Another guard cried out in outrage, hefting his spear. Merletta barely dodged it in time, and it sliced through the water, emerging briefly into the air before falling back with a splash.
“Easy now,” bellowed the head guard, holding out an arm to the guard who had tried to spear Merletta. “No need to shed blood!”
Worried about me? Merletta wondered dryly. Or just about attracting sharks?
“Do you see that?”
The startled cry of one of the guards brought everyone’s attention around to her, and several heads broke the surface in order to properly follow the direction of her pointing hand. Merletta joined them, although she didn’t need to go above to know what the other mermaid was looking at. Someone had finally spotted the island.
“Is that land?” gasped the guard who still had loose hold of Merletta. He released her, looking rattled.
Everyone’s eyes were on the island, even Ileana looking taken aback, but Merletta’s gaze dropped to the water in front of her, and her heart seemed to stop beating.
No. No no no. He can’t be here, today, after all this time.
But there could be no mistaking Heath’s familiar form as he swam across the surface of the water toward the group, his closely cropped dark hair slick against his head from the driving rain.
Merletta cast her mind around frantically, trying desperately to think of some way to prevent the others from seeing him. She hadn’t really believed for a moment that he might come today, after months of absence. Such a thought hadn’t even been in her mind when she’d made her decision about which way to lead the guards. Exposing Vazula was one thing, but she would never in a thousand tides have chosen to let this group see Heath.
“Merletta!”
His clear voice somehow seemed to cut through the storm, his eyes wide with concern. He must have realized she was in trouble. Her heart beat double time, and only partly because of the danger to him. It had been so long, but nothing had changed. The connection between them was just as strong, and just as indefinable, as ever.
But there was no time to dwell on that. His shout had drawn everyone’s attention to him, and one member of the group, at least, hadn’t missed its significance.
Ileana turned to Merletta, her shock turning quickly to glee. “I knew you’d seen too much for a slum-dwelling orphan,” she breathed. “But I never imagined it had gone this far. They’re going to do a lot more than just kick you out of the program. They’ll never let you live if you’ve actually befriended one of them.”
Her eyes turned back to Heath, who was still swimming swiftly toward them through the choppy water, with touching but misguided confidence.
“Let alone what they’ll do to him.”
Merletta’s blood ran cold, but she wouldn’t let the other girl see it. “They can’t touch him,” she scoffed. “What will they do? Crawl up on the land?”
Ileana narrowed her eyes as her gaze flicked between Merletta and the approaching human. “He’s not on the land now, is he?” she taunted, hefting her spear.
“Ileana, no!” Merletta shouted, lunging for her. She seized Ileana’s spear, attempting to wrest it from the older girl’s grasp. As they struggled, Merletta was dimly aware of the reactions of the other guards to Heath’s approach.
“Wait, who is that?”
“You mean what is that? Where’s his tail?”
“Is that…a human?”
“Impossible,” the head guard barked. “Humans are a myth.”
Some part of Merletta’s brain registered that the guards didn’t know what Ileana did. But she had no time to process it. Ileana had always been a stronger, better fighter than Merletta, and Merletta couldn’t hold her. The older girl wrenched her weapon free, propelling herself toward the island with deadly purpose.
“It’s a land predator!” she called over her shoulder as she swam. “We can’t let its kind discover our presence in the ocean. We must destroy it!”
“No!” Merletta cried, but the guards ignored her. They surged forward, clearly spooked by Heath’s appearance, and ready to assume that as a Center guard, Ileana knew what she was talking about.
Merletta dove after Ileana, her heart beating frantically as she tried to catch up. The guards swarmed around her, spears raised as they made toward the human.
Heath had obviously seen their approach, and he had stopped swimming, bobbing uncertainly in the turbulent water above the reef. His eyes scanned the group, his features lightening with relief as his gaze latched on to Merletta. She tried to call a warning, but a wave slapped her in the face, sending water down her unsealed throat, making her cough.
Heath was no fool—he must have realized the armed guards swimming toward him weren’t friendly. But he made no move to flee, perhaps acknowledging that he couldn’t outswim them. He raised his hands in a gesture of peace, and one of the guards just in front of Merletta hesitated.
But Ileana knew no such qualms. She was almost upon Heath now, and she glanced back at Merletta, making sure her rival was watching. Then she ducked below the surface, throwing her spear in the environment most familiar to her.