I blink, my eyes stinging. None of this feels right to me. I’m not sure what is going on between Stacia and my brother, but it seems like they are getting awfully familiar with one another. I shouldn’t be surprised. Upon my rejection of her, my brother was bound to step into my place. The joining of our families for the sake of status and power has always been a major component in the pushing of Stacia and I together. But why would they hide where Gabriel is? I glance about their reef. Unless there is a hidden cave somewhere in their territory, I cannot see Gabriel anywhere. I call out, “Gabriel!”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Stacia yells back at me.
The Mer in the surrounding reefs all shoot glances our direction, some of them begin murmuring, but I don’t care. “Gabriel!”
“You are making a fool of yourself,” my brother admonishes me, gripping my bicep with his claws. This time, I’m certain he’s drawing blood.
Fool? I still don’t care. “Gabriel! Are you here?”
“Shhh!” Stacia steps in front of me and then hisses through her teeth, “He is not here. Stop making a scene.”
“Where is he then?” I shove my brother off me, but his claws rake gouges into my skin. He releases me with a chuckle, shaking the blood from his claws in the current. My arm stings and the scent of blood fills my nostrils.
Stacia rolls her eyes again, releasing an indignant sigh. “He’s with my mother. Satisfied?”
Hadn’t Gabriel said he didn’t know where his mother was? Did this mean they’d sent him to another clan? Did they not care what happened to him? Nothing Stacia says seems right. But what am I supposed to do? My arm aches from the wounds my brother inflicted, and I cover them with my hand. “Where is your mother?”
“I don’t have to tell you that. I’ve already told you more than I should have. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
I blink at her. “Why all the secrecy?”
“That’s quite enough,” Brandeeb says, his voice growing into a deep, menacing growl. He grabs hold of both my shoulders and turns me about. “She’s been more than patient with you. Now it’s time for you to go.”
He pushes me away from the reef and then slaps me in the back with his tailfin. My back stings from the strike, and I’m pushed through the waters for several feet. When I come to a stop, I turn around. What’s the use? Was this a fight worth having? I shake my head. I’m being stupid and overly emotional. I head toward the cove to see if the healer has more salve for my wounds.
Chapter 11
One month later...
At zenith, I cut through the current and head out toward the reef where I’d helped Verona. In the past few weeks, she hasn’t been there, but I check each day anyway, to make sure no one is hunting for her there, that she’s left no clues to her present whereabouts, and the clamshell of salve remains hidden and at the same level as before. I’m relieved when I find things in the same order as I’d last left them.
I pull up from placing the clamshell under the reef and release a deep breath of sea water, letting the light of the sun dance upon my face a bit with my eyes closed. I swim upward, toward the surface a bit, when I hear a chuckle behind me. My eyes snap open and I spin in the direction of the sound.
“How boring, little brother. You come all this way each day just to spend time on a foreign reef and play in the dancing sunlight?” Brandeeb isn’t alone. He has a friend with him, Kellum, his usual lackey. Kellum’s eyes are small and set close together, his teeth have been filed to sharp points by chewing on coral.
Nasty habit, but a popular one among the Mer our ages.
I glare at them both and slump a bit to the side, hoping to give them what they asked for, a bored expression. “You know what’s even more boring? You two having nothing better to do than to follow me.”
Inwardly, my heart is racing. They followed me to the reef. Now they know where it is. If the younglings had told someone from our clan about finding the Mer on her reckoning here, and these two had heard about it, they might suspect the real reason for my visit. I swallow the lump forming in my throat while I continue to harvest the anger within me so that I do not show any fear.
Kellum’s laugh is like that of a hyena. I’d hate to spend much time in that laughter each day. Brandeeb chuckles as well. “Touché, little brother. But still I wonder, what the draw is to come here so much. It makes me wonder if we’re just coming on a bad day. Maybe if we come again another time, we’ll see something different... maybe something less boring? Hmmm?”
I catch my jaw tensing and do my best to relax it. Better to show boredom and tedium than to let them see they are getting to me. If they realize that much, they’ll also realize I’m hiding something.
