by Diana Paz
Heat crept up Julia’s back. No matter how neutral she felt about him, she didn’t want to watch this. Especially because Meliah didn’t seem content with a peck. Her mouth worked in a slow, methodic rhythm. Was a kiss supposed to wake the sleeping prince? Julia started to turn away, when she realized what the nymph was doing.
She was feeding him her blood.
Julia could hardly breathe. If there was a list of things she had never expected to see in her life, a nearly naked seagirl giving her unconscious ex-boyfriend a mouth-to-mouth blood transfusion would have been on it.
After what seemed like an eternity, Meliah broke contact and hovered there, just an inch or so above him. Her short, panting breaths made her bare breasts rise and fall, brushing against his damp shirt. Her wound still flowed with golden blood. She seemed paler, with fevered eyes that stared at Brian as though she could wake him with the force of her will.
“Hot,” Kaitlyn whispered.
The glimmering sheen of Meliah’s body faded. With a small whimper she curled forward and sank into the bed beside Brian. The knife dropped from her hand, landing noiselessly on the cushions beside them.
Julia fell to her knees, trying to see Brian’s skin beneath Meliah’s golden hair. How had this day turned so utterly bizarre? She looked up at Angie. “What just happened?”
Angie shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“But you know everything!”
Angie blinked down at her. “Not much is recorded about nymphs in general, other than the fact that they have always been neutral, helping neither the Fates nor the Sorceress.”
Julia swallowed tightly. “Meliah isn’t neutral. She passed out from helping Brian.”
“More like swooned out from kissing him,” Kaitlyn snickered.
Brian groaned, coughing and rolling onto his side. He took an enormous breath as his eyes opened. He brought his hand down to his leg and winced.
“Wait, don’t touch your—”
But Brian hissed as his hand found his open wound. He bolted upright, his eyes wide and disoriented. He looked first to his injured leg, then at each of them in a frenzy, glancing around at the walls and then down to Meliah’s unconscious form. He rolled her onto the cushion beside him, staring mutely. At last he returned his gaze to Ethan. “What’s going on?”
Ethan helped him stand, glimmers of relief shining behind guarded, silver eyes. “You’re all right,” he said, pulling him into a hug.
Was he all right? A trail of crimson and gold pooled on the floor beneath his feet. Julia stared at him, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. He would be all right. The black lines had already begun receding from his face and arm, after all. Julia’s gaze moved over him, unable to pinpoint the subtle change she sensed in him, other than a golden glow to his skin. It was barely noticeable, blending with his tan and his blond, drying curls.
The sea girl had saved him… he probably had some residual magic left inside him. Julia glanced to where the sea girl lay on the bed, curled like a flower petal and as still as death. She hadn’t made any movement since the moment she had collapsed. She looked so pale. So fragile, even before cutting herself open to save Brian, she had looked spritely and small. Why had she helped him, at the cost of herself?
Angie knelt beside Meliah, brushing back her golden locks. Her fingers trailed along the unconscious girl’s jaw and slipped to her neck, as if feeling for a pulse. “She needs help.”
Brian frowned at the nymph, looking at her as though she were a puzzle to be figured out. “She pulled me from—from monsters,” he said, his gaze flitting up to meet Ethan’s. “Is that why she’s hurt?”
Ethan shook his head. “You were bit by one of those monsters. It was poisoning you. She used her blood to keep you alive.”
“Her blood?” He dragged both hands through his hair. “What is this place?”
“There’s a lot we need to tell you,” Ethan said, but before he could continue, the male nymph returned. Julia backed away as he approached the bed. He lifted Meliah with a fierce glare. Meliah’s head fell back. The golden locks of her hair tumbled behind her and nearly swept the floor as he carried her off.
Brian stared at the pair.
“He’ll make sure she’s all right,” Angie said, her voice shaky. “The bigger question is, was her blood enough to stave off the Scylla poison?”
“It seems to be working so far,” Ethan said.
