Deep Blue (The Mermaid Chronicles Book 1)

by J Turbett

  "You'll fight me here. Tomorrow. On land. Or you will never touch the water again." Ashley said acidly.

  “I don’t want to fight you, Ashley,” Alice said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady.

  “You’ll make your choice tomorrow. If you are not after Finn, you are with the doctor, and if you’re with the doctor, you have no right to be in my ocean.” Ashley withdrew her knife, then rolled over and let Alice up. Alice leapt to her newly-formed feet and ran. She saw the look in those eyes. She had been a bug under Ashley's heel. It was a threat, and not one to take lightly.

  Alice blew into Adam's house the instant he opened the door. The delicious smells of dinner lit the air, but it didn’t mean anything. Alice had seen what Ashley had done to Kari, and Kari hadn’t dared to go into the water since; she was laid up in a room in the mansion, hiding from Ashley. Tommy was protecting her until Finn had some big epiphany and decided to take on his responsibilities. Alice had no faith in that ever happening and she had to deal with the cards that were on the table.

  "Alice? You're a little early." Adam said, surprised at her disheveled appearance. It was obvious Alice had come there directly from swimming. He had expected her to get a little more ready than bikini and wrap.

  "You were right you were right about everything. I should have listened. Ashley challenged me to a fight." Adam had a horribly stupid look plastered to his face as she looked to him for guidance. He sat down helplessly. "I don't want to fight her, but she threatened me. It doesn't seem like something I can get out of. Tomorrow morning. On land."

  "She's giving you a chance, fighting on land,” he said, waking up, “In the water she'd overtake you in seconds. She's trained all her life." His voice was empty. He was keeping it level, but he was afraid.

  "I don't care what kind of chance she's giving me. I don't care about Finn! Is there any way out of this?"

  Adam looked at her, his eyes as empty as his voice. "The only way out would be if Finn interfered." Adam knew better than anyone else that Finn wasn't about to interfere.

  "I don't think I'm fighting just for Finn. I have a feeling Ashley wants me to give up the ocean entirely."

  "So just do it." Adam said, throwing his arms around her. She was stiff but she looked up at him. He pinned a kiss to her and was answered with cold, unresponsive lips. "Stay with me! Go public with me. I love you, Alice." She stayed there a moment, pausing in the warmth of his arms, letting him comfort her.

  Alice suddenly pushed him away, almost enraged, though she didn't shock him. "Adam, I care about you. I'm just not ready to give up the ocean for you. The ocean is the only place I feel like a person."

  He slumped against a table, then looked up at her. She was so distant from him now. He felt like he was grasping at a bar of soap that he had neglectfully dropped into the ocean. Trying to catch a fish with bare hands. "Alice," he breathed.

  "I do care about you. I just...I can't right now." She turned; she was leaving. There were tears in her eyes. She had let this go too far. This wasn’t it. She couldn’t lose the ocean, but Adam was the person who had been there for her from the very beginning.

  "Alice, you can't do this," he said, scrambling to his feet. "I can't stitch you up when you come back in pieces."

  She paused at the door, "Then don't."

  She'd said it to be mean; she felt horrible, but she just had to think. She hadn't gone back to meet him for dinner at his house. She didn't really feel like eating anything. She had gone for help and all he did was throw himself at her, throw his love in her face, a love Alice knew full well about, but couldn’t even begin to reciprocate. Instead, she headed the one place that had been home to her for so many terrible nights.

  She walked through the gaudy pineapple and set her money on the bar. One way or another, Alice didn’t think she would need it for anything but booze.

  “Haven’t seen you in a while,” the bartender said.

  “Look, I don’t need your judgments. Just keep the booze coming.” She took the shot of Jack that was the first thing offered, then grabbed the beer next to it. She quickly moved to her spot near the wall. Jaeger, Jack, and a few beers later she sat, staring out at the ocean, contemplating. She could hear the song of the waves and all the creatures in it while her head spun.

