Qeturah laughed and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Holly asked suspiciously.
“Just thinking of the surprise you all have in store when the ice caps melt. You think a little flooding is all you have to worry about—you have no idea of the power slumbering in the north.” Smirking, Qeturah opened the car door.
Holly’s skin prickled as she got into the back seat with Ryan, not liking Qeturah’s implication that only the ice caps were keeping the ocean from consciousness.
Every valley on Fire harbored a different Volcano Lord. Did that mean every lake on Earth had a water elemental?
What about the ocean? Maps divided the seas into five oceans, but they were all interconnected. What if there was only one Water Elemental for the whole world ocean? How powerful would he be?
How angry would he be if he woke up after countless centuries and found the seas poisoned?
Maybe Qeturah could shatter another world.
Holly still felt uneasy as her dad restarted the engine. She wanted to talk to Leah about it, so when her otherself Called, Holly met her reflection’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
Whereupon Leah ruthlessly took over her body.
…
“You. Bitch!” Holly pounded on the ice mirror—to no avail. “Give me back my body!” She could not believe Leah had done this to her again.
As soon as she got back, she’d ward all her mirrors.
If she ever got her body back. If Leah didn’t decide that Holly didn’t deserve Gideon’s otherself and take up permanent residence.
…
Leah bided her time. The backseat of the car didn’t provide enough privacy to tell Ryan about his mother’s death.
At first the delay frustrated her, but the strangely cheerful golden sunshine acted like a balm on her skin, relaxing away the horrible tension coiled in her shoulders—helped along, no doubt, by the fact that Holly’s body was well rested and well fed. Leah stared out at the blue sky and azure ocean. “It’s beautiful,” she said in surprise.
“Yes,” Ryan agreed. “Let’s enjoy the afternoon and not fight, okay?” He played with her fingers.
She was powerless to refuse him. “For now.”
She tried to talk to him later, but every time she broached the subject Ryan stopped her tongue with kisses. Deep kisses and sweeter embraces.
And while he kissed her she could forget, just for a moment, that Gideon was dead.
…
“Joseph, dear,” Qeturah said sweetly. “Ryan has something important to tell you.”
Leah’s every nerve tensed. Qeturah hadn’t proposed this trip just to lie mostly naked on the sand for two hours while the rest of them struggled to keep a ball in the air.
Looking wary, Joseph Beecher capped the bottle of water he’d been gulping. “Oh?”
Ryan darted a quick glance at Qeturah. “I don’t know…”
“Joseph is part of our family now. It isn’t right to keep secrets from him.” Qeturah draped her arm around her fiancé’s neck. The sun struck sparks off her power ring.
Ryan nodded. “Okay. Uh, it’ll be easier if I just show you.” He walked backward, deeper into the surf.
He was going to change into a merman. Uneasy, Leah watched Holly’s father closely. The duke would have slain Gideon, but a merman was less dangerous than a dragon.
“What am I supposed to see?” Joseph removed his sunglasses.
Ryan didn’t answer, sitting so that the waves slopped at his chin. Leah bit her lip, but his transformation seemed less painful than Gideon’s. He merely closed his eyes, and when he opened them again a milky-iridescent film covered them. His skin shone pearl white.
Joseph drew in a sharp breath.
Ryan lifted his webbed hand out of the water, then the end of his powerful white tail. He weighted his bathing trunks down with a rock.
Swearing, Joseph pushed to his feet. “Is this a trick?”
Qeturah lazily rose from the towel. “There’s no special effects crew here.”
Joseph stepped into the surf, stopping five feet shy of Ryan. His mouth worked as if he couldn’t decide what to ask first, finally settling on, “How?”
Ryan glanced away as if embarrassed. “I was born this way.”
“A merman.” Joseph looked at Leah accusingly. “You knew about this?”
Leah nodded. “He saved”—she barely caught herself from saying Holly—“me from drowning.”
“My God.” Joseph started to laugh. “This is…unbelievable.” He shot a speculative look at Qeturah. “And are you a mermaid?”
She gave a throaty laugh. “No.”
