The Battle of Riptide Read Online Free Page B

friend and annoyed with himself. But he was four times Barkley’s size, and that probably had something to do with his own lack of stealth.
    â€œMove a little slower,” Barkley suggested. “You’re . . . causing the greenie to sway, umm, more noticeably than the tide moves it naturally.”
    â€œJust say I’m fat,” Gray told him, whispering a little louder.
    â€œHey, I didn’t—”
    â€œI can tell you’re thinking it!” Gray shot back.
    Barkley motioned at him with a fin. “Maybe you’re
supposed
to be fat!”
    Gray was caught by surprise. Could that be true? Was he supposed to be fat? Barkley knew he was a mega-lodon, though neither talked about it for fear of someone, even a dweller, overhearing. He shook his head at Barkley. “Nope. I’m just big cartilaged. And you better not share your theory on my fatness with Striiker or anyone else from Rogue, or I’ll—”
    â€œ
Shhh
!” Barkley hissed, making a chopping motion with his fin.
    Gray immediately quieted and strained to listen. He heard the tide moving the greenie all around him, a few shellbacks scuttling in the sand below, and smaller fish swimming by. Nothing large was in the immediate vicinity of Gray’s sharp senses. And thankfully, there weren’t the telltale chopping tail strokes of a bull from Razor Shiver speeding up to attack.
    But farther away . . . there was something. Gray could smell the drifting scent of a group of sharkkind. It was too distant to identify what type of sharks, but there was a large gathering somewhere. Gray’s nose tingled as he focused on the scents in the water; fear, anger, and excitement. It was like a growing storm. Barkley sensed the same and began picking a path leading away from whatever was going on. Gray stopped him. “Maybe it’s Coral Shiver.”
    â€œMuch more likely it’s Razor Shiver.” That was true. They were near Razor’s homewaters. If there were more than ten sharks in one place, they would probably be shiver sharks.
    â€œBarkley, we have to see. For my mom—and your cousins. We have to be sure they’re not in danger.”
    The dogfish nodded and led them slowly through the greenie and toward a low rock formation where they would be able to see upward while remaining hidden themselves. Gray followed, letting Barkley find their way. The dogfish really was very good at stalking around unseen.
    Gray copied the way Barkley moved, alternately shimmying or drifting depending on the current. He found that by doing this he caused less disturbance in the greenie and moved more silently. He was about to compliment Barkley when suddenly the dogfish’s tail jerked as if he’d been shocked by an eel. “Back, back, back,” his friend whispered urgently.
    Gray lowered himself onto the seabed, trying to become a part of it. “What did you see?”
    â€œRazor Shiver.”
    â€œHow many?” asked Gray.
    â€œAll of them, I think.”
    Gray’s heart thudded in his chest as he looked upward, the sun shining dimly into the ocean from its place high above the chop-chop. There they were! Razor Shiver! He could see their outlines clearly. At least a hundred bull sharks. More, even! They were arranged in loose rows, hovering at the ready.
    â€œWhat are they doing?” Barkley whispered.
    â€œThat’s a battle formation,” Gray told him quietly. “But the better question is, ‘Who are those sharks they’re about to fight?’” Gray pointed a fin across the waters to more than four hundred sharkkind lined up against Razor Shiver.
    â€œ
Whoa
,” Barkley breathed in a raspy whisper.

“PLEASE DON’T LET MY MOM AND CORAL SHIVER be a part of this!” Gray thought as his stomach heaved. The sharkkind facing Razor Shiver weren’t just a shiver—they were a
battle
shiver! Goblin had told Gray those didn’t