Lazarus searched the rocks around his cave, but Esme wasn’t there.
Where could she be? This new relationship was barely beginning to blossom and already he had lost sight of her.
He had been so weary the night before, wrestling with so many thoughts, that he didn’t even doubt she would be asleep in the bed when he awoke.
How wrong he was to assume such a notion. He had to find her! He would find her.
She can’t be far, he thought. She’s probably right under my nose!
He felt a sense of panic stir within him as he thought of all the places she could be.
How hard can it be to find one mermaid? he thought.
His heart began to race. A pulsating beat echoed through his chest and rushed up his neck. Curious, he placed his hand across his heart as the rhythm kept going.
Lazarus slowly turned the corner, keeping his hand on his warm heart, feeling it beat and bounce inside his chest.
He swam up as he scanned the area, knowing that the slightest hint of color would give him an indication of where Esme might be, for she was attracted to colors of all shades.
His eyes studied every corner and cranny in the isolated seascape. At once, they stopped. There before him was a mass of pink glossy hair. He swam over to her.
“Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, feeling relieved at having found her so easily.
Esme felt guilty as she had snuck away without consulting Lazarus. Her eyes narrowed as they met the accusatory yellow orbs that followed her sternly as she worked out what to say to him. Whatever she said at this point, he would know it was a lie.
“I had to get out for a while,” she said. “I needed . . .”
She couldn’t finish it. Her mouth went suddenly tight as the words threatened to explode.
“You needed . . . ?” he asked.
“Some time,” she said. “I needed space.”
Space away from you, and space away from this predicament, she thought. How am I supposed to take down this curse when I fall into chaos whenever I’m by your side? Right now, I am not sure which one I want more!
She allowed the thought to linger in her mind. Lazarus give her a penetrating stare, his eyes seeming to travel into her head and work their way into the core of her mind, finding that secret thing she was hiding.
Lazarus cocked his head to one side, trying to fathom what on earth was occurring in this young woman’s head.
My, she’s a confusing one! he mused.
He moved closer towards her, his hand firmly placed on her shoulder, and gently tugged her arm.
“There is plenty of space in our home; it’s warm and comforting. I don’t know about time. Come,” he commanded, his grip on her arm tightening as he pulled a little harder, the pull forcing her into his chest.
Esme stared up at him, slightly taken aback. She noticed how he had said “our home” and not his home. He wanted her part of it. He had included her.
Esme said nothing. Her skin tone dimmed to a pale rose as she realized Lazarus was going to keep tugging on her slender body until he had her where he wanted her—inside his home, trapped within the sensual urges of both of their bodies closely gelled together as one.
Esme floated along as Lazarus pulled her inside and pushing her through the stony gray doorway.
He wasn’t going to let her get away from him again.
She felt like he might hold her down if she showed any signs of not wanting to be there so she just kept quiet, not making a sound as she found herself back in Lazarus’s quaint little lounge.
Now that she was inside, she situated herself on a rosy pink pearl chair.
Lazarus watched Esme. Her eyes looked vacant as she seemed to be lost in a blank abyss inside her mind.
What could be so perplexing to her? Lazarus wondered.
He wanted so badly for her to tell him so that he could try to help.
He had not known this creature long, but he yearned to do something to make her happy.
She had just lost her father. Yes, that tragic circumstance would make anyone desperate, but as they were lovers, Lazarus had hoped she would be more open with him.
He waved a hand in front of her opalescent face to see if he’d get a response. Nothing. The silence only grew more powerful. He could see it in her eyes. There was no reaching her. But Lazarus was not one to give up on a cause.
“Why so glum?” he probed.
She wiped a painful tear from her eye.
“I am not glum,” she began. “It is just that life is so difficult for me at this time and so much rests on my shoulders! If I am to attest to what I am fated, I feel I may crash among the sands.”
She stopped herself there. She had almost blurted out the secret she was working so hard to hide.
She hadn’t told Lazarus of her fate. As long as he didn’t know, she had another reason to hide from the truth. Who wanted such a burden at sixteen, anyway? Who wanted to have so much weight on her shoulders when she should be laughing and joking with no cares?
Lazarus looked at her, his cheeks red. He was embarrassed as he knew she didn’t trust him enough to share her secret. Lazarus felt that Esme didn’t allow herself to be the divine woman he saw in her. Why should a mystic creature be so closed off? If she’d only have the courage to face the world around her, she could be so blessed in her power and her inner beauty would light up the seas!
“I don’t understand. Please tell me what’s going on,” he said.
Esme bit her lip. Then she straightened up and took a deep breath. She had to approach these matters with care and give herself the strength she needed to move forward.
“When I received the news that my father had passed away, I sought counsel with my stepmother, Nixie,” Esme said. “Nixie sent me to a mystic near a lagoon. This mystic told me more than I had asked for. Well, actually, she told me something that had nothing to do with the reason I sought her out.”
“And let me guess, you consulted her to find out about us?” Lazarus said a grin forming on his left cheek.
She said nothing.
“I’m not angry, if you did,” he whispered, beckoning her close to him. “I understand a strong connection can be hard if one has never experienced it before. If you were seeking answers and counsel on that, then truly I get it.”
