“You okay?”
“I think so. Are we alive?” she groaned.
I grinned at her. “Well, yeah. Don’t you feel alive?”
“No, I feel like I’ve been drowned—and crushed.”
“I was trying to protect you, ungrateful woman,” I joked with her. I clumsily climbed off of her and helped her to her feet.
After we caught our breath, she mumbled, “Thanks.” When we were sure that everyone would be okay, Kendra and I stood on the side of the bridge and watched Minerva’s wave crush the west end of the island.
“Oh God,” I said as I watched the Pirateer wash away. The half of a pirate ship quickly sank into the tumultuous waters of the Gulf of Mexico. I hated to see the place go; it had once been my home away from home. “She’s going to tear up the entire island if we don’t give her the mermaid.”
“Or Thessalonike,” Kendra said. She didn’t look at me, just watched the water ruthlessly pound the shoreline.
“What? No way are we giving her Thessalonike. That’s out of the question.”
“Regardless, the mermaid queen isn’t going away anytime soon. I’m afraid we’ve just begun to see the wrath of Minerva.”
“Nothing to do but get to the gate and find Nik. Maybe she’s found Heliope.”
“What about the mayor? Won’t he be waiting for you on the other side? I’d hate to see your career end before it got started.” She followed me to the squad car. I began shouting to people to get back in their cars and head for land. We had to move them quickly in case there was another wave. Who knew what Minerva had in mind? The islanders didn’t waste any time following instructions this time. Even the high-maintenance Mrs. Marsh put some pep in her step. “He’s arranged another press conference, and I’m sure he’s going to make you explain yourself. Bold move ordering an evac without consulting him first, Cruise. Maybe too bold.”
“Yeah, he’ll probably want my badge, but I’m not ready to give it up yet. I’ve still got a job to do, and I plan on doing it. Now that this wave has passed, let’s head back before he takes the badge and the car—and my deputy.”
Soaking wet, she climbed into the seat beside me and put on her seat belt. “Which one would you miss the most, Chief?”
I turned the key in the ignition and without looking at her turned the car south, back to Dauphin Island. “You. I’d miss you most, Kendra Tragic.” She didn’t say a word, but I could see her smile out of the corner of my eye. She flipped on the sirens, and we headed back to Cadillac Avenue.
Chapter Twelve—Nike
Older Than
“Why are you here? Go now! Back through the gate!” A bent figure scurried toward us as Ramara and I struggled to stand upright again. I had no stomach for traveling back through so soon, but this character demanded that I move. And that voice seemed all too familiar.
“Heliope? Is that you?” I squinted as a patch of fog cleared between us.
“No time for talking! We have to go back—the Order can’t see you here together!”
“Heliope?” I asked again stupidly. The voice was my stepmother’s, but the figure it belonged to didn’t look like her, not in the least. This was an old woman, not the vibrant Heliope with illuminated hair and an eternally trim figure.
“Let’s go, Nike,” she scolded me, practically shoving Ramara and me back through the gate. As we stepped through again, I floated for a few seconds and then fell to the ground in an unceremonious heap; my innards quivered with the shift in time, space or whatever else the Order manipulated to make such travel possible. I sat on all fours in the wet sand of Dauphin Island, waiting for the world to stop moving while Ramara stood over me protectively.
Heliope collapsed on a rock nearby and tried to catch her breath. “I don’t feel well,” she complained. I had never heard her complain about ill health in the hundreds of years we’d known one another. Except for the occasional hangover.
“What did they do to you?” Ramara asked incredulously. I finally glanced up and couldn’t hide my shock.
“Heliope?” I crawled to her and looked up in her face. Yes, those were her lovely, quick eyes, but her face was wrinkled and spotted, her skin crepey and saggy.
