Water Games (Watergirl Book 4)

by Juliann Whicker

  “Did you know the Examiner very well?”

  He raised his eyebrows, but it was intentional surprise, not actual. “Fairly well. I studied him a great deal before I worked for him. Why? Do you want to blackmail him?”

  I went to get my water bottle. I drank long and deep before I capped it and turned to him. “Spyguy, what is Sean doing? Is it really possible for him to take down some big, rich, powerful guy and give all his money to the monsters like a mermaid Robin Hood?”

  He hesitated. “He seems to think so. I have my doubts, but I’m a natural skeptic. Your Takeo has an impressive amount of oblivious optimism. It’s his most powerful attribute.”

  “Why does he care so much about monsters?”

  He smiled, slow and sly. “Are you fishing for compliments? You’re his love.”

  I raised my chin. “And I’m a monster?”

  “By Soremni and Vashni definition, one hundred percent.”

  My chin quivered, but I held his gaze. “Spyguy.” My voice was soft. “I don’t think I can do it. Everywhere I go is a disaster. I’m a disaster. I love him; I really do, but how can it work? He’s a prince and I’m a monster. I’m not just a monster, I’m obsessed with someone else. You told him that I said no, but you didn’t tell him that I was kissing Oliver when you found me. Where were you? Why did it take you so long to show up? What have you been doing for months, other than trying to break into the Prince’s lab?”

  He sniffed and took position in front of me. I moved into place and blocked his first strike. He moved with perfect gentleness. That was a mark of a master, having perfect control over your impact.

  “I was in Terramore with you, Princess, almost the entire time. How could I not haunt you when you attracted the sort of attention you can’t help but attract? Soremni females draw males, particularly the helpless ones. You got worse in your training with Abott. You got softer, slower, gentler, weaker, the entire pathetic package. Didn’t you wonder what happened to the first male who rehearsed with you in Takeo’s place? He tried to take you on the way to the Varen fields, but of course, I stopped him before he could touch you. So oblivious. So single-minded. So ideal.”

  I frowned at him and move forward with triple punches, sharp and quick to his angular face. “You were there? Did you hear the duet, see the whole thing?”

  “I did.” He blocked my kick and twisted, knocking me off-balance before he did his own side-kick.

  “Was he as good as it seemed or was it just me being a stupidly obsessed Soremni female?”

  “He was divine. Monsters like music. He should have sung to them instead of fought. It would have been faster to reach an alliance.”

  I frowned and focused on my opponent, moving around him, exchanging blows, but both of us careful. “He’s perfect and I’m a monster. I can’t help but love him. What’s his excuse?”

  He tilted his head and paused, studying me in my sweaty gi. “It seems like we’ve had this conversation before. That’s right, after you demonstrated your love in the bay. You destroy something and need reassurance. I’ll make a note to expect that in the future.”

  I winced. “You think I’m going to destroy something that big again?”

  He moved forward faster than thought. Only my reflexes kept him from making solid contact as I retreated, blocking. “I’m sure whatever it is will come as a surprise. I think your Takeo likes surprises. He’s a high stress person.”

  I made a face at him. “I’m relaxed and low-key.”

  “Human, maybe, Vashni, definitely not, Soremni, well, the more relaxed and passive you are, the more high performance he is. Did you like it?”

  I stopped moving, straightening out of my stance while I looked past him, at the dark windows that reflected us. I looked human. “Being Soremni? I loved it. That’s the scary thing, how perfect everything was. I didn’t have self-doubts or self anything. I existed in the perfect moments that stretched out for weeks. Is there something wrong with that, being mindlessly happy? I mean for people that don’t accidentally destroy worlds because of it.”

  He smiled, this lopsided thing that didn’t last long. “Being in love is supposed to be like that no matter your species. No, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it doesn’t last forever, even for Soremni females. Once they have children they become something quite different. On the surface they appear the calm and tranquil creature, but underneath is a vicious predator that will destroy any threat and feel nothing close to regret.”

  “Petra wasn’t like that.”

