I wondered if that was what this was all about as I rushed down the stairs. Already, I could hear Sean calling out Brianna’s name.
Was this because Riley was jealous of a townie? Because Kira was prettier than she was?
Chapter 20
Kira:
I swam and laughed, the water flowing over me in waves. For the first time all evening, the tension in my chest disappeared, it just melted. And the heat—that searing sensation that felt like my skin was on fire—disappeared. The ocean was like heaven and the four of us, bobbing up and down, were like flesh and blood angels in our Calvin Klein briefs and bras. A current tugged at us, moved us away from the stairway and the lights that cascaded down from Brianna’s house. It was strange, but I could still hear the music and the laughter from the party, all the way down here.
“Come on, this way,” Riley beckoned as she swam farther away from the light. Rocks now littered the beach like large monuments, some of them almost as big as cars. Her friends, Mare and Sorcha, followed her, the moon shining on the water, forging a path of silver light. The rocks opened up ahead, forming a cave or a grotto, the water pooling shallow over the sand. Once inside, we all stood up, the water lapping at our waists. Moon at our backs, we were all silver silhouettes, faceless—
Until one of them—Riley, I think—turned toward me.
Her eyes were glowing.
The water surged in, a slow gentle tide, and the water lapped just below my breasts. I must have been drunk or high. I had to be hallucinating. Then they all looked at me, all of them with eyes that glowed, pale blue, and they laughed, moving closer.
“Something wrong, Townie Princess?” Riley asked, a low giggle following her words.
“Yeah, your eyes—”
“Pretty, huh?” Mare said.
“Don’t you wish you had eyes like ours?” Sorcha asked.
Then they surrounded me and the water rose again, slowly, steadily. It was up to my shoulders. For the first time I realized that the ceiling in here wasn’t very high, not much taller than I was. If the water kept rising—
“We need to get out of here,” I said. I pushed one of them aside, couldn’t tell which one it was, and I tried to swim back out into open water. As soon as I passed her, I caught a glimpse of her skin—pale green and covered with tiny opalescent scales.
Just then, fast as lightning, her arm reached out, fingers wrapped around my hair and she yanked me back toward her. “Not so fast, sweetness.” It was Riley.
The other girls surrounded me, each of them latching onto one of my arms, close enough for me to see their faces. Either I was seriously freaking out or they weren’t human.
“Let me go!” I yelled.
“Honey, our party’s just getting started.”
They grabbed me and pushed me underwater. I screamed at just the wrong moment. Water flowed into my mouth, my arms flailed and I think I must have pulled one of them down with me, but she didn’t seem to care. Together we went under, hair swirling around us, her eyes glowing while I coughed and struggled. If I could have stood up, I would have been able to breathe, the water wasn’t that deep yet. I bit one of the hands that held me and whoever it was let me go. Then I pushed with my legs, struck the bottom and shoved. We were all going toward the surface together.
I broke the water, my mouth opened and I gasped, sucking in a lungful of oxygen. Then another. I screamed.
“Help!”
“It sucks doesn’t it,” Riley said. With her hand on the top of my head, she shoved my face back underwater. In a minute, I pushed my way up again. She acted like we were having a normal conversation.
“Yeah, it took me three days to turn,” she said, a vicious sneer on her face. Why could I see her so clearly now, despite the darkness in this cave? “I thought I was in hell. But we’re gonna give you a crash course, sweetness.”
My head was underwater again and I wasn’t scared anymore. I was mad.
I bobbed to the surface.
“Turn or die,” Riley said, no emotion in her eyes this time. “Either one is fine with me.”
Then all three of them were on top of me. The water was up to my chin now. It didn’t take much for them to pull me down, to hold me there. I could see them in the blue black water, laughing; it was like hell with dark Paper Dolls. Their skin glowed a soft pale green and they had gills on their necks, their hair flowed around us like strands of seaweed.
What the heck were they and why were they doing this?
And then, just like the other day at school, something inside me suddenly snapped. I grabbed Mare by the wrist, twisted her arm until it almost broke. Even underwater I could hear her yelp of pain. She dropped me and swam away, clutching the wounded arm to her chest. I thought I could see lights back on the shore and for the first time I realized that we were no longer in the cave. The tide had pulled us out into deeper water.
They were going to drag me out to sea, drown me and let the tide pull my body away.
I latched onto Sorcha, bit her on the shoulder until water and blood poured into my mouth. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. She tried to strike me, but I fended off all of her blows. I wouldn’t let go until she did.
Then she melted into midnight sea. Gone.
It was just me and Riley now. We were at the edge of the shoreline, where the rocks jutted out into the water. I twisted her short hair through my fingers until I had a firm hold, then I started dragging her toward the beach. I was going to slam her head against the rocks, I was going to bash her skull until this monster disappeared.
But just then somebody grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the surface, toward the shore. He pried my fingers from Riley’s hair, then dragged me through the water, one arm around my waist. I fought and screamed and tried to break free. So much adrenaline was flowing through my veins that I couldn’t think straight.
“Stop it! Kira, I’m not going to hurt you!”
