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Slowly, my hand crept toward the knife. As soon as I felt it, my fingers curled around the handle.
“You’ll make a disgusting meal.” Aleena’s lips pursed like she’d just smelled something rotten. “But sharks are so brutish and stupid. I suppose there’s no accounting for taste.”
When she was less than a step away, her right heel drew back, and I was ready. Metal flashed as my blade sank into her left foot with little resistance, slicing into the delicate skin just above her toes.
The astonishing shriek that followed was loud enough to rattle the warehouse doors. I twisted the blade until my wrist popped just so I could drive the knife in deeper.
“Aleena!” Arina sobbed, running over to wrench her sister away from me. Seawater foamed over my lips as I pressed all my weight down on the blade, refusing to let her go.
“Stop it! You’re—you’re hurting her. Please!”
There was enough panic in Arina’s voice to make me hesitate, and the handle slipped from my fingers on her next tug.
Blood pooled as Aleena’s body crumpled, her sister still determined to yank her away. A hiss cracked through the air as Aleena pulled the knife free. She cast it aside like it was a venomous snake, and my eyes fell on the dark stains smeared over the blade.
“Whoa,dude,” Kai’s voice called, and I snapped up to see him jogging toward the pier. A car sat behind him, its tinted windows halfway down. How long had they been there?
Sunglasses sat low over the bridge of Barren’s nose, his hard gaze resting on me. Or was it on the blood in front of me? Either way, he’d seen—both of them had seen—what I’d done. My mind reeled. I couldn’t think. I—
“Did that shark just toss you a knife?” Ignoring the sisters, Kai sank to his knees beside me, his eyes alight with a child-like wonder. “That was seriously badass!”
He offered a hand, but I hesitated to take it.
“I–I didn’t mean to hurt her,” I stuttered, my eyes hopping between Kai’s steady gaze to the droplets of blood at his feet. But that was a lie. I had meant to hurt her.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he said, an air of softness in his voice. “You’re okay.” Arms drew underneath me, and before I could protest, he’d set me up on my tail. My body teetered, but he steadied me up by my shoulders. His lips quirked. “So, you’ve been holding out on me, eh? Keeping friends without—”
“They aren’t my friends!” I blurted, my eyes jumping back to where the twins stood on the gravel. Regarding her sister as no better than a piece of furniture to prop herself up against, Aleena was still fighting to pry her foot out of her heel.
“No, not those two,” he laughed, not even sparing them a glance. “So, is it just one shark, or do you have a whole frenzy?”
“Oh, uh, just the one.” I could feel my lungs deepen as the adrenaline started draining away. “I don’t usually talk to sharks, but that one needed my help, so…”
Fascination arched his brows, like he could hardly believe what I’d said. “Youtalkedto it?”
I opened my mouth to answer when—
Pop.
My tail split into legs—very bare,very nakedlegs—and an inferno spread across my face.
“Wooooah,” Kai gasped, a hand immediately rising to cover his eyes. “Hellothere. I, uh, don’t suppose you still have those pants I got for you lying around here somewhere?”
Groaning, I stretched my shirt as far down as it would go over my legs. “Of course not. My life’s a divinely orchestrated comedy, and that would be too easy.”
A fountain of water exploded as the bull shark leapt into the air again, its giant body cresting over the harbor. The shark’s nose took a dive back down just as my steel-toes knocked against one another, touching down on the pier a few yards away. “I apparently still have my boots, though.”
Eyes still covered, Kai shook his head, the smile never leaving his lips. “Hey, Barren!” he yelled, angling his face to the car. “Think you can go find Claira some pants for me? Ask around!”
And I thought my face couldn’t get any hotter.
A car door opened and shut, and being alone at the bottom of the ocean suddenly didn’t seem like such a terrible fate. I pulled my knees together, the seams of my shirt snapping as I endeavored to cover my ass.
My day had hardly started, and I’d already managed to lose half my outfit and thwart an assassination attempt. It couldn’t possibly get any worse, right? I still couldn’t believe I’d actually stabbed her. Although I knew she deserved it, the sight of her blood brought a queasy feeling to my stomach. I turned to Kai, whose hand still dutifully shielded his eyes. “Are all mermaids so… so…”
“Callous?” Kai offered, and he laughed when I snapped my fingers in agreement. “Only every one that I’ve ever met. Well, except…” His voice faded into a hum.
“Your sister?” I suggested, and that got a snort.