  Who said she had to decide her whole life right then? Whose crazy idea was it? She could stay with Adam. It would take time, but she knew she could be a whole person again. She just couldn't contemplate giving up the ocean. Why would she have to? To never enter that kingdom again, to never be truly at peace: that would be pure torture.

  David knew about the scheduled duel now, most likely from Tommy. He told her she should just run away, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't make it better, whatever she did. She was on her own and it was her decision. She could throw down her knife and refuse to fight, but she couldn't go in the ocean again if she did: Ashley would make sure of it. With no one opposing her, there was no way to say she couldn’t.

  Why'd they even come to this stupid town? What would Grandma Emma have decided? She had decided: Emma had given up the ocean. Alice wondered, if Emma had the chance to do it again, whether she would have made the same decision. Alice remembered that look of longing in her eyes. Would that happen to Alice, too? Would she become an old woman watching her grandchildren playing in the surf, longing to join them? She put her head in her hands. She never wanted any of this.

  Adam entered the mansion, turning the key that he still had from when he had to check on Brassila all hours of the night. He went straight to Finn's room. Finn was there, hiding from the world, no doubt. Luckily, Adam had a key to that closet-sized room, too. He opened the door and looked at Finn in the single bed crushed against the wall. He was wound up so tightly in the sheets that it had to be almost suffocating. That was the way the folk were: more comfortable when they had something wound around them, like the ocean. Adam grabbed Finn's feet and yanked the small-framed man out of the bed. Finn woke up before he hit the floor.

  "You bastard!" Adam screamed.

  "What?" Finn was sitting up, glaring at Adam with the shimmer to his eye that allowed him to see in the dark. He gingerly began to unwind himself from the sheets.

  "You have to stop this!"

  "Stop what?" Finn asked poisonously, losing patience fast.

  "Ashley. You're the leader. You're the only one who can stop her."

  "I never asked to be a leader, Adam, you know that. I believe I’ve turned down the job multiple times. I don't interfere in the affairs of others."

  "Ashley will kill Alice whether or not she lays down her weapon. You know that."

  "What's that got to do with me?"

  "She's your clan!"

  "You love her, stop her."

  "You are such a brat. Brassila never would have let this madness continue."

  "I'm not Brassila."

  "No, Finn. You're nothing like your grandmother."

  Finn's eyes narrowed further than Adam had ever seen before. "Leave now, Mr. Carson." It was an order impossible to refuse and Adam left stymied.

  Finn crawled back into bed, but he couldn't sleep. He kept seeing the demons that haunted him. Finn had been in charge once. He had done the worst he could have. He couldn't be responsible. He couldn't handle it. He didn't want any more blood on his hands.

  Chapter 19

  Sea Witch

  It was 4:45. Alice was already up.

  "Alice, don't," David said from his doorway. He couldn't do anything about it. She looked at him.

  "Don't worry, Dave." She took his hand and squeezed it. "I won't." Her eyes were filled with sadness, the weight of her decision on her shoulders. She walked into the lightening world outside, knife clutched close to her chest. She didn't even bother to stop him when she knew David was following. He kept his distance. He knew she had to face this alone. Alice wanted to cry but she wouldn't. She could smell the ocean, then let it surrounded her.

  Ashley was waiting for her o
n the cold sands of the private beach, smiling. Alice walked straight up to her and dropped the knife on the sand at her feet. "You win, witch," she said. She turned to walk away when she heard Ashley's maniacal laugh from behind her.

  "You think that's enough? You think I'll just let you go?"

  "I submitted to you! You won! What else do you want?"

  "You challenged me." Ashley said simply. "You challenged me in every sense of the word. You don't get to just walk away." Alice stared, horrified, as Ashley picked up the other knife. Now she was armed with both of them. "You've been a thorn in my side since you came to town. You aren't walking away from this."

  Ashley lunged. A bright red stripe appeared across Alice's arm before she could dodge. She was on the ground, scrambling to her feet to avoid the crazed maid.

