Colin shot me a mournful look as they disappeared down the porthole. The sound of metal gears rubbing together signaled they’d locked the hatch shut.
“Ash.” My lips cracked open and bled. “Ash!”
I took labored breaths in time. I ached for water, my strength diminishing with every second. The incisions on my fin bled from where the barbs cut me, tinged with a weird green glow. Ferdinand had similar wounds when he returned from Natatoria. Uncle Alaster had only given me enough essence to basically bring me around and torture me longer—nothing substantial enough to heal anything.
“Ash, please surface,” I said before I closed my eyes. The thought she’d watch me die gripped me. We only had one hope.
“Galadriel,” I whispered.
38
:::
ASH
Friday, early morning, April 22nd
The pain finally stopped. I opened my eyes; everything underwater was crystal clear and vibrant. Where my legs used to be, an elegant green fin fluttered in the water, sweet and delicate like butterfly wings. I brought my hand to my mouth. My arms were covered in a fine layer of iridescent scales, soft to the touch. I flitted my tail and zoomed across the pool, faster than I’d ever swam. A squeal escaped my lips. After all the pain, I had a tail. A TAIL! More beautiful than I could imagine.
I tried extending the claws I felt earlier from under my nail beds, but no matter what I tried, nothing would pop out. They’d come in handy, especially when I scratched out Alaster’s eyes for what he did to me. Alaster.
I breeched the surface of the water to find him. Neither he nor Colin were in the room, but Fin lay lifeless—his fin grey and dull—chained to the wall. He was barely breathing.
“No!” I flipped my tail and flew out of the water, landing next to his body. “Please, no!”
I brushed my hand over his taut face. He sucked in a small breath. I pulled on the chains. They wouldn’t budge.
“Water,” he croaked out.
I wiggled my hips to get back into the pool and splashed him with my hands.
Frantic, I looked around. They didn’t have a hose down here? How’d they fill the pool? Near the soda fountain was a stack of cups. I swam over and filled two. Most of the water spilled by the time I maneuvered myself back to Fin. I tried to get him to drink and he allowed half to pass his lips. His tail finally twitched.
“Come on. Fight!”
The soggy towel from earlier caught my eye. I strained my arm to grab it, and laid it over his tail. After another labored trip to the pool, I splashed more to drench the towel, but he didn’t respond. My arms began to ache.
What did Fin say about being out of the water? How long could we survive? I looked up at the darkened windows along the edge of the ceiling. How long did we have until morning?
A silver ring protruded from the cinderblock and held Fin’s chains in place. If I could pull it from the wall, or break away the stone, maybe I could get him free. The javelin could work as a tool.
“Fin, I’m going to break you free. Hang on. Please!”
I held the javelin over my head and chipped away at the stone. Chip, chip, chip. The ring loosened a tiny bit.
I jumped back into the water and splashed him, this time with my tail, before chipping away at the cement again. Chip, chip, chip.
“Hang on.”
I splashed again, my energy evaporating. But even with all the effort, the ring barely moved. There was no way I could get him free anytime soon.
“Ugh. God, please!” I pulled on the chain, in desperation; mentally and physically exhausted.
Fin grunted the same time the metal hatch door behind me creaked.
Forgetting I was a mermaid, I tried to run for the javelin on the floor and fell over. Colin popped out of the hatch first.
I shrieked as I circled my fingers around the javelin’s shaft. Colin slid over with ease and pushed me into the pool before I could get a firm grip.
When I reemerged, Colin had his arm cocked back with the javelin pointed at Fin.
“No!” With a flip of my tail, my body launched from the pool. I clung to his back, suspended for a moment, my tail swishing around on the ground beneath me, before he shook me free. I fell on the floor in a flippered heap.
“Stop it, Ash, or I’ll hit him.” He rammed the spear blade into the chain several times. Finally, a link busted open, releasing Fin’s wrists. He crumbled onto the floor. I put my hands on Fin’s chest.
“Move out of the way!” Colin barked as he elbowed me aside.
He reached under Fin’s arms and pulled his limp body into the water with a plop. I clawed forward and dove in after them. Together we sank to the bottom.
“Please.” I brushed my lips over his. “Wake up.”
Fin’s gills moved slowly as he pulled water into his mouth. Colin rested next to us on the pool floor and watched with a twisted frown. I held Fin’s face gently and blew water into his mouth from mine. He couldn’t leave me. Not now.
“He needs essence,” Colin said; the sound was as clear as if we were out of the water.
I turned to Colin and glowered. “You did this!” I tried to slap him. My claws popped out from under my nail beds, surprising me, and I swiped his face.
He turned his cheek, but didn’t retaliate. Blood spurted into the water momentarily, before the wounds healed.
“You can hate me all you want later, but we need to get somewhere safe until morning. My Dad is coming back!”
I hung onto Fin as he floated in the water, unconscious. “I don’t understand. Why are you helping us now?”
