Mermaidia: A Limited Edition Anthology

by Pauline Creeden

  I nodded, considering my next words carefully. "So what you're saying is, if I said I wanted to try before I buy, as such…"

  Dylan smiled and my skin itched at how cute he was.

  "I wouldn't be judged?"

  Kai stepped even closer. He was well within my personal space. I should stop this before I got deeper into this life. Hell, I wasn't even sure whether I wanted all that Lormont offered. I needed to think deeply about it. But I was pulled hard between these two men. It felt right. It felt forever.

  And that was the cold shower of information I needed to step away and keep my distance for now.

  Yet, he followed me. He stepped closer until I was moving back.

  Excitement bubbled in my belly. Did I really want this to happen? My head was screaming wait. Arron was the man I'd been in love with for years. My body and heart? They had other thoughts on the matter.

  Then I felt it. My back was up against a hard wall of hotness. Dylan was at my rear. And Kai was almost touching me from the front.

  Heat flooded my body and my blood sugar level went up a thousand percent at the promise of what nectar I could be offered.

  "As much as I want you to choose me, my sweet." Kai pushed my hair behind my ear and touched his finger against my lips. "I know you desire us both." He hesitated. "Plus, there is another who holds your affection." He frowned at this. And the light playing in his amber eyes held me captive. I could feel his desire, his jealousy almost.

  "That's how I feel, too, Nerissa." Behind me Dylan whispered in my ear. The barest touch of his tongue had my knees quivering and I leant further into him to keep from falling. "I'm willing to share you until you realise I am the one for you."

  I loved their confidence. It was hot and sexy.

  Long moments of silence stretched. I breathed in ragged breaths, as the sexual tension in the air wouldn't be cut with a chainsaw, it was so thick.

  I couldn't actually believe this was my life right now, that I was getting to choose when I'd never been in the running before.

  "So, I'm going to be honest and say what I really want to do is spend the day in my bedroom. Getting to know you both." What the hell was I doing, saying this to them? Fear almost had me stopping there, but the look in Kai's eyes held me imprisoned to my needs. "But I think what I should probably do is go on that tour right now." I let out a nervous chuckle. "It's safer."

  Dylan kissed my ear. His hands rested on my hips and I felt the rise and fall of his chest against my shoulders. Kai moved closer, bending his face to mine. His silver hair dropped and the sparkle of colour held me transfixed.

  His lips grazed my own and I was pretty sure, there and then, I was in deep trouble with these two. One of my hands moved down to Dylan's hand at my hip, my fingers entwining with his.

  My other hand moved as well as my fingers crept up to Kai's neck and I pulled him closer, my tongue darting out to taste his lips. He smelled divine and tasted even better.

  His growl might have been my undoing, if the loud explosion hadn't happened.

  Whatever had been about to happen, wasn't anymore.

  Shit.

  Chapter 5

  Both men were immediately on alert.

  Kai pulled me close with his hand at my nape. "Leave the premises. Follow the staff to the safe rooms. Be careful." His kiss was hard, ruthless, and my body instantly craved more.

  Dylan ran across the room towards the door. He turned at the last moment, winking at me and smiling. "To be continued," he said. Then was gone.

  And I was left feeling bereft and bloody horny.

  After a moment to pull myself together, I quickly followed them out of the door, wondering what all the commotion was.

  In the day I'd been at the palace, I'd barely seen anyone. Those who worked here were discreet and had a ninja way of only appearing when needed.

  Now, the royal abode was teeming with people from all roles.

  I saw chefs, waiting staff, dressers… all had a similar mission in life at this time; to get out of the exits.

  I stopped, looking around for Kai and Dylan. They'd already disappeared. Maybe the king and queen—Mum and Dad, I made myself say—were around. I needed to find them.

  I felt like a spare wheel, not really having a purpose when everyone else knew exactly what to do. I grabbed a young lady hustling past me with a large bag, sparkling and bright.

