Chapter 22

Fatigue weighed heavily on all my extremities, the strain in my muscles surprisingly overriding the ache in my heart. I was nearing the Mariana Islands, which meant the waters were shallower and I could find a safe place to rest. I slowly made my way to the surface, pulling my tired body onto a dead coral reef that jutted above the water. Fragments of the once beautiful species crumbled beneath my fingers, falling to the ocean floor as I hoisted myself up. I hissed as my tail snared on a sharp, jagged piece, slicing through my delicate scales. I glanced down. It was only a minor scratch and nothing to worry about. I applied pressure to staunch the bleeding.

I inhaled a shaky breath. How much more of this could I handle? I had seen enough death and carnage the last few days to damage me for the rest of my life. Every time I closed my eyes for a moment's rest, nightmares of Dark Water plagued my dreams.

The closer I got to the Dark Hydra, the worse the ocean became. This place was a wasteland. Any creature that was able to had fled Dark Water, and its evil devoured anything that couldn't. The stench of death had permanently lodged itself in my nostrils, refusing to budge. I longed for a breath of fresh, salty air, especially if it was laced with masculine spices that smelled like a certain pirate captain.

Kai resurfaced in my thoughts, only enticing my anger. I shoved his tainted memory back into the recesses of my mind where he belonged. He and his crew were probably dead right now and no longer warranted my thoughts or concern.

I was also trying to ignore the fact that the closer I got to the Dark Hydra, the duller the necklace glowed. What had been a nearly blinding luminance was now nothing more than a flickering light that reminded me of a star about to burn out. If the evil here was too great for the small piece of Poseidon's heart, we were all doomed.

A sizable form floating in the current a few feet away captured my attention, distracting me from my despair. What used to be a majestic great white shark was now a massive blob of bones and rotting flesh. I turned away from it, unable to stomach the horrid sight. Goosebumps prickled on my skin. The once notable predator of the sea was no match for the wickedness that seized the ocean.

A disturbance in the water snapped my attention back around, and fear flooded my entire body. The shark's carcass bobbed up and down in the water like a fisherman's cork. Something was trying to yank it underwater. I snatched my tail from the water, drawing it protectively around my body, making myself as small as possible. What horror could possibly survive in Dark Water?

With one last powerful tug, the shark's corpse vanished entirely into the depths of the inky black waves. The only evidence that the body was ever there was a slight ripple in the water's surface. The eerie silence that followed was unbearable. The chill of foreboding swept over me, like icy fingers tracing down my spine.

I whirled around, scanning for any trace of what had dragged the body beneath the surface, but my frantic search yielded nothing, not even the faintest hint of bubbles signaling a lurking presence below. My muscles coiled so tight I feared they would snap under the pressure as the silence dragged on. The crimson smear of my blood on the rocky surface caught my attention, and my chest tingled. I had likely summoned whatever monstrosity this was from the depths with my accident. Fresh blood in this dismal water was like ringing a dinner bell to whatever lurked below.

Fear paralyzed me as a jagged fin pierced the water's surface. Four spiky, pointed bones constructed a fin with skin the color of dried blood stretched tautly across. It circled the reef, drawing closer with each pass it made. Whatever this creature was, it was enormous, judging by the size of the fin. Soon, more fins broke through the surface, drawing closer like sharks on a feeding frenzy.

Dread threaded through me when I heard something jump from the water. I slowly angled my body to whatever this horror was. Shock threatened to overwhelm me as a creature with unholy black lifeless eyes and an endless maw of razor-sharp teeth stepped toward me. The beast was nothing but bones covered in sickly gray skin and easily the size of a human man. It opened its mouth, and an ear-piercing screech that signaled my doom reverberated in the air. My eyes snagged on its claws that were at least half a foot in length and razor-sharp. Perfect for ripping through flesh. My flesh.

It lashed out, claws swiping in my direction like tiny blades. With my powerful tail, I whipped around, knocking it back in the water. The audible crack of bones and the faint trace of blood mingling in the water assured me that my strike had achieved the desired effect. The creature's lifeless body bobbed face-down in the water. I watched in horror as the masses turned toward one of their own, ripping it to shreds. Flesh and shards of bone flew in all directions. The cannibalistic assault was one of the most gruesome things I had ever seen. In that instant, it dawned on me that my odds of emerging from this ordeal unscathed were next to none.

Once the body had been completely demolished, more creatures surfaced. All their lifeless eyes and expressions turned to me with one clear goal—to devour me. Two more jumped up on the reef. My hands flew to the locket around my neck. I held it out like a beacon, hoping that Poseidon's might was still vibrant inside the shiny metal. It seemed to be working. The necklace was still glowing, barely. The creatures retreated momentarily, only to have three more leap onto the rock. The subtle glow of the locket sputtered like a flickering flame about to burn out until, finally, the light died.

The creatures all stepped toward me in unison. One struck out at my chest, snatching the necklace from around my neck. My skin stung at the contact, and I knew it left claw marks across my chest, but I refused to break eye contact to look at my injury. The thing glanced down at the locket, looked at it strangely, then dropped it, crushing it beneath its jagged, clawed foot. The small piece of Poseidon's heart shattered, turning to dust, and floated away on the wind, taking with it what little hope there was at defeating the Dark Hydra.

I knocked two more from the rock before they could reach me, but my efforts were in vain. They kept coming, multiplying at an alarming rate. I was hopelessly stranded. The thought of out swimming them skipped across my mind, but that would be suicidal without Poseidon's heart. Dark Water was inching closer to my perch on the coral reef. My last defense was my song. I only prayed that it would work against the creatures of pure evil that happily resided in Dark Water.

I poured all that I had into my song, careful to lace each note with death. Hope soared in my chest when they paused their attack. My song lacked its typical lethal impact. It seemed to perplex them, which was evident by the tilting of their heads.

Defeat pressed down on me, as heavy as a beached whale on my chest. Without Poseidon's heart, everything from this point on was just delaying the inevitable. Tears slipped from my eyes as I accepted my failure. Everything that I had been through over the past few months had been for naught. Seeking out the sea witch, drawing a truce with the rogue Blackheart Kai, and sentencing Medusa to death had all been without merit. I should have stayed home and accepted our fate gracefully like my father had asked me to. At least I could have bid my family goodbye and told them that I loved them, but I had been too stubborn, and now I would die alone, being ripped to shreds and feasted upon by these creatures devised of pure evil.

The faces of my family raced through my thoughts—my sister, mother, and father. I could be with them now, snuggled deep in their embrace, accepting our future with grace and going out together, yet my ego drove me to believe in a fairy tale. I thought that I was capable of something more than just being the wife of the next king of Aquarius. My stubbornness would be my death. My father had been right.

I halted my song, surrendering to my destiny. Fear lodged itself in my throat, yet I forced it back down. I was going to die with dignity. I was, after all, the princess of Aquarius. I placed my hands delicately across my lap, waiting for my death from the creatures who swarmed. Kai's face skipped across my mind, reminding me of his features, his cocky smile, and his untamed masculinity. I had been foolish to fall for the manly wiles and danger he emanated. I was getting what I deserved for falling for his treachery and believing he could be something more than a monster.

"What are you waiting for?" I sneered, lifting my chin and exposing my throat. I desperately hoped they would swiftly end my life, sparing me from enduring the agony of them tearing the flesh from my bones.

One of the larger creatures from the group stepped forward, lifting its claws high above its head. I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating the death blow.