The Murdered Mermaid (A Brimstone Witch Mystery Book 6)

by April Fernsby

  He gave me a confused look. “What happened to me? Did I fall asleep?”

  “Almost.”

  Rex’s jaw was hanging open and he now had a glazed expression on his face. I swiftly used my magic on him. His mouth snapped shut and he gave me a surprised look.

  I told Rex about the spell I’d used. He said, “How long will it last?”

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t think we should hang around here for too long. Is there one siren in particular who’s in charge? I want to find out why they are here and what they’re going to do to the people.”

  Rex pointed to a lone siren who was sitting on a low wall to the right of the promenade. She had her attention on the rest of the sirens who were now singing even louder.

  Rex said, “That’s Ollyanne. She’s the one in charge. Cassia, be careful around her. I’ve never heard her sing, but I’ve been told her mournful wails can make a creature lose their minds in a second. Do you want me to come with you?”

  I didn’t want to take the chance of Rex coming to any harm so I said, “No, thank you. You stay here. We’ll be as quick as we can.”

  With Stanley in my arms, I hurried up the empty beach and over to Ollyanne.

  Ollyanne’s head turned our way as we approached and anger flashed in her eyes. Her long hair reached to her waist and it moved slowly from side to side as if it had a life of its own. She was wearing a long blue dress and was barefooted just like the rest of the sirens.

  There was spite in her voice as she spat, “Cassia Winter, what do you want? You shouldn’t be here. Clear off back to Brimstone.”

  I wasn’t going to stand for any nonsense today. I replied curtly, “It’s you and your friends who shouldn’t be here. This is my world, and these are my people. Tell me why you and the other sirens are here. What are you intending to do to these people?” I sat next to her on the wall and looked directly into her eyes. “I don’t want any lies. If I have to, I will use my magic on you.”

  Ollyanne looked me over. “You can’t use your magic here. You’ll get into trouble with Blythe if you use magic in this world. I know the rules.”

  “Blythe isn’t in Brimstone at the moment, so I’m in charge. Which means I can use all the magic I wish to here. Why are you here?”

  Ollyanne folded her arms and looked away, her hair flicked from side to side as if annoyed by my presence. “I can’t tell you. I’ve been sworn to secrecy by Nerita. We’re waiting for her further orders. She said she’d be in touch soon.”

  Stanley looked up at me and said quietly, “She doesn’t know about Nerita.”

  Ollyanne turned her face back to us. “What did your cat just say about Nerita?”

  I said in a gentler tone, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Nerita is dead.”

  Ollyanne’s hair stopped moving. She said, “Dead? She can’t be dead. We’re waiting for her orders. You’re lying.”

  “I’m not lying. I’m investigating Nerita’s death. That’s why I’m here. My investigations have led me to you and this beach.”

  The siren shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t understand. Why are you investigating her death?” She became still and comprehension dawned on her face. “She was murdered, wasn’t she? Why else would you be investigating her death? Who killed her?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to find out. I suspect her death has something to do with you and the other sirens. I need an explanation from you. It’s important.”

  Ollyanne pressed her lips together as if considering the matter.

  My patience was running out. I said, “If you are here to cause harm to these humans, then I will stop you by whatever means I can. If Nerita asked you to hurt them for some reason, I have to know what that reason is.”

  Ollyanne gave me a slow nod. “I’m going to tell you the truth now. I don’t know why we are here. Nerita brought us here and told us to get friendly with the humans so that they’d trust us. We’re not here to cause them harm, I promise.”

  I frowned. “Why do they need to trust you?”

  “Nerita said something terrible is going to happen in this area very soon; it’s something to do with the seabed moving. When that happens, we have to lead the humans to safety. They will come with us quickly if they trust us. That’s why the other sirens are singing to them now. They’re gently hypnotising them so that when the terrible event occurs, they will follow us immediately as we take them away from the danger.”

  I stiffened and remembered that Syloe had said something similar. “What do you mean about the seabed moving? What’s going to happen here? And when is it going to happen?”

