by Tara Brown
“Then do it!” Lenny walked to her, ripping open her shirt. “If you think killing me will save Amaya, then do it!” She bared the spot where her heart was for her aunt to stab, though she had no knife.
“Lenny!” her mother hissed.
“Lenny,” her uncle spoke with a thick voice. “You’re the only one who can save Amaya.” The belief and confidence in his stare gave Lenny strength. She stumbled back, catching the boat before it was sucked out into the harbor.
Her father and Hilde came to the boat, Edwin carrying Amaya in his arms. She was moaning and roiling, lost already. “Hurry, Lenny.” He placed Amaya in the rowboat, sniffling. Josu was hot on his heels, his face filled with despair.
Lenny gave her family one last look, certain she would die. Her eyes flickered to Wilfred. “Will you come too?”
He climbed into the boat and sat next to Amaya.
Uncle Alek, the only other one who could see Wilfred, started to cry.
Lenny fought her tears and nodded at them all as they wept. Hilde’s tears hurt more than most. She was losing a piece of herself.
Lenny knew this pain.
She turned and pushed the boat out, swimming behind it when it became too deep, struggling with riding the waves as they tried to push her in all directions. When it was deep enough, she flopped into the boat, landing next to Amaya who was now on the bottom of the rowboat, slumped over. She stared at Lenny with her eyes wide, and Lenny gasped seeing the bloody veins taking over.
“Hurry, Lenny,” Amaya whispered.
“Okay.” Lenny sat up, grabbing the oars and locking them into place, and began to row. She grunted and heaved as she fought the waves and wind. And suddenly it became easier.
She looked behind to find Wen. His face was soaked in tears and water, but he swam with her, pushing the boat as he kicked hard.
“Go back! You’ll drown!” she shouted.
“I will stay with her, if you don't mind!” he said, choking on the waves as he swam harder. She couldn't argue, she had to row. It seemed like forever before she got the boat out to the middle of the harbor. The waves were large but the violence of them had changed. Now they pulled and sucked, dragging the boat to the mouth of the harbor with the intention of taking them out to sea.
Amaya began to shake—her head jerking about as though someone else moved her. Her eyes went to the back of her head, leaving only stark whites. Wilfred gave Lenny a panicked stare.
“Get in the boat!” she called to Wen.
He obliged clumsily, flopping into the boat and falling to the floor as she had. He scrambled up, rocking the boat as he dragged Amaya into his arms and sat, holding her against his chest, pinning her to him.
“It’s bad,” Lenny said, watching her sister struggle to move as Wen held her tightly.
“She’s changing, they were right. There’s a fever, I can feel it. She’s burning me through her soaking wet dress.”
“I should’ve been faster. I should’ve seen her.” Lenny started to cry again, realizing Amaya would change and she would have to drown her. They’d brought no weapon aboard. Wilf put his ghostly hand on her shoulder, cooling the spot.
“Lenny, it’s not your fault. She should have stayed inside like your father told her to. She’s so stubborn.” He wept. “Call to Isil. He will come. I know it!” Wen shouted back over the winds that seemed to have calmed marginally.
She didn't believe.
It was the moment of truth and Lenny didn't believe.
She knew Amaya would become a monster because of infection.
She turned weakly to the mouth of the harbor, facing away from her sister and Wen. The rain hit like a hundred tiny needles, cold and stinging her soaked face and body.
She shivered with the next gust of wind that rocked the boat and made her work to stay standing.
“Lenny, just call!” Wen cried out, his voice sounding a league away.
She searched the stormy, dark sky for something, anything, a sign.
Wilfred stood next to her. He slipped his silvery hand into hers, giving her a second chill. She sensed the air move around inside her palm; it was him squeezing. He was telling her to believe. She could feel it. He believed.
Swallowing the doubt and worry plaguing her, she cleared her throat, giving in to the insane idea of calling to the ancient gods.
“Isil!” she shouted but it was halfhearted. “Isil! Hithu! I have an offering!”
