by Erin Hayes
Yes. I had understood Kai before I fell in the ocean and was changed.
Was it better to have lived my life not knowing all of this or to have found out right now? Deep down, I knew it was a good thing, even if the hole in my heart said otherwise.
I was from two worlds. I wrapped my arms around myself, considering everything. If I hadn’t heard Kai, I’m not sure I would have gone out to his pool again. And if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have fallen into this crazy world and became a mermaid myself. So, all in all, this entire adventure stemmed from being half merwalker all my life.
“Do you still want me to undo your gift?” Nereia asked.
I closed my eyes, weighing all of the conflicting emotions that battled deep inside me.
Maybe I didn’t need to have this undone. Maybe I finally was living how I should. I wasn’t a stranger in a strange land. I was home.
But I did know someone who was in a strange world to them.
Kai.
I still needed to save him. And save my mother and friends from impending war. Heck, I needed to save both of my worlds—my human life and this new mermaid one.
I brushed any further tears from my eyes. “No,” I whispered. My voice didn’t sound strong, but I knew they understood me. “I’ll stay as a merwalker for now.” In honor of my dad. I opened my eyes and looked between Nereia and Ponce, knowing what I had to do next. “But I do know someone who still needs help.”
“You mean Kai?” She frowned and nodded, crossing her arms over her breasts. “Yes, yes he does, poor baby.”
“You got the fire flower, right?”
She nodded. “Thankfully, it was much easier this time around to find it.”
I sighed, relieved. “So everything’s going to be fine.”
“Well, that depends on a lot of things.” She gestured vaguely in a distracted motion with her hands. I could tell that she didn’t get upset very much, but something was troubling her. “I can make the potion just fine. It’s the delivery that could be a problem.”
“Finn giving it to Kai.”
“Yes. It’s a dangerous mission every time he goes out to save a sea creature. I’m sure you saw his scars.”
“He told me he got it saving his mother.” I wrung my hands at the thought.
“Yes,” Nereia said. “And that’s not the only time he’s been injured. And it’s even more dangerous when he has to go on land. Death isn’t the worst thing that could happen to him. He could be spotted, or worse, caught.”
Her words confirmed what I’d been feeling all along. It really was too dangerous for Finn to go out on land. If I hadn’t spotted him when he was trying to save Kai, it could have been someone else. Or a security camera. If not at the Houston Aquarium, another place that had cameras pointed at the tanks. Oceanus was concerned about me spilling the beans about the merfolk culture, but at any point, Finn could be on the cover of The World Enquirer and the search would be on for a real life mermaid.
“I know,” I whispered, feeling the flush in my cheeks. “I know it’s dangerous.”
She swam up closer to me and looked me deep in my eyes. “And with the stakes higher than ever, we would lose both Kai and Finn, and Levi’s deadline would be up.”
A thought occurred to me then, and it twisted my insides.
“Is this is why you turned me into a merwalker?” I asked.
She sagged slightly, defeated. “Not completely,” she admitted. “I would have turned you into a merwalker regardless, because it’s who you are. Please believe me.” Her gaze met mine, and she searched my face. “I’m begging you, please help.”
I swallowed and turned my gaze to Ponce, who was watching me expectantly. He’d been by my side throughout this entire ordeal, even though he started out as an innocent passerby who just gave a lost girl directions. His world depended on so many things at the moment.
And then there was Finn. Scarred Finn, who threw himself into the role of a protector, even to his detriment. I thought about everything he’d done for his people and world, and it made my insides twist with worry.
Even if I did help out, there would be a lot of risk, even for me. But could I really stand by when both of my worlds were at risk? When I was the reason why this hadn’t been sorted sooner? When a baby dolphin refused to even eat because he missed his mother?
“What do you want me to do?”
“Are you sure you want to come along, Ponce?” I asked the snapper as we got ready to leave the cell. Nereia and I had discussed what we needed to do to get Oceanus’s permission to deliver the potion. And then there was the matter of Finn who would want to do it himself, regardless of the risk. It was dangerous.
But it was a risk I was willing to take to save everyone. It was going to be awkward when I saw him next.
Ponce wouldn’t have it. “If you think that I would abandon you, then you’ve got another thing coming. I’m sticking with you.”
He also glanced nervously at the sharks guarding my cell as Nereia opened the door and swam by. He was a ball of energy, yet I appreciated his help.
“She’s with me, boys,” Nereia called to the guards. “No need to get yourself tangled in a net.” She then cackled like the sea witch she was.
The sharks moved back as we passed, and one grinned menacingly at me. It wasn’t a comforting thought.
“Thanks,” I told her as we moved through the corridors up to the first level of the palace. Now that I was completely changed into a mermaid, no one batted an eye at me. In fact, it seemed like they were all avoiding Nereia. She apparently had a reputation that she wasn’t afraid to embrace.
“For what, sweetie?”
Yet she didn’t act liked a crazed person.
“For doing everything to save my people.” As I said that, I didn’t know if I meant mers or humans.