  Ollyanne shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m waiting to hear from Nerita about that. That’s not going to happen now.” She turned her head and looked towards the sea. “I can feel a change in the water out there. Something isn’t right. Can you feel it too?”

  Turning my head, I studied the water and noticed how calm it looked.

  Stanley raised his paw and said, “Cassia, look at the horizon. The water looks peculiar. It looks like water boiling in a pan. Can you see it?”

  I narrowed my eyes and focused on the horizon. Stanley was right. The sea there was moving in an unusual way and I saw water shooting up in several areas like geysers.

  “You should speak to Nerita’s uncle about the seabed,” Ollyanne said. “When she first ordered us to come here, I asked her why. She said her uncle advised her to do so before the seabed moved. He’d told her that the humans here were going to be in peril when that happened and we had to protect them. She wouldn’t give me any more details.”

  “Her uncle?” I looked down at Stanley. “I knew Mortimer was keeping something from us.”

  Stanley nodded. “We’ll have to speak to him urgently.”

  I stood up with Stanley in my arms and said to Ollyanne, “You stay here with the others. As soon as you suspect danger is imminent, get these people to safety.”

  She nodded. “We will. Are you coming back?”

  “Yes. I’d like to prevent the terrible event from occurring in the first place, if I can. I can only do that once I know what’s going on.”

  I hurried down the beach and towards Rex.

  Stanley shivered. “Did you hear that? It was like the sound of thunder. But it’s coming from the sea.”

  I glanced towards the horizon again and noticed it was becoming more turbulent. I swallowed down my nervousness and broke into a run.

  Rex must have picked up on my urgency because he immediately turned into his horse form and lowered himself. I jumped onto his back, secured us in place and told Rex to take us back to Brimstone as quickly as possible.

  Before we were fully submerged in the water, I looked back at the lovely town of Knotty Cove and the wonderful people who lived there. I couldn’t let anything terrible happen to them.

  Chapter 27

  Rex sped through the water and had us back at Brimstone Beach in next to no time. Stanley and I leapt off his back and ran along the sand. I’d left my broomstick in the café and I needed it urgently.

  Jeremy was sitting on a blanket a short distance away and when he saw us, he got to his feet and waved the hair comb in the air. “Cassia, I’ve got something important to tell you about this comb.”

  I ran over to him and gasped, “There’s no time for that. Knotty Cove and its inhabitants are in danger. We found the sirens. Nerita ordered them to go there to protect the humans because something terrible is going to happen soon.” I ran out of breath and stopped speaking.

  Stanley took over the explanation. “There’s something wrong with the seabed in Knotty Cove. The sea doesn’t look right and there’s a weird noise coming from it. Nerita’s Uncle Mortimer knows what’s wrong with it, and we need to talk to him immediately.”

  I wheezed, “We need my broomstick. Just give me one more second to catch my breath.”

  Jeremy shoved the hair comb in his pocket and said, “There are other ways of travelling beside using a broomstick.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. “Can you conjure up an image of where Mortimer lives? I need you to be as clear as possible about the location.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because I’m going pick up on your thoughts and teleport us there.”

  Stanley punched his paw in the air. “Teleport us there? Wowsers!”

  I picked Stanley up, closed my eyes and thought carefully about where Mortimer’s dilapidated cottage was. Jeremy’s hands on my shoulders felt heavy and my ears suddenly popped.

  Jeremy moved his hands and said, “We’re here.”

  I opened my eyes to find we were standing outside Mortimer’s home. I mumbled, “How? What happened? How did you do that?”

  Jeremy replied, “You have to be an extremely qualified witch to do that spell correctly. I’m sure Blythe or Esther will teach you how to do it in the future.”

  Stanley chuckled to himself in my arms. “Wow. I feel like I’m in a science fiction movie.”

  We walked towards the cottage and I rapped on the rotting wooden door. There was no answer but I heard a shuffling noise inside so I opened the door and stepped in.

