“I’m well aware of your ability, but I don’t want to see the bracelet off your wrist, not ever.” His tone held warning. “Have a shower. We need to talk. Things are moving much faster than we anticipated.”
“Why? What else has happened?”
“I will handle it.”
“Come on, enough with the secrets.”
“And enough with the sand and sopping feet on the floors.” He turned her by the shoulders so she was facing the bathroom door. “We rent this place, you know.”
“Fine.” Tage headed to the bathroom. She slammed the door a little louder than she actually meant to. But really, he didn’t have to be so secretive. He already trusted her with the bracelet. She knew she was getting it before she opened the box. It wasn’t a gift at all. More like a curse. If Halen knew the responsibility that came with silver band, she wouldn’t have put it on. Daspar did things so backwards; he should have just been straight with Halen.
She peeled off her wet clothes and ran the tap. The cooler the water the better. Siren blood didn’t mix well with hot water. Even though Tage was half-human, she would always be half-Elosian. She thought of her mother’s birthplace, the underwater realm, Elosia. She wished she could have seen Elosia with her own eyes, but her parents said it wasn’t safe. Instead, it was her father’s world she had grown up in—Washington. It turned out Washington wasn’t safe either, though. The hunters, a tribe of eight immortals who had an appetite for siren’s souls, had tracked her down. She would have been killed if her mom hadn’t shielded the arrows while her dad cast a wind spell so Tage could escape. The hunters slit their throats for doing so.
She agreed to Daspar’s plan because part of it involved breaking the hunters’ immortality curse. And when it was broken, she could go after them and kill them for what they had done. Halen was just part of the package. Tage reminded herself that she had to keep her focus and remember why she agreed to help Daspar in the first place. If she could go through with what Daspar wanted, she would get what she needed—revenge.
Tage stepped into the tub and tilted her head back into the stream of running water. She dug her nails into her scalp, loosening the sand. Gritty grains clung to her fingernails and piled at the bottom of her feet. This was one thing she hated about swimming in the ocean—all the damn sand. Squishing another dollop of shampoo into her hair, she lathered the suds and then rinsed them out again. At least Daspar wasn’t blaming her for what happened to Halen. He had become so edgy since Halen and her mom moved to Oregon. He had doubled up practice time. When she wasn’t doing homework, she had to memorize spells, and Tage’s least favorite—combing through botany journals. She thought he should be training Halen, not her. But Daspar still believed Halen was better off not knowing about her powers. Tage thought not telling Halen was like trying to keep a hurricane in a jar.
Sinking down into the tub, she stretched her long legs out as far as she could. Her body ached from fighting the waves. Rolling her head from side to side, she closed her eyes and rested her neck on the back of the tub. She didn’t fill the basin with water, as she enjoyed listening to the patter of the water falling from the shower head. The steady drumming brought her to a place of solace. She inhaled, long and slow, and then released the breath. As she listened to the water and her breath, her thoughts cleared.
Hello. Her mom’s voice filled her mind.
“Hi,” Tage said, smiling.
I felt you in the ocean today.
“I was scared, Mom. Really scared. I haven’t felt that way since…”
I know.
“Did you feel Halen?”
Yes.
“Is she safe?” There was a long pause, and Tage released more of her inner thoughts so she could find her mom once more. Alongside spells, Daspar had also taught her to meditate. She discovered, through meditation, that she was able to speak to her mom. “Are you still there? Mom?”
I’m here. I can’t feel Halen anymore.
Tage sighed. “I really screwed up.”
You did your best.
“My best doesn’t feel good enough. I wish I could see you. I’m nervous. Daspar keeps changing the plan. I thought I could do what he wanted. I don’t know now.”
You’ll know the right thing to do when the time is right.
“So you think I should continue? Even though…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. She knew the consequences.
Let your heart guide you, not your fears. And not revenge.
“I wish I could.”
I’m here in all y… Her mother coughed. There was the sound of grunting, and then a sharp cry.
