Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) Read Online Free

ears. Any life had scattered, leaving me isolated in every direction.
    Heart pounding, I waited. I pushed down my anxiety in case they felt it, swaying with the trees, forcing my pulse to slow. I focused on the vibrations brushing my skin.
    There was nothing more here than flapping fins and twirling comb jellies.
    Somewhere, I smelled the blood from Katus’ nose. They weren’t far.
    As soon as I lost them, I planned to zigzag back up the currents to the Gulf of Alaska. I refused to float around, a pathetic hostage, while Meela carried out her end of Adaro’s bargain. I had to help her.
    I ached to think of home—of Meela on Eriana Kwai, of my family in Utopia. I’d never travelled this far from them in my life.
    Ripples hit my senses. A face appeared beside me.
    I recoiled, blowing bubbles in surprise.
    A sea lion. His playfulness tickled my senses, an aura I felt beneath my skin. He stared at me with huge black eyes, then blew a bubble from his nose, returning my gesture.
    No , I thought. Get lost.
    He zoomed back and forth in front of me. The surrounding plants swayed.
    I drove a current at him with my tail. Katus and Ladon couldn’t find me because of this.
    The animal poked me with his nose and looked away as though to pretend it wasn’t him.
    On an ordinary day, I might have welcomed the game. But he was going to betray my position.
    I snarled, letting my eyes fill with blood and my teeth lengthen.
    The sea lion froze. His eyes widened. With a flip of his fins, he shot backwards into the forest.
    I waited until I lost the feel of him, and then sank into the rocks. My state remained predatory, ready to fight if the guys had felt the movement.
    My muscles were tired, weak. My lungs ached. I hadn’t breached in a quarter-tide. But I couldn’t surface now. Not yet.
    “Over here!”
    Ladon’s voice bounced off the trees. I tensed, trying to gauge which direction to flee.
    “That’s not her, fish face. That’s a sea lion.”
    I opened my mouth in silent protest that he could mistake this body for that fat, hairy animal.
    “Oh. You sure she didn’t flounder?”
    “She never got breath. Give it time. She’ll have to surface.”
    “We don’t have time. What’ll happen if the king finds Lysithea’s cell empty?”
    Silence. Then, with an air of panic, Katus said, “Maybe she’ll stay low and black out on us.”
    He might have been right. Each thud of my heart brought me closer to running out of oxygen. My chest burned. I floated limp, trying to save the tiny puff left in my lungs.
    A crab passed my nose on its way up a rope of kelp. It paused, seemed to decide it would rather stay near the bottom, and changed direction. I watched it, envying a life so simple.
    My skin prickled in the heat, like I’d landed in a pit of toxic algae. Wherever I was, it was much too hot. I guessed they’d taken me to the Fractures—the coast of what Meela called California.
    Not for the first time, I cursed Adaro. I’d taken an oath, trained for years, and fought his war against humans, and this was how he thanked me?
    I reminded myself how quickly I’d broken my oath when I found Meela on the ship I was sent to destroy.
    As though triggered by the thought of Meela, my lungs spasmed with pain.
    Maybe I was lucky. At least Adaro had kept me alive. Still, I didn’t trust him or his promise of peace. He knew Meela would do anything to save her people.
    If I could get to Eriana Kwai, I could help her. This thing Adaro called the Host must have had the potential to control the seas. Why else would he want it? With that power, we could instate a new queen or king.
    Desperate for breath, I glanced towards the surface. Beams of sunlight peeked through the canopy, illuminating patches of greenery and leaving others in shadow.
    I had no choice. If I swam further, they would feel my movement. Plus, the exertion would use up my last breath in a single heartbeat.
    My lungs gave a desperate squeeze. I couldn’t bear it any