Brian looked down at his arms, still covered in receding black veins, and then back at the doorway where the nymph had carried Meliah out from. “Why would she risk her life for me?” Brian’s gaze darted between them all. “Who are these people?”
“They aren’t people, they’re nymphs.” Kaitlyn said, still leaning against the wall but now checking her perfectly polished black fingernails. “And we are at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Hey,” Julia said at the sight of Brian’s stricken face. “You can’t just drop that kind of info on someone.”
“Why not? He may as well know the truth,” Kaitlyn said. “Hey Brian? Look around. If you think this is a dream, you’re wrong. You are miles under the ocean, and those monsters chasing you? They aren’t even the scariest kind.”
“That’s enough,” Julia said.
“Protective of him, now?” Kaitlyn purred. “Since when do you care?”
Julia’s eyes stung as the wounds on her heart tore open. She cared for Brian in the wrong way for romance. That didn’t mean she didn’t care about him at all. And this wasn’t exactly the time to be dealing with emotional baggage. The nymph guy didn’t seem thrilled that they were here, and the sooner they left, the better. “Can we explain it to you later, Brian?” Julia asked.
“How do you think we’re getting out of here?” Kaitlyn scoffed. “Do you know how deep that mergirl brought us with her magic? There’s no way we can make it out without her, and she’s probably dead.”
Angie’s eyes rounded and Julia’s skin prickled at the thought. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be… that would be too terrible.
“Maybe… maybe someone else can take us,” Angie said, attempting to peek out of the doorway, only to be met with the angry nymph’s glare.
“Too risky,” Ethan said. “We don’t know who would be in agreement with Meliah for helping us. The golden light that lured you down here? Nymphs have that light too, and they can control it. They could lure you to the bottom of the ocean just as easily as they could help you to the surface.”
Kaitlyn’s dark hair fell in wet strands across her face. “I hate that we did this. No offense, Ethan, but you could have saved your brother your own damned self.”
“Kaitlyn!” Angie cried out.
“It’s true,” she insisted. “We can’t even use our magic, so we’re useless here. What’s the point of us coming?” Her green-eyed gaze darted across the watery ceiling and the room. She released several shallow breaths. “No magic. And now we’re stuck.”
“Hold it together,” Julia said, feeling panic rise in her heart. She had gotten used to relying on her magic. She bit her lip and swung her head to face Angie, allowing a small measure of relief to trickle over her heart. Angie always knew what to do.
Angie’s fingers tapped against her thigh, and Julia swallowed past a sudden constriction in her throat. Whenever Angie started with her tapping, it meant she was seriously worried.
“We can make it back without help,” Angie said quietly. “If we return to the room with the light, it might be able to give us whatever that magic was that let us breathe underwater. We can kick to the surface from there. Ethan can stay with Brian until he regains more of his strength. They can do the same, and come back to the surface together.”
Julia bit her lip. Kicking to the surface and hoping for the best? What kind of non-plan was this?
Angie tucked her hair behind her ears and added, “If you guys think of another idea, tell me, but for now this is the only shot we have.”
Ethan nodded. “You’re right.”
<
br /> “I don’t need time to recover,” Brian said. “Whatever magic the mergirl used on me, it worked on more than just my leg.”
“I’ll bet it did,” Kaitlyn said, her mouth curving in a sly smile.
“Dude,” Julia scolded.
Kaitlyn’s lips parted, but before she could say whatever shameless thing was on her mind, Angie said, “That’s really good to hear, Brian. We’ll be better off if we can stay together.”
She approached the doorway and held back the curtain, waiting for everyone to come out before following the hallway around the fountain. They reached the corridor leading to the stairs, and at the bottom entered the large room with cushions and low tables everywhere. Nymphs lounged and sang softly. Someone laughed and it sounded like magical chimes mixed with bubbles.
Julia took all of this in within moments of entering the room. Before they had gone three steps, the nymphs became eerily quiet. Julia bit her lip harder, hard enough that she tasted metal. Several nymphs rose from their places and watched them with open curiosity. Julia’s gaze darted from one nymph to another. Was it in her head, or did the nymphs seem to be inching closer?