“What? Why are you looking at me like I have two heads? Oh my God! Do I have two heads?” Then she caught a glimpse of her hands and screamed. She rose to her wobbly feet and cried aloud, “Faydra! Faydra did this to me! Is my face bad? Is my face old and ugly like my hands?” She tried to run to the water’s edge, perhaps to see her reflection, but it was churning and sloshing and not safe for anyone to venture into at the moment. Even an immortal. If she was still that.
“Heliope, we must go. Minerva has sent two waves already. Another is sure to follow until this situation is resolved. Did you learn anything about the mermaid?” Ramara’s hands were on his hips, a move he often used when he wanted to gain control of a conversation. It wasn’t working at the moment.
Still staring at her hands, she whimpered and did not answer. We heard another boom shake the island.
“Please, Heliope. I need your help. This is troubling, I know,” I tried to soothe her, “but we have to find Meri, if she is alive after all. Lives depend on it.”
“Faydra—yes, I saw Faydra, Ramara. The real Faydra. I saw her face to face. She says that Meri is here on the island.” Fascinated and repulsed by her hands, she touched them and rubbed them constantly.
“Really? Where? Did she say where?” I felt hopeful but only for a second.
“No.”
Exasperated, I struggled to find the words I needed. None came. My phone rang in my pocket and I saw Cruise’s name pop up on the screen, but it was Kendra on the phone.
“Hi, Nike. We just finished the evacuation and are headed back your way. Any word on Heliope?”
“She’s here, says Meri is on the island somewhere, but I haven’t seen her. I’m about to head into the water. If she’s here, that’s where she’d be.” I rolled my eyes as I listened to Kendra relay the information to Cruise. Why didn’t you just put me on speakerphone instead of playing this power trip?
“Obviously we’re not great swimmers, but we can take the police boat out to keep an eye on you. We’ll meet you at the marina in fifteen minutes. That mermaid has to be found.”
It was a half-assed plan, but it was the only one we had at the moment. I could tell by Ramara’s scowl that he did not approve, but I didn’t care. “Sounds good. See you there.”
Ramara didn’t offer an objection, which seemed weird. He always had something to say about these things. But maybe it was the only way. Heliope appeared to wither before us. She complained again about her bones hurting…I didn’t want to tell her, but it appeared that she was getting older by the minute.
“I can’t make that walk.”
“If you’ll allow me, I will carry you.”
She made no objection, and Ramara scooped her up like she was a dried leaf. We didn’t make the run at supernatural speed, as Heliope wasn’t up to that. We walked quickly along the shore the half mile to the marina, amazed at all the water on land. It looked like there had been a hurricane.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for what you did, so thank you.”
“You are welcome, princess,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I don’t need to remind you again that I’m not a princess anymore, do I? My friends call me Nik.”
“I can’t help the way I think about you.” My heart caught in my throat at his words.
“If you two don’t shut up, I’m going to die. I may die anyway.”
We were on the pier now, and I could see the police launch easing toward us in the water. “You aren’t going to die, Heliope. If it were possible to kill you, believe me, somebody would have already done it.”
“Is that supposed to be funny, girl?” she said weakly as Ramara set her down gently on the boat. I scrambled and found a blanket to put around her shoulders. She was complaining about being cold, even though it was a nice sunny
day. Well, except for the tidal waves. Cruise and Kendra tied their boat next to ours and came aboard.
“Oh, hello, ma’am. Did you get stuck out here? Didn’t you hear there was an evacuation? Is there someone we should call for you?” Cruise squatted down in front of her, talking loudly as if she were deaf.
“Cruise,” I broke in. He waved his hand at me and patted her hand.
“It’s going to be o-kay, ma’am.”
“If I had the energy, I would punch you in the face, stupid boy.” Heliope wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders and ignored him.
Open-mouthed, Cruise looked in my direction.
“Minerva do this?” Kendra asked fearfully. Yes, I could see why this kind of spell would frighten her. She relied too heavily on her looks. At least her ponytail was sagging and her cherry red lip gloss had washed away, I thought nastily. I felt pretty good about my uncharitable thoughts until I saw Ramara’s face. How many times do I have to ask him to stop reading my mind?
