“That was good!” she declared.
Red watched her for a minute before saying, “You’re a water dragon.”
“Yes,” said Tameka. “My real parents are a mermaid and a dragon.”
“Do you know anything more than that?”
“Not really, though I do know that Galina was working with Asha, who by the way isn’t even my sister.” She paused, her grief assaulting her again. “My sister died in the cruise disaster along with my parents. This mermaid was just manipulating me because she knew what I was and wanted me to turn against the dragons.” She looked Red in the eye. ‘To turn me against you.”
Red didn’t say anything. They both knew that the scheme had almost worked. She’d been so close to killing him it scared her.
She started to think about one of the things that Asha had let slip. It hadn’t made sense at the time. Would Red and Bethyl be able to make something of it?
“Asha said something odd,” said Tameka. “Something she instantly regretted the moment it came out of her mouth. She said something about magically evolving humans and how they were taking care of them.”
Bethyl and Red exchanged a glance. Something had happened while she’d been sleeping. Something important.
Red cleared his throat. “After the incident with Galina at the abandoned marina we went back to the start of the case. We needed to know what the mermaids and Galina were up to. Bethyl made the suggestion that we examine the actual bodies of those Vincent killed. There was a connection between them, a connection that we verified by sending agents to examine the bodies of others that were killed around the globe.”
“Humanity is evolving,” Bethyl explained. Her tone was apocalyptic. “We originally thought this world didn’t have any magic, but we were wrong. We’d just arrived too early, in the age before magic arose. Humans are starting to develop magic all of their own. It’s only simple at the moment, basic level stuff, but over time humanity is going to be able to perform complicated magic like myself.”
“Jan liked to perform magic tricks at parties,” said Tameka. “She made that dime float in the air last Christmas! That was real magic? And she knew?”
“I suspect she did,” Red admitted. “She just never confided in me. She was probably scared.”
She thought back to the information she’d seen in the files about Vincent’s victims. One was a stock market whizz who always seemed to know what to invest in next. Another owned a greenhouse that did a roaring trade in orchids.
They used magic to forecast shifts in the stock market. They used magic to help the orchids grow quicker.
“How many humans are developing magic?” she asked them.
“Thousands,” said Red. “In a hundred years it will have tripled.”
“And the mermaids want them dead because they might interfere in their plans, whatever they are.”
Tameka didn’t see any doom and gloom in this scenario, judging by the devastated look on both Red and Bethyl’s face. She was proud of humanity. They were finally getting on the same track with the supernatural beings they’d been unknowingly sharing their world with for thousands of years. Who knows? Maybe they could even surpass them.
“Will humans evolve into shifters and vampires?” she asked.
Bethyl shook her head. “No. That’s impossible. Those kinds of paranormal creatures only come from one place and one place only. No, the people of this Earth will become witches and wizards; psychics and telekinetics. They will brew spells and love potions and levitate cats. They will become great and powerful.”
“Then why the long face? This is a good thing.”
“You tell her, Red. I’m going home to prepare myself for the war.” The old witch stood up and stretched. “I’m too old for this shit.”
Bethyl kissed Tameka on the forehead and made her exit. It was just the two of them now. Tameka felt Red’s closeness intimately.
“It’s an ego thing,” Red explained. “We’re supposed to be the higher beings on this planet.”
“Then you’ll just have to get used to it,” Tameka told him.
He laughed. “I guess we will.”
She smiled and reached across the table for the water jug. Red placed his hand on hers. His skin was warm.
“You were magnificent,” Red stated. “I couldn’t have been prouder.”
“I felt like I was me for the first time in my life,” she admitted. She paused before adding, “What is a dragon’s true form? Is it the dragon, or the human looking part?”
“Dragons were just dragons once upon a time. But we were chained and used as slaves by the Fey and other races. We warred and took our freedom back. But…it was too late to go back to what we once were. We were changed with terrible black magic. Tameka, the only reason we were made to change into a human form was so we could be controlled easier.”
“That’s sad.”
“I know, but that was before my time. I don’t know any different to what I am today.”
“So our true form is the dragon. That’s why I felt so…”
“Free?”
Tameka nodded, allowing Red’s fingers to grip her hand. “Yes. Free.”
She began to tell him what she’d found out from Asha about the day her parents and sister died. Despite their earlier hypotheses Red was shocked that a red dragon really had been to blame, but she assured him she didn’t still think he was behind it. He looked relieved, but a little apprehensive. There was another unknown red dragon out there, along with a group of other dragons, that were causing havoc. It was a worrying thought for both of them.
A gunshot outside pulled Tameka out of staring into Red’s eyes. Curious, she ran for the window and looked out. There was some sort of march going on through the street. She couldn’t tell what was written on the banners and placards but one drawing was clear on all the marcher’s posters. It was a dragon.
She turned to Red. “What haven’t you told me?”
“The whole world knows about us, about the supernatural. We’re not secret any more.”