  "What's happening?"

  "Their Majesty's residence has been hit. We are under attack. You need to leave immediately, ma'am."

  She didn't wait for my answer. She turned and walked quickly towards the end of the hallway and down the outside steps.

  Foreign feelings hit me hard as I stood there and took it all in. My family were in danger. I wasn't sure what I was doing—and I called myself all types of idiot for even contemplating it, let alone doing it—but I found myself running towards the far end of the wing where the royals had their personal rooms. It took me five minutes to reach it.

  It was chaos.

  Debris was scattered across the once ornately covered floors. Dust still hung in the air, choking me a little as I stumbled into the devastating scene.

  Someone sat on the floor, blood pouring from a head wound. A man in a suit, once pristine but now dirty and ripped, sat tending him.

  I carried on walking, shock moving my legs forward.

  "Where are they?" I said to a passing guard, one I actually recognised from my brief walks outside. He was half carrying a woman toward the exit. Her expression was glazed and she was dirty as anything, but she looked in one piece.

  He slowed as he came closer to me, giving me a dubious nod after a moment. "They are safe." He turned away. That was all that was being offered right now.

  "Wait, who did this?" I said to his retreating back.

  He hesitated. "It isn't my place--"

  "Please, just tell me." He stepped to the side as someone passed him, and I could see the worry in his eyes.

  "They protect you as first born of the sea. They protect your life. Their enemies will stop at nothing to take you for their own. You need to leave here immediately. Someone will be here shortly for you." He disappeared from sight, down a hidden set of stairs, and I was left in the middle of a hallway, alone.

  So, this was all my fault? My heart thundered. They brought me back to them and, in turn, chose to face their enemies? I knew there had been risks when I was a child. That was why I'd been hidden. I thought they'd gone since I had my twenty-first birthday just days ago.

  I shook my head. No, this wasn't right. I shouldn't be here. If they could spell me to forget in the past, they could do it again.

  After a moment, I walked away from the scene, quickening my step as I joined others. As I made it down the stairs, my mind a jumble of emotions, I began to run. I didn't know where I was but my instinct pulled me toward the water.

  I needed to get away. I needed not to be here right now.

  How could I put the family I'd only just discovered at risk like this? I couldn't lose them again. I wouldn't.

  As soon as I felt the water at my feet, I calmed. I still couldn't believe the strange turn of events. The woman who was scared of water, was actually a mermaid.

  People shouted behind me but it was too late for all that. This place. This magical, beautiful place which I dreamt of regularly, was wrong for me.

  I could get people hurt. More than they were. They want me to be something I shouldn't be and others need my standing or whatever.

  Well, I was a princess and I was making this decision.

  I looked back just as I disappeared under the water. I could see burning. I could see disarray everywhere.

  I could see the two men who'd gotten under my skin fighting alongside others. If this was the last time I'd see them, then so be it.

  I closed my eyes to it all and sank. The water caressed my skin, soothing my hurts, and allowing me to ponder the realm of what ifs.

  Chapter 6

  When I was on land
, I could get lost in a supermarket. So you can imagine how I felt simply swimming—or wiggling my arse so my beautifully heavy tail swished—when I didn't even know the direction I should be heading. I could end up going through a portal and ending up in Hong Kong for all I knew.

  One thing I did know, though, was that I felt alive and as one with the sea. Fish passed me, not scared of what I was. The ocean was full of beautiful organisms, all living their best lives. And now I was one of them.

  Distance was eaten up as I swam for all I was worth. I wanted to go home.

  Home. Arron was at home. There was a deep longing to see him again, but there was also a heavy pull to go back to my betrothed and my parents’ home.

  They felt right. They all did.

  As I looked up through the water, I saw the full moon—just one now, so t least I was near where I was supposed to be. It looked beautiful. Shimmery and sparkly, just how you see it when you're a kid for the first time.

  The stones at my wrist vibrated.