It was Caleb.
He released me and my feet found the sandy bottom, I stood on shaky legs, the water to my waist. But my strength was gone. I couldn’t stand up. I coughed and I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t make sense. How had I been able to stay underwater for so long and why couldn’t I breathe now that I was out?
“Relax, slow down,” he said. “Take in a slow, shallow breath, just one—”
I tried and it seemed to help. Then I panicked and my hands went to my throat, my fingers felt something strange on both sides of my neck.
Gills.
“You have to change back, Kira, the others are coming. Hurry!”
But his words didn’t make sense. Change back into what? I took a shallow sip of air, tried to hold it in, then took another. My coughing stopped and my strength seemed to be returning. I tried to talk but I couldn’t.
“You’re going to be okay, I promise.” Then he picked me up and carried me, running up the beach, toward the house filled with so much light that it burned my eyes. “You’ll change back. You will.”
I wanted to ask him, change into what, but I still couldn’t speak. I was just barely able to catch oxygen, one tiny gulp at a time. Somewhere behind me, I heard Riley laughing.
But that was all. I don’t remember any more.
Because that was when I blacked out.
Chapter 21
Caleb:
I ran down the beach, Kira in my arms, trying to remember that she was one of the land people. But it was hard. Right now she wore Selkie skin and she looked even more beautiful than before: her skin a soft pale green, her wet hair draping over my shoulder. On top of that, her pheromones were strong. She appeared to be sleeping, but I knew that she needed to turn back as soon as possible. The others—the humans—couldn’t discover her like this.
Lights bobbed along the shoreline. Sean must have recruited some of his friends to help him search for her. Fortunately, they had all gone in the wrong direction.
“Quick, meet me at the stairs,” I called to Brianna, our familiar, using a silent
communication that only she could sense. “Bring towels and a blanket!”
Then I knelt beneath the stairway, found Kira’s clothes crumpled in a pile on the ground. I slid her dress over her head, tried unsuccessfully to get her arms in the sleeves. Her body slumped away from me every time I moved one of her limbs. Meanwhile, I kept watching the stairs and the beach, fearful that someone would catch me and think the worst of what I was doing.
“Kira, you need to turn back,” I whispered as one of her arms finally went where it was supposed to go. Her dress clung to her wet skin, making this nearly impossible. “Wake up!”
Both of her arms were in place now and I shimmied the garment down, trying not to notice when the fabric moved slower over her breasts and hips. I licked my lips nervously, then zipped up the back of her dress. At least she was presentable now. Well, except for the green skin and the gills on her neck.
“Caleb! Where are you?” Brianna’s feet thumped overhead, one hand sang as it followed the iron railing.
“Here,” I called softly.
She came to the bottom of the steps, but still didn’t see me.
“Under the stairs.”
She spun around, her eyes widened and she gasped.
“That’s not—it can’t be—” she said.
“Unfortunately, it is. Give me the towels and help me get her shoes on.”
I tried to dry her arms and hair while Brianna fastened Kira’s sandals.
“What happened?” Brianna asked, a horrified expression on her face. “Is this some kind of Selkie magic?”
I took the blanket and wrapped it around Kira, shaking my head. “No, Riley turned her.”
Brianna still didn’t understand, but that didn’t matter.
“We have to get her out of here before the others find her. Get your car, we’re going to take her home. I’ll meet you up in the driveway in about five minutes.”
She nodded slowly.
“Hurry up!”
Then I heard laughter behind me, followed by the slow approach of stealthy footsteps. Riley laid a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed it and turned around, twisting her arm behind her back until she winced.
“What’s wrong with you? Have you forgotten I’m the leader now?” she hissed. “Just one word to the others and you’ll be cast out—”
“I don’t care, not after this.” I leaned down, whispered hot words in her ear, ignoring the pheromones that sifted up, sweet as moonlight and roses. “You’re going to find Sean in about ten minutes and tell him that Kira got sick, understand?”
Riley smiled. I twisted her arm harder until she let out a small cry.
“You’re going to say that Brianna is taking her home. And Kira’s really, really sorry. You got that?”
Riley nodded.
“Trust me, you’ll regret it if you mess this up.” I released her.
“No, you’re the one who will regret it.” She rubbed her arm, then swiveled to face me, hands on her hips. “Kira’s boyfriend is going to need a shoulder to cry on, now that his little Townie Princess has gone home. And I’ll be right there to soothe all his pain.” She grinned up at me.
“Don’t even think about it. You know how Kira feels about him—”
“That’s exactly why I’ll be so consoling.” She sauntered off, head lifted, sniffing midnight air for Sean’s scent. She must have found it, for she was now heading with purpose, shoulders back, spine straight, head tilted forward. Just like during a hunt.
The gods protect you, Sean. I’m sorry.
I picked up Kira, covered her face with the blanket so no one would be able to see her, and I headed up the steep hill, avoiding the stairs. It was going to take me awhile to climb up, but at least I knew that I wouldn’t run into any humans along the way. Like most of the places I went, this path was much too difficult for them.
