Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga)

by S. K Munt

  It wasn’t until Ivyanne floated towards the submerged blades of the outboard motor, that alarm overrode his self-satisfaction.

  ‘Hey!’ Bubbles shot out of his mouth. ‘Get away from that!’

  Ivyanne looked back at him. ‘They won’t start it until they’ve pulled up the anchor, Link.’

  ‘Some do! My mum used to do it when she thought we’d come adrift, to get the anchor to catch again!’ Lincoln’s memories of fishing with his parents in Tasmania-his mother had been especially good at it-were hazy now, but he could remember sitting at the back of their little boat, pulling on a thick rope, testing for tension while his mother slowly steered forward.

  Ivyanne hesitated for a moment, but then she looked back and smiled ruefully. ‘Then I better be quick, huh?’ With that she turned, flicking her tail in a tiny movement, elevating until her lovely face was in line with the propellor blades. She brought her hands up, and to Lincoln’s disbelief, begin to slip the mangled anchor over the blades.

  ‘You can’t be serious!’ Lincoln was torn between wanting to let go of the chain and tearing her away from the dangerous engine, and wanting to hold the chain tighter to avoid disturbing the men above-who could rip Ivyanne’s face to shreds with one push of a button.

  ‘Deadly serious.’ Ivyanne was flexing again, squeezing the long prongs of the anchor around the blades, caging them in. She worked quickly, her movements appearing effortless-like bending steel was something she did for kicks. Which he now suspected she did. After the longest time, which had probably only been fifteen seconds and two hundred heartbeats, she flung out her arms and scooped her arms back, distancing herself from the lethal blades while obviously admiring her handiwork. She had two prongs wrapped around the blades, and the other two clamped around the leg of the engine.

  ‘There!’ She announced proudly, tail flicking lazily at the water. ‘If they ever fish here again, it won’t be with this motor!’

  Lincoln gaped at her, knowing the engine she’d just sabotaged was worth at least seventeen thousand dollars. ‘You’re insane!’

  ‘Only a little.’ Ivyanne bit her lip, but she couldn’t hold back her delighted grin. ‘Ardhi once-’ but she snapped her mouth shut, her expression darkening, becoming distant, she dropped her head. ‘Never mind.’

  Lincoln released the chain, and it drooped, forming a loop near the propeller, taking her in his arms. ‘Hey,’ he used a finger to raise her chin. ‘It’s okay to talk about them. Especially the stuff that makes you smile when you remember. They’d want it that way, Ivyanne.’

  But Ivyanne’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘I don’t know if I’m ready to remember the good stuff about Ardhi yet.’ She looked up into his eyes. ‘I miss him, but I’m still so, so angry with him- and now that Tristan’s dead, like Ardhi wanted-I’m hating his memory more.’

  ‘Fair enough. But if you want to talk about Tristan too, I’ll listen. I actually miss his face, can you believe that?’

  ‘Yes, I can.’ Ivyanne mimicked his hold on her, cupping his face. ‘You’re a good man Link, and you’ve been so patient lately. I know watching me go through this would have wounded you, and I’m sorry.’

  ‘I hope I’m not crowding you,’ he said, pushing strands of hair out of her face with a confident hand. ‘But I just can’t stay away.’

  She pressed her forehead into his. ‘And I don’t want you to.’

  Lincoln felt a stirring inside him. He looked down at her lips, and was overcome with the need to press his against them. He waited for her to sense the shift in his intentions and stiffen, but she swallowed and tilted her face to hi, wide-eyed.

  ‘I don’t know if I’m ready, but-’

  The sound of the prop roaring to life fragmented the tension between them and made Lincoln flinch in shock. Ivyanne yelped, ducked, and pulled him down towards the coral with surprising strength. Seconds later, there was a metallic screech that even the ocean around them couldn’t muffle.

  15.

  Tristan found lots of useful stuff while Adele slept off his attack. For one, the call index on her mobile phone was filled with the same number, over and over again, which was listed only as ‘PSYCHO’ and the her text inbox was loaded with short, cryptic messages to the same number. He scrolled through them, raising an eyebrow as the plot thickened before his eyes:

  Thursday January 26th:

  Adele: Happy Australia Day

  P: Like I care

  Adele : Whatever. Got the cash.

