Oceantide

by Everly Taylor

  I shook my head furiously as tears pooled in my eyes. I pictured Shay’s ripped wing and her tear stained cheeks. I remembered her pain and I couldn’t breathe. Jet soothed me, quietly running his hand over my shoulders. “I know. We will stop it soon, baby.”

  I knew he was right but it was hard to see through my anger. I glanced at the teacher who was still oblivious, his eyes closed and his head back, as he pretended not to notice anything going on. I wanted everyone who had ignored the plight of my friend to suffer as she had for their idea of a good time. I relaxed in Jet's arms and agreed to sit back down. He was right anyway, I wouldn’t be much help from solitary.

  It was almost time for class to end and I gathered up my notes and shoved them in my shirt. Beck gave me a wink and licked his bottom lip, his sexy promise for later. A crash from the front of the room pulled me from the very dirty thoughts running through my head. Just as I had, everyone else looked to the front of the class, some standing in their seats to see what had happened.

  “What the fuck!” the professor shouted as he stomped over to where a sandy blonde haired woman was sprawled out on the floor, her desk tipped over next to her as her body jerked. She had been one of the group that was screwing around with the dust and it didn’t look good for her. Everyone around me watched as she started drooling and her face started turning blue.

  At last the professor stepped forward and turned her on her side, wiping a little drool from her face with a crumpled tissue from his pocket.

  “Do you want me to get someone?” I asked, irritated that this girl was going to die if she didn’t get some real help and no one seemed to give a fuck.

  “Yeah, go get, Um,” he thought for a moment. “I don’t fucking know. Just get someone in here,” the teacher growled at me. Pitiful he didn’t even know who to get to help in a situation like this. Were they all really that useless? “The rest of you, go to your next class.”

  I left the others behind and ran back to Chan’s room and praised the gods he was there. “Another one down from pixie dust. The dumbass teacher doesn’t know what to do. Help,” I said in a rush before turning back to show him where the girl was. I knew he would follow.

  In the minute that it took to get Chan and get back to the classroom, the girl was still. I watched in horror as he kneeled next to her and took her pulse before shaking his head indicating it was too late. The room whirled around me and I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. It wasn’t fair that someone had bought Shay, forced her to give them dust, and now was passing it around to students causing them harm. I didn’t even know the girl and I cried at the loss of her life.

  Warm arms wrapped around me from behind and I fell into them, twisting my body as I sobbed against a hard chest. A warm hand rubbed my back soothingly and I took it, not caring who it was that I cried on. I just needed that comfort in my moment of weakness. I knew everyone saw me as a badass that didn’t give a fuck, but it was quite the opposite. I cared too much. That was why I put up the walls I did, to protect myself.

  It was the whole reason that I had gotten locked up in the first place. Caring too much for everyone, regardless of how it affected me. I couldn’t be that person that just stood back and ignored the unfairness, especially not if there was something I could do about it. It had been Eva that reminded me of that part of myself, and I missed her so much. She would know what to say or do. Hell, maybe she would be the one I would be comforting instead of me being a wreck, a sobbing mess in someone’s arms that I didn’t even know who it was.

  That thought brought me out of my tears. I realized it wasn’t Beck or Jet that held me. I knew the way they felt and this wasn’t it. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and looked up meekly. A set of bright green eyes looked down at me compassionately and I jumped back, irritated with myself. I had not only let the prince hold me, but I had taken comfort in it as well. I was even more pissed when I realized how right it had felt to be held by him, how I wanted him to do it again.

  “Una,” he started, but I turned on my heels and ran out the door, horrified that I had ended up in another man’s arms. I couldn’t take anymore and consequences be damned, I skipped my next class and headed to the showers instead, stopping by my room to grab a new uniform as I did.

  I wanted to wash the feel of death off of me as it somehow felt like it was clinging to me. And I wanted to wash the rich scent of Prince Adar off of me too. He smelled like chocolate, dark, rich and sweet. As much as I hated to admit it, I loved his scent and the way I felt so comfortable in his arms.

  “Oh hell no, Una. Get that out of your head,” I chided myself. I couldn’t think of him that way. I saved his life and he got himself thrown in here. I refused to think of him like that. I knew exactly who he was, a pompous, self entitled jerk that hurt my sister. One of my sisters, Darya, wrote me a letter and described what happened while she was attending court at his castle.

  According to her, our father had gone to a meeting at the queen’s request. She had asked him to bring his single daughters along to meet the Prince. Mira and Darya were the two chosen, given their age and need to be married first. Prince Adar spoke with Darya first, and spent time with her, walking in the gardens and having what she thought was a connection.

  Darya thought for sure he was going to pick her for his future bride. She met his father, the king, and got along swimmingly with him. The king wanted to make sure she was aware of the differences between the way things were run on land versus the sea so he questioned her over tea. It was something we had all been taught, so obviously Darya passed his query.

  She didn’t know what happened between the time she left Prince Adar and the time she ended her conversation with his father, but when she joined them for dinner, Mira was all over him. The queen announced that night, to her shock and embarrassment, that Adar had chosen Mira.

