“What’s wrong?” I asked, brushing a curl off her forehead.
“Am I going to . . . ” Her cheeks flushed as she bit her lip.
“Are you going to what?”
She dropped her eyes and rubbed her finger over the promising mark. “This is so embarrassing.”
“Tell me,” I demanded.
“Fine.” She let out a quick gust and straightened up. “When am I going to turn into a mermaid?”
I blinked for a second, confused why she thought she’d spontaneously change. Then smiled, filled with relief. “You mean because we’re promised?” I chuckled.
“I knew it was silly.” She grimaced.
“No, don’t feel like that.” I folded her back into my arms and squeezed. “A promise doesn’t make you turn into a mermaid, though I’d really like that—” she giggled. “Our essence does. There’s a spring in Natatoria under the palace that bubbles up a blue liquid from within the earth. If you drank it, you’d transform into a mer. I’m sure you’ve seen it. Tatch has a vile on her bracelet.”
She thought for a moment. “Oh, right. So, if I drank that, I’d poof into a mermaid?”
“Something like that. I’ve never actually seen it happen. It’s a fashion statement for mermaids to carry it around. They continue to drink it—like it’s a fountain of youth.”
I laughed, but suddenly realized we might not have brought back any essence with us.
“That’s kind of cool.” She hummed as she leaned against my shoulder.
I kissed her temple and inhaled the honeysuckle scent in her hair. “Just know I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I can become human, if it comes down to that.”
“There’s a way to do that?”
“Yes,” I said and took her hand. “The bond of our souls might go away, but we’ll be together on land without any mer restrictions.”
“But you’ll have to leave your family and you won’t be able to go get Tatchi.”
“Then I’ll go get Tatch first. My family will still be around. Maybe they’ll take up residence in Florida, too.”
“That’s huge,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t want you to have to choose between me and them.”
My chest tightened. “It won’t be like that. It’ll all work out.”
She looked down and traced the raised emblem on my ring finger that signified our eternal connection. “Will this go away, too?”
I grimaced. “I don’t know. Possibly.”
She sighed again and laced her fingers with mine. “I don’t want it to go away.”
I moved our hands up and brushed her tattooed finger against my lips, kissing it. “Maybe I’ll put something else in its place.”
She smiled, her expression warm. “Are you proposing to me?”
My heart thumped wildly in my throat. This wasn’t how I wanted to ask her. Not without a ring. “What?” I said and looked away with a sheepish grin.
“Brat.” She hit my arm and I grabbed it to pull her toward me again, brushing my lips against her neck.
“I like being your brat.”
“This is all so crazy,” she whispered in my ear. “But as long as we are together, I’ll do and go where you want me to.”
“Music to my ears,” I whispered back and swayed with her body as we heard music. “It would be nice to be able to be free from always worrying about the sun setting.”
“Tell me about it,” she said as she moved in for a kiss.
a
The afternoon flew by faster than I wanted and after another wonderful dinner with her family, the eventual decision of who would leave whom became heartbreaking to think about. Ash fidgeted and hid her left hand under the table during dinner. Once the sky turned rosy and cast long shadows across the kitchen floor, we both looked at each other in sadness. Another early good-bye.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I moved a stray lock of red hair from her face and peered into her green eyes. “I hate leaving so soon.”
“Can I meet you later at the dock? I’d love to see your—what do you call it?”
“It’s just a fin. I’m appropriately named for my appendage,” I said with a wink. “How about later this summer, when it’s warmer? I’d hate for you to freeze outside.”
She curled her lips downward and pouted. “Please?”
I laughed. “We’ll see. I’ll call in an hour, how’s that?”
“Fine. I guess.”
I kissed her irresistible lips again before dashing to get home. I didn’t want to ruin another pair of jeans.
“Finley,” mom said as I walked through the door. “She’s adorable. What did you two decide?”
“Nothing yet, Mom.” I said and went towards the basement stairs. “But I want to talk to Dad.”
“He’s downstairs fixing one of the soda taps on the bar.”
“They broke that too?”
“Among other things. They have no clue how to use or work anything around here.”
Dread hit me. I hadn’t thoroughly checked my room yet. Did Colin break anything of mine? I went to my room, but knew I wouldn’t have time to look. Scales had already begun to appear on my legs. I slid out of my jeans and sat on my bed. My tail burst from my skin like magic and I wondered what Ash would really think of my fishy side. The time spent living as separate species would make for an interesting relationship.
I slid across the floor and maneuvered down the stairs. Mom was testing out the new tap, while Dad moved to fix the filter.
“Son,” Dad called out, waving a wrench in his hand. “I like her.”
“She is something special.”
Mom dangled a vile filled with essence on a chain for me to see. “I can’t wait for the day she officially becomes one of us.”
I exhaled, relieved she grabbed some before we left, but felt a pang of dread after spending such a great time with Ash’s family.
“One thing at a time, Mom,” I said quickly. “I’m not in a rush to take her away from everyone who loves her. Don’t you remember what it felt like to leave your humanity? What would you think if I chose the opposite? To become a man instead?”