“We need to get out on the water,” I said, hoping to defuse the situation. “I can’t understand why Meri hasn’t shown herself to me. That’s just not like her. Still, if she’s here, I’ll find her.”
“She’s enchanted,” Heliope said in a scratchy voice. “That’s what the old witch told me before she stole my youth. I don’t know what it means, but Faydra said she’s here.”
“Here but enchanted? What could that mean? That Faydra’s hidden Meri somewhere?”
“No time to speculate,” Kendra said, tapping on her phone. “We’ve gotten an earthquake warning from the USGS. There’s another wave out there past Mon Luis. Headed this way. If we’re going to do this, we might as well do it now. I hope you know what you’re talking about, siren.”
“I hope so too.”
“Better get going, then.”
Next thing I knew, Springer was bouncing down the pier barking furiously. “Oh my gosh! Springer! Come here, boy! Where have you been? I’m so happy to see you.” His hair was covered in sand as if he’d just crawled out of the ocean or almost drowned in it. He bounded on board and jumped in my lap. I sobbed as I held him. “Boy, I’m going to ground you for life if you don’t quit running away. Are you thirsty?” His pink tongue hung out of his mouth, and I scurried below deck with him to find him some water as Ramara eased out of the marina. The two boats motored in tandem. I didn’t need to go out far, just far enough to launch into the Down Deep. Minerva might be waiting for me, but it was a chance I had to take for my friends and for the people of Dauphin Island.
“You stay here. I’ve got to find a lost friend.” He barked at me as if he wanted to volunteer his help, but I patted his head before kissing it quickly. “Yuck! You stink, Springer. If I live through this, you will be getting a serious bubble bath. Wish me luck. If for some reason I don’t make it back, you take care of Heliope. She needs you.”
He barked excitedly and padded alongside me as I tried to slip out the door. He wasn’t having any of it. “No, boy. You stay here.” I closed the door behind me, pushing on it hard to lock it into place. He barked continuously as I jogged up the stairs. The noise would get on Heliope’s nerves, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that.
“He okay?” Ramara asked.
“No obvious cuts. Just thirsty and mad to be left below. Take me out to the point, and I’ll dive out there. Any sign of Minerva?”
“Not yet, but she’s around. How’s Heliope?” I glanced over my shoulder and could see her whispering. Probably working on reversing the enchantment.
“About as you would expect. Faydra did a number on her. I had no idea she still had such power.”
He glanced out over the water and grabbed his binoculars. “Hell! There she is! Minerva has spotted us.”
“I’ll have to get out now, then. Maybe I can find Meri before she kills us all. Heliope! Snap out of it! She’s here!”
“Meri?”
“No! Minerva! Get ready.”
“Ready for what? What am I supposed to do, Thessalonike? Just look at me!” She let the blanket fall to the ground and stood shakily.
I pulled off my shoes and pulled my hair up in the scrunchie I had in my pocket. “You can start by cutting the crap! We don’t have time for you to feel sorry for yourself. Make yourself useful and whip up some protection spells or something. You’re the goddess here. Where’s your creativity?”
She snapped her bony fingers, and I was happy to see her excited, if only for a second. “Okay, let me think.” She plopped back down on the padded cushion, chewing on her fingernail.
“Great, you do that.”
Ramara anchored the boat and walked toward me. “I’m going with you.”
“Not this time.”
“You don’t command me, princess.”
Heliope paced the deck of the boat, whispering enchantments for our protection, while Springer barked even louder. “If something goes wrong, I want you to get our friends out of here.” I touched his arm as I pleaded with him.
“And if something goes wrong out there, it won’t matter. I am going with you.” He pulled off his shirt and shoes, and I tried to look away. Now wasn’t the time to be drooling over Ramara. Besides, Cruise was just on the next boat. What the heck was wrong with me?