Nereia confirmed it for me. “You’re going to save both of your people.” She turned to look at me, her expression both wistful and sad. “It’s going to come down to you.”
I caught the significance of her emphasis on the word “both”. I might not be used to the idea, but I did know that I didn’t want anything happening to either the sea or the surface.
“I didn’t expect to see you out of the prison, Tara,” another voice said, interrupting our discussion.
My heart pounded as I turned to see Finn lounging in a depression of the walls. His sea green eyes found only mine, and he offered me a secret smile. All I wanted was to feel his lips against mine again, but then I felt awkward at the idea of what I was going to do.
Nereia instantly brightened. “Ah, nephew!” she cried, holding out an arm for a hug. “I’ve been worried about you! Where have you been?”
He pushed himself off the wall and paddled over towards us. I could feel the blush heat my body with every inch he moved closer. He gave his aunt a one-armed hug, although I could tell that he was keeping an eye on me.
“I’ve been learning things,” he said vaguely, which just made my cheeks blush even more.
Nereia looked at him, frowning slightly before wrapping him up in another hug. “I’m just glad that you’re safe.”
“For now,” Finn said honestly, meaning it as a joke, but none of us took it that way.
I shivered at the thought of him being on display in an aquarium, unable to leave, unable to be understood by anyone.
“You got the fire flower, right?” he asked, changing the subject. “So it’s just a matter of making the potion again and me...”
She raised up a finger and tut-tutted him. “I want to discuss this with you and your father,” she chided. “And speaking of, we should get a move on, because I still need to make the potion before tonight,” she decided in an ominous tone.
Not waiting for any more questions, she jetted towards Oceanus’s palace with one, powerful flick of her tail.
“Hey, wait up!” Ponce cried, shooting off behind her, leaving Finn and me alone, which felt all too awkward.
“I...I guess
we should go,” I said to Finn, the words tumbling out quickly once I recovered enough.
“Are you okay?” he asked, picking up on my mood.
“Yeah,” I said unconvincingly. “Just had a long night.”
“I wouldn’t mind another kiss,” he offered with a smile.
I don’t know if I had ovaries at the moment, probably not, because they would have exploded at his words and his smile. Despite myself and my worries, I smiled.
His lips touched mine then, and I swooned into his kiss, relishing it. How could someone who didn’t know what a kiss was only a few hours ago be so good at it?
Now that I found out that I was half-merwalker, there really was no big reason as to why I couldn’t stay here if everything worked out. Was there a future for us? Could I allow myself to hope that this wasn’t just some sort of fling?
I’d have to figure it out after we saved Kai. If we saved Kai.
“Did you know?” I asked breathlessly.
“Know what?”
“That I was half-merwalker?”
He searched my face for a long time before shaking his head. “No,” he admitted. “But it makes sense now that Nereia changed you.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “So that means…”
Rather than complete his statement, he kissed me again.
“We should get going,” I told him sadly. I could get lost in those kisses, but we did have a deadline.
I dolphin-kicked my own tail, following after Nereia and the snapper. A second after I did so, Finn was beside me, swimming at his top speed. I did take a little pleasure in that while I was in a flustered state, I could swim faster than him.
Nereia was already inside when we arrived at Oceanus’s throne room. The guards were waiting idly, grinning like predators at us as we approached. I guess they got the memo from their friends guarding my cell that they should try scaring me.
Well, it wasn’t going to work. Even if I did gulp a little louder than normal.
As I passed through the doors, I was shocked to see King Levi—Leviathan, as I now knew him—and Queen Nadia presiding over everything next to Oceanus. If I could stumble and fall flat on my face, I would have. Thankfully, I was swimming.
After learning about his power over the ocean, Levi intimidated me even more than Oceanus did. Which was good, because Oceanus was not happy to see me.
“I see you’ve changed,” he scoffed under his breath. “But you can’t take any old grain of sand and call her a pearl.”
“I’m not trying to be a pearl,” I objected.
“My son thinks you’re one,” he said pointedly, looking at Finn who frowned stoically.
I looked at the merking, shocked. Did he know that we kissed last night? I felt my stomach sink at the thought.
“She is a good person,” Finn said, his tone dangerous.
Meanwhile, Levi and Nadia weren’t paying attention to our conversation, fully devoted to whatever Nereia was going to say about Kai. Oceanus shot me another glare before he turned back to them.
“Do you have it?” Levi demanded of Nereia. “Do you have the fire flower?”
Nereia loved the attention. She held the room like a performer, a magician, and I was starting to see why they called her a sea witch. “Yes. And I wanted to share my news with everyone at the same time.”
“And she must be here for this?” Oceanus demanded, pointing to me.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Childish. And he was the king of the merfolk?
“Oh yes, dear brother,” Nereia intoned, her expression very serious. “She’s vital to the entire plan.”
“She is?” Finn asked, alarmed.
Oh, Finn. Here was the part that he wasn’t going to like.
Nereia sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. “Finn,” she said slowly, “I know that you’re used to saving the creatures of the sea, but this time, we’re going to try something different. I’ve already gotten Tara’s permission, of course.”
