Mamta did not answer immediately.
Mostly because something enormous was moving beneath them.
The sea pulsed strangely around it. Slow. Heavy. Like the water itself was breathing.
And both mermen had gone completely still.
That scared her more than the thing below.
Until now, they had carried themselves with the effortless confidence of predators sitting comfortably at the top of the food chain.
Now?
Now they looked alert.
Careful.
The faster one moved first.
In one sharp motion, he closed the distance between them and caught Mamta around the waist.
Mamta jerked violently in surprise, seawater bursting around her.
His grip tightened immediately.
"Don't fight me."
Mamta glared at him underwater with murderous disbelief while bubbles escaped her mouth.
Are you insane? I literally cannot breathe enough to argue right now.
The merman somehow understood anyway.
His mouth twitched.
Not fully a smile.
More dangerous than one.
"We're diving."
And then they vanished beneath the surface.
The ocean swallowed the world whole.
Cold darkness folded around Mamta as they descended fast enough to make her stomach twist. Human instinct screamed instantly.
Wrong.
Everything about this was wrong.
Humans were not built for deep water.
Not like this.
The faster merman held her firmly against him as he swam downward with terrifying speed. One arm locked securely around her waist while the other sliced through the current almost lazily.
Too smooth.
Too effortless.
He didn't swim like a human.
He moved like gravity worked differently for him underwater.
The darker-haired one glided beside them silently, silver eyes scanning the surrounding depths with sharp controlled focus.
Watching.
Guarding.
Hunting.
Mamta realized with a spike of adrenaline that they were not escaping blindly.
They knew something else was down here.
Something dangerous enough to make them move this fast.
The faster merman suddenly stopped.
Turned toward her.
Then grabbed her jaw.
Mamta nearly stabbed him on reflex.
His eyes narrowed instantly.
"Still trying to fight."
Mamta glared harder while bubbles escaped furiously from her nose.
Yes?? Because this is terrifying??
He reached toward a satchel fastened near his side and pulled out something glowing faintly purple between his fingers.
Thin strands.
Seaweed.
Mamta stared at it suspiciously.
The merman pushed it toward her mouth.
"Eat."
Absolutely not.
Mamta immediately shook her head underwater.
There was no universe in which she was calmly eating glowing underwater plants from a stranger who technically counted as sea cryptid royalty or whatever the hell he was.
The darker-haired merman looked exhausted already.
"Human survival instincts are catastrophically inefficient."
Mamta pointed aggressively toward herself underwater.
Human.
Exactly.
The faster one leaned closer.
Close enough now that she could properly see him beneath the dark water.
And that was honestly another problem entirely.
Mamta had expected monsters.
Teeth.
Rotting skin.
Something ancient and ugly waiting beneath black waves.
Instead, the being holding her looked like the sea had learned elegance.
Which somehow frightened her more.
Bioluminescent markings curled beneath blue skin like moving tides. His eyes reflected light too sharply to feel human. Long dark-blue hair drifted weightlessly around a face structured almost too perfectly.
Not beautiful in a safe way.
Beautiful in the way storms were beautiful from far away.
Mesmerizing things killed people faster.
Some primitive survival part of her understood that immediately.
The enormous shape beneath them moved again.
Closer.
The water vibrated around them.
Both mermen reacted instantly.
The faster one's attention snapped back toward her immediately.
"Eat. Now."
That sounded enough like an actual warning that Mamta finally obeyed.
Mostly because ancient ocean horrors were apparently nearby.
The purple strands tasted unexpectedly sweet.
Cold-sweet.
Like rainwater mixed with mint.
The merman held her jaw gently but firmly while she chewed. His thumb pressed briefly beneath her chin to force the swallow properly.
Practical.
Necessary.
Far too intimate for someone she'd met approximately four minutes ago while drowning.
Mamta became acutely aware of several deeply unhelpful facts all at once.
She was underwater.
Possibly moments away from becoming something found floating near harbor rocks.
A biologically impossible sea predator had one arm locked around her waist.
And despite every survival instinct currently screaming at her to focus, some traitorous part of her brain had still registered the absurd detail that his eyes were unfairly striking this close.
Unbelievable.
Her priorities deserved public execution and her survival instincts deserved disciplinary action.
The seaweed dissolved quickly against her tongue.
Then suddenly—
The pressure in her lungs eased.
Mamta froze.
Not breathing exactly.
But no longer suffocating either.
Her eyes widened instantly.
The merman noticed.
"There."
Mamta stared at him in horror and disbelief.
What did you DO to me.
His grin appeared immediately.
Sharp canines flashed briefly.
Not enough to look monstrous.
Enough to remind her very clearly that he absolutely was not human.
"Veylroot," he said.
Of course it had a dramatic name.
The darker-haired one interrupted flatly.
"We need to move."
Right.
Focus.
Ancient underwater nightmare nearby.
The faster merman adjusted his hold around her waist again before pulling her deeper beneath the sea.
Mamta tried not to react to how effortless it felt for him to carry her through the water.
Failed slightly.
Because humans fought the ocean.
These creatures belonged to it.
And that difference was terrifyingly obvious.
The deeper they descended, the stranger the world became.
Light appeared where none should exist.
Massive coral structures glowed faint cyan beneath distant cliff walls. Silver fish spiraled through enormous underwater arches half-covered in reef growth. Long flowing plants drifted between carved stone pillars etched with symbols Mamta couldn't understand.
Her heartbeat slowed despite herself.
Not calm.
Overwhelmed.
This wasn't a monster nest beneath the sea.
This was civilization.
An entire world hidden below the surface.
The realization hit harder than the cold water ever had.
Politics.
Architecture.
Trade.
History.
Civilizations were always more dangerous than monsters.
The faster merman noticed her staring.
"First time seeing the lower currents?"
Mamta gave him a deeply unimpressed look underwater.
What exactly gave it away.
His expression shifted again.
That almost-smile.
Like amusement reached him before caution could stop it.
Dangerous face to have honestly.
The darker-haired one suddenly slowed.
Immediately both their bodies changed tension.
Alert again.
The faster merman pulled Mamta slightly closer without thinking.
Protective positioning.
Instinctive.
The water around them had gone silent.
No fish movement.
No current-song.
Nothing.
Mamta felt her pulse sharpen immediately.
Then she saw it.
Far ahead in the darkness—
Two enormous golden eyes opened beneath the sea.