She nodded, and when he waited for her to continue on with her story, she said, “The mystic informed that a curse has befallen my kingdom. And it’s been coming for hundreds of years. She didn’t specify on the details. Then she told me that I am the one destined to do something about it. I’m the one gifted enough to break the enchantment! It’s dumbfounding, and I’ve gotten so desperate.” She shuddered.
Lazarus laid a hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t expecting that. Wow, this girl had some mighty burdens resting on her weary shoulders.
“That sounds cataclysmic! Far too much for only one mermaid to bear alone,” he said, as he really didn’t want her to undertake this challenge that had appeared out of nowhere. Seeing a mystic about the two of them and then being told of a curse—it sounded like things he had heard about in his younger years. It sounded like a boatload of trouble!
Maybe Esme wanted to escape it all and retreat to some tropical ocean, to some place where she could enjoy her freedom.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
He knew that if Esme decided to go along with what fate had chosen, then he might not have a place in her life or her heart. This worried him greatly. Losing her so soon after meeting her would be devastating for him, so he hoped she would choose him rather than what some strange mystic deemed right for her.
Esme noticed the worried look in his eyes. She knew then that he really didn’t want her to fight this curse. Why would he? He was possessive. He was strong and intense with her, keeping a watchful eye on her even when she slept. Something about her had this merman intrigued. Although Esme had no idea what that was.
“I don’t know w
hat I can do,” she whispered.
She paused for a moment as a thought came to her. Nixie would be queen. She wasn’t sure where that idea came from, but there it was.
“I guess since things between my stepmother and I are kind of damaged, I don’t think I can go to her for advice anymore. But what do I do? I don’t know how I am to find this thing at its source or even fight it.”
“You seem to be considering this mission despite how much reticence you have towards it,” Lazarus said.
Esme frowned. “I don’t want this in my life. But sometimes the world needs you to do things you don’t want to do. Perhaps it would be wise for me to face this matter head on, like a orca taking on a shark.”
Lazarus waited.
“But I don’t want this in my life, Lazarus, do you understand me? I’m sixteen! I don’t want some divine calling being forced upon me!” she shrieked, throwing up her hands.
“Okay, okay. I clearly overstepped my mark,” Lazarus muttered.
He stood back, feeling unwelcome in his own home.
“Don’t worry!” Esme said. “I’m all over the ocean right now. I can’t get a single moment to myself where I have a clear thought that isn’t filled with demons who lie in wait to torture me,” she confessed as she headed for the door.
Lazarus watched with mournful eyes as she opened the door, turning around to address him as she left.
“I am sorry. I cannot be here right now, but I am sorry!”
Head down, she swam out, leaving Lazarus in lonely silence, wondering if he had pushed her too far.
Wondering if he would ever see her again.
13
The black walls seemed different in this lighting. Eerie yellow lights lit the dingy corridor, almost venomous in their brightness as she floated past them. They seemed to know as well as Esme did that she was unwelcome here.
This was a place of dark magic and Esme didn’t take part in that.
A voice echoed down the corridor. Nixie was singing inside her chambers. The sound echoed as Esme lurked down the corridor leading to Nixie’s door.
Dread lingered in the air. Something felt wrong here. But Esme persisted, knowing that good always wins over the bad. Still, her instincts told her that she needed to beware.
She thought it was odd that Nixie would be singing so happily despite the fact she had only been a widow for a few days. The king’s death clearly meant nothing to her. It didn’t disturb her mind; she didn’t even seem sad.
Of course, when the news had first arrived, the regal widow had seemed forlorn but now it appeared as if that was all an act.
Esme paused, taking a breath. She was surprised at how much Nixie’s domain had changed in such a short time. The black glossing spread over everything, sucking the light away. You could see it on the walls. The once bright lime-green coral flowers were saturated in the most grotesque mold Esme had ever laid her eyes on. The rancid goo smelled musty and she made sure not to touch it.
Nixie must be poisoning everything around her, Esme thought.
That thought fueled her determination to glide right up to Nixie’s door and knock.
Nixie answered brightly, “Oh come in. Come in! We can’t let time pass us. There are many things we must do!”
Esme steadied herself and swam in.
Nixie’s mouth dropped open and a snide smile tugged at her lips. “Dear child! I didn’t expect to find you down here! Come, let me look at you.”
Esme swam over. Nixie studied her mermaid foe up and down. Esme’s pink glossy hair seemed a shade dimmer, and her face looked tired and weary as if something had been gnawing away at her. Romance didn’t seem to be doing the girl too many favors.
Oh, what a sweet, fragile little thing. She’s simply withering! Nixie thought. How marvelous!
But as Nixie examined her sometime stepdaughter closer, she noticed something else. There was something about her that Nixie couldn’t figure out. She wasn’t sure if it was this merman’s doing or if something else had triggered it, but Esme was different in her manner, that was for sure.
In any case, Esme was soon to be thrown into the place where Nixie could claim her the most. The place where no help could reach her and she would be closer to death than she could have imagined.
But there would be plenty of time for that later. Nixie wanted to savor this moment. She wanted to chuckle at how young and immature the guileless Esme was.
