by Erin Johnson
The boat skimmed along, bringing us closer and closer to the mermaid city… and the old ruler who might be a murderer.
Hank rubbed his wrist. "I think you're right, Imogen, but we have to be careful about this. She's royalty—we can't just accuse her outright. If we're wrong, that could destroy relations between the mermaid and the Water kingdoms."
"That's why I'm thinking… we set a trap." I did jazz hands as I waited for everyone's enthusiastic response.
Maple groaned. "I don't know…."
Wiley leaned forward and gaped at my shaking hands.
"Oh come on. Look, Hank can get access to the old queen and leave some note lying around. It'll have the coordinates for a meet between me, getting lizard mucus on behalf of the bakers, and Wiley and Yann, who we'll disguise as pirates. We'll pretend we're going to put the mucus in the wedding cake, per Chuck's request for a real good time. And Delphine won't be able to handle it—as soon as the pirates leave, she'll attack me, revealing herself. Eh?" I grinned.
"But then you'll just be dead." Maple pouted at me. “If she doesn’t just arrest us all.”
"No." I waved a hand. "You'll all be hiding and watching, ready to swoop in and save me. Plus, Delphine wants to keep it quiet. Having us arrested would reveal the scandal to everyone.
Sam frowned. "Sssoundsss risssky."
Hank nodded. "I don't want you putting yourself in danger."
I grinned and waved it off. "I won't be in danger, not with everyone watching and ready to help. Besides, does anyone have a better idea?"
Iggy coughed. "How about just a good idea?"
"Hey." I looked around, but no one said anything.
"What about just going to the police?" Maple lifted a brow as Wiley leaned his head on her shoulder.
Iggy scoffed.
"Bon hasn't been back since the murder, and he made it clear he didn't want to tangle with Delphine. I think we're on our own."
Hank sighed. "And we need to keep the smuggling a secret. If Bon knows, he'll tell my father… and lately, I'm not sure my father's being totally forthcoming."
I placed a hand on Hank's back.
"Besides, I'm on thin ice with him because all the gates are requiring so much manpower. I doubt I could convince him to spend more resources on nailing down Horace and the BA right now."
I lifted a brow. "You got in trouble with your dad to keep me safe?"
He chuckled. "I'd do a lot more than that to protect you." He cleared his throat when he noticed the others watching. "Besides, it protects the whole city. It's just not publicly popular because people see it as a hassle, and my father insisted that we can't just come out and say that it's because Horace could look like anyone—he says people would panic. I say they deserve the truth, but…." He sighed.
I lifted a brow. “What’d you tell the mermaids?”
Hank shifted on the wooden plank we sat on. “We had to tell Delphine and Glaucus the truth to get them to agree to implement them. They vowed to keep the secret from their own people—for the same reason.” He shrugged. "Anyway, I think your plan, Imogen, is our best bet. And if it isn't Delphine, or she doesn't fall for it—well, at least we won't have openly accused her."
Maple tapped a finger to her lips. “What about Glaucus? It could be him.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Delphine might order him to do her dirty business –again, you’ll all be there to back me up if that’s the case. But I don’t think he’d do it on his own. He might not like how Bubbles is handling things, but he doesn’t seem too happy with Delphine, either. I doubt he’d kill to help either of them, unless he was forced to.”
Maple sighed. “I think you’re right.”
I clapped my hands. "All settled then." I placed my hand in the middle. "All right, team, let's try this again."
Everyone groaned, except Wiley, who'd passed out drooling on Maple's shoulder, and Sam, who placed the back of his hand against mine. I grinned at him. "Thanks, buddy."
22
The Trap
I licked my lips and looked around.
The meeting spot we'd chosen lay within the protective bubble—a stipulation of Hank's, which I totally agreed with—like we needed Horace interfering. A shadow streaked across the sandy ocean floor, and I startled. High above me a ray glided past. I pressed a hand to my racing heart and took a shaky breath. A stream of bubbles poured out my mouth and floated up.
I leaned against a crooked stone wall. A window and a few holes let weak sunbeams through, casting the shadows of the jagged window lattice on the ground before me. A silvery school of fish darted past, flying this way, then that. All of my friends lay in wait nearby, their eyes on me, ready to help if I needed it. Still, I felt alone and isolated. I rubbed my arms, trying to smooth down the raised hairs.
