Ripples (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free

“I arrived two weeks ago and there was no human.”
         All hope shattered. It was like watching a glass slip from your fingers in slow motion. That moment in between breaths where the world becomes completely silent and then shatters with a tremendous crash where pieces of glass scatter over bare feet. You can’t move for a moment. All you can do is stand and stare at the remains of what had once been so beautiful and now sliced into your flesh, drawing blood.
         Without a word, I started to move as though part of a different body. Slowly, I exited the room and stepped out into the corridor beside Elik. Anger was rolling off of him, but I hardly noticed as I led the way back toward the small room we had entered. I knew that he was furious at me for not letting him finish his job, but I didn’t care. Patrick was dead. He was gone. I wanted to hurt someone, lash out and hit something. All the time we spent planning had been for nothing. All the lies that I had heard about Patrick being okay, all the reunions I had imagined in my head. All of it was gone. It was gone when that merman said those simple words, “there was no human.”
         How long had it been since he had died? Did he die because he thought I was dead too? Would he still be alive if I had somehow shown my face to him? I felt the tears spill over and roll down my cheeks. Why have you left me here?
         Unaware of where we were going, I followed Elik. I felt the world closing down on me and sniffled in the darkness. I tried to do it quietly, but knew that he heard. He sighed heavily and took my hand.
         “Now’s not the time,” his voice was gentle but urgent. I nodded and picked up my speed.
         We made it to the small room with the hidden door easily and out onto on the grounds in no time at all. Again I noted how easy everything was and my fear returned; something wasn’t right about this. We had been in the castle for at least fifteen minutes and yet, no one had noticed our presence.  Even now, the alarm from the castle had not been raised and the merman in the room knew we were here.
         My senses heightened and I swept the grounds with my gaze. The moon was brighter now than before and we were going to have to make a mad dash for the trees. Throwing my feelings aside I tried to focus on what needed to be done. We had to get out of here. That was the most important thing.
         We darted across the sloping lawn. And the sound of padding feet reached our ears at the same time. We ran faster, but I could hear more than one pair of feet and knew that we were doomed. Elik could take on one merman, maybe two, but he would also be trying to protect me and that would be his weakness.
         I cursed myself for coming on this fools errand. I was only a threat to all the Lathmorians; I endangered them more than the Hyven. All for nothing , I thought and the words of the Hyven soldier ran through my mind again.
         The feet behind us got slightly closer and we ran faster; the trees hiding us, but our feet giving us away. Up ahead, I could hear the ocean crashing and for some reason I felt that the water would offer some protection. Maybe it was the desire to mingle my salty tears in the liquid embrace of the waves, or maybe it was to feel smaller in this world that suddenly was too personal.
          Something up ahead moved and it was too late to register that I should stop. I whizzed right past when I realized that it was Tunder. Relief filled me as I saw the other Lathmorians rally behind their leader and run toward our chasers. I slowed my pace but didn’t look back. I didn’t want to see the blood that accompanied the cries of pain coming from the Hyven. Death was all around me and it was all I could do to reach the water.
         We raced across the beach and darted into the crashing surges of foam. Plunging into a wave, we took off into the night and it wasn’t until we reached the caves of