by Piper Rayne
I run over and lock the door. Judging by the cadence of Xander's heart, he's sleeping. Oh, and there's that the man only sleeps a few hours a day. He's obviously a shadow or an insurgent.
Xander stands over six feet but the Palgad usually start closer to seven foot and swell to high as ten feet. I'm leaning towards the shapeshifting tribes. That leaves me with dragons, werewolves, lions, and centaurs.
Hum...
He's not a merman or a fairy. I cross out vampire because he sleeps. Then I eliminate a chronicler, mainly because he lacks the calming, reasonable quality I've found in every chronicler I've met, and most of them are women.
His dark brown eyes confirm he’s not a vampire, although his dark presence would lead me down the path of Xander being a werewolf. That would explain his predatory nature.
I flip through my journal, looking for an easy spell. And the bubbles come to mind. I have a working knowledge of them. But I've never tried making them up here.
How hard could it be?
I feel for Xander and I listen for the others. It’s quiet.
Then I return to the window. Bianca always says start easy. My sisters and I played many pranks around the castle using what we called our sister secret. I miss my sisters and if I let these men harm me or my kingdom, I'll never see them again. And with that I focus on the bubbles, the shape, the color, the way they float through the air.
The sea rolls in the distance, and the sky darkens. A woman gathers the kids, and their bubble play ends right before the Creator lights up the sky. A bolt extends from heaven, as if kissing the rising waves stirred by the wind.
It strikes again. I jump, startled by the grumble and the solution tosses in front of me.
"I have to get to the ocean." I hold my breath, scrambling to my journal. That's it. The ocean feeds to the channel. Can I find it on my own?
I have no choice. Stay and die for his million-dollar payday or take my chances in the ocean. Real talk, I'm scared. I've never traveled alone. I look towards the front of the suite. But I won't have to travel alone if I can get to Colt and Adan.
How?
My magic.
I search the pages. The words appear and disappear as I turn the pages. I need to get out of this room and near the water.
"The pier."
Excitement bubbles in my stomach. Dare I hope to make this happen on my own. That's what my mother would do, and one day, as queen, I’ll have to figure this out on my own. I might as well start now.
"It starts with a bubble. Then I'll get out of this room."
I return to the window and halt at the sight of the blue sky and calm sea. That's a sign. Isn't it? It must be, and if it isn’t, oh well.
Thank you, Creator.
Mother was right. It's time to strengthen my control of my gifts. Because who's to say they'll stop at having me? Our merfolk are not safe with men hovering outside our lake waiting to use them as bait.
Overheating is not an option, so I'll try something easy before turning my sights on the men. And against my better judgment, I search for Xander. That’s another thing I’ve notice, it’s easy for me to locate him. Which another question on my list for mother.
No good will come of trying to get his help. I can't pay him, and he's been clear that money is all that matters.
I'm on my own. The ache in my chest travels to my eyes and water flows down my cheeks. I brush them away.
"I'm Princess Talia Hudson. My mother is Frances Hudson. My father is Jeffery Hudson. I have the blood of my ancestors in my body." I close my eyes and search for the light inside. I can't let fear stop me.
My mother always says, Change starts with a thought. I'm a princess, not a helpless woman. Nor am I a helpless mermaid. But I hurt. The pain expands through my chest and I take several deep breaths.
"Start with a bubble, Talia." I force myself to focus on a solution.
I sit up again and close my eyes. We train for hours and hours, years and years. I never thought I'd find myself alone needing all of those hours to help me, but I do.
I focus, demanding my mind to create a damn bubble.
One fucking bubble and nothing.
Nothing.
Maybe I’m too uptight. I pull my shoulders from my ears and relax before trying again. I search for the blue light inside of me. Mother says, It’s the spirit seeking my soul. Every mermaid holds a different color of green, teal, lavender. My blue light lives in my core and when I'm truly one with my gift, it radiates through my veins, swirls in my orb, and consumes my eyes.
I find it, a speckle of blue, and I beckon it forward. It's time to create a bubble. I start with opening my hands and clearing my mind.
Magic, I need you, we need you. This isn't for me, but for my people.
An invisible weight lifts and I extend my hand. And a bubble—a little one—floats into the air.
I did it. I pop the bubble and do it again. And again. And again, until tiny bubbles float around the room, reminding me of home.
"Princess, lunch."
I freeze. Xander uses an index finger, popping his way forward until he stands in front of me.
"Lunch." He extends a cheeseburger. "What's all this?"
"I miss home."
His head drops, and when our eyes meet again, I see beyond the man. He doesn't blink and I don't look away. It’s as if he's speaking without saying a word, and I take a chance.
Xander... I call to him, but I can't hear him. I try again, this time reaching for his hand.
"Help me,” I whisper, since Gunner is never far away.
"Here's your lunch.” The wall falls over his eyes, and darkness descends over me, stealing the air from my lungs.
"I don't want another fucking burger." I swing my hand, sending the plate and its contents across the room. “I want out of here. I want to return home, to my mother and father, and my people. I want to go home.”
