Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  What possibly could be happening up North that would shake him so badly? He’d never arbitrarily leave Alaster in charge of Tahoe and ditch us to deal with things like a pre-promising festival if there wasn’t something big happening. Whatever the situation, though he tried to hide it, I’d never seen him so concerned before. When would we see him again? I suddenly didn’t want him to go without me.

  Tatiana responded to the gravity of the situation first and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Bye, Daddy.”

  He patted her on the back and his gruff exterior crumbled a bit. “You take care of your mother. I’ll be home soon.”

  Mom forced a smile and hugged my father next, but for much longer.

  “When will you be home?” she asked quietly in English, caressing his face with her hands.

  Azor interjected, answering to prove he understood her. “A few weeks, Magdalene. We’ll take good care of Jack. It’ll be difficult, but of anyone I know, you two can handle it.”

  Ignoring Azor, Dad hugged Mom and caressed her hair. “I love you,” he said, distress lining his tanned face. “Always know that.” They shared a tender kiss.

  Anger burned in my belly. The fact that the King and his son had such control over us irked me. All the expectations sent a dagger into my chest. I wanted to jump up and demand Dad decline the mission. The whole thing reeked of danger. He shouldn’t have to feel obligated to go if he didn’t want to. What happened to the man who fought for his family? For honor? For what was right?

  “Colin, stay close by. We’ll start our stay in Tahoe tonight,” Uncle Al said while my parents continued their goodbyes.

  After several minutes, Mom reluctantly let go of Dad and joined everyone in front of the exit portal. Down the tunnel was a world I enjoyed visiting, but didn’t want to live in. Colin dove into the glistening doorway first, making a big splash.

  Tatch growled and wiped the water off her face. I didn’t care. I had to know what was going on. I stalled, hoping to catch a snippet of conversation. But Azor stayed tight lipped, waiting for everyone to leave. Mom and Tatch finally disappeared underwater and I could no longer avoid the inevitable.

  “Don’t worry, Son,” Mom said quietly as we swam towards our world. “Everything will work out.”

  I wanted to believe her.

  Upon entry, our beautiful city wrapped me into its arms as the melodic songs of our people filled the void in my soul I often tried to ignore on land. I’d forgotten how enchanting our kind can be when you’d been away for so long. Located in between the ocean floor and the earth’s mantle, the mers lived in harmony far away from the knowledge of man.

  Light blue larimar lined the ceiling of our endless enclosure, giving the illusion of the sky. Above us hung one of many crystal balls that daily reflected beams of sunlight streamed in from pipes containing strategically placed mirrors. Tonight with only a half moon in Tahoe illuminating the sky, the ball was dim. Instead, light from trapped lava under gel-covered domes ricocheted out like a roaring campfire from the center of our colony. Structures of gold and silver, decorated with gems of every color, towered out of the reef in a circular pattern, reflecting the warm hue. In the distance, the palace loomed, teeming with excited merlife, enjoying their evening. If there was a heaven on earth, this was it—complete with streets of gold.

  I inhaled the briny water and hummed. Tahoe’s fresh water pulled all the minerals from our skin, leaving our scales void of color, but the salt content was far richer here than our melted-snow fed lake. Silver and emerald streaked down my tail, as if someone turned on a light switch under my scales. My fin was the last to fill with red and orange.

  “I think waiting around might be a mistake,” Mom mumbled, her accent in mer tongue prominent. “Tatiana, let’s go.”

  Tatch frowned. Her tail, too, had changed color: blue, pink, and purple. Her hair floated in the water, framing her head in a golden halo. I had to agree with Mom, but for my own reasons. The quicker Tatch put distance between her and Azor, the better.

  “Fin, this is exactly what I was worried about and I don’t want to go to the castle without you, around all those uncultured sea serpents.”

  “Just play nice for now. I’ll see you later. We’ll get back to the mainland soon.”

  “We’d better, or else.”

  She gave Colin, who seemed to be shamelessly checking out her tail, one last sneer.

  “You look nice,” he responded.

