Surface

by Jody Morse

  Gabby whispered in my ear, “Don’t think that Jasmine likes you now, she’s just trying to talk you up so that they might let you live . . . and her, too. Ceto was talking about killing you earlier.”

  “Just lovely,” I muttered under my breath before turning back to talk to Phorcys and Angelica, who had both disappeared from the room while I was talking to Gabby.

  “I have to go find Scarlett,” Gabby said. “I’ll be back.” She strolled into the foyer, leaving me all alone in the kitchen. I paced back and forth for a few moments before I decided that I wanted to look for my sister myself. I climbed up the stairs that led to the bedroom.

  Once I was upstairs, I heard voices coming from the room across the hall and two doors down from Scarlett’s room. Leaning my head against the door, I found that the voices were hushed, but I could hear them loud and perfectly clear.

  “I need you, Phorcys,” Angelica said softly. “I miss the time we used to spend together. And I miss your body.”

  Phorcys’ voice, which was normally booming loud, was at a hushed tone. “Why don’t you remind me of all the things we used to do together?”

  I peeked into the room through a crack in the door and, as I suspected, I saw that Phorcys was lying on the bed and Angelica was wearing nothing more than red, lacy lingerie. I quickly glanced away, partly because I didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping, but mostly because I was afraid of what I was going to see next.

  I didn’t need to see anything next, though. I heard it all loud and clear—the bed hitting against the wall and Angelica moaning loudly.

  I thought about George. I really believed that he loved Angelica, somewhere deep down, but here she was, with her former lover. It made me feel sorry for him.

  I was about to run away when someone grabbed me by the wrist. I turned to find Ceto glaring at me, her eyes a shade of algae green. “Where do you think you are going?” she hissed at me.

  “I—I don’t know,” I stammered, trying to think of something to say, but no words came out.

  “That’s what I thought. I want you to witness this, and witness it fully because it is going to affect you, too,” Ceto snapped at me before knocking loudly on the door to the room that Angelica and Phorcys were fooling around in.

  “Ceto, I can explain,” Phorcys began. “I couldn’t control myself. She just came on to me.”

  “Save it for later, Phorcys,” Ceto snapped at him. She pointed at Angelica. “You trashy little whore. I only agreed to come to your house today because I thought that we could make a bargain with you. I thought that maybe, for once in your life, you would act like a mature adult. But now, I can see that you were only planning to seduce my husband.”

  Angelica sat up on the bed, glaring at Ceto. I could tell that she wasn’t happy that she had been caught in action; there was no way for her to deny that she was guilty.

  “The bargains are over. The deals are over!” Ceto screamed, and I was pretty sure that I could see her auburn hair standing on edge, as though it were just as angry as she was. “We are going to war with you. We will make sure that none of you—not even Jasmine—lives.”

  “Ceto, I think you’re overreacting,” Phorcys said, and the look in his eyes told me that he was still under Angelica’s spell. It was selfish of me, but I hoped that the spell lasted at least a little while longer . . . just so that there was enough time for us to figure out what to do.

  “No, I am not overreacting,” Ceto shot back at him. “That woman seduced you! She was planning to use her body to get her way.” She shook her head, her hair standing on edge again. “I won’t have it, Phorcys. I am going to call the Phorcydes to action.”

  “Now, Ceto, remember that you can’t do that on your own,” Phorcys said calmly. “Our children need to seek approval from both of us before they can do any harm to anyone. As of this moment, you do not have my approval. I think we should consider other options.”

  “Of course you do, asshole. Maybe once you’re no longer around her, your attitude will change,” Ceto snapped at him before storming down the hallway and down the flight of stairs.

  I watched as Phorcys sat up and pressed his lips against Angelica one last time, kissing her more lustfully and passionately than I had ever seen someone kiss a person, before he pulled his shirt back on and followed after Ceto.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Angelica said, her red-stained lips twisting into a devilish smile.

