Chapter 78 Execution Mirror
805words
Graves seemed to notice too, and the panic on his face was evident. "What the bloody hell?"
Courtesy of my Biology teacher, I knew what they were.
Electrical eels.
And I could tell you this. Graves wasn't the only one fond of the idea of being close to them.
I fought to push to the other side of the cage to move as far away as possible from the little beasts, but I kept getting shoved back to the front by the water pressure.
Graves sprouted tentacles from the ocean floor and used them as a shield, but it was pointless. The moment they reached him, one by one, his tentacles all went limp and floated lifelessly in the water. "Who...is there?" he barked, knocking one by one into the violet fire.
I found it funny that he could take on Kayn, but a few eels bothered him. Was this another merfolk weakness?
Out of nowhere, the cage got plucked from the ground and levitated a few inches above us.
I didn't waste a second, holding on to Kayn, and swam out with him by my side.
Hector swam up to the other side of Kayn and held on to him. His expression was troubled as he peered down at his unconscious grandson.
"We need to move quickly," he instructed. "I can't fight, but I sure as hell can swim. Hold on to Kayn's other arm."
I looped my arm around Kayn's. Not a heartbeat later, he got ripped out from between Hector and me. With my arm hooked with his, I got dragged after him.
"Nice try, old man, but your glory days are over!" Graves cackled, grabbing hold of my wrist. He pinned me with a warning look. "I've had it with you, girl. One more move, and that boy you admire so much is dead."
Didn't he say he was going to kill him anyway?
I glowered at him as he turned his focus back on Hector. He threw his head back and fell into fits of laughter. "Come on. A goldfish has a more capable backbone than that!"
I followed Graves' gaze, and my stomach sank.
Hector choreographed against a tentacle-like a drunken crab, missing his aimed punches and repeatedly getting smacked through the face.
He was putting up a weaker fight than I could in my injured state.
Was this the best Hector could do? Seriously?
Pain seared my body when Graves carelessly jerked me closer, ripping Kayn from my grasp. It took me a moment to recuperate my senses and invoke the endurance not to pass out.
I remembered the small stone wrapped inside my palm, and I had every intention of using it.
I was the weakest here, but I'd be damned if I was going down without a fight.
Damn these mermen and their ridiculous laws.
I didn't waste a second. I lifted my hand and jabbed the sharp edge of the stone into the side of Graves' face.
He roared, lifting trembling hands to his face. They wavered there for a second, tensed to a point where the veins in them bulged until he grappled the nerve to tear out the stone burrowed into the skin of his cheek.
I blinked, surprised at the damage I inflicted.
"You little…" He spat a slew of curses, turning his bloodied face in my direction. "You're going to regret that."
"Oh, it was so worth it after what you did to my friends."
I inched toward my goal, hopeful he would fall for my bait. "For a merman, you're quite pathetic."
"Pathetic? Girl, you are nothing but a frail, useless human."
"Really? You suck bad at insults." My words dripped with sarcasm, but my heart was loud in my ears. If I failed this, we were all dead. "Didn't you just get your ass kicked by a girl? A useless human girl?"
"What are you playing at?" Victory to me, he followed. "You do want to die, don't you? I see now. That, or you're plain stupid. The moment would be most satisfying when they execute you."
My hands clenched as I labored past the pain and kept moving. "Good luck with that, buddy."
I didn't have to glance over my shoulder to know that Hector was still fighting a tentacle. He was vocal about it.
Graves was directly in front of me now, exactly where I wanted him. My eyes settled on Kayn before I flashed a sweet smile at Graves.
"This is for Ember and Kayn, you jackass." I prayed my strength would be as bold as my words. I lifted both my hands and shoved Graves straight into the execution mirror.