  “Petra was precisely like that. She was friendly because she is a charming female, no doubt about that, but also because you’re Takeo’s love and that position will elevate her circumstances and, more importantly, her children’s. Terramore has a strictly limited population. If she wants her children to stay with her, they have to win the lottery or be allowed through an exception given by your own Takeo. Terramore isn’t like the majority of the Soremni waters. Do you understand the games, princess? It seems like you don’t understand anything.”

  “Probably not. I’m so busy trying not to kill people, I don’t pay attention to those little things. So, you don’t think that Petra actually liked me?”

  He laughed, a short chortle that was still deadly. “Petra liked you well enough because you made Takeo happy and brought him to Terramore. You weren’t really yourself, so who would she have liked? You know that the winner of the Games rules the waters, but it’s not that simple. It’s technically only particular areas of the highest value traditionally, the king’s cities. Terramore isn’t going to change hands no matter who wins just like the Deepness. No, not just like, since Terramore isn’t its own country, but it is its own province. Does that make sense?”

  I laughed and lunged at him. I actually knocked him back before he was on guard. “Does Oliver have provinces that he’ll keep even if he loses the games?”

  “Of course. Everyone with money and resources has collected stability over the generations. That’s why the games are allowed. It’s more of a symbolic position.”

  “Because even if Oliver’s family isn’t in control, they still have the kiss.”

  He nodded and blocked my kick, twisting me so I lost my balance and landed on my side. I rolled away from him and back on my feet, crouching. “What will Sean get out of it then?”

  “Power of legislation. Equal rights for Sirens. A flotilla or two to protect you. He’s ambitious, charismatic, a natural born leader. But, his motivation is clearly you. You sang that duet with him. That wasn’t the Soremni female, that was you, the real you, the woman he loves. If you need a reason for his love, you have your music. You also have your tentacles. Who doesn’t love those? You need to clip them before you go to Cierdeep. I think you’d do well blond in your Soremni intern persona.”

  “What is with you and the blonde thing? I hate that you’re so good at this and that I have to listen to you. Seriously though, the blonde does nothing for you.”

  He glanced at the door. Cole came in, bowed to the room and went to the punching board. He didn’t act like he even saw us.

  “Speaking of blonde. I’ll be around,” Spyguy murmured, heading out.

  I went back to katas. Why did Spyguy come in to talk? Had he actually thought I might off myself? Maybe I should have thought about that, I mean, I was a seriously deadly dangerous person, but fighting for my life against water kind of got me in the habit of trying to stay alive.

  “Hey, Vee. You wanna spar? Looks like you already got a workout.”

  I ignored him. He could see I was in the middle of a kata and clearly focusing on it instead of… I sighed as I wobbled in my balanced position and came down onto both feet. “Cole.”

  “I still owe you pizza. You hungry?”

  I stared at Cole. He’d somehow brought me out of that whole not talking paralyzed thing. Maybe he needed to talk. Could I be his friend if he needed one like he was there for me? I really hated that idea. I should stay mad at him for being such a j
erk in high school. I shrugged.

  “We could grab some and take it to the lake.”

  He grinned. “Skinny dipping.”

  I laughed. “The only dipping I’m doing is fat sticks in garlic butter.”

  “That’s actually more enticing. All right. Let’s go.”

  So there I was, sitting in a camp chair of dubious stability eating the best pizza in town with my cold sarsaparilla condensing on my palm. Next to Cole. At Stinky Lake.

  “I heard the lake belongs to you.”

  I wrinkled my nose and took a long sip of sweetness. “I didn’t think you liked hearing about that kind of thing.”

  “It’s a matter of public record. Last year some foreigner bought it off Dog Boons and then a few weeks ago, the registrar transferred the deed to Genevieve Castle. I was dating a girl who was friends with the registrar.”

  “You’re so incredibly involved with this town. How did that happen?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I don’t hate people. Also, I date a lot.”

  I stared at him as I had a terrifying thought. “Do you think that this is a date? We are not dating.”