“I didn’t agree to this, Ash. To murder. I only wanted to be promised to a princess.” He looked away. “I had no idea you and Fin were—it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. Let’s go.”
I breeched the surface and Colin hoisted Fin out of the pool onto the deck.
“Look who escaped!” Alaster appeared at the porthole. He grasped a woman by her red hair—a mermaid. “What are you doing?”
Colin startled, then studied the girl his dad held, confusion clear on his face. “Who’s that?”
Alaster pinched his eyes into slits and did a double take as well. The mermaid thrashed under his grip, hissing.
“Put me down, you bottom feeder!” she demanded. “You don’t treat royalty this way, you hear me?”
Alaster threw her onto the floor and grabbed a javelin from the wall, pointing it at her.
“Twins?” he breathed in disbelief.
“You’ll endure the full extent of the law for kidnapping me,” the mermaid seethed. “You’ll be taking a one way trip to Bone Island!”
Alaster didn’t pay attention. He glowered at me. “This whole time I thought you were the lost princess.”
The girl looked at me as well, squinting her eyes in curiosity.
Alaster pointed the javelin at Galadriel. “Show me your hip.”
She reluctantly turned after he threatened to stab her. We had matching marks.
“How is this possible?” Alaster said, and nudged her with the blunt end of the javelin. “Who are you?”
“Princess Galadriel. Who else would I be?”
“Galadriel?” He studied her, then turned to me in confusion. “Then who are you?”
“Can’t you see? She’s a princess, too,” Colin said offhandedly. “They both have the mark.”
Could this really be true after all? I lifted the hem of my tattered dress and ran my hand over the raised iridescent mark above where my scales started. A princess? How did I end up on land then? Were my parents of royal mer blood? Did they leave the colony and escape?
Alaster’s brow shot up. “Hmmm…” He eyed the two of us lustfully. “Two princesses.”
Fin struggled to breathe as Alaster ran his finger over the tip of the blade, contemplating something. We were running out of time. Fin needed to be in the water, at least.
I held out my hand, ready to push him back in, when—quick as a flash—Alaster bumped me aside and s
lung Fin’s limp body across the floor. He hit the base of the stairs.
“Fin stays out of the water!”
I picked up the fallen javelin and aimed it at Alaster’s heart. A vial of the blue liquid hung from his belt. That was what Colin said Fin needed. I charged Alaster determined to stop him and take the blue liquid.
Alaster grabbed my arm and twirled me around, pinning my neck against his chest. He ripped the javelin from my hand. “Feisty little princess.” He laughed and gestured to Colin. “Get Galadriel. We’re going.”
“No, Father. This isn’t right. Fin doesn’t need to die.”
Alaster scowled. “Are you defying me?”
“It’s time to let your jealousy over Uncle Jack go. We’ve got what we want. Fin will be punished for his crimes in Natatoria. I don’t want his death on my conscience.”
Alaster’s chest heaved. “You’re not going to be the only one on the royal court, Colin. I will make the decisions around here.”
I struggled in Alaster’s arm and yanked on the vial chained to his belt. The chain snapped, knocking the vial to the ground. He didn’t notice, too busy arguing with Colin. But how was I going to get it to Fin?
Colin protectively moved in front of Galadriel. “Don’t do this, Father.”
“Do what? Claim my destiny? Give my rotten brother the life of misery he deserves? I was stupid to assume you could handle the power. You’re not even royalty yet and you’re ordering me around. I’m the one who deserves the praise. I found the princess. Both of them!”
Colin stretched his arm for a javelin on the wall, but Alaster launched the one in his hand first, hitting Colin in the side. Galadriel shrieked and caught him as he flopped onto her, blood pouring from the wound.
“Father?” he said, terror and confusion in his eyes.
“You’re as worthless as your mother.”
Alaster held me tighter against his body. I gasped as tears spilled over my cheeks. The blood pooled on the deck under Colin.
“You’re a monster,” Galadriel screamed as she pressed her hand over the wound. “This will not be tolerated!”
“Oh, yeah?” He fastened his arm around my waist and pulled me toward the porthole. “I don’t need your approval, Princess. And since I don’t need the both of you, I’ll take my chances with the compliant one.”
Alaster’s nostrils flared before he took another javelin off the wall and flung it at Galadriel, hitting her tail. She cried out and fell on top of Colin, blood spilling everywhere.
“No!” I screamed as Alaster dropped me down the hole and pushed my head under the water. He sealed the hatch behind him as I beat on his chest.
“Shut up and come with me.” He fisted my hair and pulled me into the belly of the lake.
I shrieked and held onto his hand to stop the pain radiating over my scalp. “I won’t go with you! You can’t make me!”
He got within inches of my face. “You will go with me and be happy about it. And once we’re promised, you’ll happily do everything I say or something might happen to that sweet sister of yours. Lucy is it?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
I lifted my hand and showed him my tattoo. “But I’m promised to Fin.”
