Predators

Chapter 6

The water is cool against my skin as I swim to Miriam's quaters. She had requested me for a meeting hours ago, one that I had purposely put off until now. I had no doubt that she wanted to discuss Ariaana and Auqeua's sudden departures -- she probably even thought I had something to do with them. Not that I really blamed her for that deduction, I was afterall the only other mermaid to ever leave and head off on my own for any considerable amount of time. 

Miriam nostrils are flaring when I arrive. She's yelling at poor Leana, who has shrunken in on herself. 

I raise an eyebrow at Miriam. “I’m afraid to ask.”

Miriam groans. “As you well should be.” She sinks onto her kelp bed and pull her long fingers through her raven hair. “I don’t know what to do. I’m stumped, Leita. If I can’t resolve this… what kind of leader am I?”

I sit down next to her. “Miri… you are going to have to forgive me, but I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about.”

Her eyes burn through me as she sudden turns her gaze upon me. “Five mermaids have died within the last three days. Five of our sisters. I don’t know how, and I don’t know where. But most importantly, I don’t know how to stop it.”

I eye her skeptically, not sure if I’m ready to believe this information. Surely we couldn’t have lost that many sisters within the last few days. It’s nearly impossible to kill a mermaid. “There must be some mistake.”

“That is what I wanted to believe too. But our sentinels found their hearts discarded near the shoreline.”

I ball my hands into fists and take in deep breaths. Ariaana and Auqeua are all I’m able to think about. They had just gone to shore. No. I refuse to believe that they are in any kind of danger. Because if they are, I’d bring all kinds of hell down on whoever dares to lay a hand on them.

“This is all very tragic and alarming, Miri, but I fail to see what it has to do with me.”

Miriam sighs. “How can you not see it? It’s no secret that you are our best tracker and our best fighter, Leita. We need you. I need you.”

“My skill set figures into this how?”

“I need you to solve the murders. Find out what is happening to our kind. Clearly someone is targeting us, and it has to be put to a stop.”

“I wouldn’t even begin to know where to look!”

Miriam smiles ruefully. “Start at the shoreline… see if you can find anything suspicious.” Her eyes begin to beg me. It is so unusual seeing Miriam this way. She never begs for anything, nor does she ever look powerless in front of any of us. But now? She’s here in front of me appearing more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen her. And she’s requesting my help. “Please, Leita. You are the only one that can do this. No one else has even a fraction of your skill. None that are with us at the moment anyway, not since Ari left.”

“I could always go find Ari and make her solve this with me before she goes off on her adventure.”

“Do what you see is fit. Just please, try and solve this as quickly as possible before we have to lose anymore sisters.”

I nod and rise. “I cannot promise anything, Miri.”

Miriam closes her eyes and nods. “I know. But others can promise even less.”