  P : Good. Call made.

  Adele : Did he buy it?

  P: Yes. Book the flights, but he wants two seats.

  Adele: Two?!

  P: Yes. Just humor him, he won’t be needing the second.

  Adele: How can you be so sure?

  P: I know her.

  P: Delete these messages from your phone please.

  Adele: Ok. (Which she clearly hadn’t)

  Friday January 27th:

  P: Eta 6.00pm SPLASH! Have boat ready at co-ordinates.

  Adele: Done. Good luck…..or whatever. Are you really sure about this?

  P: Delete these messages please.

  Fail, Tristan thought, then grimaced as his skin crawled. Splash? The most horrifying incident of 200 people’s lives had been nothing but a ‘splash’ to this twisted duo? He’d put the phone down after that, too disgusted to read on so soon, and shifted to the laptop computer on the bench instead. It looked too old and chunky to be Adele’s, but when he opened it, the browsing screen was set to her Facebook wall. A quick scan revealed that she’d been offline until earlier that morning. Previous to that, she’d been inundated with messages from people wanting to know where she was-including one every day from Lincoln. But the day before she’d posted a photo of her lying on a beach and tagging it as Byron, only Tristan knew better.

  After he was done with that, Tristan crept around the house, searching for extra clues. But aside from a forged passport and almost five hundred dollars worth of cash in her wallet, Adele’s bag was empty.

  He pocketed the money then went down the hall, noticing that it was as quiet in the neighborhood as it had been on all of the remote Islands he had stayed on. He was almost disappointed-he missed the sound of traffic, and the tinkling of wine glasses. He missed hearing the Beach Boys crooning from a jukebox as he sunned himself by the pool at the resort, and he missed Ivyanne’s flustered smile. He missed his home.

  Tristan exhaled heavily as he rounded the corner to the bedroom where he had Adele tied up. What would be left of his home when he got back there? He knew that Ivyanne was mourning him, but she was a resilient girl, and she took her responsibilities to their kind seriously. Eventually her mourning had to come to an end if it hadn’t already… what would she do when his memory had faded?

  Adele’s eyes were open when he went in there-he was surprised to see that. She’d been out of it for almost twelve hours while he showered and slept and snooped the day away, desiring little more than to enjoy having a roof above his head once more.

  ‘Well, good evening,’ he said, crossing to her, kneeling on the edge of her mattress, trying not to smirk at the bright purple bruise along her sharp jaw. ‘That gag looks uncomfortable. Want me to take it off?’

  Adele nodded eagerly.

  He held up one finger. ‘Keep in mind that if you scream, it’ll be your larynx I break this time so you’ll have to kiss your country music career good-bye.’

  She shrank back, but nodded again, only with less enthusiasm this time.

  ‘Fine,’ he reached out and pulled the cloth out of her mouth, dropping it against the massive red and purple blotch on her neck. ‘Voila!’

  ‘God that tasted awful!’

  Tristan grinned at her. ‘I will remind you that you tried to kill me-you can only imagine the bad taste that left in my mouth.’

  Adele paled. ‘You don’t know the full story.’

  ‘So share it with me.’ Tristan crossed his legs. ‘I want information. Starting with telling me when
Ardhi changed you.’

  Adele exhaled. ‘That night, of course-the night he did Lincoln too. Or the next morning..it’s kind of blurry’

  Tristan nodded. He’d suspected as much. ‘Is he a shape-shifter?’

  ‘If you mean the Dolphin thing, then yes. But he didn’t know that until it happened.’

  ‘So when he gave Lincoln breath…?’

  ‘He meant it,’ Adele said coldly. ‘He just didn’t expect to survive it.’

  Tristan didn’t know what to make of that. Ardhi was the most complex man he’d ever known. Ready to sacrifice his life for his love one moment and then going on a killing spree after he’d recovered? It was erratic behavior.

  Adele cleared her throat, eyeing him with awe. ‘How did you make it out of there?’

  ‘By the skin of my teeth,’ he admitted. Tristan glanced at the ties binding her hands and ankles to the cane bed post, making sure they were still tight. ‘Was it all a set up?’ he asked. ‘The job offer? Everything?’

  Adele nodded. ‘Duh.’

  Tristan was impressed. ‘Well, I fell for it.’

