by Sara Summers
“I need to go out here for a minute. Go back to bed.” I whispered.
“I’ll go with you.” He told me.
“It’s lady business. You don’t want to come.” I folded my arms.
“Actually, I do.” Sam stepped forward. “If you’re going out there while we know there are people gunning for us, I’m going with you whether it’s lady business or not.” He told me. I could tell he wasn’t going to change his mind.
“Fine.” I turned, trying to stay calm. If Sam learned my secret about the ocean… well, I’d just have to come up with some lie to cover it up. Maybe it’s bad that I was getting so good at lying, but when you carry secrets that could cause the deaths of millions of people, lying is sometimes the only option.
“Let me go first.” Sam whispered, grabbing my arm gently.
“I can handle myself.” I whispered back. “I’ll lead. I’m the one who knows where we’re going.”
“Fine.” It was Sam’s turn to accept my plan.
We crept down the hallway, and I stopped at a fork in the hall to listen to the ocean.
“Turn right.” It instructed.
I went right for a few steps, before coming to another fork.
“Go straight.” The ocean whispered.
I continued down the hallway, pausing for instructions a few more times before the ocean finally told me to stop.
I stopped where it said.
“What are we looking for?” Sam asked, in a hushed whisper.
“I don’t know.” I admitted. “Shh.” I told him.
A few seconds later, I smelled salt water coming from a small air vent to my left. I hurried over to it, dropping to my knees and lowering my ear toward the vent.
Sam knelt next to me, though he looked a little concerned for my sanity.
It wasn’t long before voices started drifting up through the vent, carried by the same entity that had taken me to it.
“The shifters need to die.” A woman said, her voice cold and blunt.
“That’s why we’re here, remember.” A man’s voice was dry with sarcasm.
“We need to kill them in a way that makes a statement. Food poisoning, maybe? Or masked rebels stabbing them all at once? We need to make all other shifters know that we humans will not go willingly into this plan of domination that they have.” Another man spoke up.
That meant there were at least three. Three people gunning for us, as Sam said.
“First off, we need to neutralize the mermaids. They obviously possess more power than they will willingly admit to, and I fear they would be the biggest threat to us if a war happens to break out.” Another man said. His voice sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure why.
“I agree. Have the assassins focus on the mermaids, the queen in particular. Her king seems useless, but she’s a risk to all of us.”
As terrifying as the woman was, she was right. Animal shifters were strong in their own right, but guns could kill animals. If my people didn’t want to be found, if we attacked the humans, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Considering I could cover an entire continent in water in less than ten minutes, they had a reason to fear me. Not that they knew the reason.
“Alright. I’ll talk to our people tonight and see what method they want to use. You can sleep tonight in comfort, knowing that by this time tomorrow shifters will be going into hiding once again.” One of the men closed the meeting, and I closed my eyes to think about what we needed to do.
A door opened somewhere down the hall, and I could hear footsteps walking toward us. My eyes focused on Sam’s immediately, and I saw his worry.
“What do we do?” I whispered, a little frantic. I couldn’t just slam some innocent person into the wall with water; that wouldn’t get us anywhere closer to peace. What other option did we have?
“Here.” Sam grabbed my waist and yanked me up onto his lap. “Just go with it.” He whispered, reaching up to cup my neck with his hand.
Before I knew what was happening, we were kissing. I had never kissed anyone before, so it was a little weird at first. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I really enjoyed kissing Sam.
He kissed me passionately, and I definitely kissed him back.
Definitely.
“Oh!” a woman exclaimed, and I heard her footsteps speed up. We made her uncomfortable, not that I had time to realize that while I was kissing Sam.
He finally pulled away after her footsteps were gone. All I could do was stare at him, blinking and looking like an idiot.
An idiot who had just been very, very much kissed.
“Let’s go.” Sam stood up and pulled me to my feet. “You don’t have any other lady business, right?” he checked, though I sort of thought he was mocking me.
“No.” I said, and he whisked me off down the hallway.
We were back in our room before I had time to process anything we had just experienced.
“Alright, tell me everything.” Sam sat me down on the bed and stood up, folding his arms.
“Everything what?” I folded my own arms, which reminded me I wasn’t even wearing a bra.
That was awkward. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed.
“Everything. I want to know the truth about mermaids, and your magic, and how you knew I was being changed into a merman, and how the… hotdog you knew exactly where to go to listen to a secret conversation through an effing air vent.” He stared me down.
“How the hotdog? That’s a new take on it. I like it.” I remarked, avoiding his questions.
“Ava.” His stare morphed into a heated glare. “Tell me everything.”
I stood up, biting back a sigh. Instead of sighing, I tried to make myself look tall.
“Sam, I am the queen of the mermaids. It’s my duty to protect my people even if it kills me to do so. I cannot in good conscious tell you all the secrets of a world you want nothing to do with. I have a responsibility to mermaids and mermen everywhere.” I said firmly. “And right now, we need to tell everyone else about the threat we discovered.”
“They’re going to want to know how you found out.” Sam challenged.
