Scales and Legends

by B. Kristin McMichael

“We’ve wrapped up all the details. It looks like we have a complete pardon and we will immediately stock a blood bank for the siren that come to shore. We had to talk a bit with the night humans in Florida. It seems like there’s very little land not claimed by at least one clan, and trust me, you don’t want to get into land claimed by more than one. The town you showed me seems to be completely free for the siren to have. Are you sure that’s enough?”

  “Plenty. The siren prefer the island and the ocean anyway. We don’t need a whole territory to claim for ourselves.” That much was true. Beyond the students, none of the adults ever came back. Maybe they would now, but Whitney doubted it. The island was their perfect home.

  “We’ve claimed the land for the Oceanids clan. The one thing is the council wants to be able to tell good from bad mer. So they couldn’t be swayed in this—all siren on land have to be part of your clan. If anyone refuses to join, they won’t have the pardon. The pardon is only for the Oceanid clan, not the siren. Loan explained a bit more to us, and it was as I expected from your locked up memories. Oceanids are good. There’s no evil in them, and anyone you claim as part of your clan will have to be good, too.”

  “As in, they don’t kill humans?” Whitney clarified.

  “For the most part that would disqualify someone, but there are other things that define evil. I have a feeling your scales will only stick to those that are good. The rest will still be hunted. So make sure to change everyone as soon as you can.”

  Whitney nodded. That made sense. And in reality, she didn’t want an evil clan anyway. She could live with that … especially since it wasn’t really her choosing, her scales would choose. No one could call her unfair; it was beyond her control. Well, kind of.

  “I didn’t mean to peek, but I saw that the siren are in trouble. As a rule, night human clans don’t interfere with other clans. I have no night humans who will step between a civil war. The council has offered to let you and any of your Oceanids stay here at the manor until it’s done. You are one of a kind, and if you go back and get killed, then the siren will have no chance at life on land.” Arianna watched her like she was waiting for some sort of retort.

  Instead, all Whitney felt was shock. Never once did she think she would stay out of the battle. There were too many people on the island that she wanted to protect. And there was Sam. She couldn’t just leave him. He was her mate. That alone bound her to the island. Her life was already his.

  “Your friend Cassie knows how to transfer mate bonds in case someone dies. If your mate were to die, there’s one council member I’m more than certain would volunteer to keep you alive,” Arianna added quietly, knowing or maybe listening into what Whitney was feeling.

  Was she serious? Did Arianna just expect she would leave Sam behind?

  “Would you take a new mate?”

  Whitney glanced over Arianna’s shoulder to her dark-haired mate who stood leaning against the building. It seemed like he didn’t let her out of his sight, ever.

  Arianna glanced back, and her face spread into the biggest smile Whitney had ever seen on someone. When she turned back, she tried to keep her face neutral but failed. Whitney didn’t need an answer. A girl didn’t look that way at a guy without loving them with their whole heart. And though Sam was thousands of miles away, he made Whitney feel the exact same happiness.

  “And would you let your mate run off to battle without you?” Whitney added.

  This time Arianna didn’t turn around. “I could never leave him even if I wanted to, and there’s no way I’d let him fight without me.”

  “Exactly. I need to get back to my siren and get them home. War is coming, and hopefully, my status as an Oceanid will bring luck like Loan seems to think.”

  Arianna nodded. “I figured you would say as much, but I had to try. You don’t realize how special you really are. Night humans don’t just appear out of nowhere, but that’s exactly how you came to be. You might have just been a girl before all of this, but your mate gave you a gift beyond just coming back to the home you were meant to be in. You are something no one has ever been, or probably will be again. You are a legend coming to life.”

  Whitney felt the gravity in her words. She really couldn’t explain why she was different than the rest of the siren, but now she knew. It made everything fall into place, and even the weird feelings of dread were now explained. Her life had changed when Sam turned her, but she never could have guessed he was turning her into something no one had seen in hundreds of years. Whitney wasn’t sure it was ever going to feel real, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She needed to get home and help any way she could.

