by Judi Fennell
3/20/09 2:00:21 PM
Judi Fennell
308
“I already know where they are,” Reel answered, all business, as he swam up to her. The reef shimmered a few yards away.
She had to give him that. He was a man—Mer man—of his word. “How is that possible?”
“Chum. He had the coordinates.”
A school of grunts swam by, nodding at Reel, who waved his right hand in greeting while taking hers with his left.
A ray skittered below them, its tail zigzagging just above the sea bottom, while a flounder shook the sand off its back like a dog after a walk in the rain.
“How did he know to look for the diamonds in the first place?”
“You remember the crabs we were going to have for dinner last night? I found them torturing a fish who’d gotten caught in a tidal pool from the storm. The pool was evaporating and the crabs were attacking, so I caught them and freed him. He relayed the message to Chum, Chum got in touch with Ernie, and there you have it. Messenger service.”
In an odd, world-tilting sort of way.
The reef glistened in a rainbow of colors. Darting tropical fish twirled their neon colors through the pink, peach, and red coral. An eel shot out for its breakfast, its green iridescent head winking into view for just a moment before it used daylight against its sheen to hide in plain sight, reminding her once again of the dangers in the ocean and why she didn’t want to be here.
“Ready?” Reel asked, squeezing her hand. And that would be a reminder of why she did. InOverHerHead.indd 308
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Ready or not, here I co—Last night came back in a flash. Just like he’d intended, if that look on his face was anything to go by.
“Ready, Reel. For the diamonds. ”
His dimples were out in full force as his smile cocked to one side.
“Of course the diamonds, sweetheart. What else could I have meant?”
She straightened her shoulders, her head a little higher, her back a little more rigid, fortitude and determination in every cell. She’d shut him out.
Oh, the irony. Here, he had the tail—for whatever reason—one thing he’d wanted more than anything his entire life. So badly he’d never told anyone. He’d been a freak, an anomaly, all his life. The physical manifestation of being born a loser was now gone, but he felt like he’d lost all over again.
The tail wasn’t what he really wanted. Oh no. He saw that now. It was the acceptance it represented. Bad enough the order of his birth made him different from everyone else, but then to be so blatantly, glaringly so. Yet now he wasn’t. Reel swished the tail. It worked and looked just like his brother’s. Made him one of his race. Yet he didn’t care.
He wanted Erica. Wanted her to look at him with all the desire she had last night when he’d had legs. When he’d been like her.
He knew she hated the ocean. Knew why. Knew she didn’t hate him. But now, she couldn’t reconcile the two and, in the end, it was all his fault. InOverHerHead.indd 309
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He almost laughed. He’d been given what, previously, he would’ve thought was a prize, only to find it a worse punishment than mortality. How was he supposed to be happy as a Mer when the Human he loved couldn’t bear to look at him?
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Chapter 36
The trek back to where they’d lost the diamonds was a lot quicker than Reel remembered. Of course, at the time he’d been trying to outswim a monster in a sea roiling from a storm, come to terms with the sudden appearance of a tail, and carry Erica. He wouldn’t mind the last part again, but she’d said no. At least they’d had that one last time on the beach. He would carry those hours with him for the rest of his life.
Of course, if he wanted his life to last longer than a few hours, he and Erica had better come up with the diamonds.
He scanned the sea floor. Sea grasses and fans, a garden of eels… something was bugging him. They were in the Human shipping lanes. The big fish knew to stay away, so there should be thousands of little ones darting around. A virtual playground for anything that didn’t want to be eaten by someone higher on the food chain.
But there were only a few dozen.
He questioned them, mostly the older brigade who weren’t worried, glad for the reprieve from the partying crowd, but he didn’t buy it. Something didn’t feel right and, knowing Ceto, it could be anything. One old grunt consented to rounding up a school of silversides—another perk to the royalty thing, his InOverHerHead.indd 311
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requests were seen as royal commands. Not an option he used frequently, but he didn’t want to head to the diamonds out in the open.
Too bad Chum couldn’t have brought the stones with him, but the bag was too heavy, he’d said, and the less who knew about it, the better.
The silversides arrived en masse, swirling in a circle of glittering scales.
“Come on, Erica. Follow me.” He aimed for the heart of the shoal, and the fish swallowed them into their midst like a whale shark with krill.
“Oh, God. Why’d you make me get in the middle of a churning mob of fish? I think I’m going to hyperventilate—
hydrate—whatever.” She pressed herself against him, her hair floating over his shoulder, stroking his neck. He tried not to laugh. “After all you’ve been through, silversides are going to be your undoing?” He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, sweetheart.”
He got a smile out of her.
After a bit, one of the silversides swam up to his ear, its high-pitched chirp barely audible in the hum of thousands of swimming fish. “We should be there shortly, Sir. The external guards report no Kraken in sight.” His dual dorsal fins bowed in salute, and he smiled. “I can’t believe he really exists. Is he truly hideous?”
