More than a Mermaid (Shifty Book 4)

by Sara Summers

  “Yeah.” Sam nodded, ducking his head back under.

  I traded my legs for my tail once again, and met Sam’s eyes under water.

  “This is awesome.” He gave me a thumbs-up, and I smiled back at him. Before I could reply, however, the ocean took hold of me. I could feel that this time, it wasn’t the ocean doing it; this time, it was the council. They had enough magic between the lot of them that they could force the water to do what they wanted sometimes.

  I grabbed Sam’s arm.

  “Hold on tight.” I warned as the water yanked deeper into the depths of the ocean.

  “What’s going on?” Sam yelled. I don’t know why he thought he had to yell, but it was a little funny.

  “We’re going to meet some people, so just play along with whatever I say. Don’t argue, and try to pretend like you know what’s going on.” I instructed.

  “What?” Sam looked at me like I was insane.

  We sped through the water. I sighed, still holding him tight.

  “Remember how shifters have soulmates? And the marking on their sides match?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but—“

  “We’re soulmates. I know it’s a lot to take in, but just play along.” I repeated, trying to keep him upright as the water landed us right in the middle of the council room in the palace.

  I pulled my hair over one shoulder and steadied myself. Placing an arm firmly around Sam’s waist to keep him from floating around like a baby would, I looked straight forward at the council.

  “Put your arm over my shoulder.” I whispered.

  “You’re crazy.” Sam whispered back, but he did as I said.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” The lead council lady rose from her chair, glaring at me and Sam.

  “Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for.” I forced a smile onto my face. “Today, my soulmate found me.”

  It was a lie, but a necessary one. I couldn’t tell them that Sam had been a human an hour earlier; if it was even almost possible, they would’ve forced my cotie to change to match with some other, more worthy male.

  “What?” the councilwoman sputtered. “It can’t be.” She glared. I knew why she was angry; the man she wanted to force into being my mate was her son. Who wouldn’t want more power by giving their son the throne?

  “There can be no doubt.” I assured her, playing the diplomatic queen they expected me to be. “Look at our coties. You cannot argue against the matching markings.” I smiled again, just as fake as the last smile I gave them.

  “She’s right, Elmira.” The man at her side told her. The woman glared at me, her tail flicking back and forth as a giveaway to her discomfort.

  “You would question the Queen’s honesty about this merman being her soulmate?” Another member of the council, a man who sat on the other side of the table, straightened his back. “It is obvious that he wears the royal marking, and that their coties match.”

  “Of course not.” She said, though it was easy to know she was lying. She sank back into her chair, and I lifted my chin.

  “You do not still plan on attending that conference, do you?” the man who stood up for me asked. None of them had agreed with me going to the shifter peace summit that was being held by the President of the U.S., but that was one of the very small number of things I had insisted on.

  Peace was important to me, on land and in the ocean.

  “I do.” I nodded once. “My attendance at the summit is vital to the strength of the human and shifter alliance.”

  “Very well.” The man frowned.

  “What does the new king think about this summit?” Elmira, the one who hated me, spoke up. Sam stared blankly out at the council, and I pinched his side.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged, his mouth tightening in a grimace.

  “You’re the king.” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.

  “What the h-“

  “Hotdog.” I spoke up, then wanted to punch myself in the face.

  Hotdog? Really? That’s what I came up with?

  “’What the hotdog’ is one of the newer slang terms humans have been using.” I tried to cover for both of us, but failed miserably.

  The look the council gave us told me they didn’t buy my story. Big surprise there.

  “Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but so does the rest of the slang they use. You know, swoll, lit… that kind of phrase. Anyway, the new king and I talked about it, and we agree the summit is necessary.” I forced that diplomatic smile to remain, despite the suspicious gazes the council was giving me.

  “Right, Sam?” I looked over at the brand-new merman, who didn’t bother trying to hide his confusion.

  “Right…” he nodded, though he didn’t seem sure about the answer.

  “Great, now that we’re on the same page, we have to get going. The summit won’t wait for us. Sam will have to be crowned after the event is over.” I gave the council one last smile before yanking Sam out of the castle with me.

  Without a glance in any direction, I willed the ocean to carry us away from the palace as fast as it could possibly take us.

  Chapter 4

  “Do I even want to know what’s going on?” Sam asked, as we got closer to the shore.

  “Probably not.” I admitted.

  The water became too shallow to swim in, so I traded my tail for my legs.

  “How do I get my legs back?” Sam wondered, looking down at his tail. “And just curious, why is my tail hot pink?”

  “I don’t know about the legs, but your tail is pink because you’re royalty. Mermaids and mermen usually have a variety of colors on their tail, but when you’re a royal you get pink.” I explained.

  “Great.” Sam grimaced. “Not only am I a merman, I’m also a pink merman. That’s manly.”

  “Pink actually isn’t a feminine color in our culture.” I told him.

  “If I was actually a merman, that might have some impact in what I thought about it.” He muttered. I shook my head at him, but didn’t argue. He had just changed into a shifter, so I couldn’t expect him to understand everything right away.

  Sam closed his eyes and his face started to look strained. I bit back a smile.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Trying to get my legs back.”