A sound startled me and I pushed away from the wall, kicking my way forward.
"Hello?"
I recognized Wiley's voice. The trap was on.
I cleared my throat. "The raven caws at midnight."
"And da seahorsey neighs een da night." Yann spoke the agreed upon password.
I kicked forward and the two men swam out from behind a large boulder. Yann sported an open vest and eye patch, while Wiley had a cutlass, bandanna, eye patch, hook for a hand, and—were those nipple rings? He'd really, uh, committed to the character. Maybe that special brandy from last night was still impairing his judgment.
"Hey there… pirates."
They nodded at me. Yann glanced directly at the spots where everyone lay hiding. I cleared my throat loudly and he jumped, then focused on me. He handed me a bottle we'd made up to look like the special brandy. I took it and spoke loudly.
"Thank you, pirates, for smuggling in this delicious illegal substance."
Wiley gave me a look. Maybe I was laying it on too thick.
He growled. "Keep it secret and put it in the wedding cake, just like our captain asked ye to, ya kitchen wench."
I rolled my eyes. "Aye aye, mate. We will definitely spike the wedding cake."
With any luck, the queen had found the note Hank had planted and was somewhere out there, watching. Wiley nodded. "Well, wench, pleasure doing business with ya. Can't wait to get all jellied up at the wedding this afternoon."
I lifted the brandy high. "Me neither. Thanks again, pirates."
Yann saluted me and they swam off. I thought we really pulled that off. I kicked in place for a moment, waiting for the old queen to come lurching out of the shadows and attack me. I turned right, then left. No old queens coming from behind that boulder, or the crumbling stone wall, or even the patch of kelp. I sighed. And waited… and waited.
Hank darted from around the corner, shirtless in merman mode. My heart skipped a beat and I grinned. Then frowned—he shouldn't be coming out yet, before we caught the queen. I waved at him. "Wait! You're going to ruin it."
He winced. "I'm sorry. It didn't work."
I sighed, then spun in a slow circle and called out, "It's over, everyone—you can come out."
Maple, K'ree, Sam, and Annie popped their heads out from behind various rocks, and Yann and Wiley swam back, still in their pirate gear.
Maple, holding Iggy in his bubble, swam up beside me. "What's wrong?"
"Yes, what in the world could have gone wrong with such convincing acting?" Iggy added.
"Hey, I think we did a great job." Wiley grinned.
Iggy rolled his eyes. "You would."
Hank shook his head. "I'm sorry—it wasn't you. I met the queen for tea and let the note slip. As I was leaving, Glaucus came in with some servants, who picked it up and tossed it in with our dirty dishes." He sighed. "The queen never saw the note. I tried to get here sooner to tell you, but got caught up with meetings."
"Oh." I bit my lip and tried not to seem disappointed. I knew Hank felt bad. "It probably wouldn't have worked anyway."
Iggy mock gasped. "This foolproof plan?"
I scratched my cheek. "Yeah… it was dumb to begin with. Sorry."<
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"Don't be sorry—I got to dress up like a pirate. It was awesome." Wiley played with his nipple rings.
Annie nodded. "I haven't had this much excitement in ages."
I grinned as Maple threw an arm around my shoulders. "Thanks, guys."
Maple straightened. "I think catching a killer will have to wait. We do have a wedding cake to bake, after all, and the wedding's this afternoon."
As we moved off to the shipwreck kitchen, Hank lightly took my hand. The others swam on, but I stayed with him a moment longer.
I looked into his earnest eyes. "I'd like to talk with you this evening at the wedding, if that's all right?"
I smiled and nodded. "I'd like to talk to you, too."
He gave my hand another squeeze, then nodded to the others. "You'd better hurry."
I swam away to rejoin my friends. I did want to talk to him, but still felt conflicted about what I'd say. I knew I wanted to be with him, but could I, without pulling too much from him? And if so, could I handle him marrying Shaday, even for political reasons?
23
The Showdown
“Ah!”
An old merman with a skinny chest and wispy white hair appeared in the doorway.
