by A Lonergan
“Fishing isn’t allowed in my watersss.” The creature straightened up from the shallow water and gave me a curious glance. She was naked and her hair barely covered her chest. Her eyes were red and they looked like blood. The monster stepped from the water and took my hand in hers. It was cold and scaly, almost slimy.
“Ssshe is jusssst a child. I will let you off with a warning.”
“You didn’t need to show yourself to her, Cara.”
“I’m giving you a warning, Leila. Next time don’t bring your child to my watersss.”
“I was just training her. She needs to know how to survive! I thought you out of all the merpeople would understand!”
“Don’t teach her here.”
The creature slinked back into the water and was gone.
“Cara!” The words left my lips as I sat up abruptly and looked frantically around. I was still outside the mermaid’s cell. She was giving me a worried glance.
“You speak of Cara?”
“I met her when I was little – I just remembered. But we don’t have much time. We can talk about that after I get all of you out.”
I gave my hand back to the monster in the cell. She slashed above the gold on my wrist. My blood bubbled up and I hissed in pain. She turned my wrist upside down over the lock. Each drop that hit the lock turned gold.
The mermaid gave me a curious look. “That hasss never happened before.” The lock fell off the door and barely made a sound when it hit the stone floor.
I opened all the other cells the same way and looked at all of the creatures surrounding me; they were all monsters that I had read about in mythology textbooks, heard about in stories, or watched on TV. They were real.
I shook my head, I guess I should have known because of all of the other things that had been happening, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it all.
The mermaid stood next to me, almost hovering, like she was protecting me. The other creatures looked like they wanted to eat me, especially the cyclops and the centaur.
I went up the stairs first and the rest of them stayed a few steps behind. I turned the doorknob slowly and it let out a squeak. I swallowed hard and peeked my head through the door. The room was empty. Something wasn’t right. It was easy. It was too. I motioned for the rest of the group to hurry. I didn’t know how much time we had and there were six of us.
The room was a small kitchen with a mini- fridge, a microwave, and a round table with two chairs. A blinking light in the corner of the room had me curious; as I got closer, I noticed it was a camera. I dragged a chair to it and slammed my fist into the lens. I thought it would hurt but it didn’t.
The blinking immediately stopped and I looked around the room for more before I decided it was okay for the rest of the party to follow.
Chapter 26
I waved at the mermaid to let everyone know the coast was clear. She made her way through the door first and I was stunned by her beauty and nakedness. I seemed to be the only one that was uncomfortable with her nudity. I guess it was just a norm with the mer-people, but it wasn’t just the nudity that was weirding me out – it was the fact that she had legs. The only time I had heard about mermaids having legs was in The Little Mermaid.
She wrapped a blanket around her waist, and I noticed that the scales went up and down her muscular legs. Her toes were webbed and bare, but I knew she probably didn’t care based on her attitude.
She cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her bare chest. “What are you looking at?”
I just shook my head and made my way to the other side of the room where the door was.
“Something isn’t right. You’re a liar. You are leading us to slaughter!” The centaur came running at me full speed and reared up onto his hind legs.
The mermaid was the first one to come to my rescue and stood in front of me with her arms outstretched. “You will not touch her. Ssshe knew my mother.”
The centaur accepted her words but gave me a warning look.
“Anyone elssse have a problem we need to addresss?”
Everyone shook their heads and I opened the door.
We had stumbled out of ‘Herman’s’ small shed on the back of his property. A man was standing watch and immediately rushed at me. He picked up a radio, but I ran at him and kicked the device out of his hand.
The mermaid was faster than me and killed him before I had the chance to knock him out. Her fingernails elongated and she shoved one straight talon through his neck from behind. She yanked her hand free and gave me a bored look.
We needed to move and time still wasn’t on our side. Snow was falling from the black sky
but everything else was still in the light of the full moon.
We were still in the middle of damn nowhere. Getting these creatures to safety wasn’t going to be easy.
I turned to the group. “Well, anyone have any ideas?”
“We will have to steal a car,” A man in the back said. Ugh. Of course.
“Some of our company issss too large to fit in a car, idiot,” the mermaid replied.
“Who are you calling large?” The cyclops looked at her in offense.
“All of you. I sssspeak the truth. Now hush.”
My head was starting to hurt and all of the adrenaline that had been pumping through my body was starting to go away. I swayed on my feet. The centaur scooped me up in his strong arms and held me close.
The mermaid looked at me closely before clucking her tongue. “She needs water and food. She won’t be able to lead ussss. The strongest of you will stay here to watch over her and she will not be harmed! Cristoff and I will go find a van large enough to fit all of you. Thankfully, it’ssss the dead of night.”
The mermaid and a man with yellow eyes slinked off and I wondered if they would really come back.
Trying to stay awake in the presence of strangers was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We had walked a few miles behind Cristoff and the mermaid and set up a kind of camp. The cyclops found an old tarp at the back of the property and folded it up, knowing there was a possibility that we would need it.
The centaur put me down on a log right next to the tree line at the edge of the property. I imagined we were at least five miles away from our prison.