  “Mermen are pigs,” she spouted only to me. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go, Mom.”

  “Feisty.” Colin chuckled and watched Tatiana leave.

  I punched him in the chest. “Knock it off. You’re her cousin.”

  “How does that matter?”

  I rolled my eyes but everything in me wanted to beat the crap out of him. I gritted my teeth and counted to ten.

  “You’re going to lose the lake, you know. Your family has been getting a little too friendly with the humans and someone finally noticed. Maybe if you’d have stopped acting like you’re better than everyone else and lived with the pure-born, you’d get to keep it.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Colin. Don’t you have something you need to do?”

  “Like move in? Yup. Just waiting on Dad.”

  I smirked, wishing I could be there to witness his disappointment when he broke into my room and couldn’t find any of my stuff. But at the mention of our dads, I wondered what took mine so long. I wanted to at least talk to him before he left, see if I could come along.

  I leaned up against the rock face and flipped my tail, disturbing the sand. Having fins in the water was useful to travel quickly, but the bulky appendage left much to be desired for exerting dominance. Something about being unable to sit, legs open, left me feeling feminine.

  “You’re going to be Azor’s pet now,” Colin said.

  I looked away, ignoring his bait to argue.

  “He’ll do anything to get in good with the twin. He’s set his sights on Tatiana and he gets what he wants.”

  “My sister gets to choose who she wants to marry.”

  “Marry?” Colin belly laughed. “She’s gonna pick a human, huh? That’s gonna go over real well—”

  Crap. “Promise. Marry. Whatever. Weren’t you just in there? She gets to choose. Or has the King turned on its people and changed the law?”

  “Don’t get your barnacles in a bunch. I’m just saying.”

  He ran his hand under a rock and pulled out a crawfish. With his razor-sharp teeth, he ripped out a huge chunk of flesh from its tail. “Man, is this going to take all day?”

  I scrubbed my hand over my face. It was hard enough to find out my uncouth cousin would be messing up my room, but what kind of mission required so many details?

  Dad’s reputation obviously landed him the job. He was respected on the Council and among his peers, even though he lived outside of the walls, and was married and promised to a beta-mer.

  Where is he?

  “Thanks, Jack,” Azor said, exiting the tunnel first, while clapping my dad on the back. “I knew I could count on you. Go ahead and assemble your team.” He turned towards Colin with a slightly annoyed look. “Alaster is waiting for you.”

  “Awesome,” Colin said, tossing his half eaten crustacean into the current. “Bye, Cuz.” He shot me a mischievous look right before disappearing through the darkened Tahoe gate.

  “So?” I asked, expecting to hear he was putting me on his team.

  My father looked over my shoulder and raised his eyebrows at Azor. “Is that all?”

  “Yes—”

  “Then, I’d like a private word with my son. I’ll have him join you momentarily.”

  “Sure thing, Jack.” Azor formed his lips in a straight line. “Finley, meet me on the south side of the palace when you are finished.”

  “Yeah,” I said and watched Azor leave, thankful I didn’t have to follow his orders. Little did he know, I’d be leaving with my dad. “So what’s going on and when do we leave?
”

  “Son—” Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ve had an incident and unfortunately, I can’t risk taking you.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I want to bring you—” Lines of concern pressed grooves into the skin around his eyes. “Just trust me this time. I need you here with the girls. Besides, how bad can it be working with Azor? He’ll help you improve your skills.”

  “Why can’t I come with you? I don’t understand.”

  “I—I’ll tell you why when I get back.”

  He pressed his hand on my shoulder, but his words didn’t convince me.

  “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know. Please, Fin. Trust me.” He ran his hand through his hair and grimaced.

  “Do we have to stay here? Can we go to the lake house instead?”

  Dad looked away. “Your mom isn’t allowed to be there without me. You know the rules.”

  The rules. Mermaids weren’t trusted outside of a merman’s protection. Their powers of seduction might get the better of them, causing loads of trouble and risk of exposure.

  “But Alaster is there and I’m almost eighteen.”

