"No. But I know what it feels like to have power you didn't ask for forced into your body without your consent. I know what it's like to wake up one day and realize everything about your existence has been rewritten by someone else's choices." I touched her face. Her cheek was warm against my palm. "And I know that if our positions were reversed, you'd do the exact same thing."
Mera's jaw tightened. Her tail lashed once. Twice.
"I hate you."
"I know."
"If you die I'm going to drag your corpse through a portal and drop it in the ocean."
"Romantic."
"And then I'm going to find your father and do the same thing to him while he's still alive."
"Now you're speaking my language."
She kissed me. Hard and desperate and tasting like fear. When she pulled back her eyes were still wet but her voice was steady.
"Thirty seconds. You have thirty seconds to do whatever stupid heroic thing you're planning. And then I'm pulling you out whether you're finished or not."
"Thirty-seven."