  He laughed and choked on his sarsaparilla. “Man, Vee. You really should date so at least you know when you’re on one. I kiss on dates. I’m not going to ever kiss you. Sorry to break your heart, but it’s not happening.” He kept glancing at me and laughing like us dating was the funniest thing.

  I rolled my eyes and should have felt humiliated, but instead it was nice to not have to worry about that. I ate more pizza, olive and mushroom. So good. I relaxed, listening to the wind play over the water and through the branches.

  It was so peaceful and relaxing. For a minute, I felt almost human.

  That was before someone shot a dart into the side of my neck. The lake swirled around me and Cole. The furious walls of water brought two Portermutts to my feet. I must have done it, but it didn’t seem like me, particularly as the drug worked its way through my system and everything got bright and blurry. I had to take care of them quickly, but I couldn’t move. The water held the two creatures with distorted faces in front of me, struggling, eyes dark with hate. I had to take care of them or they would hurt Cole after I lost consciousness. Darkness was spilling across my vision. I couldn’t drown them, but the water had no problem with height.

  The water raised them into the air higher and higher until it exploded into vapor, letting to the two Portermutts fall fifty feet onto the rock.

  “Vee, what was that? I don’t want to be involved!” Cole was in my face, angry and worried, but dry.

  I really was getting good at this stuff. I patted his cheek and tipped over sideways. I felt his hand on my neck around the dart, heard him swear and then nothing.

  Chapter 19

  Cole didn’t even take me home. Apparently, he’d gotten into his truck, called my dad and taken off, leaving me and the bodies behind. Sort of harsh, but I didn’t blame him. He really was smart to stay out of it.

  Oddly enough, the attack is what tipped me in the direction of Cierdeep. That my body parts could be harvested legally just wasn’t okay. It wasn’t okay for all the other monsters either. Portermutts should have more loyalty to the monster cause, but apparently not all monsters were created equal. Also, I was a danger to my friends on land. Junie was coming with us to Cierdeep, which I had huge misgivings about, but Flop would be safer away from me just like my dad and Cole.

  Sean’s buyer replenished the Cleaver Queen’s wardrobe, but I chose the outfits for my Soremni wannabe composer’s persona. I went blond, hair and brows. Spyguy insisted that it was easier to go temporarily dark than the other way around. He was the master of disguise. So this girl, she always wore a messy bun, goggles and cavernous overalls in hideous pastels. She’d still have to be soft and Soremni, but shouldn’t communicate any kind of come-hither vibe. No makeup unless my lips were having a pink day, then pale color to make me look more corpse-like. Nice.

  Junie would be my roommate in the Soremni flats close to Gerveeg’s performance dome. Spyguy would work in the dome as security. I’d probably notice him this time. He could manipulate their scheduling easily enough. Spies were so handy.

  Being in the ocean was fine. Ha. But I didn’t make a sound and the water barely vibrated around me on our trip down to Cierdeep using the public transport like the first time I’d gone. Spyguy sat a few seats behind me. When we got to the first layover, I traded my fake human glasses for thick goggles. I blinked a few times but it was weird. I’d secrete a thick substance that protected my eyes, so goggles were kind of silly, but they were my pretend vision correction.

  I sat quietly in the ship, water from the waist down. Hopefully the ocean wouldn’t come alive and eat me. A couple to my left gazed at each other adoringly. I shifted away from them and tucked my buds in my ears. It was time for me to compose songs that had zero emotional impact. This composition was ‘ticket lady,’ about the island and the woman who collected tickets in her booth. Wow, right? It was going to earn awards. I’d get, ‘Award for not wiping out another city,’ which was the only one I wanted.

  When we reached the port, I tucked boxie into my bag and stood up. As I was shuffling through the water behind the couple with their arms twined together, someone bumped me and then a guy about my age winked at me and apologized in Soremni that reminded me of Oliver.

  Oliver. For a moment I stood there, people bumping me while my body went into obsession mode. It was only a second before I shook my head and refocused, catching up to the couple. It wasn’t until I was out in the first air bubble when I noticed that my bag was gone.

