ASH
Friday morning, April 22nd
My fin sprouted from my hips easily as I dove into the lake. Galadriel and Jax’s scents were fresh in the water, but Fin’s wasn’t anywhere to be found. They would have returned with Fin if they’d found him, so instead of following their trail, I darted over to the tunnel instead. Clean musk that I knew to be Fin’s infused the water along with stinky fish smell: Alaster. The bassface went in for Fin after we were rescued by the firemen and they’d recently left the basement together. Was Fin okay? I wanted to rip Alaster’s jugular from his throat and chop off his fingers.
My pulse thrummed as I sped along. I knew in my heart Fin was alive, but what did Alaster plan to do with him? What did he tell him? Were they in Natatoria already? Was Alaster taking him before the King? Going to Natatoria alone freaked me out, but I had to find Fin.
I wove past a large school of trout and veered to the left to follow the trail. The scents swirled and faded in the current, abruptly ending.
“Fin!” I called. “Are you here? Fin!”
Scared, the fish darted away, disturbing the water even more.
I returned to the spot where the scents were the strongest and swam in a circle, trying to pick up the trail. Everywhere I swam, the scent ended.
“Fin!” I cried. “Please…”
Knowing most likely they’d end up by the gateway, I swam down into the inky depths and entered the cave, terrified I’d find Alaster instead of Fin. The eerie blue light bounced against the water and created moving shadows along the walls, unnerving me. I froze in terror, remembering all that happened here.
“Fin,” I whispered in desperation. “Where are you?”
I sat in the spot where Alaster kissed me and looped my arms around my fin. They’d eventually come this way, so staying here might as well be where I waited. But this place haunted me, the burial ground of my severed fingers. Below me, something in the water sparkled. I swam down and found my pinkie and ring finger stuck between the rocks. I surfaced and held the appendages in my palm. They were pink, as if they were still alive.
Then the pinkie twitched. I shriek and flipped my hand. The fingers snapped onto my raw wounds like magnets.
A slow itch tingled over my skin. I didn’t move my hand at first, afraid the fingers would snap off. Involuntarily, they flexed. I touched the fingertips to my thumb. They had feeling. Beyond a tiny hairline scar, the fingers magically reattached themselves. I formed my hand into a fist and squeezed. Good as new.
The water undulated around me. A head of white hair swam up from the cave entrance below the water. Alaster. I screamed. My nightmare was about to relive itself.
Fin popped out of the water. “Ash! It’s me.”
“Oh, Fin.” My body heaved but I couldn’t move from the rock.
He spanned the distance between us and took my cheeks between his hands. He kissed me, hot and urgent. I melted into him, hugging him hard. He was alive and okay.
But then I pushed away. He had to know the truth.
“Stop,” I said. “You can’t. I’ve… Alaster…”
“Shhh,” Fin put his finger to my lips, “I know already.”
I blinked in disbelief. “You do? How?”
“He told me.” A sliver of darkness slid over his eyes.
Ashamed, I turned my face away from him. “Don’t look at me. I’m disgusting.”
Fin enfolded me in his arms and pressed his body against mine. “Why would you say that?”
“Because, for you, for the mers, kissing is like…”
He caressed my cheek, inviting me to look at him. “Without the promise, it’s just kissing.”
“But still.” I forced my face downward.
“He’s the filthy animal, not you. I love you.” He tilted my chin upward with his finger, holding me there. “My uncle broke the law. He violated you. For that you shouldn’t be ashamed.”
I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t. Nothing changed the fact it happened.
Fin’s eyes narrowed. “My uncle can burn my home, try to kill me, take everything I own, but as long as I’m living, he can’t have you—actually, even in my death, he still can’t have you.”
“But I thought the promise bonded people, regardless of feelings, and they released when one died?”
A coy smile curved his lips. “The promise is just a way of survival for my people. My uncle is a prime example of how the promise isn’t a magic wand for love. He’s never been happy, even with my late Aunt Grace. You would have never guessed they were bonded. All he cared about was Colin’s happiness. Look how quickly that changed. I’m starting to understand the secret. The happiest mer couples are the ones who loved each other first. The promise enhances that relationship; otherwise it could eventually become a nuisance. I loved you before your accident with the boat on the lake.”
I sniffled. “So, you still want me?”
Fin rested his forehead against mine. “Of course I want you,” he whispered as he wrapped his hands around my jaw. “I’m connected, heart, mind, and soul to you. Please know that.”
He ran his hands down my sides and found my hands. Surprise lit his face as he felt over my newly attached fingers. “What?”
I smiled. “They reattached.”
“Wow.” he blinked in amazement and kissed each one. My scar tingled. “Now, my ginger girl, will you please come with me to Natatoria?”