  I was expecting to find filth and ruin inside, but it wasn’t like that at all. Everything sparkled and shone. The furniture was new and the decorations were tasteful and expensive-looking. There was an office area to one side and Mortimer was sitting there with his back facing us. Huge headphones covered his ears as he tapped away at a computer in front of him.

  Stanley said, “Look at this place. It looks nothing like the outside. The outside is a disguise! That’s so clever.”

  I didn’t have time to be amazed by the scene in front of me. I put Stanley down, marched over to Mortimer and tapped him sharply on the shoulder. He jumped in surprise, spun around on his chair and removed the headphones. He was clean shaven and not wearing a disguise of any sort.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “How did you get in?”

  “Through the door. I want to know what’s going on at Knotty Cove. What’s wrong with the seabed?”

  Mortimer blinked in surprise. “How do you know about that? Who told you? Whatever you’ve heard, it’s all a lie. I had nothing to do with that black rock that was taken to Knotty Cove.” He abruptly stopped talking and his glance slid to one side.

  “No more lies! I know Nerita took a black rock into Knotty Cove. Where did she put it? On the seabed? Is that going to be the cause of the damage there? When will the damage occur? How bad will it be? If you tell me any more lies, I’m going to take strong action against you.”

  Mortimer rolled his chair back a fraction. “Nerita told me about the black rock she’d found in the Brimstone waters. It had come from that black cloud that had been hanging about. She knew the rock was dangerous and, in a panic, she went through the secret passageway to your world and planted the rock in the seabed there. She must have felt guilty because she confessed to me later about what she’d done.” He pointed to the computer screen in front of him. “Despite not being allowed in the sea, I’ve kept up with what’s going on there. I’ve been monitoring the flow and ebb of the sea in Brimstone in case anything untoward happens. When I heard about that black cloud appearing, I increased my surveillance.”

  I looked at the screen and couldn’t make any sense of the swirls and numbers on it. I asked, “Where did you get this computer from?”

  “Seeing as I’m mostly human now, it’s easy for me to travel into your world. I love going there and getting equipment to help me with my inventions. When Nerita told me what she’d done, I went to Knotty Cove and set up some instruments there to measure unusual activity.” He gave me a grim smile. “I soon found some. Nerita told me where she’d placed the rock and I placed underwater cameras there. Over the next few weeks, tentacles came out of the rock and reached out into the surrounding area. It was like the rock was alive. My equipment picked up on tremors and movement across that area. Those tremors have increased significantly in the last few weeks.”

  My legs felt wobbly and I lowered myself onto the table. “What’s going to happen?”

  “There’s going to be a massive underwater earthquake very soon. It’ll cause a tsunami which will destroy everything in its path. The authorities in your world don’t know this is going to happen because the black force is invisible to them. I told Nerita this and that’s why she ordered the sirens to go there. She needed time to work out how to remove the rock. She’d tried to do it herself, but the rock wouldn’t budge. I offered my assistance, but she said it was her mess and she had to sort it out.”

  “Can we move the rock? Can I use magic on it?” I asked.

  Mortimer shook his head. “It’s too late. The tsunami will happen in the next few hours.”

  I jumped up. “Why didn’t you tell me that immediately?” Rage coursed through me. “And why didn’t you tell me any of this when we spoke before? I could have done something then.”

  Mortimer had the decency to look ashamed. “I didn’t want to get involved in Nerita’s business. I have nothing to do with the merpeople anymore.”

  I swallowed down my anger and said to him, “What can we do about this now? We can’t let innocent people die.”

  Mortimer ran a hand over the back of his neck. “There’s nothing you can do about the tsunami. However, you can get the sirens out of there before it’s too late.”

  “Too late for what?”

  He pointed to the screen. “The moving seabed is causing damage to the underwater passage. The sirens won’t be able to use that soon. They’ll be stuck in Knotty Cove forever. Even if they survive the tsunami, they won’t thrive in your world. They’ll probably die.”