  “Maybe if you were, you could, but not this time.”

  I swallowed my pride and pretended the rejection didn’t hurt. He could take me if he really wanted.

  “Son, I need to go assemble my team. Thank you for understanding.”

  He grabbed me and hugged me hard. Then with a flick of his powerful red tail, Dad disappeared into the folds of the city. He had men to recruit and apparently my stupid birth date prevented me from making the cut—still a boy in his eyes. My chest ached with fury. I wanted to be anywhere but here, trapped in the center of the earth with idiots like Azor. Why wasn’t I born a couple of months sooner?

  Tatiana was right. My situation was a huge crap sandwich.

  5 - ASH

  No cup of coffee cleared out the morning cobwebs like a douse of 70 degree water at early morning swim practice. Though warmer water would have made the first lap a little more bearable, the pool slowly began to feel like bathwater once I got going.

  Bubbles of air escaped from my nose as I glided underwater. This quiet haven was where I could think in private, away from noise and distraction. I broke the surface and stretched my arm forward, propelling my body through the current one stroke at a time. Thirty five laps to go to finish my warm-up.

  After my last lap, I looked at the board—same old thing. Three miles worth of laps split into individual medleys and sprints. Piece of cake.

  “Psst,” Georgia, my closest girl friend at school whispered from the lane next to me. “You finished with your warm-up yet?”

  “Yeah,” I answered, and rinsed out my goggles.

  Her shoulders dropped. “Really? Already?”

  “Enough chit-chat! Let’s go ladies!” Coach Madsen barked.

  Georgia stuck out her tongue when Coach wasn’t watching and pushed off the wall with a splash.

  “You finished, Lanski?” Coach directed at me while twirling her whistle.

  “Yeah.” I sank into the corner of the wall to rest before the next set.

  “Nice job,” she said with a slight smile, then proceeded to yell at a pair of slackers a few lanes down from me.

  After practice, the locker room buzz was all about Senior Ball when it should have been about the big swim meet in two weeks. With a quick check of the clipboard, Meredith Hamusek, my nemesis from Squaw Valley Academy, and I were slated to race one another in the 100 yard butterfly—which left my stomach in a knot.

  The dance did, however, loom in the recesses of my mind, but my fantasies involved Fin as my date and no one else. Tatchi had pestered me about taking up Ryan’s invitation. He was cute, but I’d already told him “no.” She couldn’t know the real reason. But after what happened yesterday, maybe a date with someone else would be what Fin needed to finally make a move.

  Attached to my gym locker door was a picture of the three of us, hanging out at Fannette Island when we were thirteen—my only picture of Fin. They’d bet I couldn’t swim the entire distance, all of 500 feet. The freezing water cramped up my calf, but I did it without a whimper.

  With a quick brush of my finger over my lips, I touched his exquisite face. Why couldn’t he understand we needed to be together?

  While Holly, my locker neighbor, sauntered about in her pink bra and skimpy panties, bragging about the cost of her dress, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, slathered on my favorite honeysuckle lotion, and applied a little mascara. I just wanted to be on time to English.

  A quick exit into the hall accosted me with bigger drama than fancy dresses. A cluster of girls whispered in the corner, eyeing a red-eyed Brooke who had her own soirÉe surrounding her. What could the head cheerleader and girlfriend of Lake Tahoe High’s sexiest guy at school, Callahan, possibly be crying about? Then I heard—they’d broken up.

  Tatchi is going to love this one.

  I pressed my lips together to suppress a smile and ducked into the classroom. Mrs. Keifer had already written our assignment on the board—more chapters due from The Scarlet Letter. I pulled out my book and marked the pages. I could identify with Hester Prynne, but my chest felt branded with the scarlet S for shy.

  “So, Brooke huh?”

  I looked up to find Holly standing over me like a vulture, finally clothed.

  “I guess.” As if I cared about the dirty details. Tatchi on the other hand would be all over this.

  “Rumor has it Callahan’s got someone else on the radar to take to Senior Ball.” As she slid into the neighboring seat, her apple blossom scented lotion assaulted me.