“Trust me, sergeant, you don’t ever want to meet him.” He squeezed Erica’s shoulder. “Ready?”
“I really don’t like that question. Every time you ask it, something happens.”
He laughed and held out his hand. “Come on. It’s almost over. The diamonds are outside.”
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They exited the shoal by the same synchronized parting instinct, and Reel looked around. Below them stretched a bed of thousands of Diadem antillarum in an artificial reef atop a sunken ship. The ship perched hull-side-up along the end of a plateau, the bow stretching out beyond the edge. It was the perfect spot for these long-spined black sea urchins—survivors and offspring of a tantrum Ceto had thrown almost thirty selinos ago when she’d “imported” an epidemic to wipe them out simply because she couldn’t “convince” them to sell their offspring into servitude to keep her palace algae-free.
The Council had organized rescue workers to recover however many had survived. They’d set up the colony here—a safe bet as Ceto and Human divers steered clear of the shipping lanes. From the numbers here, the effort had been worth it.
Reel found himself more than a little impressed with Chum for having the gumption to hide the stones here. Not many creatures would brave this danger zone. It was the perfect place. Anywhere else, and something might come along in the interim and help themselves to The Council’s bounty.
Problem was, since the D.A.s were so insular, they had the one dialect he hadn’t learned to speak. Finding the diamonds could take longer than he’d like. And with the tingling happening along his scales, he didn’t think they had as long as he’d like. Where were the rest of the fish?
It was too easy. Easy made him nervous.
“Where are the diamonds?” Erica gripped his hand, her nails making half-moon indentations above his InOverHe
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knuckles, just like they’d made last night on his shoulders. And this morning…. As pleasant as the memories were, they’d better get moving. “Under one of the urchins. I don’t always know Chum’s methods, and I don’t know that I want to, but he got the job done. Look for one with three spines bent at right angles.”
“That sounds painful.”
“Chum assures me they were like that before the diamonds went missing. Considering he’s handicapped himself, I tend to believe him.” He scanned the area. Chum had said the particular D.A. they wanted would be in the southeast quadrant. He kicked his tail, pulling Erica along. He wanted her close by and not for any reason other than her safety.
Her breast brushed his arm as she glided closer. Well, okay, maybe for more than her safety. But he was going to do this first. Whatever his father thought, Reel could finish a job the right way. He could be counted on, and he was going to prove it. But not for Fisher. For himself and for Erica. They needed those diamonds if he wanted a shot at a life with her. There had to be some way to get his legs back. The silversides spun about twenty feet above them. He’d had the lieutenant keep the shoal nearby. They might not be the brightest bunch, but as far as being alert to danger, they’d be the first to know if something big swam into the area. Groupthink at its finest.
“Is that it?” Erica dropped his hand and pointed to an urchin. She kicked those sexy legs that had gripped him through the night, and he took a moment to watch. So InOverHerHead.indd 314
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smooth, so supple. So flexible. She’d had one of them on his shoulder at one point—
“Whoa! Erica! Wait a sec, sweetheart!” Hades, she was too close to those spines.
That’s what he got for ogling her instead of keeping to the task at fin.
“What?” She spun around, panic in her voice, but her momentum kept her drifting toward the spines. He zoomed in, yanking her arm just in time.
“What? What is it? Kraken?” She grabbed his shoulder to pull herself closer.
He exhaled and wrapped his arms around her. “No. No Kraken. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I had to get you away from the urchins.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “Why?”
“You don’t want to get speared by one. The poison—”
Zeus. Her lips were so close. Just one taste…
“Oh. Right. I guess I was so excited to find it that I forgot.”
Excited…
He tugged her gently against his chest, his eyes locked with hers. A soft smile twitched at her mouth. He inched closer, eager to share that smile. His lips brushed hers and she sighed, skimming her hands to cup his face. A tremor slid through the water.
He knew immediately it wasn’t desire.
Sea tremors did not bode well. Nor lend themselves to amorous thoughts.
He pulled back and slid one of the knives from her utility belt. “Here. Hold onto this. I don’t have a good feeling right now about this place. Let’s get the diamonds and get out of here.”
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Erica cleared her throat and nodded. “Okay. The bent-spine guy is down there.”
Reel took the other knife for himself and arced back to where he’d pulled her from the urchins. Once this was over, he was going to hold her to the promise of that kiss.
He scanned the coral. Not that D.A., nor that one…
He swam lower. It shouldn’t be too difficult to see three spi—
The reef exploded beneath him.
The hull peeled back from the edge of the plateau like a giant squid tentacle. Stinging shards of coral and rock raked his skin, opening long cuts in his chest and arms. Another hunk of debris caught him in the gut, flipping him backwards. The knife went flying.
Torpedo-like, the first of the urchins shot spines-first as the bow of the ship tilted upwards.
“Erica, get moving!” Gods, if she got stung—He twisted around on his tail, trying to get his breathing back in rhythm while he kicked as hard as he could to avoid the urchins and get to her.
The force of the explosion dispersed the shoal, sending the fish into a panicked frenzy, black eyes frantic. A shower of scales fell over them as Reel reached Erica.
“Sweetheart, get on my hands! I’ll propel you out of the way!”
“What about you?”
“I’m right behind you!” Hades, his gut hurt. He looked back. “Come on! We don’t have much time here!”
Erica stopped clawing her way through the churning debris, grabbed his shoulders, bent her legs, and stepped into his hands right before he thrust her upward. InOverHerHead.indd 316
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Then the sea urchins hit.
Mers weren’t immune to their poison, just not as susceptible as Humans. Multiply that effect by hundreds, and Reel could feel the poison begin to work in his system just as Erica cleared the strike zone.
The drugging effects seeped in through his right side, from neck to tail, invading his bloodstream. He could feel his blood thicken, slow.
“Reel!” she shouted. She’d turned around and was aiming for him.
“Go!” He waved her away, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth.
His vision was getting fuzzy. Hades, he really didn’t like this.
And then, through his narrowing, watery field of vision, he saw why.
Kraken.
“Come on, Reel!” She wasn’t listening to him. Why wasn’t she listening to him? Didn’t she know he was trying to save her?
“Go to the surface! Find a boat!” Zeus, now his hearing was getting muffled. He had to hand it to Ceto. That urchin-covered reef was the perfect place to hide her son. Hiding him in plain sight. Thumbing her nose at The Council.
Erica kept coming. “Reel, come on! I’ll help you!”
He shook his head, the feeling leaving his fins. “Too late! Save yourself! Go!” There was no way he could outswim the creature, not now, full of urchin poison.
“Don’t make this be the end for nothing, Erica. I love you, sweetheart. Go!”
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Then, just before his strength failed, he turned around to face his fate.
Fisher had been right after all.
Didn’t that just suck…
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Chapter 37
“No!” Erica dove down, just as Kraken broadsided Reel. God, no!
Thousands of the silver fish cut into her vision as Reel went hurtling to the bottom, Kraken right on his tail. There was nothing she could do. Nothing except ensure Reel’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Kicking, scrambling to the surface, Erica couldn’t understand why the seawater was clouding her vision when it never had before.
Then she cleared the surface and realized why. It wasn’t seawater.
Tears.
Oh, God. She’d seen the urchins hit him. Saw him slowing down. He could have kicked harder and gotten away, but he’d waited for her, to save her. And then Kraken…
She’d known the same time Reel had that it was over. And she hadn’t had the chance to tell him she loved him—
A fish bumped against her leg. Then another, their scales churning on the surface. Oh, God. She still wasn’t out of this.
What had Reel yelled? Look for a boat. She surfaced again, wiping the tears from her eyes . Come on, Erica. Get it together. You don’t want to disre- gard Reel’s last wishes like you did Grampa’s, do you?
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No w
ay! She’d learned her lesson on that one. She spun around. There! A football field away. A boat. She stuck the knife between her teeth and struck out toward the boat, scanning the waves for any sign of Reel. All she saw was churning water littered with silver scales.
Reel was down there somewhere. Injured, immobile, a sitting duck for Kraken. And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. Why hadn’t she told him she loved him? Because of his tail? He was more of a man than two-legged Joey had ever been—and she’d been planning to marry Joey.
Was she that shallow?
God—she’d live with that regret the rest of her life. A pelican flew overhead. Amelia or Ernie, she couldn’t tell. Hell, maybe neither.
The ship was closer. A horn blew. Men rushed along its deck, lowering something over the side. The waves kicked up around her.
Oh, God. Kraken.
No freakin’ way was she going to let Reel’s death be for nothing. She grabbed the knife. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Over a swell, into a trough, kicking ferociously. Waiting for a bite to be taken out of her at any minute. To be pulled under.
The smaller boat motored toward her, and she kicked herself upright. “Here!” she yelled, her arms waving above her head. The rescue boat pulled alongside her and they hauled her aboard, talking to her in Spanish. She pretended to collapse with fatigue, but the reality was that she didn’t want to answer any questions. InOverHerHead.indd 320
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There were no answers she could give them. Just like when she’d been eight, she’d have to pretend amnesia. As she saw a red stain spreading along the tops of the cresting waves, she wished, this time, it was true. InOverHerHead.indd 321
3/20/09 2:00:23 PM
Chapter 38
One Month Later…
The summer sun burned its way down the length of the pier, bleaching every shred of paint from the wood. Erica wiped the soaked tendrils from the back of her neck as she wrapped the mooring line around the cleat on the empty dock.
What she wouldn’t give to be able to jump off the pier to cool off, but The Council’s edict put an end to that option.
