Llyr doesn’t say anything. There are no words that can heal a wound like that. He just squeezes me tighter, rocking me gently back and forth.
“What is she like?” I can’t resist asking. I never thought I’d find her, but now that I might have, I can’t help but be curious.
“Well, Galon was right; she does look like you. I don’t know her very well, but she seems… nice.” I can tell he’s hesitant to answer. Probably because he doesn’t know what I want to hear. I don’t know, either. But I peek up at him, and he seems sincere.
“Does she have other children?” My heart stutters at the thought of her raising another child, giving it all the love and attention she didn’t give me.
“Not that I know of. She lives alone.” I sag a bit in relief, but now I’m more curious than ever. What happened to the human she loved more than her own child?
“Does she go to the land a lot?”
He squints his eyes a bit, thinking. “No, I don’t think she ever leaves the shoal.”
My curiosity bursts into flames. It must be obvious to Llyr, because he gives me a sad smile.
“Coral? We don’t have to tell her who you are, if you don’t want. I could just say you’re from the same shoal.”
Yes, that could work. I could give a different name and pretend I’m someone else. Does she even know my name? I know my grandfather chose it, but was that because she was already gone? Now that I know Grandfather wasn’t all that he seemed, I’m desperate to hear her side of the story. Maybe she’s not the person I thought she was. If nothing else, I’d like to see her, just once.
In a moment of bravery, I nod. Llyr takes advantage of my temporary courage and dives into the water with me still in his arms. He lets go once our tails emerge and takes my hand instead. I contemplate all the things I want to ask my mother as we swim back towards the center of the shoal.
Llyr leads me to a nondescript dwelling, same as the hundreds of others radiating around us. I thought it would be different, somehow. I thought I’d know it when I saw it, like we’d have a connection just because we’re blood. But nothing about this place draws me in.
I float there for a moment, second-guessing myself. But Llyr doesn’t wait for me to get over my nervousness, he just knocks on the door like he’s delivering dinner instead of a long lost family member. My entire body goes still, my heart stops beating, and my gills stop breathing when it swings open.
I stare at her profile, noting the similarities as she looks at Llyr. She has long, dark hair like me, and delicate features. High cheeks and an upturned nose over tiny, red lips. Her eyes are brown instead of blue, but the shape and size is familiar. She flicks her tail lightly and cocks her head, obviously surprised by the unexpected visit.
She glances curiously at Llyr then turns her head when she notices me floating off to the side. I know she sees the similarities, too, because her mouth and eyes pop open.
“Hello, Llyr. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” she asks him, but she doesn’t take her eyes off me. They’re boring into me with an intensity that makes my scales shrivel.
“Hello, Ms. Pearl. I’ve brought a friend for you to meet. She’s from Persephone’s Cradle, so I thought you might enjoy talking.”
Pearl keeps staring at me, her nervousness obvious in the way her body stiffens at Llyr’s words. She’s holding so still, she’d be at risk of sinking if her tail wasn’t already hovering just inches from the ground.
“Hello, my name is Coral.” I decide at the last moment that I want to give her a chance to recognize me.
She gulps and forces a smile, and I desperately wish I could read her thoughts as easily as the guys’. But mermaids are skilled at shielding their thoughts from each other, and Pearl gives away nothing.
“Hello, Coral. Nice to meet you. Would you like to come in?”
I nod, and she leads us into her dwelling. I haven’t been in too many common merfolk homes since I grew up in the palace and my best friend, Meribel, lived there, too.
The walls are plain and simple with only a few shells decorating them, unlike my room in the palace where the walls are lined with beautiful scallops. But these walls are made of perfectly-aligned bricks instead of piled stones. Do the merfolk of this shoal bring building supplies from the land?
I’m fascinated to see several human baubles sitting on a shelf — a pretty, white plate with gold trim, an aqua blue candle on a scrollwork stand, and a decorative figure made to look like coral. Why would she have that when she could easily have real coral instead?