“Lenny!” Wen screamed, drawing her gaze back. Amaya shook violently, her head jerking back and forth and white froth building in the crease of her lips. “She’s going to change!”
She turned back to the ocean and screamed with everything she had in her, “Isil! Hithu! Please! Please don't let her die! Please save her! I will do anything!” She fell to her knees with the knock the next wave gave, sobbing and losing her voice in the emotion, “I will do anything,” she whispered. “I will give my life for hers. Save her!” She slumped and cried, defeated.
The boat vibrated with the waves and Amaya’s change, and Wen’s sobbing.
Lenny’s eyes closed as she tilted her face to the sky, desperate for help. “Help us!”
The rain slowed and the wind stopped.
Lenny blinked and lowered her gaze, frowning when she saw the wall of wind and storm and chaos pulling away from her.
She turned in a circle, scanning the water and the cyclone that appeared around them, creating an eye in the storm. It got wider and wider until there was a calm sea around them.
Lights began to form in the water, blue lights, like the jellyfish. But these were different. They were brighter. They lifted from the water, entering the calm air as globes, orbs of pure bright light.
The world around them slowed, the waves moved back and forth as if on a repeating loop.
Somehow, she knew she was frozen in time.
She glanced back at Wen who was part of the loop. His mouth opened and closed, making the same shapes as he repeated the same words.
The orbs dripped water, creating an echoing splashing sound.
Wilfred gave her a look, he too was out of time. “I think the gods are coming, Lenny,” he whispered, and she sobbed her breath as she was able to hear him. He no longer shimmered, and she realized she was the one who appeared shimmery and made of fog.
She was in his realm.
The land of the dead.
The gods had taken her bargain.
Wilf lifted a hand to her cheek, feeling solid where she felt hollow. “I never think about you,” he said with a teary smirk. “I don't love you with all my heart. And you are the worst sister I ever had.” Words had never been spoken with more love in them. A watery tear slid down his pale cheek. “Tell Bethel I want her to name him after you. Lenny.”
“Wilfred—”
“His name will be Lenny, after my sister. The bravest person I ever met.”
She blinked her tears but they didn't slide down her cheeks. They lifted and floated, becoming like the orbs of light.
The moment was interrupted by another blue light.
This one Lenny knew.
It was the stone, glowing bright blue with its dark smoky insides writhing.
A pale bluish-colored hand with white claws, long and sharp, lifted the stone from the calm sea.
Lenny stared at it. This was the bargain.
A life for the stone.
She knew the moment she touched it, it would burn her hand, trying to kill her. But she didn't give it a second thought. She reached, tilting the boat a little, and wrapped her hand around the searing gem.
It burned, white-hot, melting her skin. She tried to hold it back, but she screamed as the pain became too much. Wilf held her tightly, even as she dropped to her knees, her face lifting to the sky as agony poured from her.
A life for a life.
This stone would kill her.
As if her scream triggered it, the cyclone moved toward them, stirring the waters and ripping with the winds.
; It came back fast, the eye closing until it was gone, the boat ripped to shreds, and her body thrown into the air with Wen and Amaya.
She hit the water, feeling the hard smack of the surface as she landed on her back, but was pulled under by the closing of the wall.
She sunk, still gripping the bright-blue light in her hands. As the pain subsided, the searing agony of it died off, cooling her wound and healing it. She sank to the depths of the dark sea, lifting her hand to see the stone losing the white heat and glowing with only its pale blue coloring.
She used it to search, holding it out in front of her as she swam in the choppy waters.
Pieces of rowboat floated past her. Debris from the storm, but no Amaya, no Wen.
The blue lights that had floated with her in the air, glowed from the deep water. She swam to the surface, bobbing and jerking in the waves as she took a massive lungful of air and dove below.
