Empress Malina flattened her palms against the glass and peered across the dry, red earth.
Except, she didn’t look down into the cavern.
Her gaze travelled across the canyon and zeroed in on Gabriel standing on the cliff on the opposite side. Gabriel’s heart jumped.
“But, my dear Dacho,” she said in a soft-spoken voice while keeping her focus on Gabriel. “What if they never release Duke Malgor, but instead blow up your entire planet?”
“Mother?” Princess Evangeline squeaked, tilting her head back to stare at her mother’s face.
Empress Malina nodded toward Gabriel, not losing focus on him. “I am sure between our wizard and our human scientist they could devise a plan to make such an event occur.”
What in the heck is she talking about?
“Human,” Dacho sneered. “There will be no end to my wrath if my conditions aren’t met.”
Wizard, Gabriel thought, replaying Empress Malina’s words. Valta’s wizard was Leejor. And the human scientist she’d mentioned had to be Eric.
Wait. Does Empress Malina seriously want us to blow up Solaria? That would mean killing the empress and princess, too.
“No,” Gabriel mumbled, shaking his head. “I won’t do that.”
Empress Malina wrapped a pale hand around the back of her neck, closed her eyes, and stretched, looking frailer than he’d ever seen her. Then her stare returned to Gabriel. In a firm voice she said, “Yes, you must, my darling. You are brave and wise.”
“Who are you talking to?” Dacho snapped, yanking the empress away from the window and glaring outside. “I know your kind can do magic.”
Gabriel’s heart pounded. There was nowhere to hide—just a huge red desert area surrounding him.
With a growl, Dacho yanked off his face shield and stared outside as it clattered to the floor.
“Ah!” Gabriel yelled, dropping to his knees to keep low. But he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the monster that was Dacho. The creature’s black, slitted pupils sank into one golden and one blue iris that shrunk as the bright sun filled his eyes. He whipped his head left to right, searching for whoever the empress had been talking to. Dark circles engulfed his eyes, making the colored parts seem even more magnified. Gabriel screwed up his face as he lowered his gaze to where Dacho’s nose should’ve been, to the beige, coiled, worm-like things that bunched together on his face.
“Sir!” the other Solarian called, his voice sounding like a warning as he picked up the face shield and held it out to Dacho.
Dacho snapped his hand palm up to silence him, fisting his other hand against his thin lips to mute a cough.
“I wasn’t speaking to anyone,” the empress assured him. “I was only thinking aloud.”
But Dacho ignored her and kept his focus outside, searching. And the more Gabriel watched him, the more it made a shiver crawl down his spine.
Red, scaly lizard-like skin covered Dacho’s bulging head. Yeah, the freak definitely didn’t have a nose—at least not a human looking nose. And the worm-like things? Worse, the long worm-like tentacles began uncurling and stretching the angrier Dacho seemed to get. He stared, realizing with horror that the tentacles weren’t worms … they were sorta like small snakes!
Wake up, wake up, wake up, Gabriel screamed in his head.
Dacho’s gaze glided past Gabriel, then snapped back on him like an elastic band, his beady glare causing Gabriel’s breath to seize in his chest.
Dacho pounded on the glass, tipping his head back with an angry roar. As he did, the skinny snakes uncoiled and shot out ramrod straight. Their hissing and squeals mixed in with Dacho’s own loud voice.
“Ahhh!” Gabriel yelled—and bolted upright, back on the Lord of the Rock.
He twisted around, gasping for breath. “It was just a dream,” he told himself, patting his sweaty chest and trying to calm his out of control heartbeat. Gabriel stepped over the nautical blanket he must have tossed off during the nightmare. Covered in sweat and dying of thirst, he downed a glass of water before heading out on deck for fresh air.
Inhaling a mouthful, he stared out over the calm water, wondering how long he’d been asleep and when the storm had passed. He was just about to plunk down and let his legs dangle over the side of the ship when he noticed red footprints on the white hull of the deck.
Gabriel snapped his head around looking for an intruder. Then with a sickening awareness, he placed one foot on top of the footprint.
An identical match.
