Everlost (Mer Tales, Book 3)
Page 30
“I don’t know. I just had to do the right thing.”
“And the merling—?”
She frowned. “I know, I’m sorry. She’s Xirene’s, but there wasn’t time to explain—”
He smothered her with another kiss, his soul alive and awake, whole in her presence. “If something had happened to you—”
“I’m so sorry.” A small sob escaped her lips. “Is it—?”
“Yes. It’s over,” Jacob exhaled, pushing the grim memory from his mind. “Neither he nor his Dradux will be bothering you, or anyone in Natatoria again.”
She exhaled, whooshing out a breath of relief.
“And I promise to never, ever be apart from you again.”
“Me neither,” she whispered.
“What happened?” he asked, touching her again as if he didn’t believe she was okay. “The crowd wanted to crucify you.”
“I don’t know. One minute they were charging me, threatening to drag me to Bone Island, but then my dad and Merric were there, holding them off. And the crowd pulled backward, then turned and headed after Azor… like his retreat was his admission of guilt. And then the screams. Everyone stopped in their tracks. But you should have seen it. It was like something heavy had lifted off everyone. And then the servants came out from the palace and took off their gloves, looking for their loved ones. There were so many… and they’ve been promised all along. Look.”
Jacob turned and sure enough, in the square, mers were embracing and kissing: servants, guards and pure-bloods, betas and rebels. It was as if there wasn’t ever a caste system to begin with.
And directly in front of them, Pearleza kissed Council member Fendole, a merman he’d believed to be widowed. And in her arms she held onto Azor’s daughter and a boy. Jacob’s mouth gaped.
Tatiana grabbed him, piercing him with fire behind her blue eyes. Unable to control himself, he covered her mouth with his, and she molded into him under his touch. His heart rocketed in anticipation of the moment when they’d finally be alone so he could show her exactly how much he loved her.
“I love you,” he breathed against her lips.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
: : :
“Do you, Jacob Vanamar James take Tatiana Renee Helton to be your lawfully promised mermaid?” Oberon asked.
Tatiana’s fin trembled as she gazed into his blue-grey eyes, making her stomach quiver. He was very soon to be hers and she was his, lawfully, intentionally, forever in bonded bliss.
“I do,” Jacob said with a smile, his voice husky.
“Heck, yeah,” Jax, the best merman added.
Giggles sprung from the audience and promising party as Galadriel, one of Tatiana’s bridesmaids, glared at him. “Hush.”
“I’m just sayin’.” He winked at her. “It’s about time.”
Oberon continued, “And do you Tatiana Helton, take Sir James to be your lawfully mated merman?”
She stared up into his face, adoringly.
“I do,” she said with a coy smile. Sea stars, do I ever.
“Then by the power bestowed upon me by Chancellor Merric and the United Mers of Natatoria, I now pronounce you mermaid and mate. You may kiss your maid.”
Cheers from the audience flowed from the square as Jacob brought Tatiana’s lips to his, kissing her deeply, lovingly. He finished by pressing his forehead against hers, looking down at her through his dark eyelashes. “Now you’re really stuck with me.”
She wove her hands around his neck, restraining herself from weaving her tail against his, too. “I go where you go.”
They turned, hand in hand, and Ash, her mermaid of honor, handed her official sister-in-mer a seashell bouquet as the boys choir broke into a soft ballad. Tatiana glanced down the line of mermaids dressed in soft purple, until she found Galadriel and Pearl. She beamed and mouthed a heartfelt, “Thanks.”
Badger’s catcall rose above the crowd, “Let’s get this hooley started!”
A mix of young and old rose on their fins and clapped for the newly promised couple. She marveled at the support of so many mers, in awe of the response after what had happened just a week ago. Merlings swam down the aisle, scattering starfish on the sandy runway. In the back, Fendole, Pearleza’s mate, held the little blue-tailed merling squirming in his hands toward Tatiana. The baby reached out and pulled on a tendril of Tatiana’s hair.