I’m taken aback when I see a small, glass tank on a shelf like the ones in Liam’s specimen lab. A mesh screen covers the top of it, keeping the fish inside from swimming out.
“Would you like something to eat? I have plenty of angelfish and damselfish.” She slides the top off the tank just enough to stick her hand in and grab one of them.
“Thanks, that would be great.” Llyr takes the fish from her and gnaws on it happily. I accept one as well, amused by her mermaid version of a refrigerator and fascinated by this human-like custom she’s adopted.
Sea sponges are piled together to create soft lounging spots in the middle of the main room, so the three of us settle into them. I have a million questions I want to ask her, but I don’t want to make it obvious I suspect who she is. Can I make small talk with the mother who abandoned me without my emotions giving me away?
I think she feels the same way, and neither one of us knows how to start the conversation. Finally, after several moments of awkward silence, Llyr jumps in.
“So, Pearl, what made you decide to leave Persephone’s Cradle?” It sounds like an innocent enough question, but I stifle a laugh at how perfect it is.
Pearl glances between him and me, a contemplative look on her face, as she tries to decide if he’s just making polite conversation or pumping her for information. I’m not sure what conclusion she comes to, but she answers honestly, staring off into a distant time as she begins to speak.
“The oldest reason in the book — I fell in love.” She gives a heartbroken smile, and I feel a pang of empathy for her I never felt before. Maybe because now I know what it feels like to be separated from the one you love.
“My father was the king of our shoal, and I was expected to marry a merman and take over the throne. He was a stubborn man, with antiquated ideas about preserving the merfolk line. We fought about it all the time. He didn’t believe in intermingling with humans, and he wanted to put a stop to it altogether. But I was just as stubborn as him, and I envisioned a shoal like this one, where merfolk are free to live however they like.” Pearl floats from her sponge pile and drifts around the room as she talks, lost in memories.
“I knew we would never see eye to eye. Even if I took the throne when I reached mating age, he’d be there until he died, pushing me to rule the way he thought best. So I went against his wishes and mated with a human. I wanted to stay on land with my mate, and I thought my father would understand and let me go with his blessing once I had a child, but he had a different idea.”
She glances at me, pain, regret, and sorrow all reflected in her tortured expression, begging me to understand.
“He couldn’t forgive me for what I did. He believed I was rejecting him and not just his ideals. But he thought my child was a second chance for him to raise an heir who would carry them on in my stead. He took my child and asked a sea witch to cast a spell on me that banned me from the shoal. At the same time, he cursed the rest of the mermaids so they would die if they stayed on land more than five days.”
Llyr gasps at her revelation, but I stay silent as my mind churns, processing what she’s said. Her story is almost the same as the one I’ve been told, but the differences change everything. I stare at her in shock, trying to decide if it’s the truth or not, but from what I’ve learned about Grandfather, I think I believe her.
“I had no choice but to leave my child behind. I knew my father loved her in his own, twisted way, an
d I believed she would be safe there, so I returned to the land and married the human I loved, tried to live in his world.” Pearl floats to her shelf of human trinkets and runs her finger around the delicate plate, making me wonder if it was from her home on land.
“He gave me this, a reminder of home,” she says, fingering the coral statue. “He knew how much I missed the shoal. But the human world was fascinating to me, fire especially.” She touches the wick of the unlit candle, so out of place in this underwater world.
“And I was happy with him, despite the loss of my child. He promised me we’d have a dozen more, but we never got the chance to.”
I feel a flood of relief wash over me as she takes a moment to mourn for the children she wanted but never had. Is it cruel of me to be glad that she never had another chance to be a mother?
“What happened to your husband?” I ask, interrupting her reverie, because I still don’t understand why she’s here, living alone.
“He died shortly after we married. Cancer.” When she turns around, her face is twisted with painful memories, and I can’t help the wave of sympathy that washes over me. I remember the conversation I had with Gio about the diseases that take humans too soon, the panic I felt when I thought he was dying, and the relief when he told me he would be okay.