He lifted his leg, twisted his foot up, and wiped the bottom of it with his finger.
Red soil.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Gabriel slumped down at the side of the vessel. His legs dangled over the edge, several feet above the calm water. The full moon glistened against the sea’s surface, and little ripples of water lapped against the ship’s hull.
He didn’t know how it was possible, but somehow he’d been on Solaria. Like—another freaking planet, Solaria. A planet with three suns! And red soil. And lizard-like people with creepy faces who were looking for water and immunities. Gabriel groaned and pressed his fingers into his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
If he’d really been on Solaria, it also meant the empress had spoken to him for real. He had made contact with her by using the emblem. He gripped the chain around his neck. That was some seriously freaky stuff. But, there was no way he could go along with the empress’s plan to blow up the stinking planet. Not with her and the princess still there. Not to mention that would mean killing all of the inhabitants. The Solarians couldn’t all be bad … could they? But then, who was he to question the empress? If she wanted him to do something so drastic, she must know something he didn’t. Still, it didn’t feel right in his gut.
Something splashed in the water below, followed by the sound of a girl giggling. He glanced behind him, assuming Piper was messing with him, but then another spray of water hit him in the face. Peering over the side, he saw a girl with long blond hair watching him from the ocean, giggling.
“Wanna swim?” she asked, her lips curving into a mischievous grin.
Gabriel swiped his arm across his face before looking back at her. “Who are you?”
“Marigold,” she said, grinning again, then she flipped backward. When she did, a large peach-colored tail shot into the air. It pounded against the surface of the sea with a loud splash. Water sprayed into Gabriel’s face.
He pounced to his feet and shook his head, sending water flicking through the air. The girl was a mermaid. A real life, in the flesh, freaking mermaid!
Marigold spun back around, laughing again. Gabriel blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Are—are you what I think you are?”
“I am,” she said, batting her long dark lashes at him. “Are you really Gabriel Stone?” She giggled, spun in a circle, and splashed water at him. Again. Luckily, he was quick on his feet and the wave of ocean water hit the boat.
“How do you know my name?” he asked, sitting back down. Marigold swam closer, her brown eyes glinting under the moonlight. Gabriel lifted a hand in the air. “And please stop splashing me.”
The mermaid rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Your reputation precedes you, you know.” She pursed her lips and tossed her long hair over one shoulder. “Everyone who has any clue knows about you. About how cute you are ... and that you’re a hero.” She gave him a dazzling movie-star smile, and placed her palms flat against the hull of the ship, staring up at him.
Gabriel’s throat grew dry and for a whole minute, he couldn’t speak. He wasn’t sure why he sat there looking down at her like a mute loser. Maybe it was because he’d never seen a mermaid before. Or maybe it was the way she talked to him. No girl had ever called him cute before—well except for his mom, and that totally didn’t count. Marigold was definitely pretty, but she had a tail … and looked to be about fifteen. And as cute as she was, fifteen was way too old for him.
“Well, um, thanks,” he said when he finally found his voi
ce. He felt the blush rising on his cheeks.
“You here to help the prince?” she asked, lifting a brow.
“How do you know about that?”
“I know a lot of things. I know you saved Valta before. I know there’s something seriously wrong going on here now, too. And I also know we have a plague—and that our monarchy has caused nothing but problems.”
Marigold paused, tilted her head, and smiled again. Gabriel couldn’t help but think she looked angelic with her pale, clear skin and big, blue eyes.
Blue? Weren’t they brown a minute ago?
“I mean, the empress almost got us all killed,” she said. “That is, until you showed up and saved the day.” She lowered her lashes, then peeked back up at him with a smirk. “You’re not only super cute, but you’re smart too, you know.”
Smart and cute. Huh. Maybe this girly-fish isn’t so bad after all.
“Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without my friends and help from others here in Valta—including the empress.”
Marigold waved her hand through the air. “Empress sempress,” she dismissed. “I hear she’s kidnapped—gone. And with only a young prince left to figure it all out—or, of course, the empress’s brother.”
Gabriel stiffened at the thought of Duke Malgor.
