Page 318 of The Spider Queen

I floated for a moment, trying to take it all in. The golden underwater castle. The merrows. My ability to breathe underwater.

One of the merrows detached herself from the hoard swimming around the castle to float toward me. Her silver eyes were solemn, and as she neared me I felt her pain as if it were my own.

My breath caught as she reached out with webbed fingers and gently latched onto my hand. She kicked her powerful tail and swam toward the castle with me in tow.

The sea of merrows parted, and we glided through them and stopped at the entrance of the castle. The door was gilded gold, shiny, etched with unique scrollwork and symbols.

She released me and then gestured to the door. Just as she was about to turn away, I reached for her hands and grasped them, pulling her toward me.

I took her pain.

Her eyes widened in confusion and disbelief. The burdens lifted from her, and I felt her heart beat with joy instead of agony.

She leaned forward and brushed her lips across my cheek. I dropped her hands. She twirled like an elegant ballerina on stage and kicked off, disappearing into the throng of merrows once again.

I looked back to the door. There were two handprints carved next to one another.

I placed my hands in the indented handprints. They fit my palms perfectly and a moment later, the doors swung inward to reveal a palace throne room. I swam through the open doors, my eyes attempting to take everything in.

The floors were inlaid with iridescent mother of pearl and the walls were gold. I blinked, marveling at the rich luxury.

I continued to kick forward toward the throne, where one lone merrow sat. He perched, elegant and refined, his eyes warm as they tracked me.

His tail was thick and powerful, silver and glistening with shimmering scales. His chest and torso were well muscled, his blond hair tinged silver and green.

The fins of his tail flipped up and then he was aloft, rising from the stone throne and darting toward me. He swam around me in one tight circle. I tried to pirouette, but I wasn’t as fast or as graceful. Air bubbles escaped my lips.

The merrow smiled in mirth.

Something about him looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out.

He held out his hand to me.

I took it.

And then with a massive kick, he shot forward, pulling me behind him.

Chapter 20

We swam through a hallway of mirrors, but the glass wasn’t normal. As I looked at my reflection, I saw a vision peering back at me that wasn’tmeat all. Instead, I saw a woman with a golden crown and cold, red eyes.

I flinched in fear and focused on the merrow’s fingers linked with mine.

There was another ornate door at the end of the hallway, and the merrow pushed against it. We went through the open doorway, and then we were in a wide, expansive ocean. We kicked up and up, the murky water turning cerulean blue, brimming with sea life and colorful coral. As we neared the surface of the ocean, I saw golden sunlight speckling the water.

I popped my head out through the surface and grinned up at the sky, my face warming in the sunlit air. I licked my lips, tasting brine.

“This way,” he said, startling me out of my reverie.

My eyes flipped open to peer at him. His face was as golden as any California surfer, when moments ago it had looked tinged with silver.

He dove again under the water, his tail cutting through the waves. I swam after him at a slower pace. He was already sitting on a white sandy beach by the time I caught up to him. I walked out of the water and twisted my hair, wringing the salty sea from it. My clothes stuck to me, but he wasn’t checking me out. His face was tilted up to the sun, a smile on his face.

As I took another step toward him, I watched his silver-finned tail split down the middle and begin to form a pair of human legs.

I diverted my eyes when I realized he was naked below the waist.

His amused chuckle hit my ears, yet it wasn’t sexual or flirtatious. It was genuine mirth. “Don’t turn away on account of my lack of modesty.”