Wily did grab him then and dragged him closer. They whispered to each other, but I didn’t attempt to hear what they were saying. I floated closer to Ethan and touched his face. He didn’t flinch, but his mouth curled into a sneer.
“I should gut your father,” he growled.
“Shh. I know.” He slanted his mouth over mine and kissed me hard, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip. “We need to go.”
“Come with us. Now.” Wily waved and we swam as quickly as we could. I’d never realized how difficult it was to swim as a human, not until I was faced with racing alongside mermen. One flick of their tail put them in front of us, while we struggled against the gentle current that swept through the dark recesses of the ocean.
My brothers must have realized what a struggle it was because they grabbed our arms and dragged us through the stone hallways created as a castle dungeon. I knew from the few times I snuck down here with Pru that there was a hole in the wall closer to the south exit, and Pru clearly remembered too because that’s where we were headed.
We were nearly there when we heard shouts from where our cells were.
“Fuck,” Ethan snapped, and I had to agree.
“We need to move quicker,” I said.
Wily nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Taya took the lead, and Wily’s grip on me tightened as he hauled me through the hole in the stone and out into the open ocean of Atlantia. Pru did the same for Ethan, and then we were off. The few people out wandering the city stopped to stare at us, and it took all my effort not to give them the finger as we shot past them. It was a human gesture, so they’d have no idea what it meant anyway.
“There they are!” my father’s voice boomed.
Taya cursed and turned back. “We need to find a hiding spot. The chances of outrunning them are slim.”
“My treasure,” I said, kicking my legs as hard as I could. My thighs were already burning, though, and I felt my breath come out rapidly even though we were underwater. “We need to go to the boat where my treasure is.”
“Why?” Wily asked as he dragged me through a crowd of merfolk that had gathered near one of the market stalls filled with fish. “Father would know to find you there.”
“It has human possessions. Surely there’d be some kind of weapon we could use if they found us there.”
Wily sent Taya a look, and Taya nodded in answer to whatever quiet conversation they were having with each other.
“Fine,” Wily snapped, and he swam harder.
I glanced back to make sure Pru and Ethan were right behind us, and they were, so I focused on the direction Wily and Taya were leading us. More shouting told me that Father and his guards weren’t far behind, and we wouldn’t have much time to find weapons if we needed them.
When we got to the wreck, my entire body burned with exhaustion. I felt like my limbs were on fire, and I was glad for my brothers in that moment. If there was something I missed about being a merman, it was the strength they—we?—had underwater.
I slipped through the hole in the boat and the others followed me. Ethan frowned at the chest I went to and shifted closer when I yanked the lid up.
“Is that a dildo?” he asked with a parted mouth.
“A what?” I frowned at him before turning back to my finds.
He grabbed the pink phallus I’d found just before my first ascent to the surface and waved it at me. “This is a dildo.”
“Is that a weapon?” Wily asked.
Ethan laughed, and I jolted at the sound. “Ah, no. Definitely not a weapon.” He smirked at me. “When we get out of this, Boy, I’ll show you what we use dildos for.”
I shivered at the intense stare he gave me. I still didn’t know what adildowas, but considering that it was shaped like a cock and with the look he was giving me, I was excited to find out its use.
“Shit, that’s a speargun.” Ethan shot forward and grabbed one of my possessions out of the chest, holding it up. He played with it, and all I could do was watch until he made a sound of triumph. “You want a weapon, this will do.”
“It’s like a gun?” I cocked my head.
“Kind of. You shoot fish with it.” He checked it over, and I watched him until he nodded. “It’s got everything here too. It’s probably the best we’re going to get.”
Shouting made me jerk my head, and I placed a finger over my lips to signal everyone to be quiet. Ethan pulled at something on the gun, and all I could do was watch as he set up whatever he needed to. I couldn’t look away at how he moved expertly with the weapon. I wanted to ask him how he knew about spearguns, but the answer seemed obvious. He was a hunter—a fisherman.