Ethan moved in front of Brian. “Get behind me. I’m the only one of us unaffected by their magic.”
“What’s happening?” Kaitlyn’s whispered voice was shrill. Julia took her hand, and she wasn’t surprised when Kaitlyn didn’t push her away. Without their magic, they had a lot to be afraid of down here.
Julia no longer held any doubt that the nymphs crept toward them. They closed in on them with their beautiful shimmering bodies. Both the males and females had hair that reached past their waists in wild colors; bright greens, deep purples, and shimmering blues. Their large, luminescent eyes made Julia want to stare into them forever. She felt the same hypnotic pull in them that she did from the golden light that had first drawn them here. She understood what Ethan had meant when he said the nymphs held a piece of the golden light within themselves. They let it shine more powerfully or less so. At the moment Julia felt herself drowning in it.
She struggled, her mind conscious of the fact that her will could be stripped away, but the urge to allow herself to succumb flooded her. She would never fear. She would never worry. She would never need anything again if she followed those eyes.
Like something from a dream, one of the nymphs stepped forward. Her silver hair, strung with black pearls, surrounded an ageless face. A shimmer across her cheeks shone like starlight, but her eyes held the same golden glow that lit all the nymphs’ eyes. She watched Brian intently and sang with a sultry, velvety voice.
“I can’t,” he whispered. “I don’t belong here.”
The nymph’s song became inquisitive. She indicated Julia, Kaitlyn, and Angie with her hand.
He nodded, but his dark eyes grew round with fear. “Why do I understand you?”
The silver-haired seagirl canted her head to one side, her lips parting in song again. All the while, Julia still looked at the nymphs and longed to join them, and vaguely she wondered why it only seemed like they were affected. She understood that Ethan, as a Guardian of Time, was never swayed by any kind of magical power, but Brian should be in the same trance she and the other girls were in.
And yet, it seemed as though he spoke to the nymph.
Brian turned to face them. “She says… she says someone will help us to the surface.” He studied Julia for a moment. She sucked in an audible breath. The chocolaty brown eyes she knew so well had specks of gold in them, the same type of golden light she saw in the eyes of Meliah and the other nymphs.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered. Her fingers found her lips as she tried to back away.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
Ethan came between them. “We need to get out of here. They’re putting the three of you in a trance.”
Julia stared at Brian’s gold-flecked eyes. Her heart thudded as he watched her. Did he know what that golden light did to her? She wanted to follow him, to obey him.
“Jules?”
The questioning note in Ethan’s voice brought her gaze to his. Silver eyes locked on hers. Everything about herself rushed back to her heart. She blinked. She was her own self again, and not some syrup-headed girl about to—she blushed, realizing how close she had come to falling into Brian’s arms.
She kept her eyes on Ethan’s until the trance fell completely from her mind. Ethan was a force in his own right, it seemed.
“There you are, Jules,” he said softly. He brushed back a lock of damp hair from her face. He swallowed tightly. His gaze flicked to Brian and his hand dropped, but Julia felt him skim along her thoughts for a moment, and the sensation felt like a warm fingertip brushing along her bare neck.
She shivered and tilted her head to the side. “What was that?”
Brian’s eyes remained fixed on them, and she realized what it must look like for her to be so relieved to see his brother. Ethan glanced up and took a step away from her. Julia pressed her lips together. They couldn’t keep the secret from Brian anymore… not when he knew about the magic.
The male nymph who had carried Meliah away approached.
Julia kept her mind on Ethan. He helped her remember who she was. As long as she didn’t look at the beautiful glowing light, she could hold on to her own mind, but what about Kaitlyn and Angie? The two seemed rooted to their spot, both of them entranced by the golden light that emanated from the nymphs who watched them. In unison, their gazes drifted to the merman as he crossed the room. He seemed as big of a grouch as he had been when he left them earlier.
“Angie,” Ethan said, looking at her. “Angie, can you hear me?”