“Who’s to say that I come to this reef every day? I go lots of places. Mer tend to do that, you know? We explore the sunken Spanish galleon nearby, keep an eye out for schools of tuna, divers. The usual.” Am I making as much sense as I hope to? My only defense right now is to appeal to my brother’s reason. If I can make up a reasonable excuse for being here, perhaps he’ll buy it.
Brandeeb narrows his gaze at me. I think I’ve taken my sarcasm just a little bit too far. He lunges forward and grabs me by the shoulder, whipping me into a headlock. His pheromones reek, and there are other pheromones as well, female ones. Stacia. My stomach lurches at the heady, intermingled scent. He rubs the top of my head with his knuckles so hard, stars spark in my vision, and pain shoots from the top of my head down the back of my neck. I bite my lip and try not to cry out, as it only encourages him. The pain intensifies, but he finally lets me go with a frustrated growl.
“Behave, little brother. Know that others are watching, and not just me.” He nods toward Kellum, and the two of the head back toward the township.
I rub the top of my head, trying to spread the stinging sensation out of it. My eyes remain trained on the direction they’ve gone. It’s not safe for me to continue toward the barrier island and check on Verona. I would only lead them to her, as I did the reef. Even though they appear to be gone, they might have stayed nearby to see what I would do. If I leave this reef too quickly, it would also give them the hint that I had been doing something I shouldn’t have.
My afternoon decided, I sink toward the ocean floor and lie in the sand, facing the surface and the sun. The light is too bright and forces me to close my eyes. Still the red of the sun pierces through my eyelids. I rest an arm over my eyes, coming down off my adrenaline high. I settle into myself now that I’m no longer faking the emotion, or lack thereof, for my brother’s sake. The scars on my arm from my last encounter with him and Stacia are rough over my sensitive skin. My head still aches, partly from my brother’s knuckles, but also from the intimate scent I’d caught on him. He and Stacia were already at that level in their relationship? My stomach lurches again. It’s not that I didn’t ever care for her, but I’d always known our relationship didn’t make me happy. It was still three years before she was permitted to join in a life-mate ceremony. They should be waiting to be joined together in monogamy before being joined physically.
I’m settling in to the sand deeper and trying not to think about it anymore. After several minutes, my breathing becomes more even, and I slip off to sleep in the sun.
THE NEXT DAY, I WATCH my brother and his friend until they leave to go somewhere of their own accord. Relieved that they had no intention of following me, I cut through to the reef once more, as I do most days. I decide that I’ll hang out there for a while just to make absolutely sure I’m not followed before I move on and go to Verona. Maybe today, I’ll approach her and at least give her a warning instead of watching her from afar.
Clouds cover the sun overhead, so it’s hard to tell how much past the zenith it is when I approach the reef. Then I hear a deep male voice on the other side. Brandeeb. “Well, what do we have here?”
My heart stutters in my chest. He was waiting here for me? I had been a fool to think I’d outsmarted him. I frown, trying to contr
ol my facial expression again, and take a deep breath, ready to swim over the reef and answer him when he continues. “What are you doing here, bottom feeder? Do you not know your place? Your skin shows no evidence of dwelling on land.”
Verona. I sink to the sand, my heart racing a million knots an hour. How? Why was she here? No.
I hear her cry out in pain, and I leap up again, ready to barrel over the top of the reef but decide it’s foolish to rush into a situation blindly. I start to creep around the side of the reef, so I can see what’s going on.
“Your pathetic excuse for webbing still unites your fingers. So why, oh bottom feeder, have you returned so near to Bermuda?” My brother holds her hand up before his face, while she struggles to pull it away. She winces in pain and stops resisting, her gaze dropping to the seafloor. Her shoulders drop in defeat. “I... I... it was an accident.”
A deep bellowing laugh bursts from Brandeeb’s throat, his eyes flashing with malice. Another Mer stands behind my brother, and though I cannot see his face, I can tell by the way his dark hair dances in the current that it’s Kellum. Kellum shakes his head and places his hands on his hips, his hyena-laugh breaking free. “An accident? Your birth was an accident. How could this be an accident?”