  “Good luck in protecting your siren. I’ve contacted the hunters, and they are willing to send some hunters with you to help out, but that’s all I can do. Make sure you change all your siren before you meet them, though, because they have been told any mer without a pink scale on their arm is fair game to kill.”

  Whitney nodded as Arianna stood back up with a grace that made her seem like she was dancing. Arianna began to walk toward her waiting mate, and his eyes never left her.

  “I really wish you good luck, and I hope to see you again one day. I hope Loan’s stories are as true as you hope and you can bring the siren the luck they need.” And with a curt nod from Arianna, she left Whitney and Trudy at the pool.

  “Time to head back?” Trudy asked as she swam over and hopped out of the pool. Obviously, she was listening into the conversation and ready to get back to the real world.

  “Time to plan our way to help the siren, starting by changing everyone into an Oceanid that we can find.”

  Trudy held up her hand to give her a high five on that one. All the siren waiting with Cassie were greens, and Whitney agreed they would all be thrilled to be changed. But Whitney didn’t give her the high five she was waiting for.

  “But how again do we get back?” Whitney wasn’t even sure how Trudy came to the manor, let alone where they even were.

  Trudy started laughing and pointed to her purse sitting on a table.

  “We call Cassie to pick us up. Glad she told at least one of us. I’m not sure what state we are even in, let alone city.”

  And with that Whitney laughed along with her friend. Here she was this all-powerful mer, and she had to agree. She had no clue where she was, where her siren were, or how to get back to anyone. It was a good thing Trudy had come to the council, too. Whitney needed that laugh and smile. And what better person to laugh with, but a friend?

  Whitney looked around the bare hotel room. It was a much better place than the dive they first were in. The paint wasn’t peeling, and the bed quilts didn’t smell funky, but it was still not the five-star resorts Whitney preferred. Not that it mattered. She was back with her siren and had explained what had happened. All six of the waiting siren were happy to hear the news and immediately wanted to join her. Thankfully, as she had expected, they were all deemed good enough and the scale stuck to them. They didn’t have time to try out their new siren forms, but they were all excited to see how true Trudy had been when describing it.

  It was time for Cassie to go home and for the sirens to find out who was sent for help. With hundreds if not thousands of mer getting ready to attack the island, Whitney hoped it was an army. One hunter was worth at least ten or more night humans because they had advanced strength and endurance, but she needed a bunch if they were going to win the war.

  Cassie waited by a tree that was just outside the hotel.

  “I hate to leave you now. It’s like they just gave us permission to be friends, but I have to go. Not fair,” Cassie complained, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She shook her tail as she pouted.

  “And when we get done with all of this we can still be friends. War doesn’t change our friendship. Heck, I don’t know anything that could really stop us from being friends. When it is all done, we will catch up on everything. I can’t wait for you to meet Sam,” Whitney added.

  “So mystery guy
does have a name.” Cassie nudged Whitney’s shoulder. Now that Sam was safe in the night human world, Whitney was absolutely going to show him around and introduce him to everyone.

  “And you can’t deny going back. I’m sure Nate is going crazy without you, and since your uncle ordered it, you have to go.” Whitney hugged her friend. She really didn’t want her to leave. Everything always felt like it fit into place with Cassie around. Now she was going to have to force everything into place.

  “I know, but I still wish you were there like old times,” Cassie replied.

  “I don’t miss being able to hear the whole skinwalker clan in my head. Do you know that it is like to have someone able to tell you what to do all the time? It was a pain, and to hear only voices of guys … That was torture also. Now I have my own clan, and I plan to stay out of everyone’s head.”

  “Except Sam’s,” Cassie added in a sing-song voice.

  Whitney smacked her best friend in the arm. “You can’t say his name like that. He’s the lead singer in a rock band.”