He gritted his teeth and then smiled, flashing a gold tooth. “Not for long, love.”
He swam off, still holding me by the hair. I watched the opening of the tunnel until it disappeared from sight, unsure where he was taking me.
39
:::
ASH
Friday, early morning, April 22nd
Alaster finally let go of my hair after he pushed me through a hole in the granite on the bottom of Lake Tahoe. I surfaced inside an air-filled corridor. Oddly, bluish-light lit the roughly hewn cave. I couldn’t hold in my tears any longer.
“Stop your blubbering already. I need to think!” he yelled.
I sat on a rock in the corner with my arms folded around my new fin and stifled my sobs. The unpredictable monster before me pirated my very breath: one who’d made me endure horrific pain, fatally wounded his son, his nephew, and the Princess Galadriel, all because it benefited him. And if Fin didn’t survive, I’d be trapped in Natatoria like Tatchi, promised to Alaster forever, and my human dad couldn’t rescue me because I had this—this appendage for legs now. I’d be sentenced to do nothing less than obey him for the rest of my life.
He studied me intently. “Where’d you come from?”
My shoulders slunk in helplessness. “Here, in Tahoe.”
“How old are you?”
I turned to hide my smirk at the irony. Most likely midnight had passed making today my birthday. Some present. “I’m eighteen.”
“Are you a twin maybe? Or—” He scratched his beard. “How’d you get to Tahoe?”
“I was born here, how else?” I stated firmly, but the details of my birth swirled in my head.
Mom had always joked I was the first homebirth baby mix-up because the ultrasound showed clear as day I was a boy. She’d also bragged how she practically slept through the delivery and awoke in shock to find a 10-pounds, 6-ounce girl in her arms—two pounds heavier than anticipated. Unlike Lucy, who hurt like the dickens at 7-pounds and took thirty hours to grace the world with her presence. Neither my mother nor my sister had a matching mark like Galadriel and I had. Could the birthmark really be a sign of royalty and not a random mark?
Alaster’s frustrated growl ripped through my thoughts. “That’s not what I meant! Just stop talking!” Alaster treaded water farther from me, mumbling to himself. Then he stopped, stunned and breathless. He began to laugh. “I can’t believe it. This is far better than I imagined.” He blinked several times; his mouth gaped wide. “So if you’re the only promised princess in the King’s shoal, and something happened to the royal family, accidentally of course, that would mean I’d be the king. King! Of course, in order to secure my rule, you’d need to give me a son, but that could be managed.”
I jolted my head backward. Who cared about the part where he’d become king? I’d die before I ever let him touch me.
“Maybe we should start now.” He waggled an eyebrow.
“No!” I twisted to get away.
He came at me quickly, grabbed my wrists, and ground his fat body hard against mine. I screamed and thrashed my tail in the water, but he’d glued me against the wall. He hummed for a moment, obviously enjoying the close touch, then held my hands above my head against the cave wall. I screamed again, clawing and thrashing with all my strength.
His eyes zeroed in on my promising tattoo. “This won’t do either.”
He yanked my arm outward, and with his free hand, he took a blade from behind his back and sliced through my skin quickly. Painful fire radiated from my fingertips as my bloodied pinkie and ring finger toppled into the water with two soft plops. I screamed in horror and in pain; blood gushed everywhere.
Below us in the deep water, the tattoo shimmered and disappeared out of sight.
“You’ll be fine in a minute, so stop your sniveling.”
The pain, nothing remotely close to what happened earlier, lessened and the bleeding ceased. Two raw nubs were all that remained. I looked at him and wiped away a tear.
He smirked. “See? I told you. Now we can go.”
My face remained tight as I swallowed down the tears and cradled my hand. He’d take me, but he could never have me—not my spirit.
He ran his rough meat-hook hand over my cheek. “Good. I like my girls tough. After all, you’ll be queen someday and you’ll have to set an example.” He arched his brow. “Maybe Fin is dead already.”
“What?”
Before I knew it, his hand gripped my chin and his slimy lips were on mine—the taste of seaweed and rotten fish filled my mouth as he slid his tongue inside, practically probing my tonsils. I recoiled and pushed him away, spitting out his slobber. But the deep consuming dread something bad would happen to Fin evaporated off of me, like a heavy blanket had
been lifted on a hot summer day. Alaster threw his head back and sucked in a deep breath of air; a smile formed on his lips. “There we go, lovey. You’re not so annoying anymore.”
I looked at him and felt nothing—just a dull sense of numbness. Was he promised to me now? Colin had mentioned I’d long for whoever kissed me, but he was wrong. I wanted nothing of Alaster, other than his death.
“Now,” he moved my wet hair off my forehead, “when we get to Natatoria, you’ll follow my lead. You have amnesia. So anything they ask, you don’t know. Got it?”
Evergreen (Mer Tales, Book 2) Page 22