  I gaped at her. “You’re joking, right? You’re probably going to have us all killed.”

  “I doubt it,” Angelica shook her head. “Ceto has wanted to have us killed off for years, but Phorcys never allows it. He’ll start to agree with her in another five years or so, maybe. It takes him a while to get over me after he sees me. I just charm him so much.” She seemed pleased with herself.

  “I don’t know how you can feel so calm after that. It feels like a death sentence to me.” I shook my head.

  Angelica just stared at me. “I’m sorry, but don’t worry, Felicia. I have this all under control.”

  As she stood up and began pulling her clothes back on, I asked hesitantly, “Are all kisses between humans and sirens like that?”

  “Like what?” Angelica asked, glancing over her shoulder at me.

  “Like, amazing?”

  “Remember that Phorcys isn’t human, he’s a God.” Angelica smiled. “But, yes, I guess you can say that kisses between humans and sirens are very similar to what you just witnessed. Men are more attracted to us, so of course there is a better physical connection than there is with human women. It’s also partly because of our saliva.”

  “Our saliva?” I asked.

  Angelica nodded. “Our saliva tastes good to them. Once they’ve kissed us once, they can’t go without kissing us again. Well, they can, but it drives them sort of crazy.” She laughed. “We drive men crazy in so many ways, it seems, doesn’t it?”

  I nodded politely before excusing myself from the room. I had to tell Scarlett about what had happened. Maybe she would agree with me that Angelica wasn’t taking this seriously enough—or she would know from past experiences if she was telling the truth and that Phorcys was, in fact, so charmed by her that he wouldn’t let Ceto and the Phorcydes do anything to us.

  When I was almost downstairs, my cell phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. The caller ID told me that Tyler was calling.

  I quickly answered it. “Tyler? I need to know what happened last night.”

  A woman cleared her throat on the other end of the line. “This is Tyler’s mom, Molly. I just wanted to let you know that Tyler is in a coma right now. He hit his head on the rocks pretty hard, and they think there’s been some brain damage.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied quietly.

  “Felicia, I need you to tell me again what happened last night. Did you see Tyler fall? We think that’s what happened—he had a seizure, and he hit head on the rocks.”

  “No, I didn’t see anything. That’s why I needed to talk to him about what happened,” I lied. “I was just worried about him and wondering what happened to him.”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I got the sense that Molly didn’t believe me. “Well, we’re just grateful that he didn’t have the seizure while he was in the water,” she said. “He probably wouldn’t have lived through that.”

  “Do the doctors know if he’s going to be okay? Is he going to come out of his coma?” I asked. And then it dawned on me; maybe the reason I hadn’t died yet was because Tyler was still going to die. The idea made me feel sick to my stomach knowing what I was capable of, but it would make perfect sense.

  I didn’t even want to think about it in that way. It’s not like I hoped that he would die so that I could live. And, more importantly, I wasn’t the one to decide which of our lives was more important than the other. If anything, it’d probably be better if he was the one to live—that way, I wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else again.

&
nbsp; “They don’t really know at this point,” Tyler’s mom answered in a shaky voice, snapping me back to reality. “It was very unexpected. The doctors aren’t even sure how it happened.”

  I put my head in my hands, trying not to feel too guilty. I could only imagine how upsetting it would be for his mom to know that I was the one who had caused all of this.

  I told his mom that I would be hoping for the best and asked her to keep me updated about Tyler’s condition. When I hung up the phone, I found Scarlett and Gabby sitting outside on the patio, whispering to each other.

  When I went outside, closing the back door behind me, I asked, “Did you hear what happened?”

  “All we saw was Ceto storming out of the house,” Gabby replied, twisting a dark curl around her finger.

  “And Phorcys running after her,” Scarlett added. “Let me guess. Angelica had sex with Phorcys, and Ceto caught them.”

  My eyes widened. “How did you know?”