“I was alone in the human world, but I couldn’t go back to my shoal because of the curse. Eventually, I learned about this place and made myself a home. I’ve been here ever since then.” She stretches out her arms and looks around at her humble but homey dwelling.
“Why didn’t you ever marry again, have merlings with a merman?” I can’t help asking.
Her lips curl in a wry frown. “I didn’t think I deserved to. The gods were obviously punishing me for neglecting my duty and failing my child. I’d had all the happiness I deserved, and seeking more would only end in sorrow.”
I stare at her for a long moment, trying to process my emotions, the anger I felt for her all these years softening into something else. I’m not sure what I feel now, or how to respond.
She turns to me, her eyes judging my expression, trying to decide what to say next. “I’ve never told anyone that story before,” she finally says.
“Why not?” I ask, though what I really mean is why me.
“I guess I was waiting for the right person to tell it to, and I thought you might be the one.” Her eyes seek mine, searching for confirmation, and I stare back at her, opening my mind.
I let my thoughts flow freely, and the flood of information crashes over her like a rogue wave. It’s all she can do to stay upright as she takes it all in. But the tiny thread connecting us grows and thickens till it’s a strong rope, stretched taught between us, keeping both of us from being swept away. I swim close enough to touch her and lay a hand gently on one of hers. Her hand shakes as she stares up at me with a myriad of emotions floating in her murky, brown eyes.
“My grandfather named me Coral because he said it was the thing you loved the most about the sea, and he hoped that I could lure you back when everything else had failed.”
She shakes her head and flutters her eyes like she’s blinking away tears. “He didn’t want me to come back, Coral. Believe me, I would have. But he didn’t give me a choice. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. It’s my deepest regret. I can’t regret loving your father because without him I never would’ve had you, but I would have given him up to stay with you if I could’ve.”
The sincerity in her voice is obvious, and without thinking I reach out my arms. She grabs a hold of me and squeezes me like she’s afraid I’m going to turn into sea foam. We hold each other for a long moment, trying to make up for a lifetime of lost ones. Eventually, she releases her grip, new thoughts plaguing her mind.
“How are you here, Coral? I never thought he’d let you leave the shoal. Has something changed?”
I stare at the sea floor as I speak my peace, too overwhelmed by emotion to look her in the eye. “I always thought you loved the human world more than you loved me, and I never understood why. Don’t most parents love their children more than anything? I spent my whole life wishing I could visit the land, hoping maybe once I did I’d understand, but Grandfather forbade me from ever leaving. I was betrothed to a high-ranking merman I didn’t love and set to take the throne, but I ran away instead, desperate to choose my own destiny.”
She bites her lip and nods her head, her own emotions swelling inside her. My story is practically identical to her own.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I knew I only had five days because of the curse, but I met… someone, and everything changed.” I can’t help the smile that curls my lips, lighting up my face, and she nods knowingly.
“You fell in love with a human.”
I peek up at her, wondering what she’ll think if I tell her, but all I see is understanding. “I fell in love with four of them.”
She and Llyr both gasp, and I feel my cheeks redden. “They were divers, shipwrecked on a deserted island, and we were trapped there. I didn’t know that it’s not normal for humans to mate with more than one person, but they thought we’d never get off that island, and I was the only female. They all had feelings for me and agreed to share.”
Llyr and my mother gape at me, but their faces don’t look judgmental, just flabbergasted.
“No one had ever loved me like that before, and I couldn’t choose between them.” I smile again, just thinking about them, but a sharp pain pierces my chest from missing them.
“I intended to go back. I didn’t want to die. But then, the fifth day came, and I got hurt. I was trapped in a crevasse and couldn’t escape, but when the sun came up on the sixth day… nothing happened.”
My mother’s mouth and eyes pop open like a fish looking for dinner, and she shakes her head. “Of course, it makes sense. He wouldn’t curse you. He wouldn’t take the risk of losing you.”
