Crystals pulsed with a faint glow, embedded in the coarse stone walls. Their light did little to push back the crushing darkness. And the cavity was tight, forcing me to fight the constant, frantic need to claw my way toward open water.
There was barely room to wield my chisel. The sharp rock scraped my back and bit into my tail. Blood leaked from the cuts on my hands and unprotected scales, staining the water a cloudy red.
A searing pain slashed through my shoulder as I wedged the chisel under a crystal, working it loose. It popped free, sankto the rocky floor, and then tumbled a few feet away with the current.
I stared at it, unblinking. And suddenly, I saw a worn leather boot slide over the mineral, hiding it from view. Green eyes flashed with challenge. A slanted, seductive smile tugged at his mouth. The one that always made my heart trip.
I swallowed hard.
Even now, at the bottom of the sea, with hate and blood welling from my veins, I missed him. I wanted those days back when I lived in blissful ignorance, before I knew I was a pawn in a wretched game. And for a fleeting moment, I let myself imagine he missed me, too.
Had he found his family? Was he happy?
I am such a fool.
Pressing the back of my hand against my trembling lips, I forced myself to remember each line I’d etched into my cell wall. A thousand cuts had already been carved into my heart. How many more before it stopped beating?
“Get back to work, traitor,” a guard growled, swimming past the tunnel’s mouth. He pointed his weapon at me and smirked. “Or tomorrow, we’ll send you in deeper—with the inmates from solitary.”
I tightened my grip on my chisel, my jaw clenched tight. Any sound he’d take as a retort, and solitary inmates weren’t just dangerous, they enjoyed the dark… hunted in it.
I turned back to the rock. But before I could wield the tool, an agonizing shriek tore through the tunnels.
My muscles locked on instinct.
The walls shuddered with a thunderous crack, and the ground tremored. Loose rocks dropped from the ceiling, the water filling with choking silt. The guard vanished in themurk, leaving me in the shaft.
“Wait! Don’t leave me here!” My cry was swallowed by the swirling water.
A deep groan echoed through the shaft as the ceiling buckled. I covered my head, wedging myself tight against the jagged wall. My fingers clawed at the bare stone as if somehow, I could get even closer. Screams reverberated through the tunnel, cutting off, one by one.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I will not die here,” I whispered, chin tucked tight against my chest. I chanted the words. Again. And again, as the stone fell. My voice caught on each word. “I will not die here.”
Then, silence.
Only the frantic beat of my heart remained.
I unfurled my tail, shoving rocks off my fin with a painful hiss. My scales were damaged and bleeding, a dull throb radiating from my hip. But I was still alive. Others wouldn’t be so lucky.
With shaking hands, I found my chisel and searched for the crystal that had broken free, digging it out from the silt. The day wasn’t done. No one was released to their cell until they’d met their quota.
Mine or die.
Those were the options.
And I was sick of them.
***
Sirena was pacing her cell when I returned, her tail disturbing the sand into gritty clouds. She whirled when she saw me,gripping the coral bars as the guard relocked my cell and moved on.
“I heard there was a collapse in your section. I’ve been out of my mind! Are you okay?”
I fluttered my fingers weakly through the water, wincing from the pain in the joints. “Still got all ten, and a mostly intact fin. It’s my ego that’s bruised. I only excavated forty crystals. You know I’m aiming to rank at the top of the prison.”
Sirena flattened her lips. “Marin, that’s not funny. The collapses are getting worse. They lost eight prisoners today and a guard.”
The one who’d taunted me outside the tunnel? Most likely. I should feel bad, but he’d left me to die. I pressed my palm against my chest, trying to settle the sting. “I’m sorry. Grim humor is all I have left.”