Leah relaxed as Joseph asked a spate of questions. She didn’t understand Qeturah’s purpose in forcing this revelation, but Ryan didn’t seem to be in danger. He swam into deeper water, obviously reveling in his merman form.
“Show Joseph what else you can do,” Qeturah ordered.
Ryan swam closer. “What do you mean?”
Surely Qeturah didn’t want him to demonstrate his siren power?
“Call on your father’s people,” Qeturah said. “The fishes and the dolphins.”
“Uh, sure.” Ryan ducked below the surface of the water.
Too late, Leah noticed Qeturah trail the power ring in the water. Was she enhancing Ryan’s Call?
Something brushed her leg, making her jump. Dozens of silvery fish arrowed through the water toward Ryan. Nor were the finger-length fish the only ones to answer his Call. Other fish appeared—some red, some brown, some striped—and began to circle Ryan in an intricate spiral.
A clicking cry and a splash announced the arrival of larger creatures with narrow jaws and sleek gray skin.
“Dolphins!” Laughing with joy, Ryan swam out to greet them.
“I always wanted to swim with dolphins,” Joseph said wistfully.
Qeturah gave him a little push. “Here’s your chance.”
Eyes soft with wonder, Joseph waded deeper into the water.
Qeturah turned her sardonic gaze on Leah. “Aren’t you going to join them, Leah?”
“I’d rather not.” Leah scrambled to think of an excuse, then blinked. Wait. Did she say—?
Qeturah smiled knowingly. “It is Leah, isn’t it? Though only in mind, not body.”
“Who’s Leah?” Leah asked sharply.
“How did you escape the Aerie? Or have you? Did you cry yourself a mirror?” Qeturah circled to her left.
Leah swiveled to keep her in sight. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I assume you’re here to protect the boy from me?”
Leah gave up denying her identity. “And to stop you from shattering a second world.”
“You’ll fail. But shattering Water doesn’t have to cost Ryan his life. Help me wake his father, and I’ll leave him and his soul mate—”
Leah flinched in guilt.
Qeturah looked amused. “—or him and you, to live in peace. Don’t look so suspicious. I bear Ryan no ill will, and the Ocean Lord will be angry enough at all the pollution that the murder of his son probably won’t be needed.”
Holly thought her world might be doomed anyway from global warming. Leah was almost tempted, but… “I don’t trust you.”
Qeturah sighed. “If you can’t believe I’ve grown fond of the boy, at least credit me with the brains not to waste valuable resources.”
Stubbornly, Leah shook her head. “I’ll fight you.”
“As you wish.” Qeturah pulled a tiny folding knife out of her cleavage.
Leah’s skin chilled. “You can’t kill me here. Ryan will—”
“Don’t be so melodramatic.” Smiling, Qeturah sliced open her own palm. Blood ran into the water.
Did she plan to tell Ryan that Holly had attacked her?
Two triangular fins broke away from the spiral around Ryan and darted through the water toward Qeturah—predators, drawn by the scent of blood.
“Holly? What are those?” she whispered, reac
hing out mentally to her otherself. “Holly?”
(get out of the water. those are sharks.)
The word elicited an image: monstrous white fishes with huge maws and rows of inward slashing teeth.
Qeturah screamed and splashed her bleeding hand in the water. “Help! Ryan, tell your father to send them away.”
Ashes. Skin crawling with fear, Leah backed away. A wave slapped her thigh, making her stumble.
(let me in. I can swim!)
Leah ignored Holly. Twenty yards away, Ryan had heard Qeturah and was streaking through the water toward them. She heard him use his siren voice. “Get away.”
Confused, one of the sharks turned toward Leah.
Though smaller than the monster Holly had pictured, it measured five feet in length, with pale eyes and a mouth like a gash.
Ryan dived between Leah and the shark. “Away.” He faced it down.
The shark gnashed its teeth then swam for deeper water.
Joseph had reached Qeturah and was helping her onto the beach. “My own fault,” Qeturah was saying, “…cut myself on a shell…”
Joseph’s mouth turned down. “Everybody out. That’s enough excitement for today.”
“You okay?” Ryan asked.
