Merman's Bond (Merman's Kiss, Book 3)

by Dee J. Stone

  I can see the defeat and hopelessness on his face, like he doesn’t think it will work. I don’t know if it will, but we need to try. I tell him to close his eyes and concentrate on meshing our energies together, then to picture Doria in his mind. He nods. I close mine and locate Damarian’s pulse. I gnaw on my lip as I use every ounce of strength I have to merge ourselves into one. But this time, I focus on going into Damarian’s mind and body. Since he’s Doria’s brother and is closer to her than I can ever be, I hope giving him my energy would amplify his ability to sense her. If the rebels are somehow making themselves unsearchable, maybe Damarian and I could break the barrier.

  Like when we located Fiske, images fly through my mind. Damarian is searching the ocean, passing the fish and other sea life, seeking any sign of Doria or the rebels. This goes on for a while, until the images stop right before the opening to the Deep. I sense the thoughts racing through his head. Could she be down here? The Guard has searched the Deep many times but have not seen any rebels down there.

  Suddenly, Doria’s face flashes before my eyes. Only for a second, maybe less. I feel Damarian’s heart rate spike. He tries to hang onto the trail, but it’s lost.

  Our connection breaks.

  “I have seen her,” Damarian says, grabbing my arms.

  “Me, too. Does that mean she’s in the Deep?”

  Damarian scratches the back of his neck. “Although I saw her face when my mind was near the Deep, I received a…feeling.”

  “What kind of feeling?”

  “It was as though she was sending me a warning.”

  “A warning not to go into the Deep?”

  “I do not know. I received another feeling as well.” His head turns toward the left. “I believe Doria is in that direction, and she wishes us to search for her there.”

  I didn’t experience any of those sensations, but maybe that’s because I wasn’t the one who was reaching out to Doria—I was just providing Damarian with more fuel. It’s possible she felt her brother seeking her, and she tried to send him a message. Could it be a trap? What if rebels are holding her hostage and forced her to send that message to Damarian?

  But if there’s any chance that it was Doria who tried to contact Damarian, we need to check it out. “Let’s go,” I say.

  Our hands find each other and we speed toward the direction we think Doria might be. I prepare myself for the possibility of getting ambushed by rebels. If that happens, we’ll fight until we kill every last one. We’ve done it before when they blocked us from swimming to land and we’ll do it again. Until we have Doria safe and sound.

  As we continue to rush through the water, I see something blurry in the distance. I’m about to point it out to Damarian, but by the look on his face, I know he sees it, too. It doesn’t stop him from slowing down. I don’t stop, either. If that thing is a rebel, we’ll run right over him.

  Doria appears before our eyes.

  Damarian and I make such a short stop that we tumble forward, our hands flying apart. My body somersaults in the water. I’m so disoriented that I can’t stop myself. The next thing I feel is pain on my forehead, followed by stars.

  I land in someone’s arms. With my head hammering, I look up. A face I don’t recognize stares down at me. A man with deep blue eyes and dark red hair. My eyes trek down his body, down his broad chest and clear-colored tail. A Diamond. Kytero.

  “Unhand her at once!” Damarian bullets toward us and snatches me out of Kytero’s arms. He touches the side of my head. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” I massage the lump forming there. “Just a headache.”

  “We cannot remain here,” Doria says. “Come.”

  She swims away, followed by Kytero. Damarian and I exchange a glance before trailing after them. Doria stops before a tall wall of rock. Looking to her right and left, she nods to Kytero. He moves forward and runs his index finger down, then across to the right, then back up. The wall lowers, revealing an opening. Doria and Kytero enter, and Damarian and I do the same. We find ourselves in a cave that looks like any other ordinary cave in the ocean.

  “What is this place?” I ask.

  Damarian sends death glares at Kytero, who doesn’t flinch. I look at Doria. “The sea has many caves such as this,” she says. “Many are unknown to the children of the sea, due to the key that is required to open them.” She glances at Kytero before saying, “Rebels have hidden here.”