I didn’t respond, my heart ping-ponging around in my ribcage. Though Fin wanted me, I wasn’t so sure Natatoria was the place for me anymore. What would my family think? My friends? Everyone?
“Ash, are you okay?”
“No.” I looked down, ashamed. “This isn’t at all how I wanted it to turn out—when I converted.”
He wrapped me up in his arms. “I know and you don’t know how sorry I am about that.”
“Maybe leaving isn’t such a good idea.”
Fin pulled back. The corners of his lips turned down. “What? Why?”
“Well, I mean—school is going to ask questions, my coach, and my friends and family. Colin has told everyone I’m leaving on a mission trip to Africa. They’re all going to see through that. It’s absurd.”
“Colin?”
I swallowed hard. “Ferdinand switched him back into a mer.”
“Oh.” His eyes tapered as he looked away. “So, are you suggesting we stay here in Tahoe?”
My eyes closed and I took a deep breath. “Or, you could change me back. Just for a while. So I can finish up school.”
With a groan he pushed his hand through his hair. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
I blinked up at him in concern.
His countenance dropped. “If I change you back into a human, you’ll lose your memory.”
“What do you mean? You said I could keep my memories.”
“Until recently, no one ever explained specifically what happened to one’s memories after a conversion.”
“What?” I stiffened my shoulders.
“Colin’s a prime example. Did you think I made him forget everything after he accidentally converted in the basement?”
“But he remembered later. After he became a merman again, he remembered up until that point.”
Fin’s face fell in shock. “He what?”
“All he forgot was the time he was human. If you convert me, I’ll forget the kiss. I’ll only remember up to when Alaster fed me the essence. Then I could finish out high school and we could then talk about when it would be a good time for me to become a mermaid. Plan it better.”
“But, Ash…” He moved away from me.
“And you’d be free from the bond so it’s not so overwhelming.”
“Why are you saying this? Is it because Alaster kissed you?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.”
How could he still love me after everything? I didn’t want to remember the kiss anymore.
He took me in his arms. “Ash, I don’t know where all of this is com
ing from. But I don’t want to take that chance with your memories, not to mention I can’t live in a world where I’m not with you. You’re my everything and the thought of losing you kills me. I know this is scary and that going to Natatoria won’t be easy, but I’ll be there. And once we rescue Tatiana and set the kingdom straight, we’ll come back and rebuild the house. I want to marry you on our beach in front of God and everyone, under the evergreens. Don’t you understand the depths of my love for you?”
I blinked back at him as my lip trembled.
“Please, Ash. Please don’t do this to me, to us.”
“You’ll bring me home to Tahoe?”
“Of course I will. Nothing has to change. I don’t want to go to Natatoria without you with me.”
His lips came crashing to mine, hard and wanting. I wrapped my hands around his neck and tangled them in his hair. He still desired me, even after everything. Our kiss, hot and delicious, zinged an electric trail down my body to my fin. Joyful tears sprang from my eyes. He loved me and was my life now, and all I wanted was him—forever—on land or water.
44
:::
FIN
Friday morning, April 22nd
As Ash and I swam hand-in-hand to her house, I grew angrier by the second. I’d almost lost my girl again over stupid technicalities of the conversion. Did no one know the truth of what happened to the memories pre and post conversion? Sissy and Hans of all people should, considering they’d converted people all the time. I understood the subject was taboo, but after what I’d experienced, Natatorians needed to talk about it. Everyone needed to know the dangers. When I saw my parents again, they were going to get an earful. Hopefully, Galadriel would change Natatorian customs once she took over, for this and for prearranged promisings.
We emerged, hopped onto the dock, and silently walked the short distance as if it were a gangplank to our death. Ash’s newly adhered fingers gripped mine hard as we embarked on the hardest part of our journey. The good-bye. I’d look her father in the eye and tell him I was taking his little girl. I gulped down my nerves. This was completely opposite of my original plan. I’d wanted to ask for Ash’s hand without persuasion. But now… we didn’t have a choice.
“So, Colin’s inside?” I asked to try to distract her.
“Yes.”
“And he remembers everything?”
“He seems to, yes.”
I sucked in a deep breath, annoyed. I wasn’t ready to forgive him for what he’d done. Galadriel wasn’t going to be pleased either.
“Oh… I almost completely forgot.” From within the folds of the dress that barely covered her body, she produced a waterlogged phone. “Crap.”
I chuckled. “You, too?”
She frowned. “Your dad had called earlier and left a message.”
“My dad?”
“Yeah.” She tapped the phone against her palm. Water dripped out of the sides. “He called after you’d left. I—I thought it was you.”
“Oh, right.” I exhaled hard. That was lifetimes ago. “What did he say?”
“I didn’t have a chance to listen to it before—you know.” She shrugged and put the phone back in her pocket. “He must be pretty worried.”