“I’m fine,” Leah said, distracted. Had Qeturah gotten what she wanted? Ryan had stopped the shark with his siren voice instead of calling on his father for help.
Ryan swam back to where he’d left his swimming trunks and changed forms. The spiraling fish had dispersed, but one lone dolphin lingered to say farewell. Ryan rubbed its nose then sent it away. As he walked ashore, he wore an odd expression on his face.
“Holly, the dolphin brought something for you. At least, I think it’s yours.” He poured something into her hand.
A necklace rested on her palm. “Oh!”
“What is it?” Qeturah asked nosily.
“Holly’s necklace. It is the one I gave you, right?” Ryan seemed both anxious and apologetic. “I never saw what the jeweler did with it, but it’s a natural pearl, and it’s the right color.” They all studied the faintly pink gemstone.
Leah found the right memory. Ryan had given Holly the pearl then had it strung on a chain for the strange festival called Valentine’s Day, which was dedicated to lovers. “Yes, it’s the right necklace.”
“I haven’t seen you wear it since you came to L.A.,” Ryan said. “Did you lose it just now?”
“No…”
Leah accessed Holly’s last memory of the necklace and winced. “I threw it into the ocean. Weeks ago. When she—when I was angry at you.” When Holly had behaved like a jealous fool.
Instead of being hurt, Ryan’s eyes lit with excitement. “Vancouver Island is hundreds of kilometers away.”
Holly had told the ocean to take back the pearl. The dolphin must have carried it in a similar fashion to the hypocaust system.
“Incredible,” Joseph said.
“Maybe the ocean really is my father,” Ryan said slowly. “I mean, how else can you explain a dolphin finding it and bringing it to me?”
“Of course the Ocean Lord is your father,” Leah said, puzzled that he could doubt it.
“This proves he has some awareness,” Qeturah mused.
Joseph’s brow wrinkled. “Who is Ryan’s father?”
While Qeturah explained, Ryan put his arm around Leah’s waist and kissed her hair. “I can almost believe the ocean is my father, but not because I’m a merman. Because he sent me you.” Strong emotion made his voice husky. “When you fell overboard, the currents carried you straight to my private cove.”
“He must have known I was your soul mate.” Leah lifted her face to his.
“Soul mate, huh?” A smile kicked at the corner of Ryan’s mouth, in exactly the same way that Gideon had smiled, before he bent his head and kissed her.
Leah closed her eyes and clung to Gideon’s otherself, trying to ignore the taste of salt and the voice of her conscience. He’s not your soul mate; he’s Holly’s.
Ryan touched her cheek. “Why are you crying?”
“It’s nothing.” Leah blinked back tears. “I just—I get scared sometimes that I’ll lose you.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to lose me. I’ve told you: you’re the only girl I want.”
Leah fell silent, all but choking on the irony.
…
Holly woke when Leah Called her name during the excitement with the sharks. Unbelievably, she’d fallen asleep on the stone floor of the Mirrorhall. Leah’s body had been so fatigued, she’d literally been unable to keep her eyes open. Holly wondered if Leah had done it on purpose, as a booby trap.
Yawns threatened to crack her jaw, but she grimly froze her fingers on the ice mirror, waiting for Leah to make a mistake.
Her moment finally came when Leah gazed into Ryan’s eyes and saw her own reflection in his pupils. Their gazes met, and Holly slammed back into her body. Get out and stay out!
Holly expected Leah to attempt to retake her body. The silence that followed put her off balance. She hadn’t hurt Leah, had she?
No. This must be just another trick. Well, it wouldn’t work. Holly diligently avoided reflections for the rest of the day, pretending to have a headache so she could close her eyes on the drive home.
Back in her bedroom that night, with the lights off for safety, she reviewed her memories—and became too furious to sleep.
Not only had Leah given herself away to Qeturah, but for all her talk of warning Ryan, Leah hadn’t told him that Nimue was dead. Instead she’d spent her time necking.
Leah seemed to have Ryan confused with her own lost love, but Ryan was her boyfriend, not Leah’s. Leah had kissed him eleven times. Eleven!