  This was insane! Alice dodged blow after blow, but she knew she couldn't keep it up forever. She knew the laws now. One of the folk had filled her in on what she needed to know. The challenge had been made and, by some weird logic, Alice couldn't get away from it. The only person who could truly interfere would be the clan leader, Finn. Finn, king of dispassion and apathy. She looked up at David. He was far away. He looked like he was going to run and interfere, but Zita came out of nowhere and held him with her strong arms.

  He struggled but he couldn't get away. No, this was Alice's fight. It wasn't much of a fight. Ashley was armed with both weapons and all Alice could do was dodge blow after blow. She was doing remarkably well so far, but she knew she couldn't keep it up forever. Ashley was already pushing her toward the ocean. They both knew that Ashley had the upper hand there. The only thing Alice had going for her was those long-ago self-defense lessons. Dodge, block, dodge, block, another red stripe and a cry of pain. This couldn’t go on forever.

  "Why don't we open up that scar again? See if we can't get it just a little deeper," Ashley smiled, staring at the scar on Alice’s side. It was hopeless. She wished Adam was there, but at the same time she didn't want him there, didn't want to him to see her fall.

  Finn was watching with disinterest as Alice avoided the crazy girl.

  "You could stop this." Tommy said, coming downstairs.

  "There's no way to stop a maid like that. She will continue till her challenger is dead." Finn responded. “That maid is insane.”

  They were in the surf now, almost waist deep, Ashley gradually moving Alice toward the open sea.

  "I can see a way."

  "Is it a chess game to you?" Finn said.

  Tommy looked up at his brother. "It's always a chess game with women. Ashley's not just challenging Alice; she's challenging your authority. She knows you won't stop it. She wouldn't listen if you tried. She's a beautiful woman."

  "Ashley?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

  "Alice."

  Finn looked back at his brother, and Tommy stared right back at him with that smirk of his. Tommy knew. Tommy had engineered the entire thing, and that wasn't what Finn was thinking about. Finn remembered the current that ran through him when Brassila had been holding both his hand and Alice’s. The way Brassila smiled at him. That knowing smile, with just a hint of sarcasm; the same sarcasm that ran in Tommy’s blood in excess. In the next moment, in his mind’s eye, he was holding Alice in his arms, his knife pressed to her throat and his eyes widened.

  "Your past makes you blind, Finn."

  Finn looked back at the fight. Ashley had her. If Alice fell, she would turn. If Alice fell, Ashley would kill her. There was only one way he could stop it; he saw it just as Tommy already had. Ashley's back was to him, but he knew the kill lust in her eyes. He did not want to get between a crazed maid and her target. “You knew all along,”

  “Saw it from the very start.” Tommy smiled at the fight.

  Finn looked at Tommy. "I hate you, Tom."

  "Back at you, Finn."

  Finn burst from the door. He was a shot across the beach, stripping off his shirt as he ran. No time for the pants; he would just have to let them rip when his tail appeared.

  Impact! Finn hit Alice full force. He felt a stripe of pain open across his back as Ashley's blow hit him instead of her intended target. His arms were around Alice, his lips pressed against hers as they fell into the deep.

  Alice was awash with a sensation she had never felt before. It wasn't something she could describe. It was electricity, it was chemical. But she knew and he knew and it just didn't make sense. Her tail was around him before she could even process what was happening; her cuts burned in the saltwater but she didn't feel them. She just felt him; felt the warmth from his kiss. Like nothing on earth.

  Then, so many images flashed through her brain at lightning speed that she could hardly separate one from the other. She knew him; she knew everything about him; she knew his soul because it was the other half of hers. She saw things she couldn't understand and things she could: they were his memories, his experiences.

  Finn disentangled himself from Alice. He didn’t need to continue the kiss. He knew so much about her already, and had for a while. He just hadn’t wanted to see it, didn’t want to be a part of it. He knew exactly what Tommy had already seen.

  Chapter 20

  Checkmate

  Ashley looked down at the water. She couldn't contain her anger. The water was too disturbed: she couldn't see anything. She wouldn't go down, not with Finn down there. Finn was born a folk; he knew the arts even better than she. She knew, like all the true folk knew, that Finn's knife had been stained with blood before.