  I turned to head back inside the ship. Spyguy came up beside me and muttered, “It’s not in the ship. That punk ran off with it. Your music system is too tempting to take in public.”

  I stared at him and my whole day went dark and miserable. It wasn’t just my music box, it was my t-shirt and jar of peanut butter. How would I survive without those? But boxie, boxie had Sean’s song on it, a song I listened to at least five times a day.

  I had to stay calm. Think positive.

  At least I had my identification papers in the pockets of my voluminous pale purple jumper. Not positive enough. The shoes were kind of awesome. They moved with my feet perfectly when I flexed, but had a sturdy sole. They weren’t exactly cute, not like a girl on my ship who had perfect makeup and clothing like all of Sean’s Soremni friends. I’d never mingled with them as the Cleaver Queen. That would be fun. How had I let someone steal my bag? Focus, Gen. Happy Thoughts.

  I got through security for Cierdeep and then took a current at high speeds to my new neighborhood, a not entirely up and up area close to Gerveeg’s performance dome. Evening descended and all the way lights darkened, blue orbs lining the tangled paths. Streets were more like tunnels. There were no roads, just curved ways that were sometimes only five feet in diameter in narrow places.

  Spyguy had given me the rundown a million times. They weren’t streets, they were ways, and throughways were really big streets that weren’t streets but ways. Streets that went vertical were called high ways and low ways, depending which direction you were headed.

  I was not surprised when I got completely lost as I wandered around looking for my apartment, up and down the tunnels that grew dimmer as I wandered in more derelict neighborhoods until I finally stopped at a little place with a bright blue sign. It had a word I didn’t know but a picture of a bottle and straw like they served varen nectar in.

  I pushed through the circular skin that kept the street water out of the little café. It was shaped a bit like a sausage, but nothing was all that different from a normal café. A spiky-haired girl behind the counter signed asking me what I wanted. I swam over to her, above tables where young people sat and chatted, mostly in sign, but a few voices. Even inside the café, the water was thicker and heavier than in Terramore. Terramore.

  I sat down on a bench and signed for a bottle of varen nectar. She thunked it on the counter, sending up a
cloud of bubbles, and held out her hand. I pulled off the strand of metal clips around my wrist.

  She took a few, changed them for different colors and handed them back. Before she could go back to piling different packages into a tube, I signed, asking her how to get to Gerveeg’s dome.

  She lifted an eyebrow and said in Soremni, “Two streets down will get you to the main way. Take a left past Torpedo range then when you get to the pink lady, go low way three levels. After that you can’t miss it.” She gave me a sharp smile that made me uneasy, but I thanked her and took my varen juice back out into the dim streets. I pulled up my sleeve and said, “Spyguy, I know you heard that. Were those wrong directions to mess with the idiot tourist?”

  His amused voice came in my ear. “That will take you to the dome, but the wrong side. We’ve been over this, princess.”

  “Yes, but adding up and down is too much for my little brain.” It felt like someone was watching me. I glanced over expecting to see a shadowy Spyguy, but instead noticed a blond kid, maybe twelve or something across the way.

  “Follow the woman in pink to your right,” Spyguy said.

  I turned and swam, following the plump woman with a little creature on a leash at her side. Was that a jellyfish? It was really beautiful, rainbow phosphorescence with tufts of bright yellow on the ends. It made me miss Otto.

  “Left here. Follow the man in the suit.”

  There were a lot of men in water suits, but they were all swimming the same way down the narrow and dimly lit way lined with shops that were either closed, cafes of a dubious sort, or full of muted songs and laughter that made me curious. What would a Soremni bar be like?

  “Keep going, princess.”

  I focused ahead until he said, “Directly high way.”

  I pushed off the spongy side of the way and went up, past a garden full of phosphorescent flowers and swaying blue kelp. Opposite the garden was a mesh net. I went over and put my fingers in the holes then held on as it waved when a ship flashed by like a streak of light. It was a ship way. It was kind of thrilling to hang onto the net and watch beautifully lit ships passing like falling stars through the dark water.