“Oh relax. I’m not a duke fan either,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Gabriel could’ve sworn Marigold’s blue eyes flashed green, then shifted back to brown—or were they black? Either way, he was drawn into them like a spider to a web. He leaned over the hull to get closer to her. “What else do you know?” Mesmerizing—she was mesmerizing.
Marigold wiggled her tail until she rose several feet out of the water. Her long hair hung down covering the front of her body to her waist. She reached her arms up and wrapped her fingers around Gabriel’s ankles. Her touch was surprisingly warm and soothing.
“I know lots,” she said with a soft giggle. Her laughter reminded Gabriel of the wind chimes at his grandmother’s cottage. Even her voice was as soft as a blanket. “I know the lizard man and Duke Malgor have been friends for a long time. Lizard Man wants payback for the help he gave the duke.” She tapped her pouting lip in thought while glancing away, then snapped her hazel-eyed gaze back on Gabriel with a sideways grin. “I also know they hate humans, but Lizard Man needs you guys for something, too.” She smirked. “Awkward dilemma to be in, wouldn’t you say?”
“It sounds sorta like a love-hate thing,” Gabriel said, leaning farther toward her, thinking. “But what could Dacho possibly need us humans for?”
“That I don’t know.” Marigold dipped her head back, releasing a soft sigh, then gazed back at Gabriel. “I don’t know yet, anyway. I hear whisperings carried on the wind from all across the seas, but that answer is yet to be found. I know he’s desperate for something and that he’s hoping humans will help find it.” She shrugged. “If he didn’t, you’d all probably be dead by now. Personally … ” she said, pursing her lips, “I think he’s jealous of you gorgeous creatures.”
She giggled and ran her nails along Gabriel’s feet. Usually he was ticklish, but her touch only felt soft.
“But don’t you agree,” she continued, wiping the red soil from his feet, “that Valta hasn’t been a fun place under the empress’s rule? Look at all the trouble she’s caused you and your friends. And Duke Malgor only wants to hurt humans like you.”
As she spoke, her eyes sparkled, changing colors from blue, to green, to golden brown. Gabriel couldn’t stop staring into them. His head spun and his feet tingled where she touched them. He could only nod in agreement.
“I think it’s time for the water creatures to rule Valta,” Marigold said, nodding in encouragement. “And I think you should join me.” She squeezed his ankles. “You, Gabriel Stone. People look up to you, you know. You can help me convince the humans to anoint me as the new ruler of Valta.” She lifted one brow and smiled. “Then we can work on the other inhabitant’s approval. I can bring peace to the land once and for all. But you have to come with me. Join me in the sea … I promise to keep you safe, breathe the air into your lungs that you need. We could have so much fun, you and I … ”
Something inside Gabriel told him to tug his legs away, but he couldn’t resist her. Marigold rubbed his feet, the sound of her large tail swishing in the water to hold her up, soothing him. Her voice was as smooth as honey as she held her gaze on his. “You can be by my side, Gabriel. We’ll overtake the throne and control the army of winged-tigers.” She widened her eyes. “Just imagine. We can be the rulers of land, sky, and sea. You have many allies in Valta already, this I know.”
Her voice melted into his ears like butter, sliding through his veins and making his heart beat faster. “You can help me. But we need to go now. The sun will be up soon and its rays hurt my skin. I prefer to be under the sea during the day.” Her fingers crawled up his legs to his knees. “Come with me.”
Cotton seemed to fill Gabriel’s brain. Only one answer kept running through his mind.
Yes.
Yes to anything she wanted.
“Yes,” Gabriel said, nodding once, his whole body tingling.
Splashing suddenly burst from all sides of the boat. From the corner of his eyes, Gabriel saw dozens of mermaids springing up from the sea. Bursts of color filled the ocean in a rainbow of colored tails.
Gabriel got to his feet, his legs shaky at first. He stepped over the railing onto the narrow ledge of the ship. He was moving without thinking; it was as if he were a character in someone else’s video game. Marigold continued talking until her hypnotic voice flowed in perfect rhythm with the pounding of his heart. She needed him, and he wanted to help her. Nothing else mattered.