She swam hard for the bottom, the pressure making her head tighten, but she pushed on until she saw feet. Amaya’s and Wen’s. She grabbed a foot, pausing their descent, but they were jerked free, leaving her floating and alone. She surfaced, unsure of what was happening. Was it the gods, was it mermaids, was Amaya going to be changed?
She bobbed as the storm picked up again. The waves tried to drown her, but she remained, desperate for answers.
Wilf was suddenly next to her, silvery and ghostly again. His eyes wide and shiny.
“Is it the gods?”
He shook his head.
“The mermaids?”
He nodded and focused down into the water.
A bright light shone from the seafloor. It was similar to the gemstone, burning and blinding. It became so bright, Lenny had to look away. She could see it from behind her eyelids. It hurt and she pressed her eyes shut tighter.
One moment it was there and the next it was gone, and she was in the dark again, fighting the waves with Wilf floating next to her as though he could tread the water too.
Shapes moved in the water around her. Dark outlines.
Lenny panicked, certain this was it, the moment she would die.
The water churned and something grabbed her ankle. Her eyes widened and she gulped the air before being dragged below.
She screamed her breath out for a moment before closing her mouth and conserving what air she had left. She traveled quickly, unable to see what had her.
She was jostled to the left and right, being thrown about like a ragdoll in a river.
When it stopped, the dark shapes were there, in the shadows of the sea. She lifted the stone and it began to glow as if her intent had turned it on.
The dark outline before her made her jump when the light hit it.
Amaya stared back, Amaya but not.
Her eyes were different, wider and greenish. Her silky pale hair was longer, floating around her. Her skin was bluish and shimmering like fish scales. Her legs were gone, replaced by a tail, a beautiful tail.
She lifted a clawed hand to Lenny’s cheek. Her wide eyes telling Lenny a story, but she didn't know the language.
Another shape moved in the distance, swimming fast like a shark might. Lenny braced for whatever would hit them, but it stopped just short of Amaya. Wen. He was also altered in the same way Amaya was, and yet he was still Wen. He stared at her with the same devastating love.
He had sacrificed himself to be with Amaya. Forever.
Amaya’s eyes flickered to the stone. She scowled as if she knew its secrets and how cursed it was.
Wilfred appeared and the four of them floated amid the depths, illuminated by the glow of the cursed stone and the silvery light Wilfred was made of.
Lenny wondered if they would take her too, a life for a life. Would she become a mermaid as well?
Amaya shook her head as if reading Lenny thoughts.
Can you hear me? Lenny asked with her mind.
Amaya nodded.
I love you so and I’m so sorry, Lenny thought.
Amaya didn't respond, but her words found their way into Lenny’s mind. I love you, Sister. I will love you always. And if you need me on this journey, I will find you. Cry or bleed into the sea and I will come to you. But now you must go. Save them all, Lenny. It is your destiny.
Wen nodded as though he heard the thoughts too.
Lenny’s body screamed for air, but she stayed, lingering to be with them. She couldn't handle another loss, and certainly not two.
She jerked from the deprivation, spasms attacking her as the life force in her fought to stay alive.
Wen swam at her, grabbing her arm and speeding her through the waters. She gripped him, thinking one thing on repeat, chanting it as they whirled through the sea, I love you, take care of my sister. I love you, take care of my sister. I love you, take care of my sister—
She closed her eyes, certain she might never open them again.
Chapter 30
Pain jolted Lenny to life as she coughed, seemingly trying to rid her body of its lungs. She rolled onto her side, feeling the sand on her cheek. A nose dug into her body, searching her. She jerked and winced as the hound growled and sniffed.
“Scar,” Lenny groaned in a cracked voice.
“She’s here! Scar’s found her!” Lord Ivor shouted. He skidded next to her, shooting sand in her face. His hands dug in, scooping under her and lifting her into the air. He pressed her against his chest, kissing the top of her head, squeezing so hard she coughed again, water leaving her lips.
“Lenny!” her mother shrieked and her father wrenched her from Lord Ivor’s hands. They attacked her before she even got her eyes open.