  “It doesn’t take concentration.” I told him. “You just kind of imagine you have legs rather than a tail.”

  He opened his eyes.

  “That’s it?”

  “Yep.” I nodded. A second later, he had legs again.

  I followed him out of the ocean, and when we were free of the water, he looked like he wanted to kiss the sand under his feet.

  “Now what?” he looked over at me, grimacing. “I’m staying with a friend, I guess you could crash for a night if you want…” Sam scratched his head.

  “No thanks.” I shook my head. “I’ll call my sister to come pick us up.” I told him.

  “Don’t do that.” Sam grimaced again. “Really, it’s fine. You can go back into the ocean, and I’ll just get back to my normal life. It was good to meet you, though.” He turned around, and I put my hands on my hips.

  “Excuse me?” I checked.

  He turned back to me.

  “I don’t want to be a merman, and I really don’t want to be your king or whatever. I’m just a human guy, and I’m happy with where I am. So, thanks but no thanks.” He turned around yet again.

  “Do you think I want to be the queen? When they told me who I was, I wanted to run away too. Sometimes things happen that we have no control over, and that’s just part of life. But you’re a shifter now, and there’s no turning back from that.”

  Sam stopped, and I waited.

  After a few long seconds, he turned back to me for what I hoped was the last time.

  “I have a choice in this.” He told me, stepping closer. His shoulders tensed up, telling me he was getting angry or at least a little frustrated. “You don’t get to decide my life.” He
stepped closer, raising himself taller.

  I stood my ground, lifting my chin. I wasn’t tall, but I was still the mermaid queen. If there was one thing I learned in my year playing that role, it was determination.

  “I’m not trying to decide your life.” I said, matter-of-factly. “This already has.” I poked the cotie on his side, knowing my touch would affect him.

  “Don’t touch that thing.” He slapped my hand away, stepping back away from me. “I don’t care about your mermaid world. Let me live my life.” He glared at me, trying to look even bigger than he already was, as if that would affect me.

  He didn’t realize that being the mermaid queen came with plenty of power.

  “We’re supposed to be soulmates.” I folded my arms and gave him a pointed look.

  “Yeah, well we’re not even friends.” He turned around for the last time. “Goodbye, Ava.”

  I was running out of options. I couldn’t just let him go; if I did, I’d never see him again. Male shifters could find their females, not the other way around.

  Completely out of time, I did the only thing I could think to do:

  I gathered a wave of water and hit him with it hard enough to at least make him dizzy for a few minutes.

  The wave smashed against his head, and as it washed back into the ocean, I saw that the water had knocked him onto his hands and knees. He coughed up water, and I winced.

  Rather than feeling bad for what I’d done, I hurried over to him. Pulling his arm over my shoulder, I used all of my strength to drag him to my feet.

  “You’re coming with me whether you want to or not.” My voice was firm, leaving him no loose ground to move on.

  “Leave me alone.” Sam groaned, coughing up more water.

  We were halfway up the stairs to the parking lot when he realized what I was doing. He stopped walking and tried to slip out of my grasp, which I was not about to let him do.

  I put my hand on his cotie and forced myself to be angry. Sam wasn’t used to the strange feelings coming from the markings that had appeared on him, so I had surprise on my side. As soon as he felt my anger, he groaned again.

  “Sorry.” I whispered, leading him up the stairs a little longer.

  “Stop doing that.” Sam moaned. “I hate that.”

  “I need you to come with me.” I apologized, leading him toward the cars.

  “I’ll go if you stop.” He offered through gritted teeth.

  “Alright.” I pulled my hand away from his cotie but continued pulling him with me. “Where’s your car?”

  He gestured to an old, beat-up truck at the side of the empty parking lot. I aimed us toward it, still pulling him along.

  “Are you okay?” I checked.

  “What do you think?” his words were almost violent. “You just turned me into an effing merman. My legs are sore, my head hurts, and I still can’t believe all of this is actually happening to me.”

  “I’m sorry.” I apologized again. “But I wasn’t the one who turned you into a merman. That same thing would happen to any human who rescued any type of shifter. It’s one of the secrets our kind keeps hidden because once someone knows that, it doesn’t work for them.”

  “I really don’t care.” Sam’s voice was flat.

  “Give me your keys.” I instructed, holding out my hand. He glared at me.

  “You think I’m going to let you steal my truck? Yeah, right, lady. This is a bunch of bull—“

  “Sam, look at the marks on my side.” My voice sharpened as I got tired of standing up for myself. “They match yours exactly. Do you think I’m any happier with this than you are? You’re supposedly my soulmate, the man I expected to help me lead my people, yet here you are, completely against everything that makes up my life. How could I be happy with this?”

  “I don’t care what the h—“

  “Stop talking.” I ordered. “I understand that you’re upset, but I’m tired of hearing it. I’ve been dreaming of my soulmate since I was five, so stop insulting me for two seconds and give me a chance. My world is a much different place than yours. Just shut up and get in your effing car.” I huffed, glaring at the man I was supposed to love with all my heart. “And please, try not to cuss.”

