I know. Don’t let go of that throttle! This was where things got tricky. I took a deep breath and used every ounce of concentration I had to control my telekinesis. I’d never done anything on this scale before, but I was determined not to fail. Not this time.
Just as we approached the line of people, sea animals, and vehicles, I swept them all out of the way with my mind. I even managed to move the large underwater boats the military had parked in front of the line.
Holy shit! Mahina yelled. Did you just do that?
I was too busy gathering electricity from the water in the cabin to answer. Seconds before we reached the fence, I sent a huge blast of electricity straight at it, blowing out a hole the size of a small tugboat.
We cruised through the hole, but I knew they were going to come after us. Reinforcements were already pouring in from checkpoints on either side of ours. Our only saving grace was there was no gate on this side of the fence—if I could do what I wanted to, they would have to hustle to the closest opening to get out of the city.
As Mahina concentrated on piloting us into the open ocean, I painstakingly pushed myself out of my seat and swam to the other side of the subbloon. Open the window, I shouted at her, and she did without so much as a bobble of the craft.
Guards were starting to pour through the hole I’d made, so I shot a huge pulse of energy back at them, big enough to create an underwater wave that swept all but a couple back in through the hold. Then, once again using my telekinesis, I grabbed every sliver of wood I could find and molded the fence back together. Within a couple of minutes, it was like there’d never been a hole. The fence was completely mended and booby-trapped with a shot of electricity that would fry the hell out of anything that tried to come through it.
Mahina had been watching in the rearview mirror, alternating her attention between what was in front of us and what was behind us. Holy shit! she said again as I plopped back into the seat beside her.
My legs, and the rest of me, were shaking now. I don’t know if it was because of nerves or all the energy I’d just expended, but I was spent. My head felt like it was going to split open and my entire body hurt.
How did you do that? she demanded.
I waved a hand to tell her we could talk later—right now I was crashing, hard.
Here, she said, reaching into the console between us and pulling out a huge seaweed energy shake. Drink this. You need it.
Normally, I hated the things, but she was right. We still had a couple sentries who had made it out of the city, and while it didn’t look like they were pursuing us, we couldn’t afford to drop our guard. Not yet.
I downed the shake in three huge, hideous gulps. It tasted terrible, but I could tell it was working when my shaking slowly eased off. Exhausted, I rested my head against the back of my chair. I’m not going to sleep, I told Mahina. I just need to rest for a few minutes.
Rest away. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. And considering I was around to watch you go nuclear last summer, that is saying something.
I laughed, enjoying the first moments of peace I’d felt in weeks. They didn’t last long, though, because Mahina suddenly slammed on the brakes, yelling Holy shit for the third time in the last ten minutes.
I flew forward, would have hit the windshield if I hadn’t remembered to refasten my seat belt. What’s wrong? I demanded, trying to focus despite the fact that my brain felt like it had just gone through a blender.
People are out there. And they look like soldiers.
Chapter 19
How could they get out here that fast? I demanded.
I have no idea, she answered. But they’re here. Do you have any more juice left?
Not much. I braced myself anyway, concentrated on amassing as much energy as I could. Again, it wasn’t close to what I could normally do, but maybe if we could catch them off guard …
I lowered the window, told Mahina to get closer, and prepared to blast Sabyn’s men to the South Pacific. But just as I pulled my hand back, I realized I wasn’t looking at a contingent of mermen at all. The group of people coming toward us was selkies—I could see the necklaces with the little pouches that contained their sealskins around each of their necks. And as we got closer to them I realized these weren’t just any selkies. If I was right, the tall one in the middle of the pack was Kona.
Stop! I shouted, breathless with relief and joy. Kona’s out there. That’s Kona.
Mahina slammed on the brakes, and we shuddered to a stop. I swam out the open window to find several members of Kona’s entourage had rushed to check on us
The first one to get to me was Jackson, a good friend of Kona’s and someone I had hung out with on a few occasions. Excuse me, miss, are you all right? He looked at me with concern, though he made no move to touch me.
I smirked up at him, amused by the formal way he was talking. But as we watched each other, a dawning horror swept into his eyes and I realized he wasn’t being funny. He hadn’t recognized me with all the cuts and bruises.
Tempest? he demanded, his voice a lot harsher than it had been. What the hell happened to you?
Kona was beside me in a flash, which meant Jackson had called to him on a private pathway at the same time he’d been talking to me. Tempest?
I’m okay, I told him, though it was pretty obvious I wasn’t. Still, he looked so pale, so sick, that I felt like I needed to say something to calm him down. Not that my reassurances worked. But then, how could they when his silver eyes ran over every inch of me, taking in each visible mark with a tangible fury. Not for the first time, I wished I’d had time to change into something a little less revealing than my turquoise bikini.
Sabyn? he asked on the private pathway that existed only between us.
Yeah.
He looked away. I didn’t make the mistake of thinking he didn’t care, not with his taut jaw and clenched fists. When? he asked.
He grabbed me the day we got back from La Jolla.
Kona’s eyes jumped back to mine. That was three weeks ago!
I nodded.
He’s had you for more than three weeks?
Yes. There wasn’t really anything else to say.
When did he let you go?
He didn’t. Mahina got me out this morning. In fact—I glanced nervously behind us—we need to get out of here. We just staged the great escape, but it won’t be long before they catch up to us.
So you were at Sabyn’s mercy for three weeks? he asked again, as if he was trying to clarify things in his mind.
I shrugged in reply. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, the way they all were looking at me. Like I was a specimen in a petridish. Or worse, a victim.
I figured Kona wasn’t really seeing me—he was seeing his little sister, who’d been brutally abused by Sabyn and then left for dead. But the others, they were staring at me the same way, and it was making me uncomfortable. I’d never been very good at being the one people felt sorry for and I had no intention of starting now.
You need a healer, Kona said abruptly.
I know. We were going to try to make it to your land. We thought maybe—
My lands have fallen. When I was in La Jolla with you, the Leviathan moved in. Took over everything. Tiamat’s other forces have done the same to numerous other selkie and mer lands.
For long seconds, the horror of his words didn’t register—almost as if my abused mind knew it couldn’t take any more. But when it did sink in, I whispered, The Leviathan? He was the most terrifying sea monster in the world. I’d never seen him, but in my year as a mermaid I’d heard hundreds of horror stories, all from trusted sources. He wasn’t exactly the live and let live type. Your people?