Gabriel faced her, his back pressed against the railing, the salty breeze shifting his hair back from his face.
It was perfect.
She was perfect.
They could fix everything together. Rule Valta.
With a smile, Gabriel spread his arms wide, ready to free-fall into the sea beside her.
“Stop!”
Piper’s scream jolted Gabriel alert. He swayed forward, almost losing his balance. He flung his arm back and grasped the edge of the bar just in time to catch himself from falling. He blinked, shook his head, and looked back at Piper. Her hands cupped her hips and she glared through narrowed eyes out over the sea.
Gabriel whipped his head around for another look at the beautiful mermaid. But now—now Marigold wasn’t so beautiful. Her eyes were blacker than any night sky he’d ever seen, and dark spider-like veins spread across every inch of her skin. Even scarier, long fangs hung from her mouth like a vampire.
“No!” Marigold shouted. She slammed her hands over her ears, lifted her lips back, and hissed.
Gabriel leapt back over the railing and onto the ship’s deck with super speed. “Holy crap!” He zipped up beside Piper and came to a skidding halt. “What are you doing to her?”
Piper kept her glare on the ocean, determination etching her face. “Saving your butt by using my brain blast.”
A loud squeal filled the air while a horrific symphony of vampire-mermaid screams rang in Gabriel’s ears. Brent bounded out onto the deck, hair rumpled from sleep. Finley hopped out behind him, eyes wide in alarm.
As the sun rose above the mountain, the vampire-mermaids hissed through daggered fangs while they sank deep below the sea.
But before Gabriel could chill for even a second, a loud buzz erupted. The sinking feeling in his gut told him what he already knew, but he dared to check anyway. He looked up into the sky.
A swarm of poisonous locusts swooped down like a cluster of storm clouds, obviously lured toward the ship from the piercing vampire-mermaids’ screams.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Let’s get inside!” Gabriel yelled as the locusts hovered around the boat. He headed toward the sliding glass door. Getting down below and being quiet was the best plan he could think of. But before he could step i
nside, Piper called out to stop him.
“Wait up!” she yelled. She rushed forward, Brent just behind her. They all hurried inside and Brent whipped the door closed behind them as Finley squealed and jumped into Gabriel’s arms. “Don’t go below deck.” Piper ran to the front of the boat and looked out the windshield.
Brent plopped on the captain’s chair, face ashen. “We need to leave. Like now.”
“What?” Gabriel asked, thinking his friend was crazy. How did Brent expect them to just up and leave? None of them could drive a ship. And it’s not like Finley was offering up captain advice. “How are we supposed to do that?” Gabriel asked, placing Finley back down on his feet. “What we need to do is go below and be quiet so the locusts will leave. Then we can try—”
“Dude,” Brent said, sweat dripping down the sides of his face as he frantically pounded buttons on the dashboard. They lit up and made squealing sounds as his fingers moved. “Their poison is burning up the boat!”
“What?” Gabriel whipped his head around and looked out over the front deck. Hoards of locusts swarmed the outer tip. Puffs of steam sizzled into the air as their venom dropped onto the fiberglass hull of the ship. “This can’t be happening.”
They’d have to swim to shore if the locusts disintegrated the boat—if they were even lucky enough to avoid being stung, never mind the vampire-mermaids. Then, they’d be stranded and never make it to Ericville.
“Unfortunately,” Piper said, tucking her long black hair behind her ears and scanning the control panel. “It is happening.”
Finley hopped up onto the captain’s chair beside Brent. “Bug eat boat. Bug eat boat,” he wailed while jumping up and down.
Then they were all pressing buttons, pulling levers, their panicked words a mumble of sounds.
“Wait,” Piper said. “We need to get the anchor up first!”
“Crap!” Brent groaned. He lifted his chin toward the front of the boat. “The chain that leads to the anchor is right under that hoard of freaking locusts. This totally sucks. We can’t even get to the anchor without being stung!”
Gabriel Stone and the Wrath of the Solarians Page 8