But within seconds, Nicole returned with a worried look on her face. In her hands were two uneaten plates of food.
“Why isn’t Tatiana eating?” he asked.
“She says she’s not hungry.”
Jacob’s fists clenched. If Azor hurt her, Tahoe be damned, he’d go ballistic and rip Azor’s fins off right now. “Is she ill?”
Nicole shrugged. “From what I can tell, she’s okay. Depressed, maybe. Should we notify Prince Azor?”
“No,” Jacob said quickly. “He’s busy. I’ll handle it.”
“Okay.” She swam past him, but within seconds, she returned from the kitchen in a frenzy. “The knife is missing from her tray.”
Jacob pumped his tail hard to propel him through the porthole and lugged open her door, unannounced.
Tatiana gasped and straightened, hands tucked behind her back. “Hades, don’t you know how to knock?”
“Princess,” he said, eyes wild, searching the room. “Please, let me see your hands!”
“What—? No!”
“Just show me what you have behind your back.”
“Get out of here, Jacob!” She pointed with one hand, keeping the other against her fin. “After last night, I don’t ever want to see you again.”
Jacob clenched his jaw, wounded by her words. “Princess, last night. I didn’t mean to—that was very—I shouldn’t have—I—” But a suitable excuse or apology wouldn’t form logically on his tongue. “Damn it.”
Her shoulders dipped forward, her spirit relenting. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and how were you to know Xirene had a bubble, and then my skirt…”
Jacob bowed. “It will never happen again.”
She laughed scornfully and shook her head. “You’re right, it won’t.”
He frowned, confused, but approached her, determined to take the knife. “That doesn’t warrant you doing something rash. Show me your wrists, Princess.”
“What?” Tatiana backed into the corner, still holding something against her leg.
He put out his hand. “I want the knife.”
She gave him an incredulous look before revealing the knife. “You think I’m trying to kill myself?” She laughed. “Already changed your mind after the girl of strength lecture. Who do you take me for, Jacob?”
Jacob backpedaled in the current. “No—of course not.”
She shook her head and grasped the hilt. With a turn to the horizon, she looked off in the distance. The sharks passed with feigned aloofness. She let out a small sigh. “Go ahead. Give me today’s lecture about how stupid I am to be with Azor.”
Jacob opened and closed his mouth. “I just want to know why you kept the knife.”
“To stab Xirene, why else?” She laughed sadistically.
Jacob tilted his head. “That’s not funny. She’s not even here anymore.”
Tatiana arched her brow. “What—? Oh, great. It’ll be my fault for that, too, and then once Azor finds out you saw me…” She waved the knife across her neck. Her cheeks reddened and she quickly flipped her tail nervously. Beige colored sand ballooned in the water. Then Jacob spotted a tiny hole in the wall between two bricks. He stiffened.
“I know things have been tense,” he held out his hand, “but you don’t have use for a knife.”
“I’m not giving it to you,” she said more firmly.
“You’ll never get through the mortar in time before Azor returns, and what about the sharks?”
She pursed her lips. “Won’t I though? As if he’ll notice. Maybe you were right Jacob. I am his pawn.”
“I won’t allow you to escape.”
Strained laughter pressed from her lungs. “You mean, I can’t escape unless I go with you,” she said more forcefully. “Fish sticks! I know what you’re really trying to offer me, so don’t try to deceive me, Jacob. I’ve figured out what you want, and it’s what you’ve wanted since the moment we met.”
Jacob reached backward with his tail and pushed the door closed. “Princess, your safety and happiness is all I want. And that means you can’t go through the shark tank.”
“Or what? I’ll die? I doubt he’ll even miss me. At least the sharks will want me.”
Jacob’s pulse hammered in his veins. He wanted to tell her he wanted her. That he’d love nothing more than to help her escape, if she’d just allow him time to retrieve his trident. But the bracelet Azor slapped onto her wrist glared back at him along with her disdain. He’d treat her like gold, but she didn’t want him to come. The fact she’d rather die than have Jacob escort her showed she didn’t care for him at all.