Her smile pulled into a frown; a tear glinted in her eye. “I’m sorry, Son. You’re right.”
“It’s not an easy decision.” I dropped my eyes. “For now she’s going to finish high school and go to college. It’s near the Atlantic in Florida. And once she graduates, things will change. You guys managed it.”
Mom looked to Dad with a faint smile on her lips. “Yes, we did.”
He swam over to her and hugged her shoulder. “You endure much to be with the one you love.”
Mom sniffled and I swam away from them, over to my floating lounge chair, needing to escape the tension. Dad had reattached the arm to the seat.
“Thanks,” I said and tested it out by relaxing back and closing my eyes. All I wanted was the hour to pass quickly, so I could call Ash and not feel pressure to make these tough decisions.
“How Colin managed to break so much stuff in such a short time, I’ll never know. Why I’m even bothering . . .”
I sat up at the sudden silence. “What do you mean?”
Dad sighed. He crawled into the closest floating lounge and paddled over to me. “Since we’re going to be leaving, I don’t see the point. Mom and I are planning to get out of here once I wrap up the business and our finances. Florida is actually where we’d planned to go. It’s close to home base.”
Home base. I’d forgotten about the mer safe house for runaways Dad had set up a while back, unbeknownst to the King.
I ran my hand through my wet hair. “Badger gave me an earful while you were gone—”
Dad laughed lazily. “I’m sure he did.”
“You didn’t tell Tatch and me anything about anything . . .” My cheeks burned. “It was quite embarrassing at times.”
“Well.” He scratched his belly before Mom swam over and handed him a beer from the tap. “Ever since you were little merlings, I’ve been contem
plating leaving the colony. I didn’t want you too attached and interwoven into a life that I’d have to uproot you from. And with Phaleon in control, it’s become too unstable. The so-called secret mission I was on was actually to find his runaway daughter and he didn’t want anyone to know.”
“What?” I laughed under my breath. “Wow. Now that says a lot.”
“Yeah.” Dad chuckled, too, while Mom handed me a Coke. “And I wanted to bring you along, but I needed you there for your mom and your sister. I had a feeling Phaleon would twist things around to his advantage in my absence somehow, but—” he groaned and slapped the water “—Azor stealing Tatiana’s promise should have gotten him stripped of his fin. If it were anyone else—”
“We’ll get her back,” I interrupted.
“I know. But I can’t help but think this is all my fault. I should have talked with her earlier, let her go to home base when we had the chance. She of all people shouldn’t have to endure Natatoria. All she craved was human life. She constantly got in trouble for gallivanting all over with Ashlyn and staying out ‘til the last minute. Have you seen her room? It’s covered in posters of human boys and her bookshelves are filled with those gossip magazines. I just thought we’d have more time.”
Mom swam up and touched Dad’s arm. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Fin’s right. We’ll go back and get her. I’m sure Azor is treating her fine.”
I gritted my teeth to keep from responding. Mom didn’t know what Azor was really like—what an animal he was. I could just imagine his treatment of her—more like a possession than a person. Even with the promise binding her to him, I had a feeling once the lovey-dovey feelings dwindled and real life set in, he’d have her locked up in his compound to do chores for him all day—and night.
Dad and I exchanged hard looks. He clenched his jaw and nodded. We knew the truth and we had to get her out.
“Once I find out what happened after we left and get my men together, we’re going in,” Dad said, softening his expression and placing his hand on top of Mom’s. “I’m not leaving her there any longer than I have to. And Fin, you’ll get to escort Azor out of Natatoria. How’s that?”
A malevolent grin spread across my face. “With pleasure.”
Mom tensed. She knew this meant a war—the first of its kind for our people.
“And we promise to be careful, mama,” Dad said quickly and gave her a kiss. “So don’tcha worry.”
They looked at one another; pain of longing in her eyes. “Just bring her back,” she said quietly.
“I promise.”
“So,” I said slowly, breaking the tension again. “Did you find Phaleon’s daughter?”
“Aye,” Dad said. His response made me think of Badger and miss him. “What a mess. We found her, barely alive and in the middle of a botched attempt to become human. There were people and authorities all over her apartment complex. I’ve never had a bigger mess to clean up.
“Apparently her roommate found her finned up and bleeding to death in the tub. Of course she freaked and called nine-one-one. Poor girl was working completely alone and off rumor. With all the people involved—it got ugly fast.
“But we managed to mind-wipe the witnesses and erase most of the evidence. But with smart phones now days, pictures get on the internet so quickly, it becomes impossible to retract. But luckily, only a few really bad pictures leaked out and they don’t look any different than the mermaid lore online now anyway. We got lucky this time.
“But I blame Phaleon. His insistence of forbidding the teaching of how to become human and keeping mers trapped in Natatoria just fuels the desire to explore.”
Mom agreed.
I shivered at the image. Dad had told us how to switch when we were younger. The visual scared me from ever wanting to do it. The graphic description of allowing yourself to bleed to death, but capturing your blood (like in a bathtub) and lying in it so it can heal you from the outside during the transformation was a horror show in the making. But you weren’t supposed to do it alone, in case of trouble or a complication. And then afterward, a male mer needed to erase your memories so you wouldn’t tell the secret. I wouldn’t have though, let alone imagined doing that, until now. Until Ash became my everything and I’d go through anything to be together, forever.
