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“Enough,” Atlas calls over the din of the governors.
I try to catch Michio’s eye to see how he feels about his great-uncle being called a fraud, but he doesn’t look over at me. No, he’s glaring at Atlas.
“Alaric Herod fulfilled the task. He brought back a trident, just not the trident.” Atlas glowers back at Michio. “End of discussion.” Atlas stands to his full height. His hair brushes the ceiling. “Next topic. Castor Drakos, proxy from Glyden.”
“Thank you.” I nod to Atlas. I wasn’t sure he’d gotten my message. “It has been brought to my attention that a member of the security council has used a mermaid as leverage to get his agent to perform tasks. Marina Herod was sent to the Kraken because a security agent wouldn’t murder two innocent human women.”
Gasps go around the room.
The Braesen governor stomps his foot. “Our mermaids, the females, belong to us.” The scoff in Haden’s voice makes me want to hurt him. “No governor would give away such a precious resource.”
I glare at the Braesen governor. “You’re wrong on so many levels, governor. First, they are not our mermaids. They are not property to give permission to. They are people. People with rights.” I turn to the governor of Seolfor, expecting her to back me up. But then, governors don’t give backup unless they know the side they’re backing will win.
Tristan sneers at me. “Need I remind you, you’re not the governor of Glyden. You are but your brother’s proxy. You need to watch what you say before the council.”
“My brother and I have the same mission: to bring fairness and justice to the Veiled City, to change the way we interact with humans, and to save our race.” I pound my hand on the Glyden podium in front of me. “But selling mermaids to the Kraken isn’t—” The crowd cuts me off. A cacophony of voices merge together. Something isn’t right. There’s something bigger going on. Michio won’t even look my way.
Atlas bangs his trident on the floor of the balcony. “We will dispatch a ship to the Kraken stronghold.”
“You want another war?” Forrest raises his fist at Atlas. “How many fronts can we fight on? The truce with the Kraken is a profitable one. We can’t risk alienating them.”
“Exactly why we are pulling our ships back from Skyrothasia now. There will be no more talk about getting mermaids from them.” Atlas nods to each of the males on the security council: the Stele governor Forrest, Koralli’s Ovid, Braesen’s Haden, and the giant eel in the room, Vitrom’s Tristan Bellucci. Interestingly, Atlas ignores the proxy of Tinom. Their governor is currently aboard the Omicron. “Our sister will not be lost. End of discussion. Next item.” Then Atlas turns and looks directly at Michio.
And I try to picture how I would feel if it was Kai who was gone. I’d be trying to find her. All my brothers would be. I’ve thought about it before now. Yes, I’ve forced this issue, but I’m doing it because it’s the right thing. I would go to the chasm and back for my sister. Just like Eros is, in his own cavalier way. But not Michio. He looks mad.
Atlas is putting his foot down and saying we are going to go after her. I look back at Atlas, and I’m at a loss. Maybe he’s not like Nico at all. At least with Nico, I know what he’s thinking.
A voice echoes down from the gallery. “Braesen has a subterranean lab. They are experimenting on podlets and Kraken. They have the answer to the mermaid problem.”
17
EROS
I cup my hands and get ready to say it again. I’m done with this shit. Sending a sub? What the hell does that mean? To search for her? We know where she is. They need to open talks with the Kraken, not send a sub on a joy ride toward Kraken territory. If they’re not going to really do anything for my sister, I’m going to at least do something for Annabelle’s cause. “Ask the Braesen governor about his secret lab. Tell us, tell us.” I start a chant that others pick up. “What are you hiding?”
“Tell us. Tell us.” The crowd on the balcony chants with the same enthusiasm as fans of a ball team. Mobs are great for that, and there are none more willing to be a mob than the family of the governors.
That’s when I feel Sunshine at my elbow. Her lips purse into almost a smile. I wrap my arm around her. I’m not sure how she got in. Not without me at her side. Technically, my whole pod can come. Really, anyone who wants to come should be able to find some sort of ephemeral link to a governor. Michio, my brother, is the governor of Zaffiro, and he should be the one getting Marina’s name out there, keeping her name out there. But he doesn’t want to do either. I love my brother, but I don’t like what he’s doing—nothing. I have no idea who he’s becoming.
Tristan Bellucci the Vitrom slug dares to stare at me, and his eyes flick to Sunshine. He’s being bold enough that Nico picks up on it. Damn, if he even thinks of laying a finger on our mate, it gives me one more reason to kill him. Sunshine squeezes my elbow. It’s like she knows what I’m thinking. He’s my connection to the security council. He controls my destiny, and I hate the fucking spineless blubber fish.
The governor’s dome is all for show. A clear circular cut lets them see the ocean above. I think there’s supposed to be something hanging down. I don’t remember... a massive bronze light fixture. The floor is ringed with ten chairs, each with a podium. Half of the balcony is filled with family for today’s festivities, and the other half holds the chair of a now cranky king.
The sharks above the dome circle faster than they did before Sunshine arrived. Their shadows dance on the floor below. I glance up. Nico does too. The rest of the balcony focuses on the governors below. Something’s not right. Sure, the balcony is chanting. Sure, there’s chaos in the room. But my senses are picking up on something else. I calm my heart, but my intuition is usually right. Holter’s beside me.
“Get her out of here,” I say firmly.
“I’m staying. I want to hear how they respond. I’m not a child—podlet. I need to be here.”
“Fine,” I grunt, but I can’t get over the feeling that something is off. I scan the chamber doors on the lower level.
The chant from the crowd is dying out, but no one from below has answered. In fact, I’m not sure what’s going on down there. Several of the governors are talking in a tight ring. A few others are yelling at each other, and Castor is just staring up at us. It’s chaos on the chamber floor. I can make out some of what’s being said. “Lies, that’s all you ever spout.” But I’m not sure who said it. Others are stunned, and still more are shouting at the Braesen governor, “Tell us the truth,” and, “I’ve heard that, but I thought it was just a podlet tale.”
Atlas stands on the other side of the balcony. He looks right at us and slams his trident on the floor. It’s then that a crack opens in the dome’s top, a sliver at first but enough to make people stampede to the door.
“Calm,” Atlas shouts. The shock on his face at the cascading water from the roof tells me he didn’t know it was going to happen.
The Maelstrom has stood for a long time, longer than most buildings. It consists of three domes linked together: the governor’s chamber, the judicial dome, and the administrative dome, with a docking dome out front for solos and omadas. The governor’s chamber is the smallest of the three, and people are streaming from it, racing for the administrative lobby or the docking dome. But here we have direct access to the waters of the Veiled City, so heading for the administrative lobby will get you trapped and the docking area will be dangerous if the water reaches it—every vehicle will be knocked away. A flooded docking dome is a death trap.