When she managed to, they burned. Sand and seawater had overwhelmed her. She felt as though she had woken from a dream, an impossible dream. It was dawn and the sunrise was pale and perfect. The sea was calm as it always was on a summer morning.
The air smelled of rain and the beach looked like it had suffered the chaos of the night before, driftwood and debris lining the shores of Blockley. She was near Uncle Cyril’s house.
“Is she all right?” Hilde asked from behind their parents, her face frozen in fear.
“She’s a fish,” Lenny growled with her raw throat aching. “A mermaid.” Her father set her down but her knees buckled. Her body was done, spent, exhausted.
Lord Ivor dropped to the ground behind her, holding her to him.
“And Wen?” Hilde asked softly.
“Same. Mermaid.” Lenny smiled, then laughed hysterically. She’d never considered a man might become a maid.
“She’s gone mad,” Mildred muttered as she stared down on Lenny.
“Wen’s—a—mer—maid!” She laughed and leaned back into Lord Ivor. “He’s a fish.” She shook her head as the laughing became tears and she fell forward, screaming into the sand. The weight of the losses crushed her.
Hilde rushed to her, falling on Lenny with sobbing and wailing. She gripped her sister, screaming in pain.
Scar nudged her way in, licking them both, scared of the behavior she was witnessing.
Her family stepped back, also visibly worried.
But Lenny couldn't stop herself from crying out.
“Bravo!” a voice Lenny knew all too well joined the soft morning breeze.
Lenny lifted her head, stunned when she saw Wen’s mother walking the beach toward them.
Her fingertips stained black from the pies she’d been making and her eyes wide with passion.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Knightly—”
“Sorry, for what, my precious?” She cackled and Lenny was confused. Wilfred appeared behind her. He gave Lenny a warning stare. Shaking his head, he pointed at Wen’s mother.
“Lorna, Wen has—”
“A sacrifice made. A soul taken. A stone returned. A heart broken. What was once legend comes again,” Lorna Knightly chanted as she walked toward them. Her eyes wild, her hair a mess, and her dress ripped.
“What?” Edwin asked roughly.
“She’s gone mad too,�
� Mildred murmured.
“Mad?” Lorna laughed. “No. I’m pleased, Lenny. I never imagined when I conjured the storm you would do everything I needed you to.”
“Conjured?” Lenny whispered.
“Of course conjured. How else do you get two summer storms in one year?” She laughed and raised her arms. “And you have done it, my dear girl. You have brought him back. Brought back my gifts!” She pointed a finger toward Lenny, shooting lightning from her fingertip and blasting the tree behind them. It cracked in half and the large branches fell next to where Lenny sat.
“Witch!” Mildred screamed the word for the second time that night.
“Of course,” Lorna said it like it should have been obvious. She pointed a dark finger at Lenny who flinched, scared of the lightning. “Give me the stone!”
Lenny’s eyes darted down at her hands. The gemstone was gone. Her hand had nothing but the imprint burned into it, though it didn't hurt anymore.
“Where is it?” Lorna snapped. “His lordship will want it.”
“Lordship?” Elsie asked. “Lorna, dear, Wen’s death is obviously hitting you rather hard.”
“Wen?” His mother cackled harder. “Wen served his purpose. A sacrifice made.” She grinned wide and answers began to form in Lenny’s mind.
“You made the storm that killed Wilf. A soul taken.”
“Her fingers,” Uncle Alek muttered. “The same as the body that washed ashore here. The naked girl.”
“It’s been you all along?” Lenny asked, standing up yet she was exhausted. “You did this to us.” Lenny accused her loudly.
“I paid my price!” Lorna screamed back, her accent changing to mimic the servants and peasants in Waterly City. “My Wen died to bring him back!”
“You!” the queen shouted as she ran over, her face stricken with shock. “You are alive?” she whispered.
Lorna smiled seeing the queen. “Miss me?” she asked wickedly, lifting her hand and pointing a dark fingertip at the queen.