“I need to follow something up, before I turn in for the night,” Merletta said with determination. “I’ll catch up with you.”
Sage hesitated. “I thought you were reluctant to be alone.”
“I was being dramatic,” Merletta said dismissively.
It wasn’t dishonest. She undeniably had been dramatic, even if she had reason for her fears. The truth was that after a month of being isolated and friendless on the abandoned island, her nerves had been stretched to breaking point. But the familiarity of being back in the Center, not to mention hours spent in the company of a friend whom she trusted, had done a great deal to restore her usual courage.
Was her life in danger? Very possibly. But sticking to Sage like a barnacle on a whale wouldn’t protect her. It would just put Sage in danger. Besides, even if she was right that Sage was too well-connected to be targeted, it wasn’t a solution. Merletta was back to stay, if all went well. Sooner or later Ileana would manage to get her on her own, if that was her intention. Better to make it sooner, and keep Sage out of it if possible.
Sage cast her one last uncertain look, then swept past her, brow furrowed. Merletta could only imagine that her friend was glad of some space to think over the evening’s startling disclosures.
Merletta gave an intentionally stealthy glance around, then headed down a different street, moving away from the barracks. She pretended to be focused on her destination, but her senses were on the alert, and she picked up the sound of a tail swishing softly through the water behind her. She slowed her pace slightly, resisting the urge to pull out her spear. She had slid it through the strap of her ever-present satchel, and she could feel it pressed reassuringly against her back.
When she felt the slight shift of the water that heralded an approach, she swirled around, bringing her tail up defensively. Ileana paused only a couple feet away, her eyes narrowed. Merletta noted that the young guard didn’t have her own spear out either. For a long moment they stared one another down, neither saying a word. Merletta was determined to give Ileana nothing, but as the silence stretched out, her anger grew, and her self-control fled.
“Didn’t expect to see me, did you?” she said, her voice quiet but shaking with suppressed emotion.
Ileana looked like she was also trying to keep herself in hand. “I don’t know how you got back to the water,” she hissed. “But you should have thanked your lucky tides to be alive, and swum for it. You were a fool to come back here.”
“Big words, Ileana,” Merletta spat. “But where’s the sting? Aren’t you brave enough to attack me without a patrol of guards to back you up?”
Ileana made a scoffing noise. “You think you scare me?”
Something in her voice made Merletta pause. She remembered the look on Ileana’s face when she’d first caught sight of Merletta earlier that day. She’d been shocked, most definitely. But more than that, she’d been horrified. Perhaps she had even been a little scared.
For a moment, Merletta’s anger was subsumed by curiosity. She regarded Ileana thoughtfully in the dull glow of a distant plankton lantern. “You really thought I was going to dry out, didn’t you?” she said. The words were addressed to Ileana, but she spoke almost to herself.
“My mistake for not sticking around to make sure,” Ileana said. It was hard to see her expression in the darkness, but there was a definite sneer in her voice. “I’ll give you credit for being stronger than I thought, to get off the land in time. I’m guessing your human friend didn’t help you. He didn’t have enough life left in him for that. Who knew they bled red too?”
Merletta started forward, her hand itching for her spear as her anger flared back to life. “He’s worth twenty of you!”
Ileana didn’t rise to the bait, just regarded her silently. “I wonder, are you a traitor? Or just a fool?”
Merletta narrowed her eyes. “Have you come to finish the job, then?”
Ileana’s scowl was clear in her voice. “If I had my way…” she muttered.
Merletta shifted back slightly, locking that information away for later. Ileana wasn’t just pursuing her own inclinations where Merletta was concerned. Someone else was most definitely directing her movements. Was she here at that person’s behest right now? Or had she been unable to help herself from confronting her old rival?
Merletta’s mind raced, trying to grasp all the implications. What if Ileana was here under orders, and would carry the tale of their encounter back to someone with more power? Panic briefly clouded Merletta’s thoughts. She didn’t have enough information—she hadn’t yet had a chance to decide how she should play the situation.
One thing seemed clear, however. She’d learned a lot in the last year, and not just about the secret realities of land and humans. She’d learned something of how the Center operated, and she knew that open defiance wasn’t going to get her far. At best it would lead to her being blocked from learning anything beyond the bare basics essential for trainees to know. At worst…but she wasn’t going to dwell on the worst-case outcome.
“Is it you who’s spread this story about Heath being the one who attacked the guards?” she asked abruptly, done with their silent face off.
“Heath?” The sneer was back in Ileana’s voice. “The creature had a name?”
But Merletta was thinking strategically now, and she wasn’t about to give in to emotions. She felt a flicker of unease at having unguardedly given Ileana Heath’s name, but after all, what harm could it do? It wasn’t like Ileana was going to pursue him to his land kingdom.
“Why doesn’t anyone know that you were there?” she tried again.
“I wasn’t there,” said Ileana, with a definite note of smugness. “Ask anyone.”
Merletta was silent for a moment, thinking this over. If it came down to her word against Ileana’s, she had a pretty good idea who would be believed. And she had much more to lose than Ileana if the true extent of both of their involvement was revealed.
“It seems like I wasn’t there either,” said Merletta carefully. Her eyes narrowed. “Care to explain that?”
Ileana was silent, and Merletta could almost feel the tension flowing out of her, like its own miniature current.