Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

XXV: some things won't change (part II)

Ch. 25: Some Things Won't Change (Part Two)

Not that she was dead, of course.

"Mariana?" Uah asked. "Have you decided to ignore me?"

"No, but...dude, this looks awful," she mumbled. Mara's chest tightened as she ran a hand on a scratched stretch of thick skin. Close to Uah's lower back, her fingers met a small, hard patch that, different from the rest of his body, was covered with scales that felt as hard as metal. A crease formed between her eyebrows. These felt different. They were warmer, harder, and covered by small dents that created a pattern—an invisible drawing or word, perhaps.

Uah tensed and shivered. He lashed a hand out and gripped Mara's wrist to jerk her back in front of him, his eyes big and black and all-consuming. He snatched her chin and angled it to make her look at him. When he spoke again, his voice felt lower and huskier against her thoughts.

"I am a prince, Mariana, and those are my hard scales. No one shall touch me there—no one but my future beloved. Do you understand me?" He let her go when she nodded. Uah looked away, his cheeks darker. "I hope you realize it's my body you're caressing back there."

Mara needed a moment to recollect herself.

"Oh. Right." She blinked a few times. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't intend to—"

"I understand," Uah answered. "You were a human; you couldn't know." He groaned and scratched the back of his neck. "Just...j-just be more careful."

"I will." Mara swam back. She supported a hand on his tail—being careful to avoid his hard scales—and tugged at the net around it. If she could break it in a few places, Uah would have enough space to swim away and free himself.

"It's useless. I've been trying to force my way out of this for a while; you'll have to cut it. With a blade."

Mara ignored him. She took the net in her hands and pulled it once. Twice. When she tried to rip it for the third time, something boiled in her stomach. Hunger spread and covered her chest and arms, and the more strength she used, the more delicate everything felt. The nylon net, her clothes, the mermaid before her.

With what felt like a little flick of her wrists, the line broke.

A self-satisfied smile spread on her lips. Mara repeated the process with a few other parts of the net, and after four or five tears on it, Uah sprung away like a tank-bred moray being released into the ocean for the first time. Except this was not the ocean, and the moray in question could speak. Think. Something like that.

"Goddess, this feels great," Uah said with a grin. Even his teeth looked like a moray's. He swam close to Mara—way too close for comfort—and held her hands.

Mara could sense the blood in the water, escaping through the little gashes in the mermaid's tail.

If she was hungry before, now she was starving.

"Thank you, flesh-eater." Uah looked into her eyes. He must've known what Mara felt because he pinched her cheek with a little smirk and let out a warm but annoying sound, half laughter and half sneer. "My sister will hear about what you did here—and my sister is the acting Monarch while Father is away, so that is quite the boom for you Sentinels." He hummed. "This might actually slow her plans a little, so I'd say you still have some time to avoid unnecessary deaths." Uah narrowed his bottomless-black eyes and gave her a shark smile. "If, of course, you agree to help us."

Her gaze kept jumping to Uah's tail. One specific cut was so deep, she could see the pink flesh inside it.

"Help you?" Mara echoed. She shut her eyes and used all her remaining willpower to look into Uah's eyes. Mara twisted her wrists to free her hands from his hold.