Of Fangs & Fins ✔

68. Underestimated

Sixty eight.Hades.

I heaved myself out of the water and rolled onto my back, letting out a sigh of relief. I breathed heavily as I stared up at the night sky. There were only a few stars and I watched them intently, wondering if it would ever be possible to get myself far away.

I could just leave, I thought.

The sounded of the water splashing against the river's wall changed, as if something was swimming against it. I sat up and looked into the water.

Rivulets in the water merged and a head popped out from the water. My eyes narrowed and I turned my head. "Who are you?"

"Representatives of Aqueria. There was a distress call from one of our own. And we're on... standby by the Consul."

I chuckled. "The Consul? So, you're finally working with them."

The mermaid looked uncomfortable as if he didn't want to speak his next words. "We're under the direction of Quaestor Ward on behalf of Marina to deploy warriors and collect any Consania members. We are simply a retraction team looked for Princess Waverly."

"I have no idea where she's gone," I looked toward Luce's facility and thought about where Eryn and Waverly could've swim off to. If Eryn managed to find anyone, I'm sure she sent them somewhere safe. There would be no other place that was safe except... "Have you checked the Consania kingdom? I'm sure if anyone managed to get the victims out, they'd be sent back to home."

The mermaid awkwardly swam closer. "Thank you. You're the one that has Marina's hand?"

I smirked and looked at the ground before looking at them. "Not quite. I'm just another vampire helping out. Make sure none of you come to the city. There's..." I looked out into the shadowed buildings, "creatures out here that can pick up on your scent. You're all safer in the water for now. Any other missing persons I find I'll direct them to the river."

The mermaid nodded and dipped under the surface. The waves around it followed and I could only assume if that conversation went bad, I wouldn't only be fighting the mermaid that spoke to me.

I let out a sigh, grateful that things were starting to turn up. Maybe this wasn't a complete loss. Lucinda definitely had Marina and Neri.

The seraphic fragments had sapped almost all my energy. I was the eldest vampire here and I was utterly useless. I searched the whole building and followed the trail leading off to where Marina could be. The scent was old and the water muddled it almost completely. I thought I'd picked back up on it once I made it to the city, but there were too many foreign ones masking hers.

Noises of guttural screams and shrieks sounded deeper into the congested buildings. I could hear multiple figures skittering along the rooftops. They could smell me and they had no idea what to do with that information. I could make out three of them, two on the roof and one on the ground. The one on the ground wanted to be the one to approach me, but it wanted the backup of the ones behind it.

Their minds were primal, but with no other emotions. They were too focused on the hunt, and on the reward after. There were no traces of their prior humanity, nothing of the identity they had at all.

I sighed deeply and sat up. My hair hung around my shoulder heavily. It already dried and frizzed up due to the murky water. I glanced up at the feral once again, watching how they hesitated in approaching me.

I extended my nail and cut a clump of the ends of my hair. I held it in my fists and walked toward the ferals. They hissed low and backed up slightly, recognizing that I held an immense amount of demonic energy. They were without a doubt created In Luce's lab. They held the same scent.