The Tides of Loss and Longing (Love from the Deep #1)

Chapter 10

Aurelia

U sually, Aurelia found solace in her evening swims, but her emotions were in turmoil tonight. As she swam, the cool embrace of the ocean did little to calm her racing thoughts. No matter how far she swam or how deep she dove, her mind always drifted back to him. The sea had always been her home—so why did it no longer feel that way?

She wrestled with the confusion brought on by Drake and the complicated emotions that had surfaced since meeting him. She had visited her family, seeking clarity, only to realize they lived in a world she could never fully belong to again. A world she had, in essence, turned her back on.

Aurelia thought back to the argument that had driven her from her grotto, realizing now that Drake had every right to be upset. He had shared something deeply personal while she had kept secrets and lied. Though her feelings for him were still confusing, one thing was certain—she longed to be closer to him, to understand him completely. And the only way to make that possible was by being honest and letting him in.

Aurelia quickened her pace with a newfound determination burning through her, cutting through the dark waters. She was so focused on her goal that she almost missed the chill creeping up her arms, the hair rising on the back of her neck. A sudden sense of unease, a primal warning, prickled at the end of her consciousness. She slowed her movements to listen.

Instinctively, she whirled around, her senses on high alert now, just as a shadow from the inky depths below sped toward her. At the last moment, she lunged to the side, swallowing a scream, barely avoiding the gaping jaws of a shark. It was massive—one of the largest she had ever encountered. Sharks were among the merfolk’s most dangerous predators. While her father and brother hunted sharks for sport, Aurelia preferred to stay far, far away from them.

With a terrified cry, Aurelia twisted and swam, her tail propelling her faster than she had ever moved in her life. But she wasn’t fast enough. The shark’s razor-sharp teeth sank into her side with a sickening crunch that would haunt her nightmares. Agony flared through her, searing and intense. Somehow, Aurelia held on to her wits through the pain. Before the shark could tear her wide open, with a surge of adrenaline-fueled strength, she grabbed the hilt of her whalebone knife and drove it into the shark’s head, right between the eyes.

The shark released her instantly. Blood clouded the water flowing from her wound, and she began sinking into the dark abyss below. Her vision blurred, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she struggled to stay conscious. But her resolve remained unbroken through the pain, fueled by a fierce determination to survive.

Aurelia summoned the last of her strength. She was so close to her grotto, to Drake.

Ignoring the searing pain in her side, she kicked and thrashed, propelling herself towards her grotto with all the force she could muster. She pressed her woven sack filled with seaweed into her side, trying desperately to stem the blood flow. She couldn’t risk attracting more predators.

Her body grew weaker as she swam, sinking closer to the ocean floor. Fighting desperately to keep her eyes open, she suddenly felt smooth flesh against her own. Flailing, she caught hold of what felt like a dorsal fin. With renewed vigor, Aurelia forced her eyes open and cried out with relief. A dolphin, likely from the pod she had played with earlier, had come to help. Thanking the dolphin, she clung to its dorsal fin as it swam toward her grotto with lightning speed.

Upon reaching her island, she released the dolphin and struggled through the underwater entrance of her grotto. At last, Aurelia broke through the water’s surface, gasping as she collapsed safely onto the shore.

The last thing she saw was Drake’s pale face, his green eyes filled with horror.