Mom swayed and put her hands back to catch herself.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m tired from last night I think.”
“Why don’t you sleep then?”
“No… I want to tell you—”
If only Dad would let us know he’d found fresher water and she could rest.
“The thought of Natatoria suffocated me,” she continued, almost as if in a trance. “A lonely place where women harvested merlings and the men supervised their every move. Everything was planned and provided for, right down to the rays of sunlight. But instead of seeing a blessed utopia, I kept telling Jack I wanted a career, a picket fence, and selfishly a home with an oversized bathtub for Jack to sleep in at night. But still, he never put pressure on me.
“But when Jack would leave me to visit Natatoria, I was the one alone. I worried he’d never return, or that if something bad happened, I couldn’t go to him. I hated how the water separated us, so after my parents passed, I decided your father’s love was greater than anything this world had to offer, and I became a mermaid.
“Then our lives fell into place. I had you kids. We were happy in our own world in Tahoe. But once King Merric became ill and Phaleon was given the kingdom, things changed. Phaleon began to do things that suggested he never forgave Jack for stealing me from him. And your father, so filled with guilt, continually allowed Phaleon to treat him like a servant.
“And when your father was sent to find Galadriel and bring her home, I thought it was the end for us. Though Phaleon doesn’t seem to truly love Deidre, he wouldn’t jeopardize his kingdom to steal another’s mate—not in public eyes. The entire scheme was put in motion only to please his son, the future king. I believe Phaleon allowed us to stay away from Natatoria so Tatiana wouldn’t have opportunities to meet merboys her age. And then conveniently, Galadriel runs away right before the coming of age festival. Phaleon had his perfect excuse. And I was afraid for Jack’s life if I didn’t comply. I should have insisted we stay in Tahoe. We should have discussed the situation as a family first before letting your father go, but he worried about discovery of the safe-house if he didn’t. It’s all my fault.”
“No, Mom,” I said, interrupting her. “It was my fault. I kept getting in trouble.”
“Son,” she said with glassy eyes, “they used every little infraction to tighten their control so they could justify forcing both of you to be promised as a punishment.”
“We should have run, then.”
Mom patted my arm. “I feared for Jack’s life if we did. Accidents happen all the time to mers who don’t succumb to the rules. For your father’s sake, we didn’t have a choice.”
I shook my head. Mom carried the weight of this when it wasn’t her fault. Phaleon had manipulated everything to give his son something he had no right to give—my sister. And they both deserved to be punished for their crimes.
All I wanted to do was rip Azor’s life from him and watch him wake up a finless man. I could care less about his position or line up in the royal heritage. He was a bassface for stealing Tatchi’s promise in front of everyone.
“I’m ready to fight, Mom,” I said with gritted teeth. “Azor deserves to be brought to justice and I plan to give it to him.”
“I know, Son,” she said with a sigh. “You and your father both. But no matter how we look at it, someone is going to get hurt. And that’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Not if I can help it,” I said.
A whistle from the other side of the bog caught our attention. Dad waved for us to join him. I jumped in first, the water sending pinpricks of pain over my skin. I swam quickly, anxious to get out of the toxic goop as soon as possible, but the soft tail splashes of my mother abruptly stopped behind me. I turned in horror to find her belly up, floating in the water.
“Dad!” I yelled.
“Oh, no. Maggie!” Dad moved to her side and gently lifted her as he flash swam for fresher water. “Don’t leave me now.”
I rode the wave behind him and dove in under the current once we reached clearer water. We all inhaled sharply. Mom floated limply in the current by Dad’s side.
“I’m so sorry, Maggie. This is all my fault.” Dad opened the vial hanging around her neck and dumped the contents into the water near her neck. The essence floated in the water, then seeped through her gills. “Please don’t leave me.”
I watched on in horror. If anything happened to Mom, I’d never forgive myself.
She coughed and her eyes fluttered open.
“Jack?” she whispered.
“Yes, Maggie.” He put his hand under her chin. “I’m here.”
“Thank you,” she said and nestled against his chest.
Dad cradled her in his arms and gave me a stern look.
I looked away and swam further down the stream, settling on the sandy stream bottom. Homesick, I tried to sleep. Ash’s face decorated the backs of my lids and I worried with everything we’d never survive let alone end up together. Who was I kidding?
8
:::
ASH
Thursday afternoon, April 14th
I cowered in the bushes and watched Fin’s house armed with a kitchen knife, hoping for a miracle. After waiting sixty minutes or so, the fear had dissipated and my only reward was a numb bum from sitting on a lumpy rock. What was I doing here?
But even with the danger of capture and Fin’s explicit warnings to stay away, I couldn’t. Like a shark in chummy waters, I had to see him, this spineless mollusk that robbed my best friend of her life. Still, I didn’t know what I hoped for. I didn’t see myself stabbing him—or even confronting him. And yet I lay in waiting, with my sister’s spy-listening device disguised as a cell phone to my ear and the knife in the other, just in case.