“Tough!” His face hardens, and I don't have an ounce of compassion for him or any of them.
"What are they going to do? Rape me? Kill me? Toss my dead body into the ocean like the others? And then what you’ll collect your check?”
"No!" Xander yells, not moving an inch.
"You can't say that. Who pays a million dollars for a princess?"
He steps back. "You were listening to my conversations?"
Xander’s rage crawls over my skin, stirring my gifts. Bolts of blue flashes across my vision and I widen my stance.
"Yes. How else am I going to convince you to let me go?”
6
I begged, and Xander didn’t budge. Today, I have a different plan. He places my plate of hot cakes on the table and I grab his arm by the wrist.
“Xander, this is about more than money. Those men wanted to use my mother as bait, and now you’ll lead me to that same fate? Help me."
He softens, I see it in his eyes. Then that damn wall returns with a vengeance.
“It must be nice to block out the world.” I speak to the wall because until I knock it down, I have to pray for a move of the Creator.
“That's between you and Kaden."
“Fine.” I flick my hand and the plate flies across the room.
He dodges and pivots. "You have to eat."
"I don't have to do anything. Tell me something. Anything.”
Bolts of blue light flash in my head. Frustration and fear are a deadly combination. I stare into his eyes. But I’m talking with the man that stood on top of the hill watching my men die, not the Xander who kept me alive.
I intend to push him until he shuts me up or lets me go.
“Why do you guard my door? Why not let Gunner and his men have their way? It will happen eventually, right? Why leave me here alone with nothing but my own thoughts? Just do whatever you're going to do—”
My words are lost in the depths of his passionate kiss.
Xander's mouth covers mine and the constant hum that's remained in my chest from the moment he stepped from the shadows consumes me.
Wild, untamed, and aggressively his tongue fills my mouth. Dancing with my tongue. Demanding nothing less than everything. My knees buckle at the intensity, but the strength of his arms holds me, and keeps me from falling.
And I surrender to the intensity, ignoring my questions, my doubts as the passion of his kiss reaches the tips of my toes. I’ve never kissed a man like this. I’ve never kissed a merman like this. And I know why, because my kisses are meant for Xander.
His hands roam my body, sliding down my curves, and cups my bottom. He squeezes and a feeling I’ve never known awakens. He massages and a school of fish flutter across my skin and a moist heat gathers between my thighs.
I want him…
Then, just as quick as he started, he ends. Xander spins and stalks out of the room without a word, and I crumble to the floor. Not from exhaustion, but from need. It curls in my stomach, aching worse than any hunger pain.
Heat covers my face as I stare at the closed door.
How stupid am I? Needing his kiss, his touch. The man who holds me captive. Ready to turn me over to a man that haunts the nightmares of every species on the planet.
How foolish am I? To think Xander will help me. That what he feels is worth more than a than money.
I bring my knees to my chest. I need water to think without restrictions, without using my will to hold it together. What is it about Xander that makes me willing to defy my own captivity to have him?
There are stories about mermaids and men. My sisters and I would sit around and laugh at how unrealistic we’re depicted. Singing songs and fluttering around lovesick over a human—a mortal. That we’d fall in love with a man and leave our world behind.
Why would a princess leave her kingdom to live in this world?
A world corrupted by greed. A world with such evil. What kind of love is so powerful that a princess would forsake her people, her parents, and herself to have? They don’t understand love, real love, eternal love.
Love carved before creation, and that exists through eternity. All they love is money.
With a flick of my wrist, the human clothes disappear, and I walk to the bathroom. I chuckle, mother was right. Not once have I struggled to hold my form in place. I’ve perfected mimicking clothes I see on television, and I held my human form a full day without overheating again. My powers are stronger now than ever. The door flies open and I'm standing face to face with Xander.
"Where are your clothes?" Xander asks.
"Where are your manners? I can't go outside, I can't go home. Can I not have some privacy before you kill me?" If they think I'm going to take this sitting still, they have another think coming. I'm going to bring them to their knees and turn their asses over to the Dakes guards to lock them away for life. All I need to know is if my men—Colt and Adan—are alive.
I blink and Xander towers over me. The heat from his body warms my body. He did that once before and it adds another quality to my list. He can teleport—that rules out dragons. Very few keepers have that skill, at least according to my studies.
"Put on your clothes." His eyes roam my body and fire covers my skin.
Now!
Get out of my head. I shout back.
You have until the count of three. Xander smiles and my resolves shakes. The man is more beautiful than the bluest ocean or the cascade of the Malawi waterfall. His raven hair falls like a curtain as his mouth dips lower.
"Damn, princess." It's one of Gunner's goons.
Xander turns around, blocking me from his sight.
Are you clothed? Xander asks.
I sigh and cover myself. The beauty of the human body is wasted behind fabric.
"Now leave."
I step around Xander, done with his fake chivalry. From this moment on, he's one of them and I'm on my own.
I walk towards the bathroom with the aroused state of the troop lingering in the air. It's time I used it to my advantage.
"Need a hand?” The goon asks.
“Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out.” I repeat the words over and over. Louder and louder until my voice reaches and an inaudible pitch taking Gunner and his men to their knees.