  Damarian finally pulls his gaze off Kytero to look at his sister. “Doria, what is the meaning of this?” He waves his hands around. I don’t know if he meant to raise his voice. Doria winces. He must realize, because his face softens and he pats her arm. “Forgive me. Please explain.”

  She glances at Kytero again, nothing but pure love shining in her eyes. “We have…” She faces Damarian and takes a deep breath. “Kytero and I have been meeting. Secretly.”

  “Because of his family,” I say. “Because they’re part of the rebels.”

  Doria winces again. “Kytero is a member of the rebels as well.”

  I gape at her. It looks like Damarian is having a minor heart attack. I swim over and place my arms around him. “Doria, explain everything from the beginning,” I say.

  She swims to Kytero’s side and lays her head on his shoulder. He rests his on hers. It’s obvious these two have undying love for one another. Damarian’s face softens a little more.

  “We have been friends for many moons,” Doria says. “Since we were fry.”

  “It has been difficult for my family since my mother’s death,” Kytero says. “Father spent his hours gathering fish for the elderly and for families who cannot hunt. It was noble, but my brother, sister, and I required him at home.” He kisses the top of Doria’s head. “I very much appreciated Doria’s companionship.”

  “I’m so sorry about your mother,” I say.

  His eyes drop to the ocean floor. “She was attacked by a rogue bull shark.”

  “I didn’t know they were that dangerous,” I say.

  “They are usually not a threat,” Kytero says. “But Mother traveled to a location of a lost vessel that belonged to the humans. She wished to salvage items for my sister.”

  My heart goes out to him and his family.

  “Father carries a lot of pain. It causes him to behave a little harshly at times. I am aware he wishes the best for his fry, but he fails to listen to us. He chose a mate for me. I was torn between my love for Doria and obeying my father’s wishes.”

  Damarian nods in understanding. He can definitely relate to that.

  “We met in secret,” Doria says. “Kytero wished to tell his father at the appropriate time, but he could not find the correct occasion.”

  “Shortly after, Father joined the rebels. It was understood that I, along with my siblings, would join as well. Even though it was not my wish.” His gaze drops again. “I have never seen my father so delighted in a while. It caused a change in the family. We were…happy.”

  Everyone is quiet.

  I see where Kytero’s coming from. His father was practically a zombie after his wife died, and now he found a cause that he can focus his energy on that he hopes will help him get over her death. Kytero and his siblings were probably so happy to see his father passionate about something again.

  “I do not understand,” Damarian says. “Are you a member of the rebels or are you not?”

  “I am,” he says. “Under pretense.”

  “So you’re pretending to be one,” I say.

  He nods. “For information. I have been gathering all I could about their plans and what their ties are with the ancient race. I will relay all the information I have learned to Doria, who will hand it over to the Guard.”

  Damarian runs both his hands through his hair. “Doria, have you been meeting with him here?”

  She shakes her head. “We met closer to the colony. But the Guard has been sending their members farther out. We had no choice but to travel here.”

  “It is s
afe?” he asks.

  “The rebels will not return here,” Kytero says. “The Guard visits here often.”

  “But they don’t see you,” I say. “Because you can turn invisible.”

  The three of them stare at me, surprised.

  “I saw you appear out of thin air. I mean, I saw you appear out of nowhere. It was just like…” My voice trails off. I look at Damarian. He understands what I mean—it was just like what happened when we met the sea serpent inside me. She turned invisible, too.

  “Cloaking,” Kytero says. “A gift from the sea serpents.”

  “How?” I ask.

  “With the help of Linni eels,” Kytero explains

  “Linni eels?” Damarian asks. “They are a myth.”

  “I assure you they are not. The sea serpents have been making good use of the Linni eels—as a means for communication, and as a carrier for cloaking.”

  “How does it work exactly?” I ask.