Her words pierce my hopes like a bubble. “I thought the whole curse was a lie, but you think I’m the only one exempt?”
Llyr shakes his head, speaking up for the first time since asking the question that started all of this. “No, I think you’re right, Coral. Pearl, when you first mentioned the curse, I had my doubts, because sea witches don’t typically have that kind of power. But what they can do is mesmerize merfolk. I think King Aegeus cursed the mermaids of your shoal so they would believe they’d die, but it was all just deception. You said that mermen don’t leave your shoal, either. Why is that?”
“It’s been against shoal law for mermen to leave for many generations,” my mother explains.
I shake my head. “All my life, I thought mermen couldn’t shift. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Llyr do it.”
Llyr nods like my words have confirmed his suspicions. “It must be part of the curse. None of the mermen in your shoal have any memories of going on land since it’s been outlawed for years, so it would’ve been easy for a sea witch to convince them they aren’t capable of shifting. King Aegeus has done everything in his power to keep the merfolk trapped in his shoal.”
Suddenly, realization dawns on me like the sun emerging from the water, and my entire destiny coalesces into this one moment in time. I know what I have to do now, the thing I was destined for. I wasn’t born just to rule the merfolk, I was born to deliver them.
I pull away from them and stretch out my tail, lifting my head and filling my chest with water, strengthening my resolve. “I have to go there; I have to tell them. He can’t do this to them. He may be king, but he’s not Poseidon. It’s not right for him to deceive everyone.”
“Coral, you can’t! They won’t believe you if their minds are clouded by a curse, and your grandfather will never let you get away with it. Who knows what he might do to you?”
I shake my head, unwilling to let her deter me. “Don’t you see? This is my purpose. Grandfather has done everything in his power to imprison the merfolk. He tried to force you to follow his lead, but you rebelled and had me. T
hen he cursed the shoal and used me as his pawn, but I rebelled, too. All along, I thought it was my destiny to rule the merfolk, but I was wrong. My destiny is to free them!”
Chapter 4
Liam
What kind of alternate reality am I living in? In the last six months, I’ve been shipwrecked, discovered a mermaid, shared a woman with three other guys, and now I’m about to hide a dead body in the ocean.
I’m a marine biologist, not the star of a Quentin Tarantino film.
I’d like to blame Gio for all of this. If it wasn’t for him, I’d never have gotten on his boat in the first place, and none of the rest of that would’ve happened. But the truth is, I made those choices of my own volition. I seriously suspect I’m losing my ability to think rationally. I can’t admit that to the guys, though, because all of them are looking to me to tell them how to handle this. And despite the string of bizarre choices I’ve made lately, I still think I’m the most capable of being logical right now.
Avery is lying on the ground, moaning, wounded from Gio’s stray bullet. Gio is pacing erratically back and forth, on the verge of a mental breakdown because he just killed two men — three if you count the man on the deck who might still be breathing but is most certainly brain dead. And Jude is just too freaked out to think straight. It’s up to me to be the voice of reason.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we have to dump these bodies and get out of here,” I say, palpating the flesh around Avery’s entry wound.
“Are you crazy? We have to call the Coast Guard and get help for Avery.” Jude rakes his fingers through his wild curls, his eyes wide with fright as he stares at the blood oozing from Avery’s shoulder.
I wince and pull my shirt off, pressing it against the wound. “We can’t, Jude. If we call the Coast Guard, there will be an investigation.”
“So? It was self-defense! These mo-fos invaded our ship and started shooting.”
“You and I might see it that way, but that doesn’t mean the authorities will. Even if we’re eventually deemed innocent, they’ll drag us through the mud first, trying to prove otherwise, and it will mar our reputations forever. Gio can’t afford to deal with that if he ever wants to get custody of his sister.” I don’t bother mentioning that my parents would be livid if I brought that kind of controversy to our family.
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