Xander stands like an unmovable mountain.
"Make her stop." Gunner shouts, covering his ears.
Xander marches off and returns with Adan. His eyes bulge in fright. “Please, princess.”
I stop, and the weight of unknown wraps around my throat depriving my lungs of air.
Breathe, princess.
I don’t want to listen, but I can’t fold. I can’t lose my shit. For the record, this isn’t taught in training. How to deal with hostile forces that want to kill you for money. How to save the guards sworn to protect me. How to keep this from ever happening to another mermaid.
And it hits me, I truly am responsible for myself. This is what mother meant. It wasn’t empty motherly advice.
“Adan, look at you."
He looks frail. I reach out, but I'm stopped at the sight of the tungsten metal handcuffs.
Are they feeding you?
Sometimes.
They must have them outside the distance of my powers. On land, our ability to communicate is tampered. But underwater it spans for miles.
The more you fight, the more they take it out on us.
I flinch. I'll get us out of here.
Don't make a promise you can't keep. Xander adds.
I look at him. Get out of my head.
Stop acting like a spoiled little princess and eat your dinner.
"You told me you'd comply if I spared your men,” Xander says.
Gunner pulls out his gun and points it at Adan. The merman under my leadership. He’s here because he agreed to guard me.
"I did." I respond to Xander, not taking my eyes off of Adan.
These men don’t know who my mother is or who I am. I paste a smile on my face. We mermaids have a way of dealing with men like them, and they’re about to find out.
I shift my shirt and jeans to a dress, similar to one I saw on a movie last night. The mustard yellow dress pairs perfectly with my skin. Gunner’s gun drops along with his mouth and based on the vile chatter of the troop, I’d say they all agree.
"Yes, sir." I purr, releasing my aura.
The gazes of the men burn with lust. I’ll have them so crazy they’ll willingly turn on each other for a chance to have me. Then I turn to Xander and he’s unaffected. He blinks and his chest swells. Then a cocky smile spreads across his face and he restores the equilibrium in the room.
Nice try.
This isn't over.
I stroll away with a rocky plan and less than four days before Kaden arrives. From the bits and pieces of the conversation that I understood, he works for the Dark One.
The Dark One is no mystery to the Dakes, but we don’t overly acknowledge his presence either. Mother calls him, The enemy of us all. Thus, him wanting mother can't be good. She taught us the only being powerful enough to challenge the Dark One is the Creator.
How can we stand a chance?
I run bath water. I climb into the tub, relieved I run my hands over the length of my tail. The tub is too little to extend to my full length, but it helps me reserve energy.
I turn a few times, flapping my fin, and it makes me think about home. I don't care if I never visit up top again after this trip. And I'll be the first to cosign every cautionary tale mother shares, if the Creator gets me out of this mess.
I wave goodbye to my toes. The transformation starts and I feel Xander before I see him. But I can't talk now with my insides crying for the change to end.
I groan. Then I slip under the water, not acknowledging him. My lack of experience with men makes handling him a challenge. All I have are the naughty bedtime stories from my sisters. Then there are scary stories taught to us in school to kill our curiosity with humans. Mother made it clear we’re here to protect them. They're nothing more than glorified pets. But mother never said pets look like Xander or made me feel...
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He sits facing me.
I feel seen and furious and aroused. I want to touch his raven hair, kiss his lips. And I wish we didn't meet on that hill, but maybe in a coffee shop in town over a book and a latte. That he'd tell me about his world and I'd creatively tell him about mine until the world fades away.
We could do that.
Do what? I question.
Pretend.
Pretend that you're not about to turn me over to the Dark One's assistant?
Pretend that I could have walked away with a quarter of a million dollars and I stayed.
I sit up. "Why? Why did you stay when all you do is huff and puff? You dive in my mind only to berate me. Then you slam the door, leaving me alone." I gather my legs to my chest, hiding my face from his sight.
He's the enemy.
"I'm worse than the enemy. I stay away because someone like you should stare clear of me."
I look over at him. There's good in everyone, even Xander. And I'm tired of staring at these walls. Even people watching has lost its appeal because I'm too far away. I can't see their eyes dance when they talk or the animation of their facial features.
"What would we talk about?" I lean back with no expectations.
"Whatever you want..."
I open my mouth to ask about his business with the Dark One.
"Within reason," he adds.
"What do you enjoy doing most in the world?"
"Running in an open plain." Xander smiles and I study the curve of his mouth. The way his eyes warm. "There's something magical and unexplainable about the freedom I feel with the wind blowing through my hair, the sun beaming on my face, and the hard earth beneath my feet. Very few things compare. What about you?"
"In general, or in my kingdom?"
"I want to know everything about you." He moves and sits on the floor beside the tub.
"Why?"
"Is that your favorite question?" He laughs.
"You sound like my mother. I'm naturally curious." I laugh with him and it feels good. Much better than being at odds with one another.
"What fascinates you?"
I drop my chin to my hand and decide to be myself. He has to see I'm an innocent bystander and release me, right?