  Cassie covered her mouth when she began to giggle.

  “I’m serious,” Whitney added, and her friend’s hand dropped from her mouth to show she was shocked.

  “Like as in a real rock band?”

  “Yes. That’s how the siren got money on land. Sam’s band is doing pretty good. I promise when this is all done I’ll even take you to one of his concerts.”

  Cassie reached forward and hugged Whitney. “I’m going to miss you. We have to get back together and get all caught up. I’ve missed so much in your life over the past few months. I wish you would have come to me sooner.”

  That was the one regret for Whitney. She should have gone to Cassie sooner, but she didn’t want to get her in trouble. She could see now that their friendship was stronger than ever, and she wouldn’t have been in trouble. Cassie would have kept her secret, and Whitney was ashamed she doubted that for a minute. Now she didn’t need to worry. Nothing was going to keep them apart again, as long as the whole war thing ended up in her favor. There was only that little detail.

  Cassie put her hand on the tree, and the large cat Jared walked up and wrapped his body against her side. Without another word, Cassie melted away with her cat, and Whitney was left to play her new role of leader. Somehow she was supposed to know what to do next. And she needed to figure things out fast. Sam wasn’t sure how much longer the mer barricading the island would be happy to sit and wait. And he didn’t know why Tim hadn’t shown them the way in yet.

  As Cassie left, a car pulled into the parking lot. Whitney waited tensely while the car door opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out. From the driver’s seat, a teen boy emerged. They both looked straight at Whitney and nodded. With impeccable timing, the hunters were starting to arrive.

  “Hi. The council told us that we should meet a night human here with a pink mark on her arm. Since you have that mark, I’m assuming you are the one we need to talk to about our new assignment?” the lady said as she moved closer. How she saw the pink mark over twenty feet away was beyond Whitney.

  “Yeah. Hi. I’m Whitney. I’m the leader of a new clan of night humans called the Oceanids.” She held out her hand, but the lady made no move to shake it. Pulling her hand back, she continued. “I’ve been given the right to pardon any good siren, but the problem is I can’t get to them. Their island is surrounded by a ton of mer clans.”

  “So we’re off to kill fish?” the lady asked, like the whole pardon part didn’t interest her at all.

  “Yes, we’re going to fight with mer,” Whitney replied, unsure what to make of her. She was petite, maybe five-foot-three and old enough to sport wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. She obviously didn’t have wrinkles from smiling—more likely from the permanent scowl across her face. She nodded to Whitney.

  “I’ll go make my plans on which weapons to pick up on the way,” she replied and went back to the car. The teenage boy was left behind, staring at the ground.

  “Um, hi. I’m Whitney,” she tried again, offering her hand to the teen. It took him a moment to realize she was talking to him.

  “Oh, hi. I’m Kevin, and my mother is Claudia. I know she’s a bit intense, but you’ll find she’s good at being a hunter. She’ll be a great asset to your hunting expedition.” The crew-cut kid gave her a big smile.

  “Hunting expedition?”

  “Yes, the hunter’s council got a call from the night human council that there was a congregation of illegal mer that needed to be killed. We were sent to help.” Now the boy seemed as confused as Whitney.

  Suddenly it made more sense. As she was waiting for more to show up, more weren’t coming. This wasn’t going to work. They had sent a hunter and her teen. There was no way just these two were going to be any help.

  “There’s no more coming, are there?” Whitney had to confirm her suspicion.

  “More? Hunters are all trained to handle at least a dozen night humans at a time. Why would you need more hunters?”

  Whitney rubbed her forehead. This wasn’t going to help at all. How in the world was she going to help or make it back home unless there were more hunters? Two hunters was a great start, but that was all it was, just a start. They needed more help.