“Mom!” Tage’s spine stiffened. She inhaled several deep breaths and released them. “Mom!” she cried out. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
Tage, get out of the shower! Her mother’s voice rang shrill in her mind.
Tage bolted upright.
Chilling laughter echoed beneath the bathtub. A scaled hand reached from the drain and clutched her ankle, and instantly, her skin blistered with black welts. Tage screamed as she kicked the hand. She tried to stand but another arm stretch out from the drain, and the silvery-fleshed hand grabbed a hold of her. Tage kicked out, stomping with both her feet. As thick smoke spiralled up from the drain, Tage covered her mouth and nose with the crook of her elbow. She knew not to breathe it in. Most bathtub-related deaths were from mermaids’ smoke; drowning was just the explanation humans gave.
A pale face marred by black veins emerged from the smoke. The mermaid’s hair splayed around her like tentacles, wrapping around Tage’s legs. The veins in Tage’s calves bulged, swelling to black. She scooted as far back as she could, but the mermaid’s face rushed forward, stopping inches from hers.
“Where is she?” the mermaid whispered with a hoarse breath.
Tage gagged, the scent of sulphur tugging her gut. “Who?” Tage searched the bathroom. There was nothing she could use to cast a spell. The mermaid was already utilizing the water.
“We saw her with you. The sisters know who you are.” Her boney fingers brushed over the bracelet and Tage felt like her blood had turned to ice. She shivered uncontrollably, her legs vibrating.
“Bring us the girl, and we will let you live.”
“Never!” Tage caught the tap with the hook of her toe, and shoved the lever to hot. The mermaid shrieked. Tage screamed too as the scalding water pricked her flesh. Grabbing a fistful of Tage’s hair, the mermaid dragged her to the drain. Tage’s cheek pressed to the porcelain. A vortex of swirling gray clouds spun beneath the silver ring.
“Let me go!” Tage shouted.
Suddenly the shower curtain flew up. The curtain rings burst from the bar like bullets being shot into the air. Daspar stood in the doorway with his palms flat against the air. His red ring glowed like dragon’s breath.
“Be gone, demon!” he shouted.
The mermaid’s hand burst in flames, and she wailed. As if being sucked back, she disappeared down the drain.
Swiftly, Daspar crossed the room and shut the hot water off. He turned at once, and without looking back at Tage, he tossed her a towel. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll survive.” She clasped her leg. The blisters had disappeared, replaced by thin, raised lines of red and black which ran from her thigh to her ankle bone. “What the hell just happened?” She stood with her towel secured around her.
He turned with gleaming eyes. “They took the bait.”
Five
“Hello. Is anyone out there?” Halen called out. She was careful not to get too close to the invisible barrier. After being stunned to the hard ground, and lying there for what seemed like hours, this was not something she wanted to repeat. A low hum indicated how likely she was to get shocked. If she had not been screaming at the boy, she might have been able to figure this out. As she leaned closer, the hum grew higher in pitch. When she retreated, the hum sung in a low alto tone. With her nose inches from the barrier, the wall squealed ready to strike. Frustrated, she sat b
ack down and pulled another piece of plant from the hole in the mattress. Her stomach growled. “Forget it.” Even if this was a plant, she wasn’t going to eat it.
She glanced toward the stone cup. Quartz, she thought. She had never seen a cup of quartz, but she had never been trapped in a cave before either. When she tilted the cup, a clear fluid skimmed the edges. Water? Her tongue felt like she had licked a thousand stamps. Lifting the cup to her nose, she inhaled the sweet scent of rain in the spring—rain that drips from new budded leaves onto mossy earth—forest water. Maybe he had taken her to the woods? Forests lined the Oregon coast. She took a tiny sip of the water, and instantly her throat begged for more. If he wanted to kill me I would be dead by now, she reasoned. Why lock me up, just to poison me? She swallowed the water now with full gulps.
Her fingers twitched with the same tingly sparks that ignited when she was compelled to sketch the boy. No way. She tucked her hands between her legs. We already said goodbye. But then she remembered—he had answered her back.
Not yet.