  “I imagine the sea serpents, in their human forms, board a vessel and travel to the sea. There, they call on the Linni eel. When one makes contact with your skin, it absorbs what you wish for it to absorb. Messages, abilities. All your heart’s desire.”

  “So that’s how the sea serpents and the rebels have been communicating with one another,” I say. “Through these eels. And you say they can carry over abilities?”

  Kytero nods. “Yes, but it is only temporary, lasting a few days.”

  “It is how we avoid detection from the rebels,” Doria says. “We cannot sense one another while cloaked, and it is difficult to locate a child of the sea who resides in a cave. The cave acts as a barrier.”

  That explains why none of the rebels came after Damarian and me when we were in our cave.

  “I do not understand how the sea serpents have the means to transfer the ability to cloak when they cannot do so themselves,” Damarian says.

  “They got a bit of your power,” I say. “That probably amplified the ability. But they’re not strong enough to use it yet. They can only transfer it.”

  Kytero nods. Now we know why the Guard hasn’t been able to locate the rebels, because they’ve been cloaking themselves.

  “Can any of the other rebels follow you to this location?” Damarian asks Kytero. “I do not appreciate Doria being in peril.”

  “I assure you she is quite safe here. I am well aware of when I must report for duty.”

  It looks like Damarian has a sour taste in his mouth.

  “I have a question,” I say, “that maybe you can answer. Something that’s been bothering both Damarian and me for a while.”

  “Yes?” Kytero says.

  “Is, um. Is Syren secretly part of the rebels?”

  Doria and Kytero gawk at me like I asked the most horrific question they’ve ever heard.

  “Father?” Doria asks, seeming too shocked to do anything but just continue to stare.

  “He is not,” Kytero says.

  “Why was it his wish that I take the throne?” Damarian asks.

  “He was not aware of the sea serpents’ existence. Like many of our parents, they were told as stories when they were fry. Their parents wished to tell them the tales, in the event that such an occurrence would transpire again. But our parents have not told us the tales, for they thought they were myth and did not give it a second thought.”

  That’s why Syren freaked when he saw me. He realized the stories his father told him were true.

  “When you were a young fry,” Kytero says to Damarian. “A child of the sea convinced your father to put you on the throne. I do not believe your father, like many of us, were aware of the power the true heir receives once he or she takes the crown. Although the rebels had not formed yet, it is my understanding that the individual was in contact with one of the sea serpents. I believe it was his wish for the true king to take the throne so that in the future, he and his kind would seize the power. Being that Cassie and Damarian had not yet met nor mated, I am not certain how the sea serpents planned to enter the sea. But it was imperative that the rightful king take the throne first.”

  All that mattered was that the true king would take the throne. My father would have planned some other way to enter the sea. But then I took some of Damarian’s power and a solution fell onto his lap. I taste something sour in my mouth, too.

  Damarian scowls. “I have a question as well.” His eyes flash to Kytero. “Why are the children of the sea unable to come to land and shift to humans?”

  Kytero hesitates. Doria takes his hand and gives him an encouraging smile. He nods to her before giving Damarian his full attention. “You are aware that when you and your mate bonded, Cassie absorbed your power. But you are not aware that you absorbed something from her as well.” He pauses. We’re just staring at him, stunned beyond our wits. “Poison,” he says. “From the serpent inside her. When it received your power, it grew stronger, then infected you, Damarian. It inhibits you from journeying to land and shifting to a human. It travels through contact. My assumption is that every child of the sea is infected.”

  Oh my God.

  “It manifests a number of days after contact,” Kytero continues. “That is the reason you were still able to shift, until now. It is also the reason the serpents chose to strike you when they had. For they knew you would be defenseless against them. But I suppose you escaped before the poison took complete control.”

  I cover my face. This is crazy. Everything is spiraling out of control. “What about me?” I ask. “Can I change?”

  “Yes,” Kytero says. “You are immune to the poison, for you are human and because of the sea serpent inside you.”

  But what can I do? I’m only one person. Going on land and attacking the serpents myself would be suicide.