I looked towards Mom who watched Dad with empathetic eyes. “Did she live?”
“Yes, but she’s not going home. We’ve got her in the safe house with friends for now. But if it wasn’t for my connections and computer skills, this could have been our undoing. Phaleon’s fear of humankind has become his downfall and the mer are no longer satisfied with just having merlings and tending to the colony. One day people are going to revolt.”
“So then who were those warriors?” I asked.
“Friends of mine and Badger’s. We’ve been grooming men for such a situation as this for several years under the guise of Azor’s army training. Due to Phaleon and Azor’s poor treatment of their people, the mermen have been eager to join our cause and keep it secret. Even when it came to this mission, I was the only person who was willing or even able to lead it. But what he doesn’t know is that my connections with people on land is what made me successful. He’s got a thing or two coming, especially now that his son has stolen my daughter from me against her will.”
I looked him straight in the eye. “Mom told me about what happened when you were younger, with Leon wanting Mom but she chose you and then your parents getting banished.”
“Yes, it was time you knew the truth. I’ve never trusted him fully after that. He’s always wanted to keep me under his thumb, but he’s too much of a coward to do anything directly. That’s why this mission became something to his advantage. It’s too bad his parents aren’t still on the throne. They were true leaders.”
My chest tightened. “Do you think he’ll seek revenge? How long do you think we’ve really got here?”
Dad looked to Mom and shrugged. “I’d say a month or two.”
“Really?” The hope calmed my nerves. Ash could finish school and then we could leave for Florida in June—to get her all set up for college, of course. “This is good news. Ash has been so nervous about when we’d leave and how things would work out.”
“But I’m going back to get Tatiana sooner than that.”
“Oh, right,” I said, worried what Ash would think of me leaving so soon.
Mom touched my arm. “Ash will come around. Just let things marinate. With the promise, she’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”
“And I her,” I said quickly. “I’m going to tell her now.”
Mom smiled. “Enjoy your talk.”
I shimmied up the stairs and checked the time. Exactly an hour had passed. The phone barely rang before she answered.
“Hey, baby,” I said, intending to be cheesy. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Right here. Waiting for you.”
58
ASH
Just hearing his voice made me whole again. In the time waiting, I’d chewed my nails to the nub, worn a new groove in my carpet, eaten half a box of chocolate chip cookies, and yelled at my sister for messing up the bathroom.
“I’ve got good news,” he said.
“Tatchi’s home?”
“Well, no. Not that good. I’ve talked to my parents and the Florida thing works in perfectly with their plans. There’s a safe house for runaway mers, so we’ll be together while you go to college.”
“Great,” I said and pulled in a deep breath.
A safe house sounded more reassuring than him living alone in the Atlantic. But I still didn’t know how to tell my parents we were getting serious, so serious I’d want to marry him if he asked. Being only seventeen and jobless without a place to live wouldn’t stack in our favor. And Fin seemed apprehensive about me becoming a mermaid. Would I have to wait long? The thought of swimming around with a real live tail exhilarated me. Would college end up being the cover-up? Would my family notice I’
d changed? Heck, if we lived in the Atlantic together, why would we need jobs anyway?
“Ashlynnnn,” he cooed. “What are you thinking about?”
“Life.”
“Sounds serious,” he said with a little laugh.
“Since our first kiss, I can’t think of anything else.”
“That wasn’t entirely my fault. You were the one taking a pleasure cruise in freezing waters.”
“I’d heard that there was a hot merman stalking the waters around Fannette Island. I had to look for myself.” I giggled.
“Hot, huh?” he asked with a smile in his voice.
“And sexy.”
“I’ve been told that.”
“By whom?” I asked with pretend outrage.
“By all the mermaids.”
“Oooh, if you were here I’d—”
“What?”
“I’d pin you down and kiss you so you’d never think of anyone else but me.”
“Can I come over now?”
We both laughed.
“I wish,” I said
He continued to flirt with me and plan our future. In the back of my mind, I started to envision the wedding as well. I couldn’t imagine anyone except Tatchi being my maid of honor, but worried if I waited any longer, and let him go to Natatoria without me, they wouldn’t come back and I wouldn’t have the power to find him. My dreams and worst nightmares swirled together in a multicolored cloud of uncertainty.
“Geez,” Fin said in exasperation. “Who keeps trying to break in on our call?”
“What?”
“Call waiting. Hold on. I need to tell this fool where to stick it.”
“Okay.”
I heard the click and waited, imagining him chewing out the poor telemarketer who was trying to make their sales for the night. Out of my window I saw the bathroom light in his house filter through the trees and smiled. We were so close, yet so far away. After two minutes passed, I wondered if my phone still worked properly. I clicked a button so the screen would light up and the seconds counted away. After three, my heart began to speed up. What was taking so long? After ten minutes, I was about to put on my clothes and walk to his house myself.
Everblue Page 26