by Amber Garr
Ever since I became a clan leader, shifting into a mermaid had become almost instantaneous. I looked down at my hip where the leadership pin was still attached to my side and wrapped my hand around it. The golden double wave pendent warmed under my touch and I felt the energy vibrating from its core. It was the first time in several days that I’d made contact with it, and now I wondered if that was another reason why I felt so lost.
The water swirled suddenly around my feet, but Graham was too quick for me to catch a glance of him. I decided I needed to change in order to heal both physically and mentally. It was the only way for me to continue here, so I stripped off my clothes and hovered at the edge of the opening.
Without submerging completely, I willed my tail to form and gritted my teeth as the transition occurred. It was more painful than usual but at the same time it felt comforting and real. All of the aches along my body began to tingle as they healed. My vision adjusted to the darkness and I could suddenly see clearer than most animals and all humans.
With one last deep breath, I dropped beneath the surface, anxious to be in my other home.
Eviana
The warm and salty water reminded me of my brief time in Florida. From the moment I was submersed, the energy coursed through my body like it was healing me from the inside out. Slowly, life began to feel right again.
Looking around, I noticed that the light came from four different directions. I swam toward one of them and it nearly blinded my vision. It was so bright and beautiful, I just wanted to be closer to it. But as I should have expected, that wasn’t going to happen. My head pushed against something hard, forcing me to stop.
The perimeter of our little swimming hole was encased by fencing material. The holes were large enough for small fish to pass through, but not nearly big enough for us. Pressing my face against the mesh, I closed my eyes and let the sadness meander through me. Of course Lucian wouldn’t let us escape so easily. In fact, I’m sure he wouldn’t let us escape at all.
I followed the edges of the fence with my hands only to find that it extended all of the way to the sea floor. It probably dropped twenty feet below the surface and the hardened plastic-coated material was welded into the solid coral bottom. There was no way a mermaid would be able to break out of here.
Graham swam along the far edge of our underwater cage, presumably looking for a weak spot like I was. He tried to use some of his water manipulating skills to push the bottom of the fence away, but it didn’t work.
Sinking to the sea floor, I curled up in a ball and tucked my head tightly against my tail. For all the energy the water initially gave to me, I felt depressed and defeated again. I could blame it on the drugs, but it really seemed as if the problem was of my doing. All of the choices I’d made over the past few months had, in a way, led up to this moment. It wasn’t totally my fault, but that didn’t help me feel any less responsible.
I don’t know how long I was laying there feeling sorry for myself before I sensed Graham beside me. We couldn’t necessarily speak underwater, but there were other ways in which we were able to communicate. Call it a natural instinct or a chemical signal, but whatever it was, we could understand each other.
I saw his concern for my well being and that made my heart beat, for just an instant. Graham was incredibly handsome and witty and he had made me question some of my relationship choices before. Our time training together at Jeremiah’s made me miss his touch. However, after his actions in Montana, I couldn’t afford to allow him any further into my heart and my head.
We sat on the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by the fence and light, for what seemed like hours. In reality, it wasn’t quite that long since we had to come up for air. Mermaids don’t have gills, so we need to compensate for that just like the dolphins and seals.
Seals. Selkies. Brendan. How I longed for his comfort, his voice, his touch at this minute. Perhaps part of the reason why I was in such a funk was because of my ex-boyfriend. As an adult selkie, Brendan had felt the call to mate which could only be done with a human. Despite being together for eight years, his instincts took precedence and he’d left me. My pride was injured, but even more, I mourned the loss of my best friend and partner in life. For a few months we had happiness, before everything was ruined. My ability to control him combined with his instinct to have a child, didn’t allow for a cohesive and healthy relationship.
When Graham and I surfaced back inside our coral-walled prison, we noticed that someone had brought us two plates of food. Without speaking to him, I pulled myself out of the water and willed my legs to come back to me. Considering our history, I might have had some concern over Graham seeing me naked, but once again, I couldn’t muster up the energy to care.
“I see they’ve improved the food,” he commented.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m not eating,” I said without even looking at the plates. Now that we had the light from underwater, it made it easier to move about the room and identify what Lucian’s cronies were feeding us.
“No?”
“Nope,” I said as I finished pulling my shirt over my head. When I turned around, I saw Graham chewing on a piece of pineapple and sifting through the rest of the items. Much to my dismay, my stomach growled. It was so loud that Graham chuckled.
“Perhaps your body wants some nourishment.”
“I don’t care.”
“Suit yourself, tart.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. The smell of the food was overwhelming and I couldn’t help but look down at it. “Don’t call me that,” I said but spoke more to the plate. There was some type of fish wrapped in a banana leaf and it smelled delicious.
“You’re drooling,” he teased.
“It’s probably poisoned.”
He bit into another piece of fruit. “Well, I haven’t eaten anything solid in days, so I’ll take my chances.” Grabbing his plate, he sat down cross-legged on the floor and proceeded to stuff his face.