Every eye in the room turned back to me, even Oceanus’s. I fidgeted under their gazes, wanting to melt into the walls. “She did,” I confirmed, my voice stronger than I felt. I couldn’t even look at Finn’s shocked expression.
“You can’t be serious,” Finn hissed. “Tara, it’s dangerous.”
“Less so for me than it is for you,” I answered back.
Nereia beamed at my words. When she spoke next, she addressed the two dolphins again.
“As you know, your majesties, the fire flower is found deep within Mariana’s Trench. A flower that grows in the most impossible of conditions. And because of that impossibility, it’s perfect for my potion.”
“Which is?” Levi urged.
“We’re going to make Kai fly,” Nereia answered like it was the most natural thing in the world. And Tara...” She pointed back to me, her smile brilliant. “...Tara is going to be the one to give the potion to him.”
“I can do it,” Finn interjected. “I was so close two nights ago.”
But Levi understood, following Nereia’s logic. He nodded along with Nereia’s plan. “And you failed two nights ago, Protector,” he said. “And failure is not an option again. Not with my son’s life on the line.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes when Finn flinched at the barb.
Levi smirked, satisfied at Finn’s reaction, and turned back to Nereia. “Tell me how this...mermaid...would be able to succeed where our famed protector failed.”
Well, for one, I wouldn’t be there to distract him, I thought sarcastically.
Nereia gave me a knowing smile before she spoke next.
“Little Tara here is a special breed of mermaid. I’m sure Oceanus already knows, but she’s a merwalker. One who can travel between the sea and the world Kai is trapped in.”
Levi and Nadia looked at me, alarmed themselves now at the reveal that I was a merwalker. Great, I thought. Now they think I’m the enemy.
“You can appear human?” Nadia asked.
I nodded. “Yes. I met Kai on the surface. I know exactly where he is. And I can get access to it.”
“She and Kai got along well on the surface,” Nereia added. “And she can help coax Kai to make the jump out to the ocean.”
“Is it a long way for him to fly?” Nadia asked. “Can he make it?”
I opened my mouth, knowing that the quarantine tank was at least eight yards from the edge, and then there were rocks below to worry about. It was an impossible jump. And if he could fly...well, I had no idea how that worked.
“He can,” Finn interrupted. He was frowning, clearly unhappy. “Listen, I can do it.”
“I can’t risk you being caught,” I told him.
His jaw clenched as he watched me.
Heart pounding, I lift my chin just a little bit. I felt my gills open to suck in some water. My mermaid tail kept me righted. Yet at the same time, I was still the human I’d always been.
Now, I was living the real dream. I was in two worlds. And I was going to have to be a part of them continuing forward.
Everything depended on this. Before all this, I never really believed in mermaids. But now, it was time to start believing in myself.
“I’m doing it.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
Finn grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. I swayed, feeling a little disoriented under his intense, sea green gaze.
While Nereia was busy mixing the ingredients together for the potion, I was left trying to prepare for a mission that felt huge and beyond my control.
“I do,” I told him gently.
“This doesn’t affect your world,” he pleaded, searching my gaze.
“It does,” I said. “It affects both of my worlds. Yours and mine. Ours.”
A thousand different emotions crossed his face all at once, from conflict to deep concern.
“I don’t want you getting hurt,” he whispered. “You had nothing to do with this.”
Despite myself, I wanted to laugh. “That’s not what yo
u believed the first time you met me.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s not fair.”
“I know,” I said. “But I have to do this. I promised Kai that I would, and I can’t let this war happen—”
He pressed his lips against mine, giving me another one of his fin-curling kisses. After only four kisses, he was getting better. This time, he explored more of my mouth and held me to him. Like he never wanted to let me go.
I melted into it, my eyes fluttering closed. His arms came around my back and brought me close to him, skin to skin, kissing me like a lover for whom the world was ending.
The kiss lasted a long time.
When he finally did break the kiss, he looked at me intensely, begging with his eyes for me not to follow through with this. He caressed the side of my face, making my skin tingle with his feathery touch.
“Don’t go,” he whispered.
“It makes sense, Finn,” I appealed to him. “I know where he is. I won’t get caught.”
“It’s my job, Tara.”
I searched those sea green eyes, glad that I had someone who cared deeply about me. “And I would never forgive myself if someone found you. You would turn into a spectacle for humans. They’d cage you. Dissect you. And the news would descend on you like a pack of sharks.”
His brow furrowed, and I realized that he didn’t know what the news was. I chuckled lightly.
“They would expose you and this world,” I continued, indicating the broad expanse of Thalassa. “You’d never get any rest. It’s too big of a risk for you.”
The muscle in his jaw clenched and unclenched, and I could sense that I wasn’t going to be able to make him see my point.
“And if you fail, Levi would attack the surface.”
I shook my head. “I won’t fail.”
“How do you know?” he demanded.
I allowed myself a grin. “Because I can pretend to be a better human than a mermaid.”
He gave me a sidelong glance and gave a short chuckle, which he covered behind his hand. “How do you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Make everything make sense and not make sense?”