“How the hell did that happen?”
“There was a giant squid. Everybody in the city took videos of Galina and the dragons flying around her on their cell phones.”
She watched the marchers again, wondering where the gunshot came from. Then she noticed a man at the front of the melee, waving a gun around, hysterical. Before he could do so much as open his mouth to protest a police officer shot him dead.
Tameka stepped back, appalled.
“The humans are scared,” Red explained. “They think dragons are going to kill them in their homes.”
“This is not happening,” she whispered.
“They want us hunted down and killed. President Clinton is even trying to pass a new law into effect to get it done legally.”
“What can we do about it?”
Red didn’t want to panic Tameka, but the truth of the matter was the world was in a dire place a crossroads. The reveal of supernatural beings living secretly among them had caused a fundamental shift. The humans were scared. The politicians wanted to act on people’s fears for their own purposes. Bounties were appearing for the capture of dragons, dead or alive. Not everyone was wary of this new development. A lot of people welcomed this new change to their world. But they weren’t in the minority.
How could Galina have been so careless?
Maybe it had all been part of Asha’s plan. Footage of mermaids hadn’t ended up on the internet, just dragons and the kraken. He just wished he knew what Asha’s plan was.
He caught Tameka looking his way. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry about Reiner,” said Tameka. “And Raquel.”
“Reiner isn’t dead. He’s…recuperating.”
He elaborated further, revealing Reiner was currently enveloped in a chrysalis, healing. His injuries had been extensive and life threatening and this was the only way to save him. Red didn’t know how long the process could take, though his mother was optimistic it w
ouldn’t take longer than a year.
“And what about Annie?” she asked. “She lost both her parents.”
“I’ve visited her, but she won’t see me,” he explained. “I only hope she takes their deaths well.”
“She doesn’t know?”
Red shook his head. “Mother and I figured it would upset her too much.”
Dealing with Annie was just another problem to add to the growing pile. Mother had taken a special interest in her. She had vowed to make sure her granddaughter didn’t spend the rest of her life in a care facility, despite her illness.
Is the same thing going to happen to Tameka? Is being a hybrid going to cause her problems down the line?
Tameka seemed awkward as she said, “So…do you want to go out on a date?”
Red said, “The world is about to crash into chaos and you want to go out on a date?”
“Too right I do.”
“Then I accept.”
Tameka felt butterflies having a battle to the death in her stomach as Red walked slowly up to her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. He tasted like fire.
When he pulled away she said, “That was scorching.”
“I really wish I didn’t have to go right now, but I promised I’d go and see the prime minister,” said Red. “Can I kiss you again before I go?”
She grinned and placed her finger on his lip. “You can wait until you get back.”
“You’re a complete tease.”
He blew her a kiss instead.
It wasn’t until he was gone that she remembered that Red used to have a family. She vowed never to ask him about it. When he was ready he’d confide her.
After eating another box of cereals, Tameka grabbed her laptop and searched the internet. All anyone could talk about was the kraken and the dragons. It didn’t surprise her how vile some people were about the whole thing. She knew what humans were like, though the mermaids weren’t any better.
She saw something that caught her eye and clicked on it. It was a YouTube video posted by a ten-year-old girl called Meggy.
“I think having real dragons in the world is a cool thing,” said Meggy. The short video was being filmed from inside her kitchen. “I watched what happened from my bedroom window. The dragons were trying to protect us from the big squid! They’re not the bad guys! Please leave them alone. Magic is real. Dragons are real and I love it!”
A lot of people seemed to share little Meggy’s sentiment. It wasn’t stopping the bigots, or the people who were afraid of change, but it was something. It gave Tameka hope that the world, as Red put it, wasn’t going to crash into chaos after all.
Tameka closed her laptop and smiled. She phoned her parents, who seemed to think she’d been on a tour of the remote parts of South Africa for a month. She contacted her agent, informing her she was still fired. She visited Yenay and Vincent and played with her kids. The world had changed irrevocably and she was happy.
As she was about to leave Vincent’s apartment, the children playing with their nanny, Tameka’s cell phone beeped. It was Nadya.
“Hey Nads, you okay?” Tameka asked.
“I missed you while you were away,” said Nadya. “My friends at school didn’t believe me when I said I had a big sister who was in Africa.”
“I missed you too sweetie.”
Big sister…
“Did you see any lions?” Nadya asked, excited.
Tameka smiled. “I did. One even jumped onto my car and tried to get inside. I thought it was going to eat me!”
“What did you do?”
“I growled back, and the lion ran off. He was just a little pussy cat really.”
Nadya laughed, and Tameka felt sad. She always did when she talked with Nadya.
“When are you coming to visit me?” Nadya asked. “I haven’t seen you since last Winter Solstice.”
“I’ll be seeing you this Winter Solstice, okay?” Tameka assured her, trying to stop herself from crying. “I have a very special gift for you.”
“I want a real dragon.”