  I smirked. The whole charade had to be a stunt. Why would the potential King and Queen break up two weeks before Senior Ball? “Your point?”

  “Oh come off it. Like you don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  She sniggered. “I heard he’s got his eye on you. He knows you don’t have a date.”

  My gaze swung around to meet Holly’s devious look. “Brooke and Callahan will get back together before the dance. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s all you, girl. Stop playing like you don’t know. Did he ask you already?”

  Holly’s boldness overwhelmed me. Luckily she quieted down as more students filtered into the classroom. Georgia took the seat in front of me, out of breath.

  “What did I miss?” she swiveled around in her seat, her hair completely coiffed, grabbing my book to note the page. My guess was she forgot to wear her glasses again.

  “Nothing.” Yet.

  Then Callahan walked in, light brown hair flopped over his forehead like a surfer. His big, chocolaty eyes pierced mine and my heart roller-coastered against my ribs. I looked away and pulled my book back from Georgia’s grasp, hiding behind it.

  Callahan? Me? This couldn’t be true?

  “What’s with you?” Georgia said, and turned to look.

  I knew she saw him. What girl didn’t lose all ability to speak coherently in the beguiling all-star pitcher’s presence? Callahan defined handsome in every girls’ internal dictionary and took a close second to Fin for me any day. But no one of his caliber ever paid attention to me—the geeky girls’ swim team captain. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him sit down a few rows over. So did Georgia. The thought he might possibly want to take me to Senior Ball made my stomach tremble. Holly always exaggerated. There was no way he’d ask me.

  Taking a deep breath, I refocused my attention on Mrs. Keifer after hearing the buzz of the second bell.

  “All right, let’s get started. I thought we’d read in class today—”

  The door opened, interrupting her talk, and Brooke sauntered in with swollen eyes. A pang of guilt wracked my chest, though I’d done nothing wrong. Her glare met mine anyway and my cheeks burned. I slouched down in my seat. Why couldn’t I have been home-schooled instead of Tatchi? Great. Today’s cover story featured me.

  “Nice of yo
u to join us, Brooke. Holly, could you start reading chapter eight outloud?”

  The sound of shuffling pages filled the room like a delicate rainstorm falling on dried leaves. When Brooke found her seat somewhere behind me, a burst of hushed whispers followed. Cold stares prickled down the back of my neck while I tried to listen as Holly stumbled over her words. Could Callahan really like me? Did Brooke and her flock of friends already know, prepared to swoop down and ambush me later? I bit my lip and pushed away the notion as ridiculous.

  The next few periods zipped by and I’d managed to stay far away from the drama. But as I walked into the cafeteria with Georgia, I spotted Callahan’s brown head of hair right away. He sat off to the side with his friends, looking utterly gorgeous. My pulse jolted thinking about what Holly had said.

  “Nervous about Saturday?” Georgia asked after we found seats, a celery stick hanging from her mouth.

  A ball of dough from my peanut butter sandwich lodged in my throat as my gaze swept over to Callahan. I quickly sucked down a sip of Sprite. “No. Why?”

  “Did you not look at the board? You’re racing against Meredith Hamusek and she’s wicked fast. “

  “Right.” The meet. I stuffed a corn chip in my mouth, embarrassed. Holly mentions Callahan once and my brain becomes total mush. “I guess we’ll have to see.”

  “You have to win. We need it for the championships but I hope we get out of there at noon. I have a hair appointment at two. Plus I need to get different shoes. Do you want to come shopping with me? I’m looking for something strappy but not too gaudy, you know? I’m so glad I got a little bit of color from working out in the pool, but I need to put bronzer on the tan lines, unless you want to help me? It’s lame you aren’t coming.”

  Her explosion of words blew me back into my chair. “Did you have a lot of caffeine today?”

  “Why? Am I talking too fast? My mom always says I do. I had a few cups of coffee and a diet Coke earlier. Why?”

  “Nothing. Go on.”