  I glanced down, as I pushed the mass of hair back off my face.

  Something was pulling me. I couldn't communicate with the stones as I should, yet. But ideas and notions drifted over me.

  It told me Arron was close.

  Immediately I swam upwards, breaking through the water with little sound.

  I looked around to get my bearings and saw the beach I knew so well. It had soothed me so often, that I felt I knew every inch of it.

  I swam closer, looking around until I saw a figure in the night.

  Arron.

  He sat on the rocks, gazing out to sea. He looked… forlorn. And my heart raced.

  I glided as gently as I could, allowing the moon to show me the way. I watched closely as the shadows of the night made me see him as if for the first time.

  I must have made a noise as he looked over to where I was.

  "Nerissa?" His voice was soft, and I could barely hear him over the gentle lapping of the waves against the rocks.

  "Yes." I swam closer, allowing my tail to keep me upright.

  "You came back." He scrambled to his feet, slipping slightly on the damp footing.

  "I was kidnapped," I said, laughing to myself.

  "Kidnapped? By whom?"

  The mirth left me as I watched him slightly panicked. "We found your bag on the beach, night before last. I've been here pretty much ever since."

  He smiled for the first time, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. "I thought I'd lost you."

  "No," I said gently. "I found me. Finally."

  Arron reached out his arm to haul me up next to him.

  I hesitated, knowing this was the moment of truth. My tail wouldn't disappear instantly. He would see. He would know.

  I reached out to grab his hand, and let him lift me up so I could pull myself onto the rocks.

  As soon as I was settled, I looked back at him and was already talking. "Look, I know this looks unbelievable, but—"

  "They took you home."

  I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. "What now?" I watched him intently.

  "I was your guardian. I was land-locked here as punishment, and I was given a ward." He looked down at his hands.

  I blew a slow breath out. "Don't stop now, this is just getting interesting." Annoyance ate at my belly as he paused again.

  He held up his hands and shook his head. "I was only supposed to protect you from the bad guys. And then I got to know you, and…"

  I dearly wanted him to finish the sentence. In fact, if he didn't, I would likely throttle him. My tail shifted and I had feet again.

  I climbed up, very unsteady at having limbs once more.

  "You've known me all these years and it's all been a lie? You knew what I was and didn't tell me?"

  "Wait, that isn't--"

  "You were my first friend--my only friend--in that backward ass school, and I worshipped you. I thought I didn't deserve someone like you. You actually liked me, regardless of how weird I was. For years, I thought you'd suddenly come to your senses and realise I wasn't cool enough to be around, that our friendship was a lie." I scrubbed at a tear that dared fall. "Well, whad'ya know? I was right. This has all been bullshit. My whole life is a mess. And the one constant I thought I still had?" I shook my head and turned away.

  My eyes burned from holding back those damn tears.

  "Nerissa, you were a job. At first. We were just kids and then we spoke on that first day and I realised you were amazing."

  The words drifted over me and I closed my eyes.

  "You are amazing, he added. I turned then, looking at him carefully. I wanted to believe him. But after these last days? My judgement couldn't be counted on.

  I needed some time. I needed to find out whether the lie in my life here was better than putting my new family at risk every day there.

  I walked away, jumping down from the rocks and padding across the sand in my bare feet. Arron hadn't moved. He was letting me get some distance.

  I heard a noise from the waters. I couldn't make it out at first, and I stopped to watch the waves. Then I heard it again. Like an almighty screech. A moment later, a woman flew from the ocean, straight towards me, scaring the beejesus out of me.

  I let out my own scream, with little time to react in any other way.

  As she got closer, like in slow motion, I saw every inch of her face. She looked like a witch having a bad day. Her skin was cracked, her eyes a menacing black, and her hair stuck up in all directions.

  And of course she was naked. Because, why the hell not?

  She landed on the sand and lunged at me with a golden, jewel encrusted dagger.