  The man chose the woman that tried to kill him and he knew it. He knew Mira was responsible and her sister was given the blame. Darya had overheard him speaking about it with one of his friends when they had first arrived, so there was no speculation there at all. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he would be okay with the person that saved him going to prison in the place of the one that had attempted to kill him in the first place. And now he wanted to marry her.

  On top of everything, right after my father announced their engagement to our people, and everyone celebrated, Adar broke off the engagement.

  I climbed in the shower and let the cool water wash over my skin as I tried to forget about what he had done to my family. I didn’t give a shit about Mira being embarrassed, hell, she deserved that and much more. I cared that he tossed aside Darya, one of the sweetest mermaid princesses that one would ever meet. She shared my love for the land and would have made a great queen for his people one day. She admitted that she didn’t feel any sparks with Adar and wasn’t really counting on his love, just a mutual understanding to help both kingdoms. She was hurt by the way he seemed to drop her for no reason. Hell, Mira didn’t even have to go through the same scrutiny as she had. It all worked out in the end as she married a wonderful and handsome merman that we had known all of our lives. They had children together and were very much in love. But still, it pissed me off that he could be so arrogant and his behavior was horrifying.

  I looked at the time and realized it was almost lunch. I wasn’t really hungry after everything that happened, but I needed to seek comfort in Jet and Beck. I needed to talk with Ry also and make sure she was still coming to our planning session. I hoped that I would hear from Eva soon and get answers to the questions and we could make a break in the pixie dust thing. Having Ry look over the papers, with her sharp military mind, she may be able to see something we missed. With students dying and Shay suffering, finding the source was more important than ever before.

  Chapter 21 - Jet

  When Una left to get who I assumed was Chan, Beck and I tried to hang back. The asshole teacher kicked us out though, and sent us to our
next class. I waited for her to show up, but she never did and my worry increased as the time ticked by and there was no sign of her. I couldn’t see that asshole letting her stay, which I mentioned to Beck.

  “I know dude, but we have to stay out of solitary. If you leave right now, you know that’s where you're headed. Our girl is strong and she won’t let anyone fuck with her.” He was such a voice of reason but it didn’t stop the dread that sat in my stomach.

  “I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here. I swear if one hair on her head is hurt, I’m going to unleash the wrath of the sea on all these fuckers,” I threatened, not thinking rationally.

  “I’ll be right there with you but I know she’s okay. Frost can’t do anything to her with so many witnesses. He may scare the hell out of everyone else, but Una doesn’t scare easily. You know she’ll put him in his place. She won’t risk her freedom because she has Shay and us to worry about.”

  “I’m really glad you are my brother,” I told him. “I’m sorry about being a dick in the beginning and I’m thankful I didn’t scare you off.”

  He punched me lightly in the arm, “For a woman like that, I’d fight an army to be with her,” he laughed. “Besides, I knew what you were going through and it was hard. I’d do the same for the love of Una if I were in your shoes.”

  The class was finally dismissed and we made our way out, determined to find Una. We walked the opposite direction of our next class, instead, heading to Chan’s class, where we had last seen our girl. I spotted the new guy walking down the hall with his head down and it seemed odd to me that he hadn’t been in class with us. Not to mention he was the one that kept trying to talk to Una and made her angry. When I added two and two together, it didn’t bode well for him.

  There was something in their past and she wasn’t ready to tell us whatever it was. I had been patient, not wanting to push with everything else going on but here was my chance to find out what I could. Hopefully find Una in the process.

  “Hey,” I called out to him and he didn’t respond, seemingly lost in his own world. “Dude, have you seen Una? The girl with the purple hair you keep harassing.”

  At the mention of her name, he snapped out of whatever funk he was in and looked up at me. “Yeah, I just left her. She had a hard time dealing with the death of that chick and she ran off.”

  Jealous rage bubbled up inside me, “Why were you with her? And what the fuck is your deal with our mate?” I asked angrily, barely keeping my hands to myself.

  He held his hands up, “I just happened to be there when that girl died and Una was a mess. She was crying and I couldn’t just leave her to suffer alone. She saved me once and it would be wrong for me to ignore her when she needed someone. As for our past, it’s not anything you’re thinking, and I have no idea why she hates me so much.”

  Beck interrupted, probably spotting my hands fisted at my sides, “Thank you for taking care of her. It seems she doesn’t want anything to do with you, so we’d appreciate it if you left her alone. It’s her choice on who she wants to associate with, and our job to protect her from those she doesn’t want to.”

  Again, I was thankful for his level headedness when I was brought down by the jealous rage that was an unwelcome gift from my mother. Her jealousy was what kept her from being a goddess of the sea as she wanted, yet her wanting it made her angry and jealous. It was a never ending, vicious circle. I couldn’t count how many times I had been on the receiving end of her rage for not doing what she wanted, such as hurting innocent creatures that refused to address her as a goddess. I was not falling to her level.

  “Let’s go see if we can find her,” Beck said to me, interrupting my thoughts of the past. Then he turned to the guy and asked, “Do you know which way she ran off to?”

  The dark haired man pointed behind him, “That way. I think in the direction of the living quarters.”