  He gave me a suspicious look.

  “What, mermaids don’t swear?”

  “Not when they’re the queen who is supposed to look perfect every fricking minute of every effing day. Get in the car.” I stuck my hand in his pocket to steal the keys, then slid into the passenger seat in the car.

  I closed my eyes and leveled my breathing, not watching as he made his way around the truck. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, and I felt bad that I did.

  So my soulmate wasn’t exactly happy with the fact that we were soulmates. I could live with that, right? According to everything I learned in high school, royalty didn’t usually come with romance and love. Could I handle that?

  My heart sank at the idea.

  No, I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t handle it at all.

  Sam opened his door, and I tried to stay calm. If my soulmate didn’t want me, I could find someone else, right? There was enough magic in the mermaid world that someone had to be able to fix it.

  Then again, I did remember the council saying something about coties being permanent once they changed with your soulmate’s.

  I pushed the thought aside and focused on the moment.

  “Look, I understand that you want nothing to do with my world, and that’s okay.” I gathered my courage, the queenly-confidence I’d been forced to gain in my year of playing ruler. “But there’s a really important summit between shifters and humans that’s going on for the next few days, and I’m willing to make a deal with you.”

  Sam narrowed his eyes at me, and I made my expression remain calm.

  Though the deal I wanted to offer him was one that might end up hurting me in the long run, I knew that it had to be done.

  “Alright. What do you want?” he asked. Though he seemed grudging, I was glad that he was at least giving me a chance.

  “If you come to the summit with me and go along with whatever I say, giving mermaids and mermen a good impression to the humans, after it’s over, I will do anything I can to undo the magic that changed you. I’ll get the most powerful people in the mermaid world to try to make you a human again.” I promised.

  “And if it doesn’t work? Then what?” Sam didn’t seem eager to agree.

  “Then I’ll at least get them to change the markings on your side so that you’re free of being connected to me. That’s everything I have to offer.” I shrugged.

  Sam thought about it, and I put the key in the ignition to turn on the truck.

  “Okay, I’ll go to your summit.” He finally agreed. “And do whatever else I’m supposed to do to help establish peace, but as soon as it’s over, you’re going to fix me.” He decided.

  “Deal.” I nodded, pulling the truck out of the parking lot. “Now, you’re going to meet my sister.”

  The look in his eyes said he wanted to murder me, and I had to bite back a smile. It was nice to have someone other than the council to disagree with me for once.

  Chapter 5

  I didn’t wait for Sam to get out of the truck before walking up the stairs to Marie’s apartment. It was bittersweet, knocking on the door that I would’ve walked right through just a year earlier.

  Alena answered the door, and her whole face lit up when she saw me.

  “Ava!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. I smiled and her tight. I had never had a sister before, and though we had only known each other for a few days, I loved her as if we’d known each other for much longer.

  “Who’s that?” Alena raised her eyebrows at the man behind me. I looked backward a little and saw Sam with his arms folded over his chest. His arms were built, unlike most mermen and high school boys the two of us had seen.

  “This is Sam. It’s a long story, but… he’s my soulmate. My real soulmate, not one the co
uncil forced to be with me.” I explained. Ava’s eyes grew wider.

  “No way.” She stepped back and opened the door. “Come in. I thought we weren’t leaving for the summit until tomorrow?” she frowned.

  “We’re not, but I had to get away from the council.” I admitted.

  Marie walked out of the kitchen and raised her eyebrows when she saw me.

  “Ava?” She whispered. A smile lifted my cheeks.

  “Marie.” I stepped forward and threw my arms around her. “I’ve missed you.” I said softly.

  “I’ve missed you too.” She gave me a small smile as I stepped away. “How are you here? I thought you weren’t allowed to leave the ocean after becoming queen. No one’s supposed to know who you are, you know.” She gave me a bit of a dirty look, and I shrugged my shoulders a little.

  “I thought that rule was stupid, so I sort of told the council they could suck it.” I admitted. “As important as tradition is, I’m still the queen. It comes with plenty of unfortunate tasks, so I figure it’s okay to throw out a few rules every once in a while.”

  “Well, I’m happy to see you.” Marie chuckled a little, shaking her head. “What exactly did you tell them to suck?”

  I bit my lip and looked away.

  “It doesn’t matter. At least they didn’t argue.” I tried to brush her away from remembering the “potty mouth” she’d been trying to rid me of for years.

  “Ava.” She warned, and the voice was so familiar that I had to laugh.

  “I’m still the queen, Marie. You can’t tell me what to do anymore.” I reminded her, though it was more of a tease than anything.

  “I can and I will.” She shook her head at me. “Who’s this handsome man you brought?” She looked at Sam and her eyes twinkled.

  “This is Sam. He’s my soulmate, but… well, he doesn’t want anything to do with our world. He sort of just turned into a merman like two hours ago.” I explained.

  Both Alena and Marie’s jaws dropped, and Sam shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “Oh dear.” Marie managed.

  “Yeah.” My lips formed a tight line, but I nodded.

  “Well, it’s good to meet you.” Alena offered. “The mermaid world isn’t as bad as it seems, I promise.”