My Life Would Suck Without You
Page 5
*****
I was locked in a cell… again.
I buried my head in my hands and let the tears come. In all of these years I hadn’t allowed myself a chance to cry. I had remained strong and kept Amara’s secret. I hadn’t shed a tear when I had been exiled to the human world. I had faked a life I had grown to love. I had pretended to be something I wasn’t and found friends who had accepted me for who they thought I was. Now I didn’t know which girl was really me. The mermaid trapped in a cell in the heart of Atlantis… or the captain of the cheer squad with a boyfriend waiting at home for me to call him. It was all so confusing.
Amara’s piercing green eyes kept stabbing through my mind. I could still remember the urgency in their depths, the power I felt emanating from her when she confessed about her powers and those who were trying to use her for harm. The promise that the wars were starting and if we had any hope of victory, she had to go away.
The plan had been simple. She would run away with Annessa and I would tell the world that she had been killed; eaten by a creature from the depths of the ocean. It wasn’t unheard of. Merpeople disappeared all of the time. Annessa vowed to stay with Amara and keep her safe. She promised that she would never let the wrong hands get a hold of her power. That was the last I had seen of either of them. Until today.
The door of my cell opened with a bang and I looked up, shocked to see both Vander and Annessa standing in the opening.
“What are you doing here,” I mumbled through my grief.
“Rescuing you,” Annessa stated. “Unless you prefer to live what’s left of your life here.”
Vander swam forward and quickly relieved me of my chains. “But how?”
“I’m not who I used to be,” he said. “Atlantis has been compromised.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a big bad solider. So what, I’ve been a protector practically my whole life,” Annessa told him rolling her eyes.
His flashed angrily at her. “Fabulous job you did too. If Lydon hadn’t found you and brought you back here, you’d still be living in the human world, oblivious to who you really are.”
I looked back and forth between them. “Did I miss something?”
Vander shook his head. “It’s not important. Right now we just need to get you and your parents out of here and safely back in the human world.”
“But what about Amara?”
“She is still safe,” Annessa said. “A year ago we escaped a raid sent by the elders to find her. She had a plan. She gave me her identity and a new life in the human world.”
“Where did she go?”
“She went to the Forgotten. Her powers were too great. She needed their protection and from what I can assess… it worked. She is hidden for now, but it won’t be long until the King finds her.”
We were swimming fast through the castle now and I stopped at her words. “The King? What do you mean? That’s her father, why would she be hiding from him?”
Annessa grabbed hold of my arm and began pulling me along with her. Vander was swimming ahead of us. “Do you remember what she said that day? Trust no one. Her father is the enemy, Jane. He always has been. His plan is to use her power to bring destruction to the human world so that Atlantis can rise again.”
“Then why am I leaving? I can help.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not safe. He will try to torture you for information and when you give him nothing, he will kill you.”
We were already in the great chamber where my parents were detained. I saw signs of a battle and wondered briefly if it had just been Annessa and Vander against the elders.
“We must hurry. They will awake soon,” Annessa said, pulling my parents toward the exit. “Vander will escort you from here, but you must hurry.”
It was all happening so fast, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “What about you?”
She smiled. “I am a warrior. My place is here. I will keep the princess safe.”
She turned and swam away, leaving me staring after her until both my parents and Vander urged me on.