"Glaucus?" I recoiled, hugging Iggy to me.
"Glaucus?" He mimicked, making a face. He huffed and shook his head. "Your generation—so obvious, so unsubtle." He gave a lazy kick and hovered in the doorway as the octopus darted past behind him. I caught a streak of blond hair, and my stomach lurched.
"Are you behind this?"
He rolled his eyes. "Give me the rest of the brandy, and I'll call the octopus off."
I frowned. "The brandy? We don't have any."
He growled. "Don't play with me, girl."
"We don't!"
"I saw your note!" He waved the note Hank had dropped. "I know you put it in the wedding cake—which is now destroyed, thank the sea goddess. Do you realize what that would've done? The whole wedding party, foreign heads of state, noble mermen and women would have been drugged, and our court's greatest shame exposed."
He shook his head. "Back in my day, scandals were kept quiet and dignified. Not paraded around and flaunted." He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat.
"It was a ruse—there wasn't any brandy in the cake. We were trying to lure Bubbles's killer, Delphine, to—oh." I stopped. "You killed her, didn't you?" I hugged Iggy tighter, his warmth bringing me some comfort.
Glaucus paled for a moment, but he ignored my question. "You're lying." He lifted his hands. "I summon the brandy!" Nothing happened, and he lowered his hands. "I guess you were telling the truth." He growled. "You're ruining everything. With no brandy, I can't make you overdose."
My brows jumped.
"But I can still plant this note and my ring on you." He snapped his fingers, and the items flew at me—the note tucking inside my top and the ring around my finger. He spoke, more to himself than to me. "It should be enough to tie you to Bubbles's death and the brandy trade. It'll seem like it was just the bakers buying from Bubbles, who bought from the pirates—leaving her out of it." He lifted his hands. "Rise."
The trickle of water that poured through a leak in the ceiling turned into a waterfall. The magical seals on the portholes broke, and water gushed in, gathering in a freezing pool around my feet. I scrambled backward and climbed onto a table.
"Sorry, but I can't have anyone telling all my secrets." He snapped his fingers, and Iggy's protective bubble popped.
"Help!" he yelped.
"No!" I scrambled to catch his lantern before it dropped into the quickly rising water. I caught him and hugged him to me. I had a brief moment of relief when I remembered Iggy, at least, would be all right, as long as that bit of him we'd left burning in the royal kitchens remained. "Why are you doing this?" Maybe if I kept him talking, the Iggy on land would have enough time to send help.
He scoffed. "It's not like I take pleasure in killing you and all your friends. I didn't want to kill Bubbles, either, but it had to be done." He sighed. "I wish it didn't, but I had to keep her safe."
"Keep who safe?" Icy sea water lapped at the edge of the table, and I moved into a crouch.
The octopus zoomed past outside, my friends still wrapped in its clutches.
Glaucus gave a weary sigh. "There are some things you don't understand when you're young. You think life is all about ambition. You take people for granted, you take love for granted. And in the end, it's all that matters. I have gotten to the end of my long life and realized, I have nothing. And then she came into my life, and I had something—even from far away, I had something." His brows pulled together and his eyes blazed. "And I'll stop at nothing to make sure she has a better life than I did."
I gulped as the water washed over the top of my foot, the cold of it seeping into my bones and cramping the bottoms of my feet. "Who?" I ground out.
I held Iggy aloft, and he cast me a worried look. "Imogen… the water."
"You'll be okay," I whispered. "There's the you on land."
The little flame's eyes grew round. "But you won’t be."
I tried for a small smile, but it came out as a whimper.
Iggy flared blindingly bright. "Listen up, you old angler fish!"
Glaucus narrowed his eyes.
"These are my friends, and you won't get away with this. A part of me is burning above the surface, and the Water Kingdom's already sending help. I'll tell everyone what you've done!"
The old merman sucked in a rasping breath, a trail of bubbles seeping out his nose. Then a sneer spread across his face. Cold seeped into my bones as he cackled—and it wasn't just the freezing ocean water lapping at my knees.
"What?" I gasped.
He shook his head, still smirking. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough."
I looked at Iggy's worried face. "What does he mean?"
