Page 16 of Drown Me Gently

Ulric hesitated so long that Auren assumed the Kraken was about to object. About to tell him that it was too close to the surface. But instead, he said the last thing Auren ever expected to hear.

“Can I join you?”

The words rippled through the water like a current heading the wrong way. Auren blinked stupidly at him, unsure he’d heard right.

Auren’s first instinct was to dismiss it as another way for Ulric to play guard and protect Poseidon’s heir, as always. But… Ulric had asked. Not ordered. Asked. He’d given Auren the option to say no. And that—that wasn’t something the Court Sorcerer ever did. This didn’t feel like an obligation. It felt more personal. Something warm stirred in Auren’s chest. He swallowed and gave a single, careful nod, brushing the feeling away before it could rise too far.

“Alright,” Auren said. “But don’t slow me down.”

They swam, slipping past guard routes and into the older ring of stone fortifications. Auren moved toward his usual escape route, already dreading the scrape of stone against his ribs.

“I don’t think you’ll fit through this one,” Auren muttered, preparing to wedge himself through the crack.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Ulric replied.

He placed a single suctioned appendage on the stone beside Auren’s usual exit and pressed inward. The rock gave with a creak, revealing a narrow but smooth archway. A hidden passage.

Auren blinked. “What—wait, this was here the whole time?”

“It’s an old courier exit. Magically sealed, but I keep the enchantment on it fresh.”

Auren’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve been watching me smash myself through coral for years… and this was here the whole time?”

Ulric’s smirk was unrepentant. “A small justice I allow myself.”

“You’re an ass,” Auren muttered—but he was grinning as he said it.

They slipped into the passage lit by trapped flame-bubbles pulsing blue. When they emerged on the other side, Auren moved forward, just as a shadow passed overhead.

An Orca.

One of the Deepguard’s long-ranged patrol beasts. They guarded the city even without Merfolk companions. The creature spotted them instantly. It turned, mouth open, ready to unleash a shrieking alert.

Before it could, Ulric surged forward, faster than Auren expected.

A single hand extended, palm open. The tattoos on his fingers lit like brands, bright blue magic flaring to his elbow. The orca shuddered, gaze going glassy. Then it turned away and continued on its patrol at a languid pace, seemingly without a care in the world.

Auren stared, mouth slightly open.

“If you weren’t the very reason I have to sneak out,” Auren said, “I’d definitely bring you along more often.”

Ulric raised a brow. “And here I thought you snuck out just to avoid my company.”

Auren grinned. “That too.”

He brushed past him in a flurry of bubbles, a grin curling at the corner of his mouth. Ulric followed, then said, “Oh, and uh— don’t tell your mother.”

Auren couldn’t help it. He laughed.

The reef shimmered, the bloom casting everything in ghostlight. Cool blues and glimmering greens trailed like smoke through the water. A colony of sea lions joined the natural wonder. Their slender bodies weaving in and out of the kelp fronds, trailing whisps of blue bioluminescence.

Auren swam and spun with them, knocking aside stalks of kelp, creating bursts of light. The glowing algae clung to his skin and tail like stardust. He knew his hair was likewise coated in dots of luminescence. Behind him, Ulric moved slower, always with control and purpose, never abandon. Auren grinned as he glanced over his shoulder.

“Don’t strain yourself, old man.”

Ulric’s eyes snapped to him. “What did you just say?”

“I said, try to keep up without throwing out your back,” Auren called, laughing as he used his tail to flick a whisp of blue light into Ulric’s face.