Those were the last two words she heard in her mind before she passed out. Had he saved her? He admitted to bringing her to the cave. But no matter how hard she concentrated she couldn’t recall being rescued. Silver black tails pricked her thoughts, however. What she had seen in the water was not of this world. She would never forget the mermaids. She ran her hand over her black-stained veins. What had they done to her?
“Hello,” a woman said, and Halen sprang to her feet.
A slight woman with copper hair cropped short over her ears was at the barrier, peering from enormous green eyes. She had an elfish look to her—small. Both her hands could fit in one of Halen’s. She wore a fitted corset which rested just over her upper thigh. The material, the color of patina pennies, lined her breastbone, and was cut like a necklace of swirling fish. Her legs were bare, down to her feet. Her toe nails were a brilliant shade of opal.
“My son tells me he untangled you from a mermaids’ snare, and that he brought you here to heal.”
So he did save her. But why lock her up? Halen unclasped her hands from behind her back. Her mouth opened, to ask where here was but the woman spoke before she could.
“Dax, did you see this?” she asked, and the boy with stormy eyes stepped beside her.
“What?” he asked.
Dax. His name played through her mind. Of course it wouldn’t be as common as Mark or John. Nothing about him was ordinary. She imagined Dax must look more like his father. He was sturdy, with broad shoulders, and stood a foot taller than his mother. His hands, like Halen’s, seemed enormous next to his mother’s. He did have his mother’s full, pouty lips which, on a boy, somehow seemed out of place.
“She has the bracelet,” the woman said. “Has anyone else seen this?”
His icy glare met Halen’s and she turned away.
“Rania was here to look in on the others. I told her the bracelet doesn’t belong to the girl,” he said.
“Did Rania believe you?” the woman asked.
“The bracelet is mine,” Halen said, sounding like a defensive child. “I told you it was a gift. I want to know who you people are and where is Tage? Did you find her? Is she locked away in some cave too?”
“Tage?” the woman asked Dax. “Was there another in the water?”
He shook his head. “No, only this one.”
This one. Halen fumed. What was his problem? She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she wasn’t a thief. They could have the stupid bracelet for all she cared, as long as they let her out.
Dax started again, “She may be the one responsible for…”
The woman cut him off. “Hand me the stone. I want to get a closer look.”
Dax’s hand unfolded, revealing an oval smooth stone. The perfect kind of stone for skipping on still water. His mother inserted the stone in a pocket carved into the wall. There was a popping sound like water being dripped into hot oil. When the sounds ceased, the woman stepped next to Halen.
Halen’s breath quickened. The barrier was down. Run, her mind said. But where? she answered back.
Dax, stood behind his mother, his fists clenched. Had he forgotten he was the one who had brought her here? Maybe this is what bothered him the most. Maybe he wished he had left her to die.
“May I?” The woman nodded.
Halen followed her gaze. Like the mermaid, like everyone lately, she was staring at her bracelet. Halen began to regret letting Daspar put it on her wrist. Taking one step back, she tucked her arm behind her.
“I won’t hurt you. I just want to see your bracelet. It’s very unusual.”
“I didn’t steal it,” Halen said.
“I believe you,” the woman said, holding out her hand.
As Halen took another step back, the backs of her knees butted against the bed. She folded to a sitting position.
The woman crouched down beside her. “My name is Samira, and this is my son Dax.” She waved to the boy.
He nodded.
“I know you must be very frightened. I’m sorry you were placed behind the barrier. You were wounded, and we have to be cautious. The mermaids are dangerous.”
“Are you saying they are real?” Halen’s voice shook. Having another person say it out loud somehow made the idea seem more unreal.
“You’ve never seen one before?” she asked.
Halen thought of her father clawing at the water, trying to keep his head above the waves. She had told her mom she had seen silver fins in the water. How they had curled over his head and crushed him under. Her mom had said she was seeing things—that trauma can induce delusions. She knew now she had been right. Still she lied. “No, I’ve never seen a mermaid.”