“I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this, but she’s just too cute not to love,” Jacob said as the girl wrapped her tiny hand around his finger and brought it to her mouth.
“So,” Jax said, after Grommet and Fin joined them, oblivious to his interruption of the sweet moment. “When do we get a move-on to the promisetide?”
Galadriel nudged him in the stomach. “Is that all you can think about?”
“Heck, yeah.” Jax snorted. “We’re all going still, aren’t we? I’m dying for a break after all of this work.”
“Well, of course we are,” Galadriel said. “After we stop by Tahoe for a quick visit, so Ash can check on her parents, then we’ll be on our way to Hawaii—in a plane, mind you.” She wrinkled her nose at Fin.
Fin smirked back at her, then turned to Jax, flapping his lips. “And you thought this was work? Just wait ‘til my dad gets us going on the rebuild in Tahoe. He’s not going to build your house for you.”
“I can’t wait,” Ash said, sighing, snuggling into Fin’s side.
Fin raised a brow. “Me neither, my ginger girl.”
“And then our official wedding, too, under the evergreens.” Ash batted her eyelashes.
“Most definitely,” Fin said. “Though, I should ask your dad’s permission first.”
Ash shook her head. “You’ll have to sing his permission, you mean. He does own a gun.”
The group laughed.
“Only if I’m your mermaid of honor, of course,” Tatiana shot Ash a grin, “and we don’t forget our scholarships to Florida Atlantic University.”
“College? In Florida?” Galadriel blew out a breath of water. “No thank you.”
Ash chuckled and moved next to Tatiana. “I don’t see why we can’t go to FAU, but you’ll have to share me with Georgia.”
“Georgia?” Tatiana wrinkled her nose.
Ash sighed then winked. “She was my you when you were gone. My human friend.”
“Oh, I see.”
The girls laughed and hugged each other.
Ash whispered, “We’ll be married and living next to each other like we’d dreamed so many years ago.”
Tatiana responded by breaking apart from her and offering a pinkie swear. “Super spy #2.”
“That felt like ages ago,” Ash said while looping her pinkie around Tatiana’s. “So much has happened.”
“Yes,” Tatiana agreed, gesturing to merling Nicole. “But I think things will be better now, with Fin and Jacob by our sides, and honestly, I wouldn’t have dreamed of a better way for you to find out about the mer, minus kissing my gross uncle. Where has he been, anyway?”
Ash wrinkled her nose. “Who knows? Without Azor, he’s kind of like a fish out of water.”
With a laugh, Tatiana shrugged and shared a seashell off her bouquet for Nicole to play with. “I guess you’re right.”
As the audience of mers started a single file line to congratulate the happy couple, the promising party moved aside so Tatiana and Jacob could greet the guests. Smiles filled the faces of her parents, Desiree, Badger and Sandy, Sissy and Hans, the Lost Ones who’d returned to help rebuild their colony. She returned the waves of the retired servants hanging out of the windows of the palace, from rooms renovated into apartments. Though Azor had knocked out the northern entrance windows in his attempts to escape Grommet and the rebel army, flooding the second story, most everything above was able to be saved. Thinking of him, her eyes panned the landscape, noting the pile of rubble in the distance that used to be Azor’s compound. With the song in full bloom and the sharks locked away, Natatoria had
morphed into an even more glorious place than it had once been.
“Such a beautiful promised one, you make,” Merric told Tatiana and kissed her forehead.
“Thank you,” she said with a blush.
She admired the returned youth of the once king. After the skirmish, Tatiana discovered King Merric, one of the surviving Lost Ones, didn’t die on Bone Island when Phaleon had escorted him there eighteen years ago. With the help of Sissy and Hans, he and so many others were saved from the banishment, living free and undetected on land, just waiting for the right time to return.