So Nadya was a fan of dragons? That was wonderful.
“It’s a surprise,” said Tameka. “But you’ll love it. I promise.”
“Bye!”
Nadya hung up, obviously eager to do something more exciting. Tameka couldn’t blame her. The girl was at that age when everything was new and fascinating. It would’ve been good to share that with her.
I wasn’t ready.
Her parents were doing a wonderful job raising Nadya as their own. She couldn’t fault them. Sometimes Tameka daydreamed, wondering what could have been if she’d been in the right state of mind to raise a child.
No…Don’t go there.
She wiped away her tears. It would only lead her down a dark path if she pondered on what-ifs. For now, she had a date with Red to look forward to – and a lying bitch of a mermaid to track down and kill.
36
Afalina contemplated her reflection in the mirror, thinking about the hybrid. The whole enterprise with Tameka had been a disaster, despite the fact she was mere moments away from turning the water dragon against the dragons for good. She couldn’t stop thinking about her. She felt obsessed. It wasn’t a good feeling.
She maimed me.
When Tameka had scratched her across the chest with her claws Afalina had felt more pain than she’d ever experienced in her life. It even eclipsed child birth. Now the wound had healed, but there was a gargantuan scar, despoiling her perfect body. The witches had tried to heal it but it wouldn’t budge. The water dragon had marked her. It was a vivid, permanent reminder of her failure. Perhaps its ugly presence would force her to do better in the future.
“She could have been our greatest weapon,” her father chided her.
Afalina ignored his acidic words. She knew what had happened. They’d lost Tameka to the dragons and nothing would get her back. Poseidon knew what they’d do with her. The mermaids were facing certain doom if the water dragon was deployed against them.
That hybrid was my puppet and she cut the strings!
“You have lost your edge,” said her father.
She turned to her father, curbing her anger. He could snap her like a fish bone if he wished. She’d seen him do it to her brother, back when he’d failed the monarch. The king didn’t care who he killed, as long as it set an example.
I am experiencing an emotion and that emotion is anger. Poseidon, it may appear that Tameka influenced me more than I influenced her. It’s most troubling.
“She is a water dragon,” Afalina reminded him. “Remember that. I was lucky to have manipulated her at all.”
“I do not accept failure.”
“This is not a failure. It is merely an interlude.”
“She tried to kill you, and you set the last kraken on her - which is dead now, by the way. You have that to answer for too.”
Afalina shook her head, his words grating on her. If the kraken was so incompetent as to be killed by a water dragon, then that wasn’t her fault. Galina was supposed to be powerful and ancient. She’d failed in every respect.
“I mean literally answer to that,” the king stated.
Afalina was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I have no choice but to put you on trial.”
“That is not wise.”
“The kraken was an important part of the ocean and its ecosystem. Now it is dead there is an imbalance.” When she continued to ignore him, he gripped her neck, hard. She was powerless. “You have created an imbalance within the sea.”
Afalina stared into the mirror as the king stared back. His white, translucent skin was peeling from old age. His scales were blunt and pathetic. Yet his grip was hard like granite, as powerful and as strong as ever. This man had led the mermaids from their old home on a war torn Earth to this one many thousands of years ago. He was implacable and godlike and able to crush her like a crumbling piece of coral. Yet she didn’t fear him. She felt no emotion, no
t ever anger, at this moment. She felt nothing. Absolutely nothing but a violent corona of self preservation.
To be put on trial was to allow Tameka to get away with scarring her and denouncing her.
To be seemed useless by the king made her appear weak.
She couldn’t have that.
“When does the trial start?” she asked. “And what could the outcome be?”
“The trial begins in one week,” the king answered. “And the penalty is to be transformed into a human.”
Afalina gulped. He couldn’t have chosen a worse punishment. To be human was to be inferior. She would be inept. She would have no scales, no water breathing abilities. She would have no magic. She would be cattle.
I would be inferior.
“Then I will accept my punishment should it come to it,” she said.
“In the mean time the plan goes forward,” the king explained, letting go of her neck. She imagined crushing his mighty fingers in her fist. “You could still have a part to play.”
“I am no longer part of the plan?” she demanded.
The thought that she was no longer allowed to be involved in the great deluge affected her more than anything else. She’d helped her father formulate the plan in the first place. He had no right to keep her from it.
“It depends on what happens at the trial,” said her father.
“You know as well as I do what will happen. Nobody is found innocent in a mermaid trial.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “It will not come to that. You are my daughter. We will see our plan through together, to the end. I have plans to make sure the trial goes in your favor.”
He didn’t elaborate, but she didn’t trust him as much as she used to. He was old and infirm. How would he swing the trial her way when he couldn’t even save the life of a kraken?
She couldn’t count on her father to fix the trial. She needed to do something about it herself. She had to see the plan for the great deluge through to the end, without interference, without mermaid politics straining her every move. The greatest threat to her was the council. They needed to be gone.
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