  Finn had a blade, though not the short-sword left on his island. He pushed Alice away and down. He was shooting at top speed towards the surface, toward the blurry figure above the water. He was out and Ashley knew the look in his eyes.

  "No," she breathed. Finn’s knife made one slice and the slash appeared across her neck, blood poured into the water. Ashley reached up, sputtering, as Finn came down, as Ashley fell. He was already dragging Alice out of the water as Ashley faded into the surf. Alice was watching in horror from Finn's lap, his strong arms wrapped around her. It was so warm, yet she didn't dare look at him. Her tail flopped in the surf.

  "Alice!" David was running toward his sister. In her horror, Zita had released him. Zita was now running toward the water and disappearing into it. Alice was just so confused; her head was swimming with all she had seen, with all she knew.

  Finn lifted Alice up to her brother, who dragged her further up the beach. Tommy was calmly walking toward Finn, helping him out of the water as well. "Good job, Finn," Tommy said, as if what had just happened were nothing.

  "I hate you," Finn spat.

  "It's only because I was right."

  Finn looked down at Alice. Alice was not looking at him, but David was. He looked terrified, and Finn didn't blame him. David had seen the way Finn dispatched Ashley; it was a heck of a way to meet Finn, from David’s point of view. Finn had never even bothered to introduce himself to the new transform.

  David didn't know what had just happened. Suddenly Finn knew his sister better than he did; just as Alice knew Finn better than anyone on the planet. Alice had seen that moment, as if it was her own memory, when Finn had first spilled blood. She knew how much it had destroyed him.

  He couldn't have been more than eleven when his mother died, but it wasn't a boating accident. One of the doctors who knew the secret had gone rogue. Most would sell an arm or leg to study the folk: this man had sold his soul. He had drugged Finn's mother, followed her out to sea, and then tried to capture her, alive. His mother had known and she struggled for all she was worth. The doctor ended up accidentally stabbing her with her own blade. She had died. There had been so much water in the boat that she had dissolved right there. She had melted in the horrible man's arms, and he had flicked the remains away like they were something disgusting.

  Finn had seen the entire thing. He knew the doctor wouldn't stop, and the man knew the woman had family. Tommy had been only three at the time. He would have been easy prey, along with Finn's
father, who had gone completely insane when his mate had died. So Finn did what he had to do, but he did more than that. Finn had butchered the man, tortured him. The man had to pay for destroying his mother, for destroying his family.

  She heard the man's laugh in her head, just as Finn had heard it then. She knew, just as Finn had realized at the time, that he had become the monster he hated. Finn never would let himself be in charge of anything after that. Tommy knew what had happened, but he didn't know what Finn had done, beyond eliminating the threat. Finn didn't hate the world; he hated that he saw that evil in himself.

  She wouldn't, couldn't look at him. Not then. She needed air.

  "Come on, Finn, let's get you to the good doctor. That cut looks bad," Tommy said as Finn's tail disappeared. Tommy handed his brother a pair of drawstring shorts, and Finn winced as he slipped them on. Finn didn't stop looking at Alice as Tommy led him away. Alice avoided his eyes the entire time.

  "Alice, are you okay?" David asked.

  Alice looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but they weren't hers. They were tears for Finn. "Please," she said, "Don't ask. Just let me go."

  David released her and she clambered toward the ocean; the ocean, the only thing that made any sense right now. She disappeared beneath the waves and let herself go. David stepped forward.

  “I wouldn’t,” Tommy said gently. Finn leaned heavily on his shoulder, paying attention only to the disappearing tail.

  David turned to Tommy, watched the blood from Finn’s back gradually crawl down to fall in the sand. Tommy seemed the only person aware of what was going on.

  “She needs me.”

  “I’m pretty sure she needs quiet. She seems the type. However, I could use your help with this dead weight.” Tommy motioned toward his brother. It was all Finn could do to remain on his unsteady legs.

  David turned back toward the ocean. She could be anywhere by now, somehow, though, he knew he could find her.