Merric had been elected Chancellor, overseeing the Council of the new governing body of Natatoria. After a brief stint as queen, Tatiana couldn’t be happier to see the position abolished, deciding she’d rather teach than lead. Her most attended class? Land-walking 101.
“Dad,” Tatiana said, encircling her arms around his middle. “I still can’t believe this all worked out.”
“You know, I’m still shocked myself. But I’ve never been more proud of you, or your choice in a mate,” he said, eyes shining. “To overcome the bond is an extraordinary feat.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, her tears dissolving into the current.
He touched the merling’s nose “And I’m proud of you, too.”
The child cooed, blinking her long dark eyelashes at him.
“Let me hold her,” Tatiana’s mom said, arms outstretched. “And you have nothing to worry about. Blue is going to have a wonderful time while you all are on your promisetide.”
“Blue?” Tatiana pursed her lips.
Her mom, Maggie, laughed. “Well, what else are we going to call this nameless child?”
“I actually decided to call her Nicole.”
Jacob, overhearing, pulled away from some of his rebel buddies and squeezed her shoulder. “I can’t think of a more fitting or more beautiful name.”
Tatiana smiled, molding into his side. “I can’t either.”
After the audience gave the happy couple their blessings and began to feast on a meal Sandy and her friends had put together, Jacob pulled Tatiana away from the group and into his arms. She peered up into his blue-grey eyes, her heart aflutter. And like always, a familiar fire crackled between them—one of loyalty, of understanding, of unity of purpose, with a dash of pheromones.
Acknowledgements
I first want to thank God, for grooming me for this. This has become a career I ever love. To my husband Mike, for your endless love of me, our family, and our home. Your promise to me is my greatest treasure. To my boys, for being persistent when competing with the characters screaming in my head and showing me what unconditional love means. To my family, for your never-ending support and encouragement, and forcing the occasional distraction from my imaginary world.
I’m never prepared for the journey a book will take me on. The characters always push me off a moving rollercoaster, but I’m astounded at the friends that come into my life as a result of these imaginary people.
I have the most amazing editing team ever. To Janille Dutton, for being there in a pinch, for your vernacular, attention to detail and wit. To Kristie Cook, for being my BAFF and saying it like it is. To Chrissi Jackson, for being my pseudo “B” to my lone publishing world here in Cali. To Lisa Sanchez, for pointing out the obvious and swooning over the hero. To Valia Lind, for cheering me on the entire way. To Darci and Savanna Soldano, for keeping me PG-13 and loving Aaron so I can indulge time in my imagination. To Karen Hedger at Crain Editing, for finding my mistakes and laughing with me over mermatrons.
Thanks to Amanda, the winner of the title contest, Kelly Ford Powell, winner of the shout out contest, and Nicole Hansen, winner of the name contest. May you enjoy your embodiment of a mer of great courage and strength. And to you, my dear readers and book bloggers, I write for you!
Follow me at: http://www.brendapandos.com
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Follow Brenda
brendapandos.com
Twitter: @BrendaPandos
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Books by Brenda Pandos:
The Emerald Talisman (Talisman Series Book 1)
The Sapphire Talisman (Talisman Series Book 2)
The Onyx Talisman (Talisman Series Book 3)
Everblue (Mer Tales Book 1)
Evergreen (Mer Tales Book 2)
Everlost (Mer Tales Book 3)
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About the Author
Brenda Pandos lives in California with her husband and two boys. She attempts to balance her busy life filled with writing, being a mother and wife, helping at her church and spending time with friends and family.
Working formerly as an I.T. Administrator, she never believed her imagination would be put to good use. After her son was diagnosed with an autism spectrum her life completely changed. Writing paranormal romance became something she could do at home while tending to the new needs of her children, household, and herself.
You can find out more about her writing, challenges and discoveries on her blog at brendapandos.com.
Table of Contents
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Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Follow Brenda
Books by Brenda Pandos:
About the Author