  ‘He knew you would. You’re ego borders on predictable, you know.’

  Tristan rolled his eyes. ‘Even tied up, you’re still a bitch.’

  ‘I’m getting used to being tied up,’ Adele said coldly. ‘Ardhi had me tied for three days before he got the brilliant idea of finding out where my parents lived and using their lives as motivation for me to play along with his crazy idea.’

  Tristan was surprised to learn that. ‘He blackmailed you into this?’

  A tear slipped down Adele’s cheek and she looked away. Eventually though, she nodded. ‘He did.’

  ‘And that was the only reason you helped?’

  Adele sighed, still keeping her face turned away. ‘At first-no. He told me he wanted to split Lincoln and Ivyanne up by sending in an interloper, and he needed my help for that. I was mad, at all of you, and once I realized that I was stuck as a mermaid and without friends, I decided to go along with it.’ She looked at him now. ‘But when I found out you’d survived, and he then dropped the idea of the plane crash into my lap, I said no-I told him he was crazy! But he got mad and told me he’d kill them if I didn’t help. It took me three days to agree to it, but I did, eventually. I was terrified for my family. I have an eight year old brother you know.’

  There were holes in her story-it didn’t take a genius to work that out-but mostly, she seemed to be telling the truth. Tristan touched the tender spot on the back of his head, trying to sort his thoughts into organized categories. But he was still very exhausted and fatigued. ‘Has he gotten to her yet?’

  Adele shook her head. ‘Well he hadn’t last time I spoke to him, yesterday around lunch. It’s just a matter of time now. He says that Ivyanne’s coming to terms with her grief now, and he wants to slip back onto the scene before Lincoln locks her in.’

  Tristan’s head snapped up. ‘They’re not together yet?’

  Adele shook her head. ‘No. Apparently she took all of this...harder than we thought. First you, then the baby…’

  Tristan’s stomach turned. ‘What baby?’

  Adele shifted, looking uncomfortable. She wet her lips. ‘That’s the thing Tristan-there is no baby. She’s not pregnant. Ardhi didn’t even know that was a possible issue until a few days ago, when our other source told him.’

  Tristan felt like he’d been socked in the stomach. He leaned over, pressing his forehead into his knees, feeling the breath rush out of him. He’d hoped against hope...prayed every night...and for nothing. If he’d died, there would have been no trace of him left on the earth. It was a devastating thought.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Adele whispered softly.

  Tristan barked a humorless laugh, getting to his feet. ‘Oh I’m sure you’re just appalled on my behalf, right?’ He spun on her, his anger finally bubbling over. ‘You tried to kill me Adele! You sold me out to Link and then you tried to kill me! I don’t care what Ardhi had on you! I don’t care about your parents! Because of you and your assistance, there is a madmen stalking the coast, going after the woman I love!’

  ‘I’m sorry!’ Adele shouted back. ‘God Tristan do you think I asked for any of this? Because I didn’t! I liked my human life-so far this new one sucks! But rest assured that Ardhi won’t harm a hair on Ivyanne’s perfect little head, okay?!’

  Tristan loomed over her. ‘How am I supposed to believe that?’

  ‘Because he’s as crazy about her as apparently everyone is! All he wants is for her to dump Lincoln and take him back! I don’t know what it is about this girl that drives you out of your heads but whatever it is will protect her, okay?’

  Tristan was amazed. ‘But how can he think for one second that she’d take him back now that she has her precious Link?!’

  Adele shrugged. ‘He’s counting on the fact that selflessly trading his life for Lincoln’s would have earned him a place in her heart, and that his mystic abilities-the weather, the ability to turn, the shape-shifting and god knows what else-will make the kingdom demand he become king instead of Link.’

  Tristan paused, trying to absorb all of that. Could that work? Was it possible that Ardhi had a slight chance for redemption? There was no precedent for it, but Tristan sensed that Ardhi wouldn’t get the following he needed, unless he had Ivyanne’s heart first. Giving a position of power to one unstable and selfish man, was a human way, not mer.

  ‘And what if Ardhi makes this grand appearance and Ivyanne chooses Link anyway?’ Tristan finally asked.

  Adele’s ice blue eyes fixed on his, the fear in them prominent. ‘Then Lincoln will probably be in a mysterious accident too,’ her tone was full of foreboding. ‘And something tells me that he’s not as durable as you are.’

