“He will be. They all are. Eventually he will grow resentful and jealous of your abilities. He will turn on you as all humans do. Haven’t you paid attention to his sister, the way she treats the mermaids? He will be the same.”
“That’s not true,” Arista said in a hushed tone.
“He’ll destroy you,” Ciara said, running her finger across the ring on Arista’s hand. “He’ll watch you die with a song in his heart.”
Arista forced the thoughts of Gavin out of her mind. “Why are you working with Salazar?”
“I’m not yet strong enough to lead on my own,” Ciara said with a shrug. “He is only a weapon in this battle.”
“He tried to kill me,” Arista said, losing control of her brewing anger.
“And he shouldn’t have. He knows better,” Ciara said, an icy glare washed across her face. “He knows what happens to those who cross me.”
Just as quickly, the anger left her face. She once again looked plaintively at her daughter. “I can’t do this alone, my dear. I want you at my side.”
Arista hesitated before shaking her head. “I can’t be part of this. I don’t believe all people are evil. Many of them are good and I won’t stand with you to watch them die.”
Ciara grasped Arista’s wrists, her nails digging into her daughter’s flesh. Arista winced in pain. “You will join me. This is not a choice, but a command.”
“No.” Arista tore her wrists free and stood up. “I won’t join you. I’d rather die.”
“Oh, but you won’t,” Ciara said, standing to face her daughter. “You’ll still be alive as you watch your treasured humans die. Starting with Gavin. You have until tomorrow to make your decision. You will leave Shades from the eastern entry. Salazar will be waiting to bring you to me. If you don’t, then you will watch as I bleed Gavin dry. You will be the cause of every second of his agony.”
Arista looked mournfully at her mother, horrified at the monster she had become. Then, Arista awoke dripping with sweat in the tent. Gavin was sound asleep next to her. She couldn’t let him die.
˜
{ Chapter 51 }
After the dream with her mother, Arista couldn’t go back to sleep. She lay next to Gavin, listening to the nighttime sounds of the forest until the first rays of sunlight streamed through the canvas panels above her.
Arista got up and walked outside where Valerie was already waiting. She sat on the ground with her back against a tree, twisting the box in her hands as she tried to discern a way to unlock it. She glanced up as Arista walked towards her.
“Rough night?” she asked. “You look like you hardly slept.”
“I didn’t sleep well,” Arista said.
Valerie raised her eyebrows as she peered at her more closely. “It wasn’t nightmares from Salazar was it?”
“No, I just had a hard time sleeping,” Arista said, hoping Valerie wouldn’t notice the lie. She quickly changed the subject. “Did you reach Clarissa?”
“Yes, it took a while to boost the signal. Only one bird was out there waiting for us, which Beshkno resolved. They said they found some passages in one of the books that should help us. Clarissa sounded weird though,” Valerie shrugged. “They are going to meet us at Nikan’s today. As soon as Gavin wakes up, we’ll head out to meet them. We need to find a way to get the truck moving first. Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
“I’ll be fine, I might try to sleep some more,” Arista answered.
“That’s a good idea,” Valerie said, turning her attention back to the box.
“Are you any closer to figuring that out?”
“I’m not sure. I can feel the lock in the magic, like yarn all twisted into a knot. It’s going to take some more time, unfortunately.”
The pair sat quietly as Valerie prodded at the box. Arista was lost in her own thoughts until Gavin finally stumbled out of the tent rubbing the last of the sleepiness from his eyes.
He walked to Arista and sat down next to her. “How are you feeling? You were tossing and turning most of the night,” he said.
“I’m a little tired,” she answered, not wanting to meet his gaze.
He put his arm around her and rubbed the base of her neck. Arista closed her eyes, but it wasn’t long before her thoughts drifted back to the decision still looming over her. She shrugged Gavin’s arm off. He looked at her with confusion as she stared at the knotted trunk of a nearby tree.
“Do you want to head out soon?” Valerie asked. “They should be getting ready to leave about now.”
“Sure,” Gavin said. He turned once more to Arista. “Will you be alright?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine,” she said, still not wanting to look at him.
“Alright,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “We’ll be back soon.”
Arista nodded, struggling to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. He couldn’t know anything was wrong.
Gavin and Valerie got ready to go. Beshkno flew over them with a screech, swooping over the path they were going to take. He then flew to where Arista sat, letting out another screech when he landed.
Valerie nodded. “He’ll escort us until we’re safely out of the woods, then return to Arista.”
“Good luck,” Arista said, getting up from the log and walking back to the tent. Gavin looked sadly after her and his sister reached over to squeeze his hand.
“She didn’t get much sleep and isn’t feeling like herself.”
Gavin nodded and they walked down the path to leave the forest.
…
Arista waited until she could no longer hear their footsteps before leaving the tent. The thought of saying goodbye to Gavin was too much to bear; especially if it was for the last time. She knew his hurt and anguish would decimate her strength to leave.
Could she leave him now? She paced around the remains of the fire as she debated her options. She believed in no uncertain terms that her mother would kill everyone if Arista refused to go with her. But she also knew her mother could still kill everyone even if Arista joined her.
She sat on the log, unable to decide. It would at least buy them time if she went to her mother. Maybe the others could find a way to stop her mother and Salazar. Or she could talk her mother out of killing them, convince her to go back to the ocean.
Arista dropped her head into her hands. She didn’t have much time left. She was relieved to hear Beshkno as he glided back into the clearing. He landed on the ground in front of her.
“They made it to the truck and got it working?” she asked and he screeched in response. “At least they’re safe for now.”
She looked at the eagle as she twirled the ring around her finger. She peered down at it, realizing that the white lightning bolt striking through the amethyst was reminiscent of her mother’s scar. