In Over Her Head

by Judi Fennell

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  “Oh, they’ve been there all right. What you—your kind—don’t know is that when Mers die, we become dolphins. We can do it any time at will, but always at death. That’s what you find on your beaches and in your fishing nets.”

  She rested the braided palm fronds on the sand in front of her, her beautiful eyes almost a physical touch as they focused on him. “Wow. That’s amazing. And so incredibly sad. I’ll never look at another dolphin the same way… Have you? Changed?”

  “Not me. That’s another ability I didn’t inherit, although with this tail thing, who knows? But Mers do it for disguise when your kind wander into our area. And there are pods who specifically shift to help your kind. Some even work for you. Undercover, of course.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “To keep us up to date on what your capabilities are. Where you’re heading in regards to us and the sea. The same as Humans do between countries. We’re not that different.”

  “You have spies at SeaWorld. Wow.” She shook her head. “So much for Homeland Security.” A breeze sprinkled sand onto the braids. She shook them clean.

  “Here. What do you think? Long enough?”

  “Sweetheart, trust me. Nowhere near long enough.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re right—there’s not much difference between our races. But between the sexes?

  Hell, yes. You better get to work on those braids, Reel, or it’ll be a tad lonely on your side of the island.”

  He grinned and shook his head, but acquiesced. There was always tonight.

  “So, do you think he,” she jerked her head toward their guest, “is going to stick around much longer?”

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  “No clue. I’m sure he’s eaten his fill of what was in the shallows and the rest probably took off in fear for their lives, so at some point he’s going to have to go hunting. But with what I remember from school, he can last a day or so without anything.”

  “Lovely.” She picked up the utility belt and attached the two braids to it. “This is going to take a while.”

  “We’ve got a while.”

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  Chapter 29

  “Ceto! Get your yellow tails out here or I’m coming in!” Fisher’s trademark roar tore through the crumbling cavern where Ceto resided when in this part of the Atlantic. No surprise the guy could start a tidal wave with a sneeze.

  Now how in Hades had he found her? She was going to root out the traitor and annihilate every member of his family reef.

  She ran a hand through her deep green tresses and straightened the Human top she’d elected to wear today. Whale-boned on the sides, it left her shoulders bare and framed her shell-fillers most attractively. Satin ties helped the red lace curve over her scales with a nice flair. Loathsome creatures, Humans, but they had their purposes. Clothes being merely one of them.

  “Ceto!”

  “I’ll be right there, Fisher. Keep your fins on.” Giving herself one last glance in the lightning bolt-shaped mirror she’d “gifted” herself with from Ari’s yacht, Ceto ruffled all four of her fins, switching them to red so he wouldn’t be proven right, and girded herself for battle. She was going to have to be on the tips of her flippers to outwit Fisher when he questioned her about The Vault.

  “Hello, Fisher.” She trailed her nails along a marble chaise, the one piece of furniture the barnacles hadn’t laid claim to yet. “You should have let me know you InOverHerHead.indd 249

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  were coming. We could have set up a dinner meeting in Atlantis. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

  And whose fault was that? The damn Council and their stupid decrees and rules and proclamations. It was like living in a giant glass bowl with them around. Things were so much better when Poseidon took a personal interest in the day-to-day goings-on of his oceans.

  “I’m not here for pleasantries, Ceto. I want to know why—”

  “Well in that case, care to tell me what’s going on with—”

  “—you neglected to mention your child.”

  “My…? What? What are you talking about?”

  “Kraken.”

  Shit. How had he found out? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She circled to the sidebar and shuffled a few of the bottles around, avoiding eye contact with Fisher’s reflection in the mirror above the wine rack.

  “Cut the bullsharkshit, Ceto. Your son has been seen chasing my son all over the Caribbean, and I want to know how that’s even possible and what you plan to do about it.” His hair streamed out behind him, looking just like his ancestor.

  Poseidon. Now there was a Mer man…

  But wait—Kraken was out? It wasn’t possible. She’d given Rasgo explicit instructions not to let him out under any circumstances. Krak might be her only child, but she wasn’t blind to his faults. Lack of gray matter being top of the list.

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  We—I was lenient with you, Ceto. Apparently too lenient, for you to go and try something like this—”

  “Hold on, Fisher. Just hold on for one swish, will you?”

  She spun around, brandishing the wine bottle in her hand like a sword. “What do you mean, Krak is chasing Reel?

  Reel is, um, a guest in my home. My son, and I’m not saying that I even have one, can’t be chasing him.”

  Fisher swelled to twice his normal size. She really hated that ability of his. Hmm, though maybe in certain instances it wouldn’t be a bad thing…

  “At your home, Ceto? With you here? Why don’t I like the sound of that? Reel came to your home on a peaceful mission—”

  “Cut your bullsharkshit, Fisher.” She thumped the end of the bottle against his sculpted abdomen.

  “You and your cronies sent him on a salvage mission and that is expressly against our détente agreement. What’s mine is mine, and it stays that way. The minute Reel and that Human entered my waters with the intent to steal the diamonds, our agreement was null and void.”

  Fisher’s hands gripped the skin just above his scale line. “The diamonds don’t belong to you, Ceto. Reel was there on a recovery mission.”

  “Semantics, Fisher. I recovered them, they’re mine. Your precious Council can’t touch them.” She pulled a bottle opener from the cupboard. She could use a drink.

  “It still doesn’t explain the existence of Kraken.” In one flick of his tail, he was portside of the sideboard.

  “A son, might I add, you were prohibited from creating, and who, as such, violates the terms of our agreement. I could have you harpooned for it.”

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  “But you won’t, will you?” She let Smug creep into her tone and took a healthy swig of the green fermented beverage. Hmm, good year. “Not while I’ve got that reprobate you call a son in my home. I know you don’t find much need for barracuda—giant toothpicks I believe you called them at one point, yes? Well, they heard and they remember. They’ll guard Reel and the Human until the death. Reel’s death. So don’t go thinking you’ve got some hold over me, because I’ve just about had it with your holier-than-thou proclamations and—”

  “My god, you don’t know.”

  “I prefer Goddess. And what don’t I know?”

  Fisher laughed so hard tears edged out of the corners of his eyes. She really hated being laughed at. Especially by him. One of the few who hadn’t succumbed…

  “Reel and Erica escaped.
Kraken’s out and running amok, and you don’t have a single bargaining chip, Ceto. Not one. This is priceless. If I weren’t so gods damned worried about my son, I think I’d really enjoy this moment.”

  The words knocked into her like a tsunami. She crashed the bottle to the sideboard and gripped the edge. Reel escaped? And that piddling little Biped got free? Krak was out and about without her? Hades, he could get lost inside a circular cavern, poor thing. Those Human genes, that’s what it was. If only she’d bypassed that last whaling ship…

  The Council had brought her to this! Each and every one of them and their stupid edict. Silly ideas of a balance with Humans. Fisher was getting soft in his old age. It was about time for Rod to step up and take his father’s place.

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  Rod… she’d have to work on that one. Not quite the hunk his brother was, but still, all that power…

  She had to buy some time. Find Kraken. Get Reel back in her clutches.

  “What do you want me to do, Fisher?” She met his eyes in the mirror. Blue stone to her black ones. Neither willing to be the first to look away.

  Fisher deflated to regular size, though that was still impressive. Hades, she’d tried so hard with him years ago, but no. Kai had gotten her hooks into him early on.

  “Call him off, Ceto. Reel and Erica are stranded on a beach and there’s not much time left before he’ll lose the opportunity to have his tail forever. Call Kraken home.”

  “And what’s in it for me?”

  “What do you mean, what’s in it for you? Nothing, Ceto. You’ve broken the agreement. We don’t owe you one damn concession.”

  She released the neck of the bottle and turned around, leaning against the furniture. “Then I guess there’s really no incentive for me to work with you, is there?”

  “We could have Kraken killed.”

  “Then why bother coming to me? No, Fisher.” She sidled up to him and ran a nail along the plane of muscle over his heart. “There’s a reason you’ve come to me. Maybe it’s because you can’t kill Krak? You may have stripped my goddess powers from me, but the genes are still there, and you’ve realized he inherited Immorality from me. Not to mention, as his creator, Kraken answers only to me and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

  The corner of her mouth tilted. She couldn’t help gloating.

  “You all thought you were so smart, being able to bestow and strip people of their Immortality. You set InOverHerHead.indd 253

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  up those guidelines and now they’re coming back to bite you in the tail, aren’t they, Fisher? You can’t strip my son of his Immortality unless he kills the son you can’t gift with it. Poor Reel has to earn it all on his own. And so far, the kid has been sorely lacking in the hero department. Tsk tsk. What to do, what to do?”

  Fish, was she enjoying this. It’d been a long time coming. She circled Fisher, brushing her red fins over his navy blue ones. “Did you ever think that maybe if you hadn’t been so hard on Reel when he was younger, he might have listened to you more? Asked for your advice?

  Followed your suggestions? He could have earned life everlasting a long time ago, but he had to go out of his way to thwart you. And now, here you are, begging me— me—to save him. Don’t you just love the irony?

  I know I do.”

  Fisher grabbed her arm, spinning her around to float in front of him. “Have your moment, Ceto, but if Kraken kills him, there won’t be a trench deep enough in any ocean for you to hide in.”

  He didn’t scare her. Not now. “Well, then, perhaps you’d like to make a deal, Fisher.”

  “I don’t deal.”

  “All right, a concession then. I call Krak home so your precious son can leave his land-bound prison before his time runs out, and you give me one Human. Grant him Immortality and let me have him. For whatever purpose I want.”

  Fisher’s left eyebrow twitched. His jaw tightened and… was that the grinding of teeth?

  Oh yes, she’d get her concession.

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  ttt

  Fisher left Ceto’s cavern with a bigger headache than the one he’d arrived with. The sea monstress could wear out an octopus for sheer stick-to-it-ness.

  “So? What did she say?” Charley shook himself free from the sea bottom and replaced his spectacles. The interior of Ceto’s lair might not be impressive, but the lack of hiding spots for predators had a lot to recommend it. “You were in there a long time, Fisher. I was just about to alert the rest of The Council.”

  Fisher accepted his trident from his oldest friend and advisor. “She wanted a concession.”

  “Oh, Hades. You didn’t give it to her, did you?”

  “What would you have me do, Charley? He’s my son.”

  “I’m glad to see you’ve finally recognized that fact, Fisher Tritone. I’ve been telling you that for years. You’re too hard on him. A word or two of encouragement here and there would have done wonders. Kai tried to tell you that, too.”

  A sleeper shark appeared out of the depths. Fisher and Charley hung back to allow the big giant to pass. Why Poseidon hadn’t fixed that parasite problem with the species’ eyes was beyond him. Practically blind, the creatures meandered around the North Atlantic in hopes of bumping into their prey. Good thing they didn’t hang out near the coasts, or he’d be sending out rescue pods left and right.

  He was getting too old for this line of work. Now the mess with The Vault and the added worry over Reel—the stresses just kept coming.

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  tough on the boy. He thought life was one big party. Approaching Humans! If I’d let him get away with that then, who knows what he might have tried since.” Fisher pinched the bridge of his nose. If this damn headache would only go away…

  That wouldn’t happen until he knew Reel was unharmed.

  “But he still thinks you don’t care about him. That you think he’s a wastrel. Have you told him recently that you love him?”

  “Look, Archangel Chayyiel, I appreciate your celestial position as Elemental Benefactor, but Reel had to know he couldn’t get away with anything just because of who his family is. He had to learn that he’s not the same as his brother and never will be. I couldn’t be soft on him. The sea isn’t soft on non-immortals.”

  “You think I can’t see through you, Fisher?” Charley grabbed hold of the trident, jerking him to a stop. “I’ve known all along what you were doing.”

  Fisher kept his eyes straight ahead. Sometimes it sucked having his Olympian Advisor on The Council—he couldn’t get away with anything. It was like having your conscience following you around, ready to tell all your secrets if you swam a fin over the line.

  “Fisher, I know you love your son. But you have to face facts. Very few have ever earned their Immortality. It takes a major sacrifice, a huge act of noble, selfless bravery. Frankly, Reel hasn’t had many, if any, opportunities for that in his life. Keeping him on the straight and narrow won’t make him eligible.”

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  Ceto’s in the first place? It was his shot at it. His chance to be heroic and save The Vault and earn the right to be Immortal.” He couldn’t bear the knowing look on Charley’s face.

  Gods, if Reel didn’t earn Immortality, he’d—“I can’t watch him die, Charley. I just… can’t.”

  He choked on the last word. He loved h
is children equally, but knowing Reel, so like himself in so many ways, even more than Rod, knowing he’d have to watch his son take his last gulp someday…

  He just couldn’t.

  Charley clasped his shoulder and, for once, it offered little comfort. “Fisher, there are no guarantees when you’re a parent. Not everyone gets to pass on before their children. No parent should have to watch their child die, but you can’t prevent it from happening.”

  “I tried…”

  “I know you did. You know you did. But Reel doesn’t. He thinks you don’t like him for who he is. That you don’t love him or value him.” Charley pushed the spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

  “Fisher, don’t lose the rest of your time with Reel over worrying about losing the rest of Time with him.”

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  “Uh, Gilligan? I don’t think you want to climb a palm tree in that skirt,” Erica said later that day, juggling four pineapples in her arms when she walked back into the clearing where Reel was attempting to do just that. He was proud of himself for maneuvering himself up four feet of tree. But the kilt thing was a problem. Pointy tips threatened his man-parts, as she’d called them, every time he bent over. Sleeping in it was going to be a challenge.

  Of course, if he had his way, he wouldn’t be sleeping in it. Hades, if he had his way, there’d be no sleeping going on.

  “You found pineapples?” He tossed the knife down and dropped to the ground, ankles wobbling a little under him, but he stayed upright. Gravity put a whole new dimension on the legs. He’d have to work on it.

  “There’s a grove behind that dune. I picked the four that looked the ripest.”

  “They’re just hanging out, waiting to be picked?” He retrieved the knife, shaking his head as he took one from her. “I should have tried this years ago.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Reel lopped off the spiky top and carved a thin strip from the fruit. “It sounds like a good idea, but there’s always that uncertainty. What if I can’t go back in the water? What if the legs wouldn’t work on land?

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