  "I need your blood. I was promised your blood," she screeched, stabbing at me repeatedly, as I fought her off, holding back her weapon loaded arm.

  "We will rule the waters again. My family deserves this--" Her words were cut off as Arron pulled her off me, spinning her around to land on the sand next to me. He ripped the dagger from her hand and held it at her neck.

  "I told you before, I'm handling this. And you promised you'd never hurt her. You lied. I will protect her, always." He sliced her across the neck in one swift movement. No blood seeped out of the wound, only a fine inky-black sand.

  As I watched from right next to her, gasping for breath at this unexpected turn of events, she disappeared in on herself. Fading into the grains of sand around us.

  I looked at the pile of sand that was once the screamy bitch, then back at Arron.

  "You might want to explain a little further," I said eventually.

  "Yes, Arron. Explain it to us, too."

  My betrothed! I turned and smiled at each in turn as they stepped out of the water. In loincloths, of course. At least I wasn't alone here, anymore.

  "My parents?" I asked, watching their expressions.

  "All is well. There were no casualties, only mild injuries. They want you home. With them. The threat is neutralised." Kai watched me intently as he divulged this news.

  I listened carefully, knowing my betrothed should take credit for the neutralising part. Home. Family. Yeah, it sounded good. If I could ever decide where home was. Speaking of… I looked at Arron again, waiting.

  He sighed and dropped the dagger to the sand next to me, turning to sit. He drew his legs towards his chest and rested his head on his knees.

  I looked at the sand around him? Didn't he remember he was sitting on old lady? Yeech.

  "What I said to you, Ris, was completely true. I was banished here. Punished and sent back as a child. And I was given a job to protect you. From these two." He looked towards my betrothed and chuckled. "Trouble was, I cared too much for you. And my family knew it. I didn't want them to get you because I wanted you for myself."

  "Your family?"

  Arron glanced down to the sand and picked up some grains, which fell through his fingers. "Yeah, she was my grandmother. Crazy as shit but focused on one thing—making her family great again." He smiled wistfully. "We haven't got the power any
more to do it on our own."

  My mouth dropped open. He'd killed his granny? Ho-ly shit.

  "My job was to make you mine. Produce an heir so my family could rule the kingdom instead of yours. It was simple, right up until I fell in love with you when we were both six years old."

  He turned away and laughed to himself. It was a hollow sound.

  "What are you?" I said softly.

  "My mother is a witch, my father a God. I am," He hesitated before carrying on. "I'm the black sheep of the family. I'm not like them. I never have been."

  I contemplated this new information. To me, Arron had always been together. Did I really even know him? He sounded so not like the man I knew.

  "When I lost you on your birthday, I knew what had happened. I wasn't ready for that. I wanted you to come back. It's why I've waiting here for you, just in case. Which brings me back to why I killed Granny Pauletta—to save you."

  Kai and Dylan had moved to my side, looking down on both of us.

  "Let me kill him for you," Kai said after a moment.

  I hesitated. Not because I wanted him dead—I strangely still had these bloody feelings for him. I hesitated only because I knew it would give Arron some pause for thought.

  He turned to look at the big dudes standing at my back, then looked at me.

  "Yeah. I probably deserve it."

  "Yes, you do." I climbed to my feet inelegantly, pushing off from Arron's shoulder. "But you killed the wicked witch of the wet for me, and that has to mean something. Right, boys?"

  I looked at my betrothed. Both glared at Arron like he was dinner.

  "Right, boys?"

  I watched as first one, then the other slowly nodded. I loved having a little control.

  I smiled, turning back to Arron. "I need to get home and drink some cheap wine. Care to join me?"

  He looked first at Kai and Dylan, then back to me.

  "We need to talk. And the only way that's about to happen is with these two along for the ride. That's the deal from now on." I looked over my shoulder. "It seems I'm stuck with them for a while. I have no idea what to feed them, but I'm pretty sure they're house trained."