  “Is the Guard aware of this?” Damarian asks.

  “I am not certain.”

  “We must return to them.” Damarian looks at Doria. “You must tell them.”

  “I will, Brother,” she says. “At once. But I…I do not know what I shall tell them regarding Kytero.”

  “Why don’t you go with Doria, Kytero?” I say. “Speak to Syren or Callen and tell them you’re undercover. You can be such a great asset to them.”

  “I cannot.”

  “Why?”

  “They will persuade me to hand over the location of my family. I cannot stand by while they interrogate them. I cannot betray them.”

  “Remain with us,” Damarian says. “Cassie and I are currently seeking out means on how to prevent the sea serpents from entering the sea. Perhaps with your aid—”

  “You do not understand.” Kytero’s voice raises an octave. “You cannot prevent the sea serpents from entering the sea. Because you are causing them to grow stronger as we speak.”

  We’re both knocked into a stunned silence.

  Tentatively, I ask, “What are you talking about?”

  “You are the key to all of this,” he says. “The longer you remain in the sea, the stronger they grow. Because you are all connected. Soon, they will be strong enough to enter the sea and transform into their true beings.”

  “What?” I cry.

  “This is why I have sought out Doria and brought her here. To relay the message to her so she could tell you. Cassie Price, you cannot remain in the sea. Every second your body absorbs sea water, the serpents grow stronger. They will enter our home and attack the children of the sea. But not the rebels. No, they will spare the rebels and their families and provide them with abilities so they could rule over their fallen brethren. They will force the true king onto the thrown and kill him so they could steal the power—”

  “Kill him?” I croak.

  “That is how they steal the power,” Kytero says, his eyes frantic. “I have learned this only a few hours ago. This is the only way to take the power. By killing the true heir to the throne.”

  It feels like the entire ocean has crashed down on me. My chest freezes up and I can no longer breathe. “I need to get out of he
re.”

  I dash toward the exit of the cave.

  “Cassie!” Damarian chases after me.

  “Don’t stop me! I’m putting you all in danger. The sea serpents are growing stronger. I feel it.” I slap my chest. I stop before the entrance of the cave that is blocked by a thick wall. I bang my fists on it. “Open the door.”

  “Cassie—”

  I glare at Kytero. “Open the door right now!”

  “No!” Damarian shouts. “Do not listen to her.”

  “Open. The. Door. Right. Now!” I bellow. The wall explodes, knocking Damarian and me into Kytero and Doria.

  I push off the floor, but Damarian grabs hold of my waist. “Please,” he begs. “Do not leave.”

  “I have to. Don’t you get it? I need to get out of here!”

  “It is not safe for you on land.”

  “It’s not safe for the children of the sea if I stay here.”

  “But where will you hide? What will you—”

  “That doesn’t matter! I just need to leave.” I try to pry his hands off me, but they’re locked securely around me.

  “Cassie, please.”

  “They’re going to murder you!”

  “They will do worse to you.”

  “Let. Me. Go!” A deep, devil-possessed voice leaves my mouth. Damarian is thrown backward, hitting the opposite wall of the cave.

  I hurry out and nearly collide with Fiske. “Don’t let Damarian come after me, Fiske. Swear you won’t let him.”

  What has—

  “Just swear it!”

  He nods. I swear it.

  “Make sure that he, Syd, Doria, and Hareta get back safely to the colony. Don’t let them out of your sight.”

  Understood.

  I look back at Damarian and see him struggling to get off the ground. Doria and Kytero are by his side. I feel tears spill over my eyes and drip down my cheeks. I don’t know when I’ll see him again—if I’ll ever see him again. I press my fingers to my lips, then hold them outward to Damarian. “I love you,” I whisper. “Forever.”

  I bolt toward land.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  As I near the shore, my pace slows down until I come to a complete stop. How can I get on land if it’s not safe for me there? The beach must be swarming with sea serpents. But I can’t stay in the ocean a second longer.