The teenager mucked around so much, leaving Nixie plenty of time to work her doom. Esme wasted so much time swimming in forbidden terrain just to spy on boring humans doing boring human things. With so much laying in the balance, Esme ignored it all to worry about mermen and her feelings.
Nixie would be playing on the fear that stank from within Esme. It gripped her, swallowing her whole, crushing her soul.
Bright-eyed and confident, Nixie said, “It’s been eons since I last saw you. I’ve been wondering where you’ve been!”
“Lazarus keeps me in his charge,” Esme said. “I went away from him for a while to commune with my thoughts, and he dragged me all the way to his cave.”
“Oh, I am sure he did. Ever the protective boyfriend.”
Only a possessive man worried about losing his woman would physically force her home! Nixie thought. Her whole being lit up at the thought of Esme being under so much power and control.
I really must meet this Lazarus! she thought. What an invaluable ally.
The thought went cold as Esme swam closer to Nixie.
“I came here to speak to you regarding a very important matter,” she said.
Nixie’s eyes glowed. What could be so important that the girl had to come here and seek her counsel? Whatever it was, Esme wasn’t going to stand a chance. Nixie would see to that!
“I wanted to discuss some recent discoveries I have made that concern the kingdom,” Esme blurted out. “I don’t want to cause friction between us, but you may not like what I am about to say.”
“There is no kingdom, child,” Nixie said with a frown. “Are you stupid? It’s gone.”
Now it was Esme’s turn to be taken aback.
“That’s not strictly true,” she said. “I’ve been told it still remains. But there’s more. Do you remember when you told me to seek out that oracle?”
“Of course I do. Why else would I have sent you to her?”
Esme frowned, confused.
Nixie laughed, placing a finger to Esme’s chin and then on her own heart. Nixie felt a strength and grace imbue her. She felt as if she stood in her newly awakened, reborn power.
“I sent you there because I knew you’d be desperate to know what lay ahead of you with this Lazarus fellow. And now because things are rough, you make up some silly excuse to come here, insinuating that the kingdom still stands—despite what we both know!”
“Desperate?” Esme questioned. She seemed hurt at Nixie saying such a thing to her. She turned her head around again, unable to look at Nixie. “I have never been desperate.”
Nixie almost laughed again. Clearly, the girl was still so immature.
“Well, you can take that tone if you like,” Nixie said with a shrug. “It isn’t my fault. I’ve been here for you! Goodness, Esme, I was the closest thing you had to a mother. Even she had to perish, the poor, terrified thing!”
Esme said nothing.
“But it seems you are just an ungrateful brat who can’t handle the reality of living.”
Esme spun around, facing her stepmother, surprised that such words could come from her.
She thought of Nixie as a sweet and kind woman. She had never imagined that something like that could ever be said by her.
“I’m not ungrateful,” Esme slowly said. “But I don’t believe I’m looking at the woman my father married right now. What I am seeing, to tell you the truth, is a monster! This horrid carcass of a woman who was once so righteous, kind, and caring! Not this wicked creature that tells me that I’m ungrateful.”
Nixie shrugged he
r off. “It doesn’t matter,” she shouted, her voice reverberating off the stone walls.
Nixie had really turned! She was a horrid, two-faced creature. Esme wondered why she had never noticed it before. Had Nixie used a disguise or even witchcraft to hide her true self?
Oh, I don’t know, Esme thought. But what I do know is that I am now Nixie’s foremost enemy.
“I’m finished with you, child!” She flashed her hands across Esme to signal that she was throwing Esme to the tide. “The last few years have been so torturous, with me pretending to love you and understand you, and my goodness, you don’t understand the half of it! If I were to sit around for a thousand years, I couldn’t come up with a worse punishment than having to listen to you whinge. You are so wrapped up in yourself, you can’t see anything beyond the focus of your own eyeball!”
A horrified look passed over Esme’s face.
“And so I’m done with it. Done with you! I’m free from your pathetic whining—at last!” Nixie screeched, her eyes glowing a vile green.
Esme floated back, wanting to distance herself from this wicked foe whom she had long believed cared about her.
That flowing red hair floated around her face as she dominated the room. It was haunting. Her eyes glinted, as if wanting to spear and disembowel her stepdaughter.
The silence between them grew.
Esme was about to say something when a violent thud echoed across the ceiling. Esme flinched and dashed towards the door, but before she could get out, another thud hit, louder than the first. The blasts kept hitting the whole place ablaze with yellow and white lights. The yellow glowed like a vibrant sword circling the ceiling. The light penetrated everything in its wake until the blackness was barely visible through the streaks of bright light.
Nixie and Esme gasped.
Nixie seemed afraid of the light as it washed over her. She took a few steps back, retreating as her instincts governed her, telling her that darkness wouldn’t be able to win in this war. She would have to stand down for this one, although she hated the idea of losing.
The thudding grew louder and more violent. The dwelling shuddered. Soon enough the pounding would collapse the ceiling. Icy fear shot through Esme’s veins as the noise grew louder, showing no signs of ceasing.
Sirens and Scales Page 163