Suddenly, Verona struggles harder against my brother’s grip. My fists tighten in response, and I taste blood in my mouth from where I’ve bitten down on my lip too hard. But instead of breaking free, she only manages to get her other arm caught by my brother. Verona squeals and struggles even harder. Then she stills, her face contorted in pain, and her brows pinched in apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
My brother’s laughter follows, and his eyelids half closed while he pushes her arms apart and looks her up and down. His sneer pulls up at the corner of his lips. “What are we to do with you, bottom feeder?”
My brother’s inappropriate thoughts and actions are made clear. And I cannot wait any longer. I growl and rush Brandeeb, slamming him in the side and forcing him to release his grip on Verona. I caught my brother by surprise, and then release all of my anger at once. I began pummeling him for all of the pain that he has caused me—a punch for every time he insulted me. I gouge him for every scratch he has ever given me. And I add a bruise for every time he’s given me one. Then, I began to feel punches landed on my own body. Kellum has joined the fray. His claw breaks my cheek and fresh blood fills my nostrils.
Finally, I momentarily make eye contact with Verona, and shout, “Go!”
She hesitates, staring into my eyes for several seconds. Why isn’t she moving? Why does she always have to think about it before she does what I say? Then a punch lands in my eye, and I can no longer see her. I yelp in pain. My brother begins his assault. I am used to him inflicting pain upon me, but I still find myself pulling into a ball and taking the beating. They pummel me with fists and tail fins. They rake their claws over my skin till I feel that I am flayed. The torment goes on so long, I start to feel numb. Then, finally they slow. I tired them out.
I see Brandeeb over top of me, panting. Kellum does the same. My eyes dart in the direction of the reef, and I feel relief, because Verona is gone. “What was that all about, little brother? Are you sweet on the bottom feeder?”
Blood fills both my eyes and my mouth, and I only see through a red haze. I keep my lips sealed, because his question isn’t even deserving of an answer. My brother slaps me one last time with his tail fin, and spits at me, “You better not come home tonight.”
I continue to lay in the sand for several minutes until I no longer feel the presence of anyone or any live thing but the reef. Eventually, the sun returns, and I’m reminded of the way that I was laying in it, painlessly, yesterday. It almost makes me laugh. I cannot move, for the pain and the numbness that surrounds my body almost feels as though I’m in a cocoon. Blood mixes in the water around me, and I know that I need to leave before the sharks come. Slowly, I lift myself from the sand and begin to swim to the northeast.
The blood in my eyes blocks my vision, so I swipe it away every few minutes to make my vision clear. With the clouds overhead, it’s harder to tell which direction I’m going, because my personal compass is off. If I could find the sun, I would know better. If the magnetic energy of the earth filled my soul the way that it normally did, I would know as well. But today I am following my memory blindly. Somehow it serves me well, and I find the grotto. With relief, I close my eyes and slip through the narrow tunnel to the bioluminescence of the cave within. I hurt all over, and moving here hasn’t helped at all. But I know that I need shelter, and sharks are highly unlikely to enter. I sink into the black sand and close my eyes. Nothing heals better than rest. I slip into an agitated, superficial sleep.
“Bailey?” I hear Verona’s voice just before I succumb to slumber.
“Verona?” My voice cracks and barely comes out a whisper. There’s no way that she can hear me. She seemed scared last time I brought her to the cave. Would she be scared again?
“Bailey?” Her voice echoes across the cave.
This time, I don’t even bother answering. Instead, I attempt to turn around and face the mouth of the cave. But I fail, and sharp pain rips through my abdomen. I clench my stomach and moan in agony.
She calls my name once more, but this time I do nothing. After several moments, I can hear her muttering to herself in the tunnel. “Fear is a natural response. It was created to keep you safe. It’s healthy and there for a reason. Unnatural fear will keep you from doing that which you have to do. To defeat it, you have to battle wills with your fear. Any battle requires you to become angry with your opponent. And the fear of losing has to be greater than the fear itself.”
