Of the Sea

Chapter Seventeen

After tying the doorknob of the cabin to the railing, keeping the blond mermaid locked in, Donovan scooped Ara up again. She was fighting the urge to blackout, exhausted from her struggle with the much stronger male, and now what she needed most was ocean water. Stumbling to gain traction on the wet, rocking deck, Donovan held her close to him and waited for the next crest to arise.

"What about you?" She asked him weakly. He wondered how she could be concerned with him; the man who had set out to kill her, had put her life in danger. He was beginning to think differently of these creatures.

Just as he was about to tell her not to worry, something slender broke the surface of the water and hit Donovan between the shoulder and his collarbone, causing him to drop Ara into the swirling black water as he fell backwards onto the deck. It was a spear, serrated with shark's teeth that dug into his flesh with every little move he made, and the rolling of the waves were not helping. Stand up, he thought to himself, fearing that one might slither aboard while he was down. He made it to his knees, and then gripped the end of the spear. Pulling it out would be painful, not to mention how much more damage it could do. He clenched his jaw, knowing he better get it over while the adrenaline was still numbing him. He took in a deep breath and pushed the spear out the back of his shoulder. He let out a scream and a slew of curse words that contended with the roar of the ocean. He thought he might faint, but he pushed himself up onto his feet, looking over the side of the ship.

Was that little mermaid alright?

Up from the water came a blue tailed creature, mouth gaping and hands grasping onto his coat to try and pull him overboard. Donovan's knees buckled against the side, and he searched around for the spear he had just dislodged from his shoulder, only to come across a net. He wound his fingers around it and folded it over the merman's head, wrapping it around his arms so that they wouldn't strangle him. Then he jammed his palm into the creature's nose, forcing him backwards and down into the water, to where he would hopefully not resurface.

Donovan spun around against the railing to catch his breath, and was eye to eye with yet another one. He sucked in a deep breath, now unable to ignore the profound pain in his shoulder, and he knew he didn't have the strength to fight off this one. But that didn't matter; Ara was free and he had evidence locked in the cabin. Whoever found the ship would have to piece together what happened, themselves, because he wouldn't be around to tell it.

Bravely he looked into those silver eyes, waiting to be torn apart by those fangs, but instead the creature coughed. He coughed, and a drop of blood fell from his lips, and he looked down. They both looked down at the serrated spear that was now through his torso, and then he fell face first at Donovan's feet.

Little Ara looked up at Donovan and said, "They're not going to kill us."

***

"If these things are as bad as you say, how can you trust him?" Alec had been whispering his doubts to Astrid from the helm while she kept watch for the morvens leading them.

"He saved Reece, didn't he?" She stated defensively, more than irritated with his constant questioning, but she couldn't blame him. They had been the questions she first asked. "Again, I'm sorry about your nose."

Alec laughed, "I'm sure I've had that coming ever since the Cliffs." Astrid smiled. He would never believe she had just jumped from them. "So, there really is no way to stop this? Whatever this is?"

"You're asking the wrong person." She hated to sound so short, but she could only focus on the task at hand, which was saving her father, if that was still possible. "How many miles have we gone?"

"Almost a hundred." Alec replied. "We've got another three hours to go if they're right about where we're going." He paused, sucking in his lip before saying, "How do you know they're not taking us out to be killed?"