  I had to hold in a laugh at the way he referred to our cells as a proper term. I didn’t know who this guy was, but he certainly had the air of a man that lived in the lap of luxury his entire life. If so, it was quite a wake up call, moving here. I would have to do some digging to find out more about the newcomer, but now I needed to concentrate on finding Una. Especially if she were as distraught as he claimed.

  We speed walked through the hallways, looking everywhere for her. We managed to evade the guards thanks to Beck’s knowledge from Jaxon on the hiding spots. We weren’t able to make it through the wards to her cell to check if she were there, so instead I used my ability to hear through water by putting my ear close to a water fountain. I listened intently to the noises that came through the pipes, the flow of water through the castle and the noises that came with it, and waited to hear a sign of her.

  It took a while, but I finally heard her voice and narrowed it down to the showers. “It’s a good thing she has a bad habit of talking to herself. She’s in the shower and pissed off. It’s almost lunchtime, so we should go wait for her by the stairs.” I told Beck who chuckled at my assessment.

  She took so long that even Ryoko made it from class to where we waited. “Hey guys. Where’s Una?” she asked cheerily, which was not like her at all. It seemed maybe there was a friendly woman under that tough exterior and she was warming up. It seemed Una had that effect on most people. Something I witnessed firsthand that first day we officially met when she refused to move from my seat. I smiled as I recalled how I had been so pissed she was in my spot and Calex had threatened me to stand down. Somehow, she dragged me out of my bad attitude that same day and made me laugh. We had been together ever since.

  “She was in the shower and now we are waiting for her. That student died and she took it hard,” Beck informed her.

  “Damn, that’s not good,” she said. “I’ll go up and see if I can find her. Why don’t you guys go get some lunch and we’ll meet you back here.”

  “No way,” I insisted. “I’ll be going with you. I want to be there for her. I may not be able to go on your floor, but I can at least wait on the stairs.”

  She nodded and I followed her, stopping at the top of the stairs while she went to get Una. I moved to the side when two guards led Alayna and Carmen past me and on the same floor. “What the fuck?” I asked. “They don’t belong on this floor.”

  “They’re being moved, not that it’s any of your business,” the tall blonde one replied as he shoved past me.

  Fuck this was not good. If I were to take a guess, it would be that Frost was behind this. I knew he would do something like this to push Una, just as he had done to Eva. I continued to wait, listening intently as the guards left the two bitches in their new cell, right next to where Una and Ryoko stayed. This was more than not good, this was a fucking nightmare. The guards left them and they hung out in the doorway of their cell. When Alayna caught me watching, she put on a show of kissing Carmen and rubbing her breasts. I looked away disgusted and turned my back.

  “You fucking fishy whore. You got us locked up in solitary!” I heard Alayna shout and whipped around to see her stalking towards Una and Ryoko with her energy ball in her hand.

  “You’re the dusthead that decided to give an innocent person some of your drugs,” Una retorted, not backing down. “Are you so fucked up that you forgot about what happens when electricity meets water?” I pumped my fists, proud of my woman, pissed the ward held me back.

  Alayna let her ball fizzle out and Carmen came up behind her, her claws extended as she purred, “Yes, but it does nothing against these.” She wiggled her fingers and I could imagine the satisfied look she had on her face that I couldn’t see because her back was to me.

  I watched in horror as Carmen lunged for Una and I tried to get through the barrier as pain wracked through my body. I couldn't break through it and watched helplessly as Una ducked, the sharp talons just barely missing her neck.

  “Una, use your power,” I pleaded with her as I watched Carmen go after her again. This time Una fell to the ground to avoid the outstretched claws
. The harpy went after her while she was down and I wanted to close my eyes rather than see the death of my mate, my love.

  Ryoko jumped into action, twisting in a kick that I’d never seen before as her legs connected with Carmen’s body and she flew back crashing into the stone wall. Ry landed on her feet as if she had done nothing more than taken a step forward while Carmen slumped to the floor.

  My jaw dropped and Una looked at me with the same shocked expression. There wasn’t much time before Alayna brought her power to the surface and the air crackled around her. She shot one at Ry, who bent backwards to avoid it and then effortlessly ducked to avoid the next one that was coming towards her.

  Enraged, Alayna let out a loud growl and kept throwing them, burning and scorching the walls as Ry dodged everyone that was sent her way. As Alayna kept firing off her electrical balls toward Ry she slowly worked her way toward her. Alayna let out another frustrated scream as she pulled her arm back again, fury rolling through her. As if gravity had no effect on her, Ryoko twisted through the air, her outstretched leg hitting her victim right across the head, knocking her down. In a flash, Ryoko had her pinned on the ground and unable to move as she harshly hissed at her, “I believe we won’t have to meet like this again. You try anything against my friend and I will snap your neck before you can blink, and burn your body from the inside out so no one knows what happened to your pathetic self. Do you understand me?” Alayna must have nodded her head in agreement because Ry shoved off of her and helped Una up.

  “What the hell was that?” Una asked, the shock still evident in her voice.

  Ry shrugged and I could hear the amusement in her voice, “I was just welcoming our new neighbors. I’d hate for them to think we are the kind to ask for a cup of sugar.”