“Fine, have it your way. But if Heliope sinks your boat, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I waved Cruise over and pointed into the distance. “Get your life vests on! We’re going in to find Meri!”
Kendra gave us a thumbs-up and scrambled to get the vests. Cruise gave Ramara a disapproving look but didn’t say anything. Probably a good thing at this point.
“Get ready!” Heliope screamed at us.
“For what?” I yelled back. Minerva was still a half mile away. What was I missing?
“For this!” she shouted with a big grin. Next thing I knew, showers of purple sparks were falling around both boats, hiding us from Minerva, her dangerous green waters and her bloodthirsty shimmer of mermaids.
Not a bad way to start a fight.
Chapter Thirteen—Nike
The Boss
Ramara’s athletic body slid through the water beside me. He briefly took my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed back. I dove deep into the water as his tattoos glowed and as his wings began to emerge. He hovered above me as I called to Meri.
Meri? Can you hear me? Meri! It is Thessalonike!
I heard nothing. No small animals scrabbling across the ocean floor searching for scraps. No wide-winged stingrays floating like lazy sea angels. No sharks, no fish. Nothing but empty waters churned asunder by the angry mermaid queen. I called again.
Meri! I need you, my friend! Friend needs you now! Where are you?
I plowed through the old shipwreck, the one the sea lab had sunk here as an artificial reef. It was one of Meri’s favorite places to play. Perched near the top of a deep crevasse, the ship was anchored in place, but as I paddled closer, I noticed that it had moved a few feet, probably due to Minerva’s recent onslaught of waves. Plunging through the open portal, I hoped to find Meri hiding somewhere in the ship, hopefully uninjured and with all her faculties. How could I not know she was here? The water felt warm on my skin until I reached the inner parts of the ship. Such an empty place now.
Everything in the ocean had better sense than me. Better sense than to be in the water right now with Minerva pushing ever closer to the island.
Meri, please! Where are you?
I scouted the remaining rooms and found nothing. Not a blond hair or a lost treasure—no sign of Meri. A shadow passed by the window. Thinking it was Ramara, I swam toward it until I felt something tug at my leg. Spinning about now, I could see Ramara behind me, his wings half-closed, pointing toward the window.
The shadow was a mermaid! Who knew how long Heliope’s spell would remain in place? If it wasn’t already busted apart like tissue paper under Minerva’s power.
A boom echoed through the ship. It wasn’t soul-shaking like the previo
us booms, but it shook my body through and through. Ramara stared at me as if he were trying to communicate with me, but I couldn’t hear a thing. Only the sound of scraping metal—the mermaids were trying to shove us over the edge!
I swam to the portal to see how many there were. Seven or eight beautiful, fierce-looking mermaids swam in front of the windows, thrashing their tails against the metal hull of the boat. They had strange-looking weapons but not the strength to move this boat. Then I saw the green explosion of light hit the side of the ship.
It was Minerva! She focused her water power and slammed into the side of the boat. No doubt now that she knew we were here. No doubt she was playing for keeps.
Meri! Friend needs you now!
Desperation rose up within me. My friends above the water would die! Ramara would be hurt or killed! I could not save any of them! Sorrow and grief washed over me, and I began to sink to the floor of the ship.
Ramara tugged my hand. He had my attention now. Cradling my head in his hands, he stared at me with his piercing eyes. I could hear his thoughts as clearly as I could feel the despair.
No! That is part of her magic. No despair. Let’s make a break for it! Let me carry you!
I nodded weakly and called one last time: Please, Meri!
Hold me tight, Thessalonike. We will live together or die together, but at least we will be together.
I put my arms around his neck, the effects of Minerva’s magic weakening my resolve by the second. I should die—I deserved it. I should slip off into the nothingness and end it all. I should drown myself!
With a burst of rebellious anger, Ramara dove through the open top hatch, uncaring that four mermaids had spotted him and were driving toward us at breakneck speed. I pointed over his shoulder, but he did not look back.
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