  Tristan sighed and turned away, realizing that Adele was right. ‘I need a minute…’ he muttered, resting against the door jamb. ‘I need to think of a way to deal with this….it’s so much…’

  Adele laughed bitterly. ‘If you were praying for her not to love him before, you better double that up now. Because if she gives herself to Lincoln Grey, his days are numbered-as are anyone’s who get’s in Ardhi’s way.’

  ⁓

  Ivyanne threw herself into her fathers arms the second she stepped onto the front porch on Saturday morning. Neither said hello-they didn’t need to. All she wanted to do was burrow into his arms stay there for months. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she held them back. Ivyanne needed to look strong for him.

  ‘I missed you princess.’

  ‘I missed you too daddy,’ she sniffled, running her fingers through his grey streaked hair, which was shaggy until it curled just under his ears. He was the only one who could call her princess without her hating the word. Okay and Tristan had always managed to make it sound sexy.

  After a moment or so, Ivyanne heard footsteps coming up the sandy porch steps behind her. She was so tense that she could hear each individual droplet of water dripping from Lincoln’s hair and onto the ground.

  ‘This must be the infamous Lincoln,’ her father’s voice reverberated through his chest to her ear. Ivyanne stepped out of his hug, but linked her arm around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder. She couldn’t deny that she was nervous for Lincoln.

  ‘It certainly is,’ Ivyanne smiled benevolently. ‘Link, this is Ash Court. My father.’

  ‘How do you do?’ Lincoln stepped up, extending his hand to her fathers, his brown eyes warm. ‘I know I’m doing this a bit quickly, but when we get a chance later, I’d really love to ask you for your daughters’ hand!’

  Ivyanne felt her cheeks go hot. ‘Lincoln Grey!’ she exclaimed, mortified.

  But her father laughed, the laugh lines around his blue eyes crinkling. ‘Ha ha! Smoothly done, my man. Been practicing that long?’

  ‘Only for about a month,’ Lincoln clapped her father on the shoulder. ‘Did it work? Was I charming and manly enough, or do I need to lift something heavy first to prove my phy
sical prowess too?’

  Ash laughed again, and Ivyanne was floored. Her father wasn’t exactly the laugh-out-loud type, and she’d never seen Lincoln so….charming before.

  ‘Maybe a rock or two….got a couch I wouldn’t mind shifting either…’ Ash drawled, squeezing Ivyanne to his side. It was a silent acknowledgement of approval.

  ‘Hmmm...not sure I’m up to that. But we do a terrific seafood buffet at the resort as well. Can I butter you up with mud crab?’

  ‘Anyone can butter me up with mud crab.’

  Ivyanne’s fathers hand left her shoulder, and to her amazement, she saw him walk ahead with Lincoln, both of them avidly discussing the glory of freshly cooked mud cab washed down with a cold beer. She blinked, so astounded that it had gone so well that she didn’t dare follow them in case she messed it up somehow. Lincoln’s long and golden bare back rippled with his brand-new muscles, and she felt a wave of desire crash over her. Funny, teasing, charming...she’d never wanted him so badly as she did right then.

  ⁓

  Lincoln could tell he’d surprised Ivyanne with the ease in which he’d handled her father, and he smirked as all of his fear of the handsome old mariner melted away. Ivyanne had tripped him up so much back at The Seaview that he’d never really been himself around her. But with her father, his eagerness to impress had caused him to morph back into the role of the charming hotelier-a persona that was second nature to him. Yes, Ash was king of the mermaids, but he was also a middle-aged Aussie bloke by most standards, and Lincoln had always had an affinity with the bar flies just like him.

  When they walked inside, Vana smiled and motioned them over to the couch, not interrupting their conversation. Her eyes were sparkling and she looked beautiful in an ethereal way, as though having her husband back had turned on a light inside her that had been dimmed in his absence. She took a tray of sandwiches from Saraya and put them in front of the two men, tossing Link a towel to dry off his wet hair.

  ‘Don’t get me wrong, I mean, the Falklands is a stunning area,’ Ash was saying quickly, pouring a glass of champagne for first Lincoln, then Ivyanne without mentioning why. ‘But you just can’t get better seafood than what we have here.’