“They trust me, and they know that I’m not going to reveal our secrets.” I disagreed.
“What would I have to do to get in on these secrets?” Sam demanded. “I feel like a sitting duck here, waiting for someone to jump out and kill us.”
“Yeah, well join the crowd.” I muttered, sitting back down.
“Ava, please.” Sam softened. “Just tell me what I have to do. I can’t just sit back and let all of this happen.”
“Why not? You don’t care about shifters, remember? And you definitely don’t care about me. If I’m gone, it saves you a world of trouble. Maybe you should join the guys trying to kill me.” I stood up again.
“Ava…” Sam protested
“I can’t tell you what you want to know, so don’t bother.” I turned to walk across the hall, headed first to the person who I knew would be the most help in all this.
Waiting for Sav to open the door, I heard Sam step behind me. I didn’t know why he was following me still, but I wasn’t going to turn around and ask.
“Uh, hey.” Jordie answered the door, bleary-eyed. He turned to grab his glasses off the nightstand, and when they were on, he looked a little less exhausted. “What’s going on?” he checked.
“Sav’s going to want to hear this.” I warned.
Savanna was next to Jordie in seconds, rubbing at her eyes.
“What’s up?” Sav leaned against Jordie.
“A group of people are planning on killing us tomorrow. All of us.” I summed it up. Sav closed her eyes and breathed out a puff of air.
“Great. Let’s wake everyone up.” She yawned. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Chapter 16
“So someone wants to kill us.” Brooke yawned, setting off everyone in the room for the sixth or seventh time in three minutes. Yawning is the most contagious thing in the world, I swear. �
��What’s new?”
“People have been coming after us since we got off the plane, remember?” Jazz pointed out.
“Not like this.” I stood at the front of the room. “These people have power. They have a group of assassins working for them, and they mentioned just a few of the ideas they had as to how to kill us and make a statement out of it.”
“Can’t they just accept that we’re different?” Kennedy sighed, then yawned.
“Unfortunately, no. Not yet at least.” I shook my head.
“What did they mention?” Sav asked with a grimace.
“Poisoning our food, having a bunch of radicals stab us to death…”
“Fantastic.” Leah muttered.
“So what are we going to do? We don’t know their identities, do we?” Marley checked.
“No.” I admitted.
“Alright, I’m calling a cab. I’m not okay with dying tomorrow, whether as a martyr or not. I’ve got a soulmate somewhere out there.” Brooke stood up, and I could see her hands shaking.
“None of us are going to die.” Leah stood next to me, her hands resting on her baby bump. “But we aren’t just going to walk away either. We’ll go out for breakfast together, and then we’ll eat a late lunch, or treat everyone at the meeting to food rather than accepting what they offer us. For dinner, we can pretend it’s Lyssie’s birthday and go out to eat as a group somewhere or order in food if we want.
“As for the stabbing, I doubt that anyone could get enough people carrying big knives in past all those security guards. We’re going to be fine.” She was so determined, it was hard not to adopt her attitude as well.
“Fine, I’m in.” Brooke sighed. “But if I die, I swear I’m going to come haunt you.”
“Deal.” Leah gave her a small smile before sitting back down on the softest chair in the room.
“I’ll stay inside with Lyssie so no one knows where we are.” Alena added. “Marie and I will keep her safe.”
“Good.” Sav nodded. “We’re going to make it.” She promised.
“I really hope so.” Jazz nodded. “It would suck to die six months after graduating college.”
“At least we’d be martyrs, remember?” Kennedy grimaced, though her words were positive. “Even humans would be outraged if we died.”
“So if we die at least it’s for a purpose.” Leah nodded.
“Alright, we’ll meet in the lobby tomorrow at 7:30 for breakfast.” I announced, hoping to stop the decline in hope for living. “Everyone get some sleep. See you then.”
I dismissed the group, giving Alena and Marie hugs before going back to my room with Sam.
He closed the door behind us, and I took a seat on the edge of the bed we shared.
“Look, Ava—“
“I really don’t have the energy to argue with you anymore.” I closed my eyes, weary from the stress of the day. My cotie felt tight and uncomfortable, meaning I needed to shift. I missed the ocean, and I missed not worrying about anything but how the council would treat me that day.
Having our lives on the line, knowing that people were going to attempt to murder us the next day… that was a heavy burden to carry.
“I’m sorry, okay? Can you just let me apologize?”
I opened my eyes, not sure whether to frown or smile.
“Alright.” I folded my arms. Sam mirrored the gesture.
“I overreacted that day on the beach, and I said things that I shouldn’t have said. I’m sorry that I said them, and I wish I could take them back.” I could see the honesty in his eyes, and it made me feel a little better about everything that had been happening.
“You still don’t want to be a merman, though.” This time, my words were soft.
“I don’t know what I want to be.” Sam unfolded his arms, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I was deployed for 18 months in a place I’m not allowed to name. I saw things I wish I could un-see, and I did things I wish could undo. I don’t regret my time there, but it changed me. When I got back, I had no idea who I was or what to do with myself. I moved in with a friend and his wife, you met her…” he shook his head.
“Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know if I want to be an engineer, or a doctor, or a merman. All this shifter stuff came out of nowhere, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to cope with it. I just need some time, okay? Don’t rule me out yet.”
He looked at me with sad eyes, and I could hear the pleading in his voice. Sam didn’t know what he wanted, and he was right—the shifter stuff had come out of nowhere for him. I should’ve realized that earlier, and the misunderstanding between us was completely my fault. I’d expected Sam to be a merman while he was still trying to decide what kind of human he was.
“Time is one thing I have.” I gave him a small smile. “Is that why you’re so worried about keeping me safe? Because of your time in the military?”
“I guess.” He nodded. “I’ve seen so many terrible things in my life, I just want to see people live and breathe and enjoy life, you know?”
“You’ve seen so many ugly things that you want to see beautiful things too. I understand.” I held out my hand, and he took it without a second thought. Sam sat down next to me on the bed and held tightly to my hand. “I might be prejudiced, but there’s no more beautiful place than the ocean. It’s full of life in a way that nothing else is.” I looked at the wall in front of me, my mind reaching out to the place I loved so much.
“It’s cool that you love it so much. I could tell when you were talking during dinner that you’re passionate about the ocean.”
I shrugged.
“I’m the mermaid queen. If I’m not passionate about it, who else will be?” I hesitated.
Part of me wanted to tell Sam everything. To tell him the truth about mermaids and mermen, about my world and my magic and everything else I wasn’t supposed to say. I wanted him to know so he could understand what he was choosing between, when it came to a human life or a life under the waves.
Though I was supposed to keep it a secret, I didn’t want to. This was Sam I was talking about—my soulmate, however reluctant or oblivious he was. He was the other half of me, the king to my queen and the man who was supposed to stand up to the council with me.
For a moment, I warred with myself. Should I tell him, and risk my people? Should I not, and risk spending my life alone? I knew what the answer should be… what the answer had to be. My people had to come first.
Unless…
Unless there was another option. Our situation was unique, so unique that I realized I might be able to make it work.
“Do you really want to know the truth about mermaids?” I asked. My words were quiet, a soft whisper as if to keep the words out of anyone’s ears but ours.
Sam looked at me, surprised.
“Yeah. But I thought you weren’t allowed to tell me?”
I hesitated again. Should I risk it? Should I risk everything?
I was about to tell him never mind when the ocean whispered,
“Let him in.”
I couldn’t argue with that. The ocean was my only boss, and if it was telling me to do it, that had to be the right thing.
“You’re technically the mermaid king, whether you accept the position or not. If you tell anyone any of our secrets, the ocean won’t hesitate to take you down.” I gave him a tight smile. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.” Sam admitted. “I’ve been curious ever since you lied to the president.” He smiled wryly, and I bit back a grin.
“Hey, I’ve got just as much power as him. More, actually.” I teased, though he didn’t understand yet.
“What do you mean? You told those people you could heal, but you obviously do more than that.” Sam wondered.
“I can heal people.” I nodded. “I’ve healed my friends a handful of times, but most mermaids and mermen don’t get injured very often so I haven’t used it many times since I beca
me queen. I can also read coties, though they have a language so learning to read them is a lot like learning any other language.” I explained.
“Coties are… mate marks?” Sam checked.
“Right. They’re really called coties, but ‘mate marks’ is an easier term for humans to understand and remember. Our coties tell us remarkable things about our lives, and that’s why mates have matching ones. Because we spend our life with our soulmate, our lives will have the same themes.” I explained.
“Huh. That’s cool.” Sam nodded. “What else can you do.”
I hesitated again.
“Coties sort of sing to me. I know it doesn’t really make sense, but that’s the only way I know to explain it. I look at people, and I see who they are. I know if they are shifters or human, and if they’re shifters, I know what their future will be and what the themes will make up their life. I’ve gotten used to ignoring it, so now it only really plays a part in my life when I let it.” I added.
“Sweet.” Sam looked surprised, but he was okay with it. That was a relief.
I saved the hardest-to-swallow thing for last.
“I know this will sound crazy, but I’m friends with the ocean. As the queen, I’m the only person with power over water. You would have it too, if you had been crowned already. But anyway,” I rushed to get it out. “The ocean and I work together. It’s full of magic in a way that people can’t comprehend, and it speaks to me. That’s how I found you as you were saving that mermaid; the ocean took me there and told me to wait and watch.”
Sam slowly nodded.
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” I raised my eyebrows.
“No, I guessed it had to be something like that. You hit me with a wave of water that first day on the beach, and you had to have some sort of crazy magic to throw that gunman into the wall.” He shrugged. “Is that all the magic you have?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “When we were sitting at dinner, I had to lie to everyone. They can’t know the extent of mermaid magic, because they would be afraid of us.” I explained. “Every mermaid and merman is born with power. They don’t know what it is until they’re twelve or thirteen. There are so many types of magic, I can’t even explain them all to you right now.”