My head was still swimming. I tried to lie down, but instead of doing it gracefully, I fell forward. I didn’t even try to move or get comfortable. I felt awful inside and didn’t think it mattered what kind of state my body was in. The cyclops made his way to me and tried to help me get comfortable on the cold, snow- patched ground.
“I’m Kane, I wish you no ill will. You saved our lives, even if we do not understand why.”
I nodded my head in acknowledgement but that was about all I could do. My tongue felt too dry and thick to form words.
The centaur stood proud next to me and folded his arms over his bare chest. “I’m Cent; I was named after my father, Centaurus.”
How fitting.
I was glad I couldn’t form words or my sarcasm would have gotten me into a lot of trouble with the proud young centaur in front of me. A girl that I hadn’t noticed before peeked her head around Kane’s wide chest and gave me a small grin.
“I’m Darya,” She had a little bit of a lilt to her a voice, but I couldn’t place what it was. I almost asked her what she was but she was quicker.
“I’m a syren.” Ah, okay, the lilt made complete sense now. She was certainly a dangerous ally to have. They all were.
Cristoff broke through the tree line and gave me a wide smile before scooping me up off the ground. I was going to have to get my strength back soon because being manhandled like this was starting to get on my nerves. “We have a ride and some food for you. Don’t fret.” I nodded against his chest.
We must have walked a few miles before Cristoff stopped and jostled me to get me to open my eyes. I was face to face with a bus. A big damn yellow bus.
Well, shite. This wouldn’t bring attention at all.
&n
bsp; I almost gave him a look to show just how grateful I was for the ride, but he clamored up the steps with me in his arms and laid me on a seat in the back. All of the other seats had been gutted out and blankets were in their place. I was worried the cyclops would have trouble getting inside the vehicle but he got on just fine. He had to duck slightly but that was about it. It was Cent that had the hardest time getting on; the human half of him fit perfectly but the hips of his horse half got stuck. The bus groaned as he forced his body through. He immediately threw himself down on the blanket at the front of the bus and tucked his legs under himself.
“I think this bus was used to help move refugees,” Cristoff said. “The tint is extremely dark so we should be fine getting around in it, but if you don’t look human you will have to keep your body down until we can get a meeting with my mother, Hecate.” Cristoff marched to the front of the bus as he spoke and threw himself in the driver’s seat. My head whipped up at the sound of Hecate but I was still feeling groggy. I had probably imagined it.
The mermaid sat down next to me and held a water bottle to my lips. I grasped it in both hands and tried to drink as quickly as I could. “I’m Cora.”
Out of breath I replied, “Hi, Cora, I’m Jessa.”
Cora gave me a few crackers to start off, and I found myself extremely tired again. I hoped it was just because body wanted to heal. I was tired of not being awake when interesting things happened. I didn’t want to miss any of the action. Not to mention, I still didn’t know if I could trust anyone on the bus. Sleep pulled at me anyway.
“Jessa!” A voice shouted in the distance. I couldn’t fight off the fogginess in my head. It was like I was swimming in a swamp. “Jessa, please be okay! I don’t know where I am; all I can see is blackness and I don’t know how to get out of it. I need you to come find me...”
I sat up abruptly and looked frantically around the bus. Cora was sleeping next to me and Cristoff was staring at me in the rearview mirror. The sun was starting to come up.
“You okay, Princess?” The words made me smile slightly. When Crawley had called me that, it had gotten under my skin. The words now gave me hope.
“I’m great, but...”
Cristoff wrinkled his eyebrows at me. “But what?”
My tongue got thick and I didn’t know how to speak. I didn’t know how to get the words past my lips. I prayed what I was about to say was true. I had heard his voice clear as day and I could still feel his presence around me. It had to be true; I felt it in my soul.
No one on the bus would understand; they didn’t know him and I doubted it would even matter to anyone but Keenan and me.
I still whispered to myself, “Crawley is alive.”
Acknowledgments
There are so many people I need to thank. But first I need to start with my husband, Brandon; he has done everything and more for me while I worked tirelessly on this story. He has taken our toddler off of my hands so that I can work and continue to do what I love. I don’t know how I would have been able to do this without him.
Next I need to thank my friends that have been by my side encouraging me since day one. The ones that shared my posts on social media and listened to me jabber on and on about this story.
Taylor- thank you for being my swag go- to gal. You are the best at what you do and you always go above and beyond for me. You have let me drag you to book signings out of our home state and listen to me complain or rave about my books. I can’t wait for you to be sitting by my side at book signings one day with all of your merchandise on display.
Breanna- you gave me probably the best critiquing possible and made this a better story. This book wouldn’t have been any good without your creative advice. I’m so thankful for your help and reading this probably more than you wanted to.
Last but not least- my family- I’m so thankful for my family and how they encourage me to succeed in my home business and in the book world, I’m so thankful to have such an amazing support system by my side each step of the way.
About the Author
It's a small world and A. Lonergan is living it in southern Louisiana. She loves her son, reading, meeting new people and dreaming of new stories to tell. Feel free to find her on social media- on Instagram and Facebook.