I glanced over at the house—all his work up in smoke. There was a lot more to be worried about than just me. “Yeah. I bet he is.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“He left to go out of town. There wasn’t time to explain.”
“You can call him in the house, if you want.”
“That’s a good idea.” I gripped her hand tighter. We’d fight one battle at a time.
Ash wrung the extra water from her skirt before we entered the house.
“Ashlyn,” Mom said, leaping to her feet. “Where were you—you’re all wet? And—what are you wearing?”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Ash walked forward, dripping on the carpet.
I sang for everyone to ignore Ash’s attire. Her mom sat back down. Ash ran and grabbed a towel before she joined her mom on the couch. Colin sat on the other side of the sectional, next to Ash’s grandma with a smug smile as if he were family. He wore a Lake Tahoe Fire T-shirt and a pair of tan shorts—probably Ash’s Dad’s.
I glared. “I can take over from here, Cousin.”
“Fin,” Colin said with a sneer, “nice to see you. I thought you’d bring my princess with you. Where’s Galadriel?”
I smirked and shook my head. “Your princess is with Jax, her promised mate. They have your father in custody in the lake. You’re welcome to join them. I’m sure Galadriel would love to see you.”
“What?” Colin’s face fell and I almost laughed at his disappointment. He let out a huff. “Well, that’s just great.”
I wondered if I should tell him, though he’d helped us in the end, Galadriel wasn’t too keen with his part in Alaster’s plan.
Mrs. Lanski’s shoulders stiffened. “In the lake? What are you talking about, Fin? What princess? I don’t understand, Ash. None of this makes sense.” Her volume increased. “You’re not finished with school yet. Or swimming. And why are the two of you all wet?”
Ash began to sniffle And my heart broke for her.
I closed my eyes and sang to the family—that I’d take good care of Ash, and her mission in Africa was needed more than they could ever know. I told them not to worry and that we’d be back soon.
Both of the Lanski women’s faces softened.
“I’m proud of you, dear.” Gran reached over to pat Ash’s hand. “To give up your dreams to help others. You be safe, honey.”
Ash rolled her eyes and puckered her lip as I walked over and sat next to her.
“This is silly,” she whispered. “I don’t like this story.”
“But it’s sort of the truth. You are going on a mission to save Tatchi and the Natatorians.”
“Yeah, but not in Africa.” She looked off to the side and frowned. “People are going to think my parents are whacked. Who runs off and saves tribes when you’re an Olympic hopeful?”
Mrs. Lanski rubbed Ash’s knee. “We’re so proud of you.”
Ash huffed and leaned her head against the back of the couch. “There’s nothing to be proud of, Mom.”
“If there’s something else you’d like me to tell them, I’ll tell them whatever you want,” I said.
Ash closed her eyes. “Just—just tell them not to worry. That I’m with you and I’ll be back soon.”
I did again, just to pacify her, but Ash looked pained the entire time.
“Should we wait for your dad?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She buried her naked toes into the carpet while her arms stayed firmly tucked across her chest.
The silence grew unbearable.
Colin jumped up and started to pace. “Are we done? I want to see Dad,” he said with a growl.
“You’re free to go.” I pointed to the door.
He leaned against the wall and sighed. “Believe it or not, I do care about this family.”
“Whatever.” I looked at the clock—just past 10 AM. “Ash, do you think it would be okay if I called now? While we’re waiting?”
“Sure. And I need to get one thing from upstairs,” Ash said and popped off the couch.
I gave her a quick smile before heading into the kitchen. Emptiness filled her patronizing grin. I wondered if we were doing the right thing. Was I forcing her to go with me? Should I allow her to convert back and stay here?
I picked up the phone and dialed my old cell number. “Dad?”
“Finley Helton!” Dad barked in my ear. “What is going on? Where are you?”
I closed my eyes and held my breath for a moment. This explanation would take patience—for the both of us.
“In California,” I said. “It’s been quite a journey.”
After I explained Ash and Azor’s switch at birth, Galadriel’s changed demeanor, my uncle’s involvement, Colin’s conversion and return to the mer, and the status of the hou
se, the phone line went silent.
“Dad? You there?”
“I’m here—just processing,” he said, worry oozing from his voice.
“What happened in Scotland?”
“It’s bad, Fin. No one will admit who’s in my secret army, so the King’s putting pressure on everyone. The betas have been locked up, or given bracelets to keep them in Natatoria. And no one is allowed out. There are armed men at every gate. I told Dorian we weren’t ready to go in yet, but with Galadriel’s willingness to overtake her kingdom and the proof that Azor isn’t the King’s son—that changes everything. Is it true no one is guarding Tahoe?”
Evergreen (Mer Tales, Book 2) Page 26