  “She’s been talking about seducing him for forever,” Scarlett replied, rolling her eyes. “I always had a feeling she’d get caught when she finally did it. Phorcys might always be attracted to Angelica, but he and Ceto are very connected to each other. They’re both people of the sea.”

  “Do you think they’ll both just let this go that easily?” I asked.

  Gabby shrugged. “Probably. Them wanting to go to war with us is all Ceto’s doing, mostly to get back at Angelica. Phorcys just goes along with whatever she wants . . . sometimes.”

  “And Phorcys has major pull over Ceto,” Scarlett added. “She might act like she’s all big and tough, but . . . let’s face it. He’s a sea God. He’s like a calming wave—he’s very convincing.”

  I hoped that Scarlett was right—otherwise, I had a feeling that this was a nightmare just waiting to happen.

  Chapter 30

  On Friday night, I went over to Angelica’s for the rehearsal dinner. The rest of the past week seemed to drag on longer than it normally did, probably because I was dreading the wedding.

  I arrived early, but Angelica was waiting for me when I arrived. She flung the front door open and, surprisingly, looked excited to see me. “Come on,” she said, pulling me through the front door. “I have something to show you.”

  We climbed up the stairs and went into a room diagonal from Scarlett’s bedroom. It was next to the room Angelica and Phorcys had been in the week before, which I assumed was Angelica’s bedroom.

  When I raised my eyebrows at her, she told me, “I’m showing you your new room. Scarlett told me tiger lily orange was always your favorite color.” Angelica glanced over at me. “If you don’t like it, though, we can always change it to a different color before you move in with us.”

  She opened the door to reveal the room, which had been painted tiger lily orange. The comforter on the bed was a bright shade of yellow with orange and pink flowers. The curtains matched. There was a white desk similar to the one in Scarlett’s room, which had a brand new orange laptop resting on it. “That is all mine?” I asked, gasping.

  Angelica nodded. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s perfect,” I murmured, glancing over at her and smiling. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before.”

  Angelica raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips. “Your grandmother never gave you your own bedroom?”

  “She did, but I painted and decorated it myself, so it’s kind of amateur,” I explained. “This looks like it was done by an interior decorator or something.” I was still in disbelief at all of the details that had gone into making my new bedroom perfect. I couldn’t believe that any of them had been working on this and keeping it a secret from me this whole time.

  “Well, the good news is, you have somewhere of your own to get dressed now. So, go get dressed,” Angelica instructed.

  “What am I changing into?” I asked. I hadn’t known that I was supposed to change into something nicer once I got here; I’d assumed it was going to be a really casual rehearsal dinner.

  “Go check your personal bathroom,” Angelica told me with a wink before leaving my room, closing the door behind her.

  In the bathroom, I found a black cocktail dress hanging from the doorknob. I quickly stripped off my clothes and slipped into it. Once it was on, I decided that Angelica had good taste. The dress was very flattering. I was beginning to feel excited about what the bridesmaid dress was going to look like.

  Once I went downstairs, I found that Scarlett and Gabby were both sporting the same black dress that I had on, but Jasmine’s was a shade of sultry red, which even I had to admit looked awesome against her skin tone.

  “Why is your dress different?” I asked, mostly because I was jealous that she had gotten the prettier color.

  Jasmine rolled her eyes at me. “I’m the maid of honor, obviously,” she scoffed, tossing the new extensions that she was wearing over her shoulder and strutting out of the room.

  “Hi, Felicia,” a male voice said from behind me, and I turned to find George standing next to me. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “It’s nice to see you, too,” I replied politely, and I could have sworn that I spotted that same lustful look in his eyes; it passed quickly—just in time for both of us to see Angelica strut into the room, wearing a floor-length, low-cut gown with a slit on one side that revealed her long, silky-smooth leg.

  “There you are, lover,” she cooed at George. “Are you excited to show me off to your friends?”

  “Of course I am,” George replied, his eyes locked on hers and a smile glued to his face. “Let’s get you acquainted. They’re by the pool.” As she took his arm, which he held out for her, she glanced over her shoulder at me, a look of hatred flashing through her eyes.