“Hmm.” Samira pursed her lips together. Her enormous eyes studied Halen as if she was observing the fine lines of a wasp’s wing under a microscope. “Well then, you must be in quite a bit of shock. I want to let you out of here, but you have to help me.”
“How?” Halen looked to Dax but his attention was focused on the ground.
“I need to see your bracelet.”
Untucking her arm from behind her back, Halen set her hand in her lap. The metal was warm against her leg. She suddenly felt self-conscious. She was wearing nothing more than her boy shorts and a tank top. Her jeans and shirt were still on the beach. Her cheeks flushed.
“You don’t need to be frightened.” Samira smiled. “What is your name?”
“Halen.”
“Halen?” Dax repeated, looking up.
“Yes, Halen Windspeare,” she said.
Samira’s smile broadened.
Dax’s gaze narrowed. “Prove it.”
Prove it? It’s not like she had ID on her. She couldn’t believe she had spent three months drawing this ignoramus or that she had been crushing on him. Now, having met Dax in person, once she got home she would burn every pencil in the house. “Let me go and I’ll prove it.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Dax snapped back.
“Dax!” Samira held up her hand stopping him. Her glance skimmed the bracelet. “May I hold it?”
What did it matter? She wanted to go home. If giving up the trinket meant freedom, she was willing to part with Daspar’s gift. She twisted the metal like Daspar had done. The two sides wouldn’t budge. Pressing her fingers inside the band, she tried to spread them apart. She smiled weakly, as she turned the band again. “My hands are little swollen.” Folding her fingers together, she tried to wiggle the bracelet over her hand. The metal constricted. “Just give me a second.” Dax was staring at her with an amused grin on his face. She had drawn this smile before. “Never again,” she said under her breath.
“Having trouble?” Dax smirked.
Her fingers scrabbled over the metal. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to get it off. I don’t mind if you look at it.” She held her arm out.
Samira’s emerald eyes gleamed like rays of sun on the water. Two soft dimples rounded the side of her cheeks. This was some
thing else Dax had in common with his mother. “I’ve seen enough.” She stood, clasping her hands together. “Dax, take her to a sphere. She will need new bandages, clean clothes, and food.”
“She can’t stay in the spheres. If she is Halen Windspeare—” he spat her name like a preacher with the devil’s name on his lips “—then we should take her someplace else.”
“The spheres are safe.” Samira said to Halen. “I know this is confusing. I wish I could explain, answer the questions I’m sure are running through your mind, but I need to speak to the council.” She looked to Dax. “I need to speak with Rania.” She patted him on the chest. “It will be okay.”
“Wait! Don’t leave,” Halen called after her. “How do you know who I am?”
“Later,” Samira called over her shoulder and left.
Dax stood staring after his mother. After a few seconds, he turned his attention back toward Halen. “You may have fooled my mother, but not me. I know that bracelet is not yours. It couldn’t be. You’re too…”
“What?” Halen asked, and her fingertips twitched. “I’m too what?”
“Nothing.” He huffed out an indignant breath. “Come on, let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Halen grasped the mattress trying to calm the static energy flowing under her skin. “I want you to get your mother and tell her I want to go home. You can’t keep people like this. It’s illegal.” He choked back laughter, and the static sparked. “I want to go home!” The goblet rattled on the table and speckles of the golden dust clinging to the ceiling snowed down on them. He brushed the specks from his hair.
“Maybe I was wrong,” he said, shrugging.
“You don’t know me,” she said.
“No, you’re right. I don’t. Doesn’t matter, I still can’t take you home.”
“Why?”
He cocked his head, and a blond lock of hair fell across his eyes. “Because my mother wants you to stay.”
“Do you always do what she tells you?”
At this he laughed. “I do, actually. She might be my mother, but she’s also on the council. So, if I don’t want to end up taking water samples in polluted waters, then yes, I do whatever she asks and right now so will you.” He reached for her elbow but she shrugged him off before he could grab her. “Have it your way. You can sit here, but it will be a long time before someone comes back for you.” He rolled the flat rock between his fingers that Samira had used to unlock the invisible barrier.
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