Tempted, I fought the urge to give in. I didn’t really know what the purpose of my hunger strike was and how it would help get me out of here. I guess I just wanted to be difficult.
“You know,” Graham started while swallowing a large chunk of food, “starving yourself will only keep you trapped in here longer.”
“What are you talking about?” I groaned.
“I heard the two guards talking. The woman told the man that if you would eat something, Lucian would be much happier, which probably means you’ll get out of this room.”
“Really?”
“Possibly. What do you have to lose?”
“I don’t want to be here at all.”
“Well who does, luv?” He gestured to the four walls and his battered body, still not completely healed from his change. The injuries must have been bad. “Do you think I chose this?”
“That is exactly what you did.”
“Hmm… point taken.” He stood and walked closer to my corner. “I didn’t actually choose to betray Lucian and suffer those consequences.” His eyes sparkled when he spoke again. “I was overcome with emotion.”
“Get away from me,” I said. I didn’t need to hear Graham profess his affection for me when it was his fault I was here in the first place.
In response, he laughed and pushed the other plate toward me. “You really need to eat.”
“No.”
“Your body will not be able to continue changing between forms if you starve yourself.” That was a very practical argument and one that I had to ponder for a while. It felt good to transition, even if I was still trapped in an underwater cage. Plus I knew that I would have to do it again to maintain my sanity. Reluctantly, I grabbed the plate. Graham smiled and it nearly broke my composure.
I ate everything and continued to eat each meal they dropped off the next few times. Graham stayed in the prison with me and after a full day of minimal conversation, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you know where we are?” I asked one evening.
“They’re selkies?”
“Couldn’t you tell? I thought you had a sixth sense about them.”
I leaned back against the wall and sighed. I’d always been able to recognize a selkie because I grew up with one. I never even questioned the identity of the tiny woman and the fish-smelling man that gave us our food. My mind wouldn’t process anything. Suddenly, I had another realization.
“They haven’t drugged me since you’ve been here.”
Graham shrugged and began to pull off his clothes. He spoke once his shirt flew into the corner. “Maybe they think I’m addictive enough for you.”
“You’re a real piece of work,” I groaned. I had mixed feelings about him after being trapped in here together. On one hand, I still hated him. He had lied and handed me over to Lucian. But on the other hand, I saw a side of him that I doubted anyone had ever witnessed. He was just a young guy thrown into a situation that was out of his control. It didn’t mean that we were friends again, but I could sympathize a little with that kind of pressure.
Graham jumped to his feet and shimmied his pants down to his ankles. I turned my head away. “You coming?” he asked playfully.
“No, not tonight.” I wanted to get in but it felt too uncomfortable right now.
“Suit yourself,” he said and dove into the water without making a splash.
I spent my alone time clearing our plates and folding his clothes. It was simply something to keep me busy. When Graham finally surfaced again, I noticed that most of the bruises and cuts on his body had healed. My head also felt better, although changing forms did little to help heal the wounds on my psyche.
Depressed again, I huddled into my corner trying to will sleep to come. Being alone with my thoughts didn’t help calm me down. I kept thinking about home. About Kain, Daniel, Brendan, and even Marisol. I silently cried for my parents and my uncle, realizing that I may never get to bury him properly.
Graham shuffled over to me and a few seconds later I felt his body snuggle against the back of mine. I threw an elbow in his direction. “What are you doing?”
“You look cold.”
“I’m not.”
“I saw you shivering.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and nuzzled his head against the back of my neck. Did I admit that I was crying or let him believe that I was cold?
“I don’t need you to do this,” I said stiffly.
“I want to, tart,” he replied and squeezed me tighter so I couldn’t hit him for the tart comment.
“This isn’t going to be a regular occurrence,” I reminded him as I relished in the comfort his closeness gave right now.
“We’ll see,” he mumbled into the back of my head. I grabbed his arm and threw it off of me enough so I could turn and face him.
“It isn’t! I still don’t like you.”
He smiled and snuck a quick kiss on my forehead. “I know. Now flip back over so we can spoon.”
“Ugh. You are so frustrating!”
He continued to laugh as I wiggled back to my other side. Snuggling with Graham Forrester was the last thing I wanted to do, so I closed my eyes and tried to pretend he was someone else. It surprised me when the first person I thought of was Kain. Perhaps I simply worried for his well-being, since he’d been hurt the last time I saw him. Or perhaps he was the one I missed the most. Either way, I quickly found myself relaxing and was asleep before realizing what happened.
Something wet dripped on my face. I heard Graham stir beside me, but when the dripping continued, I was forced to open my eyes. Rolling over to get a better view, it took me a second to focus on the thing hovering over me.
“Ahh!” I screamed and the ratchet above me snarled, releasing another round of drool on my cheek. The dog-like creature bared his teeth at me.
“Get back you retched mutt,” Graham grunted when he kicked the water sprite in the chest. It whimpered in surprise and fell back into the water.
