Shattered by the Sea Lord - Starla Night Page 0,17
a lever. Ciran had helped excavate several stages of the ruin. The mer no longer possessed the skill to build up—or that knowledge was locked in the hostile All-Council archives.
“Hey.” Dannika leaned across the aisle to Ciran. “This flight plan goes directly over the Bermuda Triangle, and I know we only talked about squids attacking ships, but planes run off electricity and quite a few have gone missing in the region. Are we in danger?”
“No. A squid attack begins with red fog.”
Dannika glanced out the window at the clear blue sky.
Yes, they should be safe today.
She nestled something in her ears and traced the wire back to her cell phone.
He unbuckled and dropped into his original seat across from her. “Do not spook the instruments, Dannika.”
She removed the plug from one ear. “It’s in airplane mode. At the moment, it’s a self-contained audio player.”
“There is no risk?”
“None.” Then she twisted her lips to the side. “Well, not to the instruments. Our security expert, Starr, sent more recordings of the Sons of Hercules leader. His voices is distorted, but the rhythm and word choice are so familiar…I know it’s someone I’ve met.”
“That makes identification easy.”
Her eyes widened. “Easy?”
“Set meetings with everyone you have ever met. You will find the leader.”
“Everyone!” She laughed, and her soul light brightened with a cheer that warmed him. “Do you know how many people I’ve met?”
“Even if the list is a hundred names long, the importance of the task means you must do it.”
Her laughter subsided. “Is that how many mermen you’ve met in your life?”
“If you do not count the warriors I have faced in battle, then yes.”
“I can’t believe we’re in the middle of a war now, but it seems like it… To answer your original question, I’ve probably met with a hundred people this week. Once you count everyone I see regularly, my friends, my parents’ friends…yes, easily. And when you go back to past months, for example, when I volunteered at the Winter Art Charity Auction, we had nearly a hundred volunteers and over a thousand guests. Plus journalists, the board of directors, employees of the museum, and so forth.”
Ah. Yes.
The surface world was unfathomably vast.
“But I shouldn’t laugh. Your idea isn’t bad.” Dannika poked at her phone. “It’s funny that we’re in a Ryerson Enterprises plane right now. My mind keeps going back to a Winter Art Charity Auction six years ago. I was monitoring the silent auction and Preston Ryerson kept erasing names. We knew his reputation—he couldn’t just bid enough to win, he had to win on his terms—and when my assistant caught him, he treated her with such contempt. It really put me off. Of course, he’s been dead five years at least. But I have to think…what is it about that scene that triggers my memory? Someone standing behind him? Someone he was with? I really should request the guest list. A few thousand will take some time to get through, but it’s better than the non-progress I’ve been making on my own.”
“Tell me your problems, Dannika, and I will solve them.”
“Yes, you said that.” Her smile faded and she worried the ring around her knuckle. “I wish everything was that easy. You really felt nothing for those photos?”
“Do humans?”
“Yes. Especially men. They’re so visual. And once you become willing to open yourself to the possibility of a new life, a new partner, and you can really see it, your true love just manifests. I’ve seen it time and again.”
“Manifests meaning you become aware that someone is your soul mate?”
She nodded.
All from seeing flat images… It was unfathomable. “Did you see a flat image before you met your husband?”
“Oh. Eliot?” She relaxed, surprised, and considered the ring for a long moment. “No. But the first time I met him, I knew he was the man I would spend the rest of my life with.”
“Why did you think this?”
“I don’t know. It just hit me, an overwhelming feeling that couldn’t be stopped. Like when you and I…” She jolted upright. “I mean, not like our first meeting. Not at all. It was totally different with Eliot.”
“How?”
“Uh…well…I was so young. I never realized anything could go wrong.”
Something was missing. He was missing it. “And you always knew your husband was your soul mate?”
“Almost immediately. I was playing in a harp trio, and he was repairing the church’s pipe organ where we practiced. One thing led to another and…” She shrugged, a small smile on her face, a steady glow