Iggy shook side to side. "I don't know. Maybe he's just crazy?"
I nodded. "Oh, he's definitely off his rocker, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a plan."
Glaucus grinned, and I gasped as the water rose to my waist. My arm ached from holding Iggy's big lantern aloft, and I passed him to the other hand. "I might as well tell you." Glaucus folded his arms across his sunken chest. "The octopus will squeeze the life out of your friends, and you'll drown in the ship. Prince Harry provided us the magical technology to turn off a swallow’s ability to access their powers, and I knew, when I saw you two enter the city, that you were both swallows. I borrowed a gate, shrunk it to get it here, and then enlarged it to encompass the whole shipwreck, trapping you. You can't turn into a mermaid and breathe underwater, because you can't draw on any magic from outside the gate." He sneered. "Smart, eh?"
My chest heaved as I breathed in frantic gasps. What a horrible man. Our plan to keep Horace out was backfiring. My teeth chattered as the water rose to my chest. Iggy guttered in frantic bursts of fire and sparks, turning from me to Glaucus and back again.
"It'll just be assumed that as a new witch, you panicked and were unable to escape when the octopus destroyed the protective spell around the ship, drowning you and your flame inside."
"W-why bother? Iggy's fl-flame on l-land w-w-will ex-expose y-you."
He smiled darkly. "No, it won't. The gate blocks access to all outside magic, like cutting a cord. Iggy has no ties to his other self. That self hasn't sent for help and won't ever know what happened to you both."
Iggy crackled and popped, his whole flame trembling. "It's true, Imogen. I can't sense my other self like I usually can."
"W-w-why me?" I shivered all over, my feet numb.
"Because you were the point of contact for the brandy deal. I needed to make sure none of it would be found. I will bury this drug scandal deep. The cake’s destroyed, and with any luck, this tragedy will put the wedding on hold and we'll be able to cut ties with the pirates and their smuggling for good."
"Th-th-the scandal? Is-th-this ab-bout protecting W-Winnie?"
Iggy gasped. "Imogen."
I held Iggy up with both hands and managed to hook the lantern to a hook on the rafters above. I clung to a remnant of net hanging from the ceiling and managed to pull my chin above the water.
Glaucus spat. "Winnie? That blowhole excuse for a queen? She's as bad as her grandmother, just worse at hiding it. I wouldn't give my shedded scales to help Winnie." He spat her name out.
I lifted my chin as the water lapped at my throat.
"Imogen," Iggy whispered.
I lifted my brows.
"He said you can't pull magic from outside—but what about from inside? The gates are usually so small that there's nothing else you could use, but now it's as big as the ship."
I nodded. "G-good id-dea." I closed my eyes and did my best to drown out the pouring water and the panic. Dead, rotting wood surrounded me, old chests and rusty chandeliers. I opened my eyes and shook my head. "There's n-n-nothing."
Iggy's eyes grew wide as the water inched up to my chin. "Me! You can use me!"
I shook my head. "N-no w-way." My teeth chattered.
Iggy blazed brighter. "You have to! There's the me on land, remember? Even if you pull so much you put me out, I'll be okay. Imogen, please!"
I gulped. I still didn't like it, but he was right. "I don't kn-know th-that many-y spells."
Iggy's eyes darted between me and Glaucus. "Think—what do you know? List them out."
My whole body shuddered and Glaucus narrowed his eyes. "What are you two talking about?"
"I-I worked on r-revealing hidden th-things w-with H-Horace."
Iggy blinked. "Not helpful. What else?"
My chest felt like an ice cube. I struggled to breathe and make my cloudy mind work. "Um. Um, I can turn into a mermaid."
Iggy blazed brighter. "Do it!"
I shook my head. "B-but, I don't know how to make th-the b-bubble f-for y-you."
Iggy narrowed his eyes. "You dumb clam, turn into a mermaid this instant and swim out of here. I'll be fine!"
I trembled. Even though I knew there was an Iggy on land, this Iggy, my Iggy, would be gone, and he'd have to experience being extinguished at the hands of a psychotic old merman. There had to be another way. I gulped. The only other spell I'd worked on was lifting and transporting things with Hank. I hadn't mastered it, but… I closed my eyes.