Just as quickly, a second ratchet sprang up from the opening in the floor and latched onto Graham’s pant leg. They tugged and pulled with each other until finally the door to our room swung open.
The large fish-man, or selkie as I now knew, rushed over to us and yanked Graham away from the ratchet and up to his feet. Graham struggled to find his balance and then took a swing at the man. It was easily dodged and earned the merman a toss into the far wall.
I scrambled to my knees to try and do something to fight back. Before I could even stand, both ratchets were above my head, daring me to make a move. I’d dealt with ratchets before and knew what they were capable of. Larger than a wolf and able to fight on land and in water, I understood when I was outmatched.
“What do you want?” I asked the selkie who was now picking Graham back up off the ground.
“You, stay,” he grunted in my direction and I almost made a snide remark. He opened the door further and began to pull Graham out of the room.
“Where are you taking him?” I yelled. The ratchets barked at me and I instantly cowered back down. They were a little too close to my head and throat for me to challenge them. Instead, I tried to force my command onto the selkie. When he continued to shuffle out of the room, I knew that my powers had been severely weakened.
“I’ll be okay, Eviana,” Graham yelled back in my direction.
Without saying another word, the selkie slammed the door, leaving me alone with the two ratchets. I hunched lower to the ground hoping that they would not consider me a threat. It worked, and a few moments later I heard them slip back into the water.
I started to cry. This weakness had become a part of me that I didn’t want to accept. Why couldn’t I fight more? Why didn’t I scream and yell and demand that they take me to Lucian? The moment I began to feel better, they took Graham away from me. I was unable to stop it from happening just like I had so little control over the rest of my life.
For hours, I stayed in that room alternating between depression and anger. I hated feeling sorry for myself yet the will to fight bled away into the stone floor. With every sob I lost another ounce of determination.
When the door opened again, I barely noticed the appearance of the ratchet’s heads at the water surface. I didn’t bother to look up at the person that entered my prison. Let them drag me out of here.
“Eviana?”
Lucian’s voice sent shivers down my spine and that put my senses on high alert. I froze.
“I know you’re awake.” He pushed the door all of the way opened and for the first time in days I smelled the fresh outside air. It was filled with the scent of salt and moisture and low tide. It was lovely.
Lucian’s footsteps got closer to my head. Thankfully, I had my back in his direction. “I see that you have been eating.” I heard him move the empty plates to the side. “I guess Master Forrester’s visit did some good after all.”
I knew that he wanted a reaction from me so I tried to stay perfectly still. “Eviana, it is rude not to look at someone when they are speaking to you,” he continued. “Sit up!”
My head began to pulse with a sharp stabbing pain. I remember feeling this way before and my blood boiled with rage.
“Stop it!” I yelled, unable to prevent my body from sitting upright. Lucian had control of me and it was the worst feeling in the world.
“You don’t have to be so difficult, you know,” he chided.
I sat up, facing my poor excuse for a father, and the headache instantly disappeared. Tempted to turn away from him, I decided to save my energy for another battle.
“Where’s Graham?” I asked.
He made some sort of face before tossing a smile in my direction. “You’re quite fond of him, aren’t you?”
“No. I just want to know where he is.” I guessed that Lucian had the abili
ty to sense lies considering all of the other powers he possessed, and when he grinned, I knew I was right.
“It’s not important,” he finally answered. “I want you to come with me.”
“Why?”
“Do I need a reason to request my daughter’s presence at my side?”
“After keeping her locked up like a criminal? Yes, you do,” I countered.
He sighed and stepped away from me. “I would like to show you to your room.”
I snorted. “What? This isn’t it? But it’s so nice here. What could possibly top these wonderful living quarters.”
“Your sarcasm is noted and it is not becoming of a leader.”
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes.
“You will come with me and I will show you your room, then we will have dinner together. Am I clear?”
As if on command, the ratchets jumped out of the water and sat down on their haunches on each side of the merman.
“You can call off the dogs, Lucian.”
“Why don’t you call me father.”
“Why don’t I call you…” The ratchets barked at me again before I could finish my sentence. It was probably for the best.
“Come,” Lucian said and held out his hand. I quickly weighed the pros and cons and decided I would have a better chance of escaping once I was out of this room. I refused his hand but stood on my own and followed him out the door.
Kain
My side ached with every breath but it was still better than it felt a few days ago. Being skewered on a sword didn’t bode well for me, or probably anyone for that matter. Lucian’s surprise attack had nearly killed me and I would be dead if it hadn’t been for the doctors. I’d also heard that Eviana kept pressure on the wound until they arrived, which inevitably stopped me from bleeding out. She had saved my life and that sent a wave of warmth through my heart.
I didn’t remember too much of that night or even of the past few days. Aside from encouraging a couple of transitions in the bathtub, the doctors had kept me sedated. Every time I asked for Eviana, Julian would appear and persuade me to sleep. It felt like everyone was hiding something from me, but I hadn’t been strong enough to force it out of them.