I’d wanted to watch all day and actually faked a stomachache earlier, but Mom didn’t buy it. With the amount of days I’d already missed, I’d have to be bleeding out my eyeballs for her to allow me to stay home.
The only other mers I’d seen were the ones in the water the night Fin and Tatchi were captured. Was he one of them? Moonlight hid their faces that night, and the next day from my dock, I spied a group of shirtless bearded dudes wearing dark colored skirts, circling the house. Fin had explained the attire made for an easy switch from fin to legs without flashing people. He preferred wearing jeans or his board shorts where he’d sewn Velcro on the inside seam. I smiled, remembering how he accidentally busted out of his jeans after sunset because I’d distracted him.
I checked the time again—4 PM. Twenty more minutes until Fin called. Disappointment took over. I’d either missed Azor, or he wasn’t visiting today.
“Well, look who’s hiding in the bushes.”
I looked up in horror at Colin’s Cheshire grin.
“I’m not. I’m—”
I tried to keep the knife concealed as I stood. Both phones clattered onto the ground. I snatched the real one up. Colin picked the spy device off of his feet.
“What’s this?”
I cringed as he read the spy kids label on the front.
“It’s my sisters play cell phone.” I nervously chuckled. “She’s always leaving her toys around.” I pocketed the real one and held out my hand, hoping he wouldn’t see the knife in the other.
“I see.” He studied me for a second, then returned the toy. Something playful danced behind his eyes.
“I’m actually on my way home, so… nice to see you, again.” I backed away when his eyes widened in anxiety as he glanced over my shoulder toward Fin’s house.
I followed his gaze. A man in a skirt with dark, heartless eyes watched us from the deck.
Colin took my elbow. “Why don’t I walk you home?”
I froze, locked in the mysterious man’s gaze. Dark hair and flawless features matched his stoic appearance. He smiled, then turned to Mr. White Beard, gesturing in our direction.
“Ash. Let’s go,” Colin whispered.
I couldn’t obey; my knees bolted in place. Was this Azor, my best friend’s husband? I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Sweat slicked my fingertips. He was the key to everything and within my grasp.
Both men stepped off the porch and headed in our direction. My heart sped off like a race car. Suddenly, I didn’t feel prepared for the confrontation, for anything.
“Great,” Colin mumbled.
With all these mermen near, escape was futile. I tried to move away. Colin boxed me in. A musical tone sounded in my ear. “Be cool.” His lips grazed my skin, sending a chill slithering down my spine.
My stomach clutched and I willed away a stave of nausea as a vision of my capture flooded my mind.
“Well, who’s this?” The dark-haired man gave me a creepy once over.
“Colin’s new friend, Captain,” Mr. White Beard said.
Colin slid his fingers around mine as I struggled to keep a good grip on the knife.
“Human?” He pitched up a brow.
“For now.” Colin squeezed my hand a little too hard.
The man’s eyes fell into slits. “She doesn’t talk much, does she?”
“She’s persuaded,” Colin said quickly.
“Hmmm. She looks like my sister… only younger.” He cocked his head to the side and studied me further, like a specimen in a Petri dish. My heart thundered. I needed to lunge at him, do something.
“Oh, don’t be silly. She’s a local and was at the beach the night we finally captured my niece and nephew. Right, Colin?” Mr. White Beard’s voice clipped upwards.
“She was, wasn’t she?” The man looked off to the left in the direction of the water. “That’s right. I remember.” He returned his gaze on me and smiled; evil oozed from his pours. “Do you know where Finley went?”
I swallowed hard, willing my lips to move without success. I shook my head.
“I don’t think she knows anything,” Colin said quickly.
“Really?” He kept his eyes on me a moment longer before he waved his fingers in front of my eyes and stepped closer. Music flowed from his lips. “Where’s Finley. You can trust me.”
My chest heaved up and down. I had to speak this time or else they’d really know I was promised.
“I don’t know.” My meek voice was softer than I’d willed it to be.
But more important, he was right there—his naked chest within stabbing distance. I just needed to plunge the knife forward and all of this would be over. But was this Azor? Was this the right man?
The man’s shoulders went slack. “I wish all females were this cordial.” He turned to Mr. White Beard with a laugh.
“Trouble in paradise?” Mr. White Beard asked.
Anger surged inside me. Was Tatiana giving him grief? Was she okay?
“Tatchi,” I breathed.
The man’s head spun to me and he glared. Within the depths of his irises a bitter cold consumed and paralyzed me. His jaw locked. I couldn’t breath.
“Keep looking, Alaster. They had to have told someone. Another neighbor, a friend, a lover. Find them. Persuade them. Jack has to be stopped.”