A smile tugs at my lips, but my cheek hurts from where I’d been scratched earlier, and I moan again, my eyes closing. Finally, I hear her voice right next to me. “Bailey?”
Both my name, and the moan from my lips, echo through the cave. Her soft voice calls my name again, making my heart flutter. “Bailey, are you okay?”
Past the blood, I can smell her pheromones. And for a moment, I just rest in her scent. Then, I open my eyes and glare at her. “Must you be so loud all the time?”
She rocks back and lands in the sand on her tailfin. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re hurt, and I came to see how I can help.”
I roll my eyes, making light of the situation as much as I can. “This isn’t much. If I rest for a day or two, I should be fine. But it’s hard to rest with you flitting about this cave screeching.”
She looks over the scratches on my face and the gouges in my side, and then lifts the clamshell before me. “I brought the salve for your wounds.”
I hate that she is seeing me like this. What choice do I have? I work to sit myself up. With each new move, pain seizes me. I try to school my response, but I wince each time. Once I finally gain a seated position, my breaths are quick and shallow. I’m exhausted. I lean on one arm, close my eyes, take two deep breaths, and then reach out with my free hand. “Give me the salve.”
Eying me, she places the clamshell in my hand.
I concentrate on the shell, attempting to flick it open with my thumb, but I can’t make purchase. In my frustration, I push off with the hand I’ve been leaning on so I can free the lid on the clamshell, but pain forces a cry from my lips. I drop the clamshell to catch myself from falling face-first in the black sand.
Pain seizes my body. Stars shoot through my tunnel vision.
She reaches forward and pulls the clamshell closer to her and then twists it a bit to open it. Slowly, the pain is subsiding into numbness, and I watch her deft movements. She dips a finger into the cooling salve, and scoots closer to me. She meets eyes with me. “Lift your arm, and I’ll get the wound on your side.”
I blink at her, still breathing heavily from the exertion of my fall, then I avert my eyes and lift my arm. She spreads the cooling salve on my skin, her gentle hands probing the wound, covering it in a generous layer of the sticky, white paste.
Once she pulls the hand away from my side, I turn back and watch her sweep her gaze over all of my skin looking for more wounds. She brushes the bruising on my ribs with her fingers, and I suck in my breath from the sharp stabbing sensation in my side.
She frowns at me. “I think you may have a broken bone.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head. “That is not news to me.”
She nods and dips her fingers into the salve once more. I flinch and blink in surprise when she reaches for my face. But the movement causes me to moan in pain again. Anger wells up. I’m sick of crying out. “What are you doing now?”
After rolling her eyes, she sighs. Her patronizing voice comes out sweeter than it has the whole time. “You have scratches on your face. Let me apply the salve so you don’t scar.”
The thought of her touching my face makes my heart beat faster and heat rise to my face. I swallow, lean forward, and offer her my cheek while avoiding her gaze. I breathe slow, shallow breaths, her fingertips causing tingles of electricity through my skin, causing me to momentarily forget the pain.
Her blue-green eyes keep darting up to meet mine. She’s nervous, too. And somehow that makes me feel better. The electricity lets loose through my stomach, and I suddenly feel like embracing her, but when the feeling becomes the strongest, she pulls away. After clearing her throat, she says, “Finished.”
Ugh. What was I thinking? I can’t keep letting my emotions overwhelm me. I set my jaw and lower myself slowly in the sand. “Good. Why don’t you leave me, and let me sleep, then?”
She scan’s the cave, but my eyes remain fixed on her until the discomfort overwhelms me, and I close my eyes. Relief from this continuous ache cannot come soon enough. I pray for sleep to come as fast as possible.
“Why did you do it?” she asks.
I frown. “Do what?”
“Why did you help me?” her voice cracks.
I blow a breath slowly through my lips and then open my eyes, refusing to look at her, but instead look at the expanse of the cavern. I finally say, “I don’t know.”
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