Angie blinked with glazed eyes. Her fingers no longer tapped out a rhythm on her leg, but she didn’t respond to Ethan, either. She seemed enthralled by the approaching nymph.
“She needs her mother, or David,” Ethan murmured. “Someone she loves.” He watched her for a moment. “Jules, she cares about you. Now that you’re not bespelled, you can rouse her.”
Julia bit her lip, her eyes flitting to the nymph.
“Don’t look at them anymore,” Ethan warned. “Not while they’re glowing like this.”
She nodded and stepped up to Angie, but before she could do anything to help her, the male nymph sang a song in his low, hypnotic voice. The sound wrapped itself around her body, warm and fluid, making her forget to breathe as her eyes fell shut.
“Come on, Brian,” Ethan said. “We have to get them out of here before they’re sucked in by this magic again.”
“Wait. It’s okay,” Brian said. “We can trust this one.”
“How can you be sure?” Ethan asked. “A lot of the myths surrounding mermaids luring sailors to their deaths stem from nymphs who abused their powers.”
Julia opened her eyes and saw the nymph walking toward the opposite wall. Kaitlyn and Angie already followed him.
“Because I understand what they’re saying. Some of them are… horrible. The things they want to do…” he trailed off for a moment. “But this one is forced to do what Meliah says, and she made him swear he would see us to the surface.”
“Then tell him to stop entrancing the girls,” Ethan said in a tight voice.
The nymph sent Ethan a condescending glance. His melodic voice came next, and even Julia could hear the mockery in the silver sounds.
“He says keeping mortals entranced is the only way they don’t drown underwater,” Brian translated. “Julia will drown if she doesn’t submit to it, too.”
Ethan cursed softly. His gaze sped from the nymph back to Julia. “I can swim fast, but I don’t want to risk losing you.” His gaze became somber. “The nymph’s magic brought you safely down here. I think you should trust him to let the magic take you back.”
Brian frowned, his brows lowering as he watched them.
“Trust the angry merman,” she said, exhaling tightly. “Got it.” She turned to face the nymph and felt the full force of the light radiating from his bo
dy. At first, something inside of her resisted, but as he looked at her, a glowing warmth descended upon her mind and she lost herself to it. Whatever he wanted her to do would be okay.
They followed him to the swirling water that signaled a door in the otherwise still, liquid wall.
“We’ll need to surface quickly,” Julia heard Ethan say, but he sounded muffled and far away. “There’s no telling if there are more creatures out there waiting for us.”
“Maybe I should ask the nymphs if we can borrow weapons or something,” Brian said. “We can’t just go out into the ocean when there are monsters out there. Ethan, there were so many, if you could have seen them…”
Julia lost the rest of what he said, her mind too absorbed with obeying the nymph’s will, but something shifted in Ethan’s tone. He was telling Brian something, and it sounded important. His hands crackled with electricity.
“If there are creatures, I can handle them.”
The next words echoed from Brian’s lips, mismatched and out of sync, as though there were a time-delay on his voice. “You have powers? You all do?”
The nymph lifted his hand. For a moment Julia lost all thoughts of Ethan and Brian. He wanted her to step into the watery doorway. She was fearless. Trusting. She would obey. But even in her entranced state, Julia felt something within herself reach out to Ethan. She turned to him, but the nymph’s glow grew brighter. The wave of golden light washed over her with enough force to clear her mind completely, leaving her surer of this nymph than ever. The warm sensation became a cascade of tranquility that left her heart full and her mind serene. She could trust this nymph. She should trust him.
A roaring sound flooded her hearing and she blinked at the wall of foaming sea water. Her blank mind couldn’t figure out what she was supposed to do. She stared up at the nymph, helpless.
His low, sweet song hypnotized her. She didn’t know what he said, but she understood that she should follow him anywhere… do anything…
The nymph held his palm out and the watery door rushed apart. Without a backward glance, he dove into the ocean. Julia’s heartbeat slowed. The light surrounding him beckoned.