•
Brianna’s car thrummed in the driveway, a low soft growl, but she was nowhere in sight. I quietly opened the back door, slid Kira across the upholstery and draped the blanket over her so no one would see her. Then I hesitated. Should I get inside the car or go look for Brianna? I turned and stared back at the house, saw the confusion inside. The dancing had stopped although the music still pulsed, loud and sensuous, and the strobe light continued to flash, catching the humans and freezing them in a variety of poses.
Word must have gotten out that Kira was missing.
Then I saw Brianna talking to a small group of people on the front porch. She pointed toward the car and, after that, everyone nodded and smiled.
She must have told them that Kira was safe, that we were taking her home.
I climbed into the front passenger seat and waited.
“Kira, can you hear me?” I asked, keeping my voice soft.
“Mmmm?” She moved like someone asleep and tugged the blanket off her face, still covered with tiny green scales. Her eyes blinked open and their gaze filled the backseat with a soft blue light.
She looked so vulnerable. Part of me wanted to take her in my arms, to give in to the Burning. She had no idea how strong her pheromones were right now, much stronger than before she turned. The other part of me wanted to protect her from anyone who might want to hurt her—myself included.
“Are you awake?”
She nodded. “Where am I?”
At least she could talk now. I noticed that her gills were fading, beginning to blend in with the skin on her neck.
Thanks the gods.
“You have to focus on what I’m saying. You can hear me, can’t you—”
Another nod. She tried to sit up, but I held my hand out toward her, palm open.
“No, don’t get up,” I warned her. I glanced back at the humans on the porch. Several of them were staring at the car. I hoped they didn’t come over here. I sent a quick, silent warning to Brianna—Keep them away!
“Why can’t I sit up?” Kira asked.
“You need to listen to me, you have to turn back into a human.”
She frowned.
“Think about your family, your home, your school, think about all the things you like to do—”
She stared up at the ceiling, listening to my voice.
“Think about what it means to be human, think about the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror—”
A tear trickled down her cheek. Confused, I wondered why she would react this way. Didn’t she know how beautiful she was? I’d seen how every other girl at the party had looked at her tonight. They had all wished that they looked like her. And the guys—well, I didn’t want to think about what they had been wishing.
“Think about the color of your skin,” I said.
“I hate the color of my skin,” she whispered.
“You have to change,” I told her. “You have to, or we can’t take you home.” Anger crept into my voice now. It was intentional, still I hated doing it. “Change, now! Turn!”
More heads looked my way. I lowered my voice. “Kira, do this for your father. He loves you.”
Her eyes met mine and I could see that I’d finally found the one thing that really mattered to her.
“You have to change if you want to see him again. Now! Change!”
Her eyes filled with tears and the glow faded. Her skin seemed to melt as I stared at her, the iridescent scales blurred, green gave way to pale yellow and then finally turned to the softest pink. A rosy hue now colored her lips and her cheeks, her eyes were once again a mesmerizing shade of ocean blue-green.
I sighed and my limbs relaxed. I hadn’t realized until now how tense I was.
Then the driver-side door opened and Brianna climbed inside. She shifted the car into gear.
“We have to go, now,” she said, grabbing the steering wheel. Tires spun when she pressed her foot against the gas pedal. “My neighbors called the cops!”
Just as we were driving away, I saw Sean running through the house, opening the front door, then jogging down the front stairs. He called out, “Kira!” But he stopped
abruptly when the car pulled away. Kira was now sitting up in the backseat.
He wasn’t looking at her.
He was staring at me, in the front seat. I was the reason why he stopped running.
He must have thought Kira was leaving because of me. And then—right on cue, as if heaven and earth and the great briny deep were all plotting together—Riley sauntered up behind him, a concerned look on her face. She wrapped one arm in his, feigned an emotion she knew nothing about—empathy—and stood beside him.
She said something to him, but of course I had no way of knowing what. The expression on his face darkened and he watched the car with a scowl as we attempted to drive away.
But we didn’t get far, not even to the end of the driveway because that was when the world exploded in flashing lights. Two black and white cars came out of nowhere and blocked our exit to the main road. Brianna cursed and slammed her fist against the steering wheel and Kira started crying. I had no idea what was going on, even when several men got out of the cars, came over and shined flashlights in our window.
“You have to get out of the car,” Brianna told me then. “The police are here.”
Chapter 22
Kira:
The car jerked to a stop and suddenly lights flashed in my eyes, blinding me. I couldn’t see anything but wavering silhouettes—apparently my eyes hadn’t fully adjusted yet. My stomach lurched when the car door opened and someone ordered me to get out. I stumbled into the street. Everyone looked like a shadow in the bright light. I couldn’t tell who was who. Somewhere, back up the road, the party was still going on, music and laughter shredding night air.
Then another police car squeezed past us, siren screaming, lights burning hot.
I felt sick and confused. My head hurt and part of me kept trying to figure out what had just happened.
Had I really turned into a sea monster? And had Caleb helped me turn back? I wanted to ask him a million questions, but I couldn’t see where he was.
Unfortunately that was when I recognized one of the voices that surrounded us.
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