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Getting crushed between two free-floating solos isn’t how I want to die. It’s too late to leave that way.
Screams echo. Yes, we all have flukes—all of us but Annabelle—but if a dome crashes down, it doesn’t matter that you can breathe water; there are a lot of other factors at play. Pictures of what I need to do flash through my mind like cue cards for a school presentation.
“Get on Nico’s back.” I pick up Annabelle and put her on Nico’s back, then I hand my hidden trident to Holter. “Out the top.”
“Definitely,” Holter and Nico say together.
I take three racing steps to the railing and grab it, holding on tight as I catapult myself over it. I hold on to the railing until there’s a few feet of water, then I hit the floor. The governors are scattering, but I don’t care about them... well, two of them, I fucking guess. But I see Michio’s back heading out the large door, fleeing to the administrative building. Fuck, why is he going that way? Castor’s eyes are trained up on Sunshine. Tristan Bellucci the coward is gathering something up. And I’m really sure that I want whatever he has in his greedy hands.
I rush toward Castor. “They’ve got her. Help me with something.”
He nods. The crack in the glass is larger—and it’s been all of thirty seconds since it happened. “What?” he asks.
The thing with having a room with no cameras and no surveillance is that there are no cameras and no surveillance. All tech is removed from both governors and visitors. The only ones with tech that can get through the screening detectors are those who work for the security council.
I pull my shielded knife out of my pocket and take five sloshy steps to the governor of Vitrom, Tristan. There’s a tearing thud above me, and I glance up and act on instinct. I give my hate a good shove down because it’s not going to do me any good. Hitting him around the waist and seeing him skip along the floor—damn, that felt good. We go skidding toward the wall just as a piece of plaster falls where the governor had been standing. I pull him up to his feet.
“You attacked me,” he growls.
I point to the spot where he had been.
“You saved me?”
“Yes, well, everyone has their flaws.” Castor gathers Tristan’s things into a bag.
The water is up to our bellies, chests, and necks. I pull off my pants and am ready to shift. Castor’s doing the same. The window at the top of the dome is going to give way any second.
“Give me my things,” says Tristan, paddling to keep his head afloat.
“I’ve got them safe for you. It’s too heavy for you to get out safely.” Castor’s right. But also, if we can end up with Bellucci’s bag, that’s going to be a win for us. I feel it in my soul that he’s caused this. There’s got to be a piece of advanced tech in his bag. I need it.
The governor’s eyes go wide. He takes two steps to the door.
“Not that way,” Castor says.
But he’s not listening. He’s not put any thought into the fact that if the whole facility floods, the parking area will too. Solos and omadas will crash and bob together, making the dome a deadly balloon full of ghost vehicles playing bumper cars. Up and out of the dome into the water corridors of the city is the only path to safety.
Tristan swim-runs to the exit. Castor still has the governor’s bag. If there was tech in it, he wouldn’t have given it up so easily. But I’m not following him into danger. I glance up at where Nico and Holter have Annabelle. There are other groups there too, all waiting for the same thing. They’re under the protection of the solid overhang of the roof, away from the outer edge of the glass dome. Castor and I aren’t so lucky.
I shift and duck under the water, staying as low to the floor as possible. I paddle upside down. But the water is too murky with debris—that’s going to be the real threat. Castor grabs my shoulder. His golden fluke waves next to mine.
The force of the crashing window shakes our bodies and pushes us to the floor. It’s only a minute, and then waves slosh back and forth, filling the building. It won’t collapse. Not fully. They are made to withstand something like this. Though something like this doesn’t happen, not to a government building, not to a dome, even one that’s about to be replaced. Maybe a small garden structure that’s hit just the wrong way. Maybe. Not like this, though.
Something scratches along my arm. It’s not deep, but it fucking hurts. Castor holds on to my shoulder. He has the crossbody bag over his chest, and I can’t see much more than that.
There are a lot of voices in the water, but I pinpoint my thoughts on Castor, shutting out the other ones. Ready? We’ve swum like this before, when we were young and dumb and explored caves.
Ready.
I kick off with as little force as possible from the floor. It’s not until I’m sure I’ve cleared the balcony that I put power behind my kicks.
There’s a flag floating in front of me, and I push it out of our way. I’m feeling with my hands. I’m sure the glass is completely gone. It’s designed to shatter into chunks to keep it from cutting anyone, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still cautious.
When I break out of the dome, it’s like taking that first gasping breath after shifting back. I can feel everything around me. Castor’s there. And toward the restaurant quadrant there are groups of males and some mermaids huddling next to a bright blue dome. I scan the area for Sunshine and the others, but they’re not amongst the ones standing and watching. But of course, they wouldn’t be.
Nico would get her home as fast as possible.
Agreed. I am with Castor on that.