  “There must be something we can do.” I stared at the computer screen in horror hoping that it would give me an answer.

  Mortimer said, “You can’t save the humans, but you can save the sirens. If you go back now, you can order them to leave before the passageway is destroyed.”

  I continued to stare at the screen in hopelessness. A gentle breeze wafted against my cheek and I caught the slightest aroma of rose perfume. It was Mum’s perfume. I closed my eyes and a feeling of calm slowly descended on me. An idea came to me. I knew without a doubt that if Mum were here, she’d agree with the course of action that was forming in my mind.

  I turned to Jeremy and said, “I know what to do. I’m going to need your help.”

  Chapter 28

  Jeremy shook his head vehemently when I told him my plan. “No! Absolutely not! It’s dangerous. You’ll kill yourself. I won’t let you do it.”

  “You can’t stop me,” I told him. “I’ve seen the spell for calming the seas in one of Gran’s books. I can’t remember the words, but you must know them. Tell me what they are.”

  Jeremy folded his arms tightly over his embroidered waistcoat. “That spell is to calm turbulent seas in a storm. It’ll be no use against a tsunami. Especially not one that’s been caused by black magic!”

  “But it might help lessen the damage,” I argued. “Please, Jeremy, I have to try something.”

  His brow furrowed and he tightened his arms even more. “I won’t let you do this. Your gran wouldn’t want you to do this, and I know your mum wouldn’t have.”

  I gave him a soft smile. “That’s where you’re wrong. I can feel Mum’s presence. I can smell her perfume. Can’t you?”

  Jeremy’s nose twitched and a look of surprise came over his face. His voice was less sure now. “This is a ridiculous plan.”

  “But it’s the only plan we have. I have to try. Tell me the words to the spell.”

  Jeremy’s arms dropped and he let out a dramatic sigh. “You are so stubborn. I will tell you the words, but only when we’re at Knotty Cove. I’m coming with you.”

  “Me too!” Stanley announced. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

  I lifted Stanley up and looked at his dear little face. I had no intention of putting him in harm’s way.

  “Stanley, I love you so much. I don’t
think I tell you that enough. You are my best friend.” I smiled at him and stroked his head.

  Stanley let out a little yawn. “I know you love me. Why are you telling me this now?” He yawned again. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “As if you’ll never see me again.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you casting a spell on me? Your hand feels suspiciously warm.” He yawned again and his eyes began to close. His voice became drowsy. “Stop it, Cassia, stop making me tired. I want to come with you. I don’t want to fall asleep.”

  As soon as his eyes closed completely, I put him in Mortimer’s arms and said, “Take him to Gia at the beach café. Tell her I’ll be back for him as soon as I can.” I hesitated. “If I don’t come back, tell her to take Stanley to Gran’s house.”

  Mortimer frowned. “I haven’t had anything to do with the creatures at Brimstone Beach for years. I’m not comfortable with talking to them.”

  “I don’t care if you’re comfortable or not. You should have told me about the black rock before. Taking Stanley to the café is the least you can do for me now. While you’re there, speak to your brother and find out if he knew about Nerita taking the black rock to Knotty Cove.”

  “I’m not sure about that.” Mortimer shifted in his seat.

  I glared at him. “That was not a request. If King Taron doesn’t know about the black rock, see if anyone else knew about it. Mortimer, the damage that’s about to occur in Knotty Cove could have been prevented by you. As soon as you knew what Nerita had done, you should have informed me or another witch. We might not be facing this catastrophe now.”

  Mortimer wilted under my stare. “Okay, I’ll do those things.”

  “Good.” I gave him a tight smile. “Hopefully, I’ll see you back at Brimstone Beach soon.” I moved back to Jeremy. “Take us to Knotty Cove immediately.”

  Jeremy gripped my shoulders and green lights flashed all around me. A second later, we were standing on the sand at Knotty Cove. The sea roared in my ears and a strong wind whipped my hair across my face. The scene here had changed dramatically in the last thirty minutes.