He bowed his head. “Please give me the knife.”
She turned in a huff. “Leave, now.”
Jacob swam to her in a flash and wrapped his arms around her torso, trapping her arms. She hissed, flipping her tail and snapping her teeth. Her fight was weak, unlike the first time, but the heat wasn’t. Like before, a spark ignited between them—hotter. His want seized his body as he felt her hot glow against his scales. She had to feel their attraction. He controlled his urge to bury his nose in her hair, to kiss her neck. He merely held her until she stopped thrashing.
“Drop the knife, Tatiana,” he whispered calmly in her ear.
“Call me, Princess!”
“Drop the knife.”
“No!”
“We’ll find another way out of here, just drop the knife.”
“I said, no!”
Jacob clamped her wrist, forcing open her hand. She grunted, fighting him harder than before, then eventually the knife dropped to the floor. Jacob immediately let her body go and snatched the knife. She flared her tail, smacking him across the face, and swam to the opposite corner, massaging her wrist.
“Get out,” she barked, then pointed to the door. “Get out!”
Her siren scream blasted him into the closed door. He fumbled at the knob and flew down the porthole within seconds, knife safely in his fist.
23
: : :
Sharks
“Princess!”
Tatiana sucked in a startled breath as she opened her eyes, expecting to finally see Azor. Jacob’s terrified face peered down at her instead.
“What’s wrong?” she squeaked, gaining her bearings, sweeping her eyes around Azor’s room.
After their fight earlier, she’d moved in to Azor’s room rebelliously to wait for his return.
“It’s an ambush!”
“An ambush?” Tatiana sat up; all her anger from their earlier fight melted away, replaced now with fear. “Here? Now?”
“Yes. I need to get you out of here.” He studied the walls for a moment and grimaced at the carvings. But quickly dismissed them and held her gaze, hand outstretched.
She took it and swam with him to the hall, too scared to question him. Grunts and feral cries of war, along with weapons clashing, resounded from the floor below—similar to what she’d heard at the promising ceremony with Azor. However, the frustration and hate-filled sounds revealed no one wanted to spare any lives today. Death was the agenda.
Tatiana clung to Jacob’s arm in fear. “What do they want?”
“Shhh,” Jacob said.
At the end of the hall, Grommet hovered over the porthole, two crescent-moon knives in his hands. He gave Jacob a nod and Tatiana’s heart lurched.
“I’m not going down there,” she whispered.
Jacob escorted her to a neighboring guest room, sliding the iron door shut behind them. He then pulled a nearby rock cabinet to hold the door in place, sealing them inside. A safe room.
Though sturdy, she didn’t think the cabinet would keep the murderous horde out forever.
Tatiana grabbed onto Jacob’s bicep tighter. “What are we going to do?”
His jaw clenched and he gently moved her aside. “This,” he said in determination. In an instant, he’d swiveled around and wacked his tail into the wall with a grunt.
Tatiana squealed, bordering on a siren scream. Jacob put his finger
to his lips before he wacked the rock wall again. Then he took the flat end of his trident and tested the bricks until one moved. He smashed his tail once again and three fell free to the other side.
Tatiana listened by the door to the sounds growing louder. “Are they rebels?”
“Not rebels.”
“Then who are they? Why are they here?”
Jacob stopped for one moment to eye her. “I’m not sure, but they’re here for you.”
Tatiana gulped, unable to catch her breath. “Where’s Azor?”
“Conveniently in Tahoe.”
As Jacob continued to bust out rocks, creating a small rectangular hole, his plan became clear. They were going to escape through the shark tank.
The sight of the great whites circling in the distance through the tiny hole dissolved any courage she had mustered. Yes, earlier she’d planned a delusional romantic and dangerous attempt to escape through the shark tank to the Pacific with maybe a close call—all as a stunt to gain Azor’s attention. Now, with the blood and fear she smelled in the water from downstairs, and the beasts with their dead eyes circling closer and closer, she was paralyzed with fear. They’d eat her the moment she left fin of the compound.