  “There are thousands of mer in the waters around the siren island. Thousands. And I have seven untrained siren teens with me. One hunter isn’t going to help much with that, and basically, you would be going on a suicide mission.” Whitney shook her head. She thought being an Oceanid meant having luck, but maybe that luck was only for someone who touched her mer lines and not for her. Well, that stunk. What was the purpose of being special if it made no difference?

  “That’s impossible. Our records have the mer population of being up to maybe a hundred at the most. If my mother takes on a group at a time, she will do fine with a hundred.”

  Whitney’s eyes bugged. Their information? What the heck. They didn’t know anything. Each race had more than a thousand mer each, and there were more than a dozen races. Maybe a hundred? This wasn’t going to work.

  “There are currently 1,374 siren residing on the island. While that might seem like a lot, it’s actually smaller than most of the mer clans. Not all of the people in a clan will be fighting, just the men and some women in their prime, but there will be hundreds if not thousands in the battle. I’m not lying to you. That’s the truth, and one hunter may help, but like I said, it would be a suicide mission for them.”

  Claudia returned, and she was staring at Whitney like she was trying to decide whether to believe her or not. The hunters didn’t seem like the type to admit they were wrong and their information on mer, in general, was not very accurate.

  “My night human family is on that island. I’ve lived on the island and have seen it with my own eyes. There were way more mer than you could have ever imagined.” Whitney tried her best to stress to the hunter and her son that she was telling the truth. She needed them to believe her.

  That news didn’t seem to sit well with Claudia. Her frown returned, and she marched back to her car, opened the trunk, and began removing more weapons that she piled on the ground.

  “What is she doing?” Whitney whispered to her son Kevin.

  “Probably cataloging everything we have with us, and counting how many more weapons we need to go pick up.” He shrugged like he wasn’t completely sure either.

  “So there really is no one else coming?” Whitney had to start making her own plans. The hunters weren’t being very helpful.

  “No one else. We really believed there were only a hundred at most left. My mom was the only one dispatched for this mission.”

  Whitney nodded and began to pace in the parking lot. There had to be someone to call that would be willing to help and turn the tide of the coming war to her side. She wanted the chance for the siren to be free. She considered the skinwalkers, but it wasn’t their fight. As Arianna had explained, and Whitney knew too well, night humans stayed out of each other’s p
olitics. It had to be that way, or there would be another night human war. What Whitney needed was day humans strong enough to fight, but it didn’t help when she only had two. That just wasn’t enough. And she didn’t exactly want to lead two complete strangers off to their deaths, either. The teen had to be younger than her. He deserved to at least have a few more decades to his life instead of dying in a feud of night humans.

  “And if we call for more?” Whitney asked as she came in front of the teen again.

  “They won’t send help. They won’t believe additional hunters are needed no matter what you tell them. They truly believe there are only a hundred left. Sending more would be unnecessary. The only way backup hunters would come was if you were a hunter and could tell them that. They only trust each other, and sorry, but you’re a night human. One with an interest in saving the island of mer on top of things. You wouldn’t be trustworthy to a hunter.”

  Whitney stared at Kevin. That was it. She might not be trustworthy to the hunter’s council, but she was trustworthy to one hunter and her brother in particular.

  “Tell your mom to pack everything away. I need to make a phone call, and then go find myself a few more hunters to bring to the party.”

  Whitney walked away, leaving the teen boy with his mother. She knew who she needed to call, and she knew Jade would believe her. Now she just had to break the news that she was a night human and hopefully be forgiven by her friends. Better yet, she would call Jax. He already knew, and he also knew that they’d messed with Jade and Rommy’s minds before the hunters left. She’d leave it up to him to explain it all and take their anger, because she knew they were both going to be upset. Hopefully, they had enough connections to bring more people with, and at least Jax’s mother’s eternal hate of the mer would more than likely drive her to not want to miss the fight.

  Maybe, just maybe, Whitney did have a bit of luck. The hunters moving to town and befriending her was more than coincidence. There might have just been some good fortune in her meeting the exact people she would need to help her.