She stormed into the bathroom and glared at her reflection in the darkened mirror. “I bet you’re still watching me. If so, listen up! I have something to say to you: stay away from Ryan.”
(I only wanted to protect him) Leah’s quick response, even though Holly hadn’t used an obsidian mirror to Call her, meant that she had still been spying on Holly.
“How is gluing your lips to his protecting him?” Holly demanded.
(you shouldn’t begrudge me a few kisses when my soul mate is dead.)
White-hot rage flared inside Holly. “You keep talking about how Gideon was your soul mate, but you don’t act like it. If he was really the love of your life, why are you kissing another guy when he’s only been dead a few days?”
(Ryan is Gideon’s otherself)
“Do you really want to replace Gideon with someone else, even his otherself? Isn’t that kind of insulting to his memory?” Holly pressed on. “What would he think if he could see you?”
That, finally, silenced her.
…
Long after Holly had stopped Calling, her words echoed in Leah’s head, like boulders crashing downhill.
Had she been trying to replace Gideon with Ryan?
She couldn’t deny it. Her intentions had been good but had soon fallen by the wayside. She’d let her desire to pretend that Gideon still lived get in the way of her vow.
Ryan was Gideon in many ways—but he wasn’t the feverish boy she’d fallen in love with or the fierce dragon she’d ridden. Holly was right. She had to stop this dangerous fantasy. It wasn’t fair to Ryan or Holly or to Gideon’s memory.
Gideon was dead. She had to face that truth.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes. Leah waited, but they still refused to fall.
Trembling, she held her hand to the ice mirror. Her palms stung where her nails had dug bloody weals, but she deserved the pain, so she kept her hand in place, Calling Holly.
Her otherself didn’t answer, but Leah spoke anyway, stumbling over the words, hoping that Holly would hear her.
“I know you have no reason to believe me, but I regret what I did. I swear I won’t interfere in your life again. But please, if Ryan has need, Call and I will answer.”
…
Holly was stil
l fuming when she came downstairs for breakfast the next morning.
Ryan met her in the hallway. “Good morning.” He leaned in to kiss her, and she evaded him.
He frowned. “Something wrong?”
Leah was the one she was mad at, but… You kissed Leah yesterday. And the fact that she couldn’t warn him about Leah without sounding crazy only made things ten times worse. “Nothing’s wrong. I just…need coffee.”
She reminded herself that Leah wore her face. That her own mother hadn’t guessed. But none of that made her feel better. Ryan was supposed to be her soul mate.
“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Ryan persisted. “You seemed really…down yesterday.”
“I just had a headache,” Holly dismissed.
“No, I mean before that. You had a sad look in your eye most of the day. Not like yourself.”
A weight lifted off Holly’s chest; she could breathe again. He had noticed a difference between her and Leah. Maybe she could tell him about Leah—
Ryan’s blue eyes darkened with worry, and his voice was extra careful. “Do you get depressed sometimes?”
Crap. Ryan had spent years dealing with Nimue’s mental problems, but Leah was the one who was depressed over Gideon’s death. “I’m fine,” she said firmly and kissed him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
On the Red Carpet
The red-haired stylist, Jen Something, dumped an armful of garment bags on Holly’s bed. “Okay, we have a Chanel, a Vera Wang, two Elie Saabs, and”—she checked a label—“one Versace. You’re lucky I found this many designers willing to donate a dress for the evening on such short notice,” she said sternly. The premiere was now—eek!—only two days away.
Holly nodded meekly. She’d intended to borrow her dad’s credit card and go shopping on Rodeo Drive, but her dad’s publicist, Samantha, had vetoed that plan. “As Ryan’s date, you’ll be photographed with him. You’ll be representing the film and must dress the part.” She’d sent over Jen the stylist.
All five dresses were gorgeous. Three of them proved to be too big in the bust—much to Qeturah’s derision—and there was no time for alterations. Of the remaining two, one was black, which Jen decreed too old for Holly.
Holly stepped out of the black sequined sheath with reluctance; she’d liked how sophisticated the gown made her look.
Through Fire & Sea Page 30