“I can’t go out there.” She clutched at her throat. “I don’t care if you’re with me, or not.”
Jacob frowned, knocking the last rock free. “You were all charged and ready to escape earlier. What changed?”
“Reality,” she said softly, fins shaking.
Jacob took a deep breath. “Well, I’m sorry to say, sweetheart, you’re better off with the sharks than facing what’s in here.”
She studied Jacob quizzically. “You say that like you’re not coming with me.”
“I can’t. My brother is trapped in the dungeon. I have to free him first.”
In shock, Tatiana froze. He wasn’t coming with her? What happened to, “where you go, I go?” She blinked, waiting for him to tell her he was joking. But Jacob merely held out his trident to her.
“It’s simple. Just strike one and the others will feed on it, leaving you freedom to escape.”
Simple? Wide-eyed, she stared at the weapon, refusing to take it. He placed the trident in her palm and positioned his body next to hers. Heat, like earlier, pressed into her as he wrapped his hands over hers and jabbed the trident forward and twisted. “Like this.”
She gulped and allowed him to control her movements, short and jerky.
“Twist after you stab, then yank backward. That’ll create the most blood.”
Blood. Her head swirled. Her father had showed her how to shoot a gun once, but this? Stabbing an animal—one with razor sharp teeth that fed off of her fear, that would kill her in an instant if she missed.
“Just…”—he closed his eyes for a beat—“do not siren, unless there’s no other choice. Do you hear me?”
She whimpered, slowly shaking her head. Was he really not going with her?
Jacob ignored her hesitation and pulled the shimmering cape from his utility pack, the one she’d worn before. Fastening the cords around her slender neck, his warm fingers rested at the hollow at her throat to tie the bow.
Finally, he slipped the hood over her head and placed his hands on her shoulders. With deep, penetrating blue-grey eyes, he held her in his gaze. “I want nothing more than to go with you, but I can’t. You have to do this without me, Tatiana. I believe in you. You’re strong and you’re a fighter. Please, live, for me… and for your kingdom.”
Of all of his proclamation, the “for me,” resonated most in her mind. Though earlier, she’d called his bluff about what she’d suspected, and he’d ignored it. This sealed it. An admission from his lips. His soft, full lips. Guarding her wasn’t just a job to him anymore. He cared and wanted her to escape, to live.
She gulped down her hesitation, at the feelings stirring in her belly. Sure, she couldn’t deny his sexy abs and amazing physique were hard not to lust over, along with his enchanting eyes that pierced her to her very core. But was that all just a physical reaction? Did she care deeper, too?
But now, she knew Jacob’s heart—his kindness, his mercy, his faithfulness and dedication. A far cry from Azor’s lust, lies, and hunger for power. Only a kiss held her captive, and now she knew there wasn’t anything worth being loyal to. She could choose. She could leave him.
Then something inside her popped—like a busted light bulb. Warmth and hope flooded into that dark place, into her starving soul, dissolving Azor’s hold. He hadn’t given her a piece of his soul after all, just a hopeless dream, a placeholder to occupy her heart. She clutched her chest and blinked, opening her eyes as if for the first time. Instead of guilt, she saw the truth—a forced chemical attraction, and then all her previous thoughts of Azor before he stole her kiss surfaced. At how much she loathed him: his despicable character, his arrogance, his crude and rough gestures, his disregard for everyone, too many offenses to think about. But Jacob, his inner light brought her out of her fog set in by the deception. Surprisingly, she cared for Jacob, more than friendship. Overwhelmingly, so much more.
Free from the weight of the promise, she studied Jacob’s lips, desiring to feel them against hers. To wrap her tail around his. To feel his heat close to her always.
Kiss me, Jacob.
Jacob waited a beat as fear twirled around them in an awkward dance. His fear. Why would he be afraid?
Just kiss me already.
His chest rose and fell, the desire ardent on his face, his eyes matching his desire—hot as embers. She wanted to ask him, to tell him it was okay. But her lips, as if the last place the promise had hold, were paralyzed and refused to speak her deepest desire.
