged. For a moment, we lay there, side by side, the ocean’s silence broken only by our gasps.

“I’m quite ready to indulge in a gallon of fine rum and enjoy several hours of chess.” Edward moaned.

I rasped a chuckle, and he snorted. Soon, we were laughing uncontrollably, until tears tried to fall from our eyes and grains of sand stuck to the sides of our faces. It was a hysterical, cathartic release. Then Edward stood, pulling me up to walk beside him again.

We didn’t relax our pace until we got back to the kelp forest where I had once swum with the seal pod. That felt like so long ago.

“Edward,” I choked. “I am so sorry that I dragged you into this.”

He shrugged. “It may sound mad, but I feel revitalized. I believe I had been dwelling in a sort of gray for so long that I had quite forgotten what it felt like to live truly—to face heartbreak, danger, death . . .” He stopped to empty sand from his boots while I squinted nervously into the gloom.

“That’s how I felt when catapulted into this world.” I sighed. “I just wish I could control my stupid powers! I don’t even know what I did to those Mer.”

“I—I think I might.” Edward shuffled from foot to foot, sending a group of small white crabs scuttling.

“You do? How ?” I studied his face in the emerald waters.

“Yes, well, after our quarrel”—his cheeks flushed at the thought—“I retired to my room. I still had that silly children’s book the merman at the Taberna had given you, so I decided to leaf through it.” He trailed his fingers across the soft, treelike coral we were passing. “It was written in the Runes of the Ocean, but as I turned through the pages, I realized it contained tales of the old gods.”

“The words were few, so I asked the Captain for a rune key to decipher it. Siochain and her daughter, Siana—whom you are descended from—were the Gods of Peace, as you well know.” He glanced sideways at me to ensure I was following, and I nodded.

“The book claimed they were the most powerful of all the gods, yet they chose not to wield that power due to their nature. Instead, they safeguarded it and protected the ocean.”

“So you think what happened in that room was . . .” I rubbed my chin.

“The power of peace, yes,” Edward said, watching me intently.

“Seriously?” I huffed a laugh.

“You were crying out for peace just before the explosion, so it stands to reason.” He puffed out his chest, pleased with himself for solving the riddle.

“But when the Drowned attacked me on land, I turned them into dust.”

Edward’s brow furrowed, and then he shrugged. “I think that was a form of peace also, but maybe you wished for a finite end for them. Perhaps your powers are operating on the will of your unconscious mind.”

“Honestly, where would I be without your brains?” I slung my arm over his shoulder.

Edward looked at his feet, grinning. “What’s between you and the prince, anyway?” His smile faded, brows drawing together in frustration.

My heart twisted as I thought of Finn. He had chosen to stay behind and face his father’s wrath so we could escape, but he had also lied to me and pursued me on his father’s orders . . . and still, I had given myself to him—all of myself. I didn’t regret it.

Edward was watching me expectantly.

“I met him on land, that’s all.” I brushed off the question, a school of fish scattering in the wake of my palm.

“Don’t tell me he’s the one you saw when you Mourned?” Edward’s mouth popped open as he surveyed me.

I nodded, staring intently at the green waters surrounding us.

“Oh no, surely you can’t be in love with a merman. They’re wicked!” He wrung his hands.

“No, they’re not wicked.” I chewed on my cheek. “There is good and evil in every species—and I never said anything about love.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder.

“You didn’t need to. When we Mourn, we see only those we love—it is a gift from your ancestor, Siana.” Edward looked at me sadly. “I wager he never mentioned he was a merman when he met you on land, did he?”

The terrain had grown increasingly rocky, and we could see the first plumes of Therme Skótos.

“No, but I didn’t tell him my secret either.” I swatted a school of krill from my face.

“Yes, but I bet you wanted to. You didn’t tell him because you thought he wouldn’t believe you—these darn things.” The krill had now surrounded Edward.

“Your point is?” I reached for one of the prawn-like creatures and nibbled on it, glaring at him.

“My point is, he didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to know, not for any other reason,” Edward grumbled.