Page 36 of The Hunted

EIGHT

Eryx

IT HAPPENED FAST.

One moment, Eryx was watching the black clouds roll in overhead and in the next, the lookout in the crow’s nest of the ship gave his call.

“Aye—on the west!”

What happened next came just as quickly as the lookout’s confirmation on sight of a mermaid. No one questioned his call; they simply moved onto the next part of the plan. Eryx supposed that was because they only had one shot at this working, and the lookout needed to be absolutely sure that his call was correct.

The cannons on the right side of the ship were fired, all four of them at once, sending the vessel rocking back and forth in the choppy waters. Across the waves, he watched the other three ships that had come out on this hunt begin to move. Pulling farther apart than what they had just been, he knew their anchors had only been grazing the sea floor. Just enough to keep them in place.

Eryx found himself fascinated by how swift and organized the ships seemed to be even while separated. They planned and planned and planned more … and when push came to shove, those same plans left no room for questions or deviations.

“Pulling the nets up,” Corval said, coming to stand next to Eryx on the middle deck. “Down on the sea floor, dyed a dark blue, they’re barely even noticeable to the merpeople. Or that’s what we’ve found.”

Eryx heard everything the man said, of course, but his heart raced so fast in his chest that the blood rushed in his ears. He couldn’t seem to take his gaze off the lifting and lowering waters of the sea, his stare cutting through the waves to just see …

To find her, maybe.

Was it even her?

The anticipation curled tightly around Eryx’s throat, keeping him quiet even as the wind blew hard enough to rock the ship. With the sails pulled, the wind could blow as hard as it wanted because they weren’t moving.

Yet.

“Two,” the man from up in the crow’s next called down.

Corval nodded back. “And?”

“Both female.”

Eryx let out a slow breath.

A good sign.

“Anything else?”

High above, the man’s beady black eyes met Eryx’s. A brazen display, really, considering many wouldn’t even meet a royal’s gaze.

“Both redheads,” the man said just loud enough for them to hear.

“How can he see that?” Eryx demanded. “The water is already turning as black as the sky. If they’re under the waves—”

Corval smirked. “Been scouting for twenty years, Prince. He knows what he sees when he sees it. Care to question his calls?”

He thought about that.

For all of a second.

“Not particularly,” he said.

“Right. Then, stand back and let us work.”

“Storm is here, Cap!”

Thirty feet behind Eryx and Corval’s position mid-deck, the captain cursed at the warning from the man who was designated to watch the skies. The team of men on these ships had been doing this more than long enough to know what was happening in the sky and waters.