Something heavy rammed into the door behind them, startling them. She yelped as a gruff voice followed, demanding they open up. Jacob released her.
Tatiana’s body began to quake. “Please come with me, Jacob.”
“I’ll come as soon as I can,” he said, grabbing her shoulders one last time. “Go to your parents’ house and stay there no matter what happens. Secure the porthole. Don’t allow anyone in but me. I will come for you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“And that bracelet Azor gave you is filled with poison. If you leave Natatoria, it will kill you,” he said quickly.
She gasped at the revelation, wanting the dreaded thing off her wrist. The agony, fear, and determination filling his stunning face, stopped her. And instead of kissing her lips, he brushed his mouth against her forehead. His skin, warm and soft, sent a delicate tingle up her spine. Then he grasped her hips firmly and helped maneuver her body through the tiny hole in the wall.
Tatiana’s heart leapt when he let go. She swiveled around, ready to swim back through when Jacob stacked up bricks behind her.
“Go,” he said firmly, his eyes pained. “There isn’t time.”
To her right, a curious shark caught notice and approached. Whipping its tail nonchalantly, it propelled itself in her direction. Shifting upright, she pressed herself against the wall, trident tilted outright.
I know how to use this and turn you into a chum bucket if you come closer.
With a thrust of the sharp metal out toward the shark, too scared to speak, she willed her fear and the beast away. At the last moment, the shark twitched and slid its sleek and scarred body over the roofline to the left side of the compound.
Tatiana caught her breath. That’s right. Best stay far away from me, ya big sea sack.
She remained against the wall and listened. Jacob refilled the hole in the wall, effectively eliminating her last-ditch escape route. Her stomach twisted sickly. Why hadn’t Jacob picked a room with a window? And why, after everything, had he abandoned her to a shark-infested tank? Being with the sharks couldn’t be safer than being inside.
“Red tide,” she mumbled, rising slowly upward to peek over the roofline. Three black hooded figures with scythes swam in from the distance. She slipped back down and hugged the wall, studying the f
irst story roof below her. For the moment, only the sharks could see her.
While she waited, fear and blood filtered into the water through the downstairs windows. And as if someone had just sprinkled fish food, a horde of sharks darted her way. Beyond them, at a hundred yards off, the door out of the shark enclosure loomed in the distance. She had to get there—and fast.
“Where is she?” a gruff voice said. Her head snapped around, and she pressed her ear to the wall.
“Who?” Jacob asked, a smile in his voice.
“Don’t mess with me. I’ll take you down first and then find her hiding place.”
Tatiana shrieked at the reverberating sounds of metal hitting metal, her pulse quickening. Panic overcame her. She’d finally discovered who was worth living and dying for, and if Jacob died, it would be her fault. She had to get him help.
Inching to the right, Tatiana kept her back to the granite spires, clearing the second story. Below, she spotted the windows and encircled her cape around her body, hoping to blend into the environment. But more sharks circled, attracted to the blood from the battle. Tatiana was running out of time. A quick dart directly through the circling sharks would be the fastest way to escape.
Somewhere from inside she heard a merman yell, “Stand firm.” She curled into a ball and waited, expecting someone to catch her, but nothing followed. Her heart zoomed faster.
Mustering all her courage, she replaced the hood that had fallen off her head and pushed off the spire for the doorway. On her left, a shark caught notice and changed its course. Fright plagued her lips, a scream waiting restlessly on her tongue. She could siren and scare them away, but then the enemy would locate her and Jacob’s acts of courage would be for nothing. She clamped her mouth shut, swimming hard with the trident ahead of her.
At the last second, she swiveled around, backing into a granite spire and held out her trident towards the shark. Two more sharks entered the pursuit.
Three? How could she fight three?
“Back,” Tatiana gruffly whispered, thrusting the trident, almost a parry between them. “This is my dance space and that is yours, got it?” she said jokingly in an attempt to lessen her fear.
Everlost (Mer Tales, Book 3) Page 17