  *

  The next morning, I woke up bright and early for the wedding. Angelica had avoided me for the rest of the night at the engagement party, so I’d ended up going home early and going to bed.

  “You’re up early. Are you working today?” Gram asked when I strolled into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I turned my back so that she wouldn’t see me empty the packet of salt into my glass.

  “No,” I replied. “My friend Gabrielle’s mom is getting married today.” Technically, I wasn’t lying to her for once.

  “Well, that’s nice. Are you bringing a date?” Gram asked.

  “Actually, I am.” I grinned. “It’s Jackson—the boy who almost got fired at the same time as me.”

  Gram raised her eyebrows at me. “That’s an interesting story if I’ve ever heard one.”

  I laughed. If only she knew the rest of the story.

  Gulping down the rest of my water, I told my grandmother, “I need to leave now. I have to help out with the wedding. I’ll see you later.” I kissed my grandmother on the forehead before heading out the front door.

  Angelica’s driveway was already packed with cars when I arrived. Once I was inside, I found that everyone from wedding planners to florists to photographers were there. For such a rushed event, Angelica and George had certainly been pretty extravagant for their ceremony.

  I checked out the backyard, which was complete with a brand new gazebo that sat at the end of the aisle the bridal party would be walking up. Behind it, in the distance, was a beautiful view of the ocean.

  “Isn’t it the perfect day for a wedding?” George’s familiar voice asked from behind me.

  I turned around and smiled at him. “Yes, it is. You must be very excited.”

  “I am,” George replied. “But I’m not sure that I’m excited for what you think I’m excited about.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked, confused.

  George smiled at me. “Felicia Parks, don’t act like you’re confused. I know you want this just as much as I do.”

  “Want what?” I hoped that George wasn’t going where I thought he was going with this; he was old! But, judging by the way he kept looking at me, he probably was going where I didn’t want him to go with it.

&n
bsp; “We’re going to be cousin-in-laws, not cousins. So, nothing can stop us from being kissing cousin-in-laws. It’s perfectly okay.” George winked at me.

  I wrinkled my nose at his offer and backed away from him, quickly running into the house. I couldn’t believe that twice I had felt sorry for the man - once when Angelica had told me that she was marrying him for his money and again when she had cheated on him. And here he was, standing out there in a tuxedo, hitting on his supposed cousin-in-law-to-be on the day he was supposed to be getting married. I didn’t feel sorry for him anymore, though. He and his wife-to-be were a match made in heaven.

  “Felicia, you need to change into your dress now so we can do pre-wedding photos,” Jasmine told me. I could tell that someone had forced her to come in here to fetch me because everyone else was busy.

  “Look, Jasmine . . . I appreciate what you did the other day. You know, trying to brag me up to Phorcys and Ceto so they wouldn’t kill me,” I told her. “It means a lot to me. Thank you.”

  A hint of a small smile flashed across Jasmine’s face. “You’re welcome. Honestly, I’ve just wanted you to start thanking me for stuff. I felt like I put all our lives in danger by saving you, and I didn’t think you appreciated it at all. Maybe we can try to make the best of this all and be friends.”

  “I would like that.” I felt relieved that Jasmine and I were at least going to try to get along now, but I would find out soon that it would be the very least of the problems that lay ahead of me.

  *

  “You look beautiful,” Jackson said when he came over to me after the ceremony had ended. I was wearing the one-shoulder turquoise bridesmaid dress, which hit just below my knees. My hair was in a fancy updo with a white flower on one side.

  “Thank you,” I replied, stepping up on my tiptoes to plant a small kiss on his lips. I could tell from the way that he rocked on his feet and flashed me a cocky grin afterwards that the kiss was pure ecstasy for him, too.

  Angelica strolled over to us, flashing her new wedding band, which rested against the sparkly engagement ring. “What do you think of my rings?”