His eyes didn’t move off of me. A tear slunk down my cheek.
Mr. White Beard shuffled his feet behind him. “Yes, of course. I’d love nothing more than to bring you my brother’s head on a platter.”
He sang again. “Forget.”
I tried my best to compose myself and closed my eyes for a second. I opened them to find him cordial again.
The man bobbed his head. “Good, now I’m hungry. Does she cook?” He gestured with an evil smile like I wasn’t even there, “because my mermaid doesn’t do a damn thing.”
The men laughed and turned away from me. I gripped the hilt in anger, ready to stab when my phone rang in my pocket.
He spun quickly in alarm “What’s that?”
“It’s called a cell phone,” Colin said.
“What does it do?”
“Allows people to talk to one another.”
“Well, then…” he wove his hand in a small circle and stared at me. “Talk on it.”
A lump formed in my throat. What if it was Fin?
“Now!” he barked.
My chest heaved as I dropped Colin’s hand and retrieved the phone from my pocket.
“Ashlyn, where are you?”
Relief flowed through my body until the heat behind Mom’s voice alerted my “you’re in big trouble, missy” alarm.
Uh oh. “I’m out front. Why?”
“Come home. I need to talk to you, young lady.”
“Yes, of course.”
The man watched me hang up and pocket the phone. “Looks like you’re in trouble.”
Sandpaper lined my tongue. “I have to go home.”
Colin frowned. “Well, then I guess I’ll see you later.”
Mr. White Beard looked fiercely at Colin for a moment. Didn’t they get the note? Should I break the date now?
“Yeah,” I mumbled, too scared to mention anything. Colin would eventually figure it out after I’d no-showed.
“Yes, so…” the man said, turning toward the house. “Procedures have changed. No one can leave until we know who the traitor is. If Jack can’t communicate with anyone, he can’t tell them what to do. Most of the betas have been arrested. We’re still missing a few.”
“I’m sure your traitor lies with one of them,” Mr. White Beard said.
I stretched forward, wishing I could put Lucy’s phone to my ear. I needed to know if the man was Azor, and then their plans. I tried to stall, but Colin didn’t go away. Instead, he stared at me, making spying impossible.
“Aren’t you leaving?” I asked impatiently.
“I wanted to escort you home.” He motioned to my house as if to lead the way.
“Really, it’s no trouble. I can go alone.” Leave already!
“No, I insist.” His dimples sunk into his cheeks as he smiled.
Great.
We watched one another as the men walked away. Then my phone rang again. I looked down. My heart flipped. This time it was Fin.
“Oh, man. I’m busted.” I took off in a jog toward the house as if Mom had called.
Colin stumbled forward.
“Can’t stay. Bye,” I said and pushed my legs faster.
I peered over my shoulder to see his torso stoop with the familiar sign of defeat. Luckily, he didn’t follow. The phone continued to ring as I crossed over the ridge; I shoved the knife in my bag and answered.
“Fin,” I said breathlessly. An overwhelming desire to tell him what happened burned on my lips.
“Hey, ginger girl.” Happiness infused his voice. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine now.” I hit the front porch and stepped through the front door.
Mom stood in the foyer, her arms folded over her chest.
“Hang up,” she said plainly.
“Um…” I gulped. “I—I gotta go. I’ll call you right back.”
“What’s wrong?” Confusion replaced his joy.
“Say good-bye, Ashlyn.” Mom tapped her foot.
“I’ll have to tell you later.” Dread pinched its pointy claws under my skin. What did I do wrong now? “Sorry.”
My heart sank as I cut Fin off mid-sentence while he told me he loved me.
Nothing was going my way today.
9
:::
FIN
Thursday evening, April 14th
I hung up the phone in defeat. After the way Ash’s mom sounded, I doubted she’d be calling back tonight. With my palm pressed into my forehead, I willed away my headache. Every time I moved, my brain rattled against my skull as a reminder of poisons from the bog we’d stayed in last night. All I wanted to do was return to Lake Tahoe, not only to see Ash, but to breathe in fresh snowy water, a vintage like none other.
Judging by the setting sun, I guessed I had twenty minutes to spare. Instead of texting (in case her mom took her phone), I opened my email and composed a letter instead.
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My dearest Ash,
I’m sorry we couldn’t talk tonight. I hope it’s nothing bad and you and your mom work things out. It’s been crazy since we last talked. Last night, we stayed in at a bog we later found out was contaminated. We’re lucky to be alive that we didn’t get sick. My head is pounding. I should have known something was up from the stench we’d driven past, especially since I hadn’t seen any farm animals nearby. All I saw were rows and rows of big buildings. Do farmers keep animals in those things without sun? How inhumane. What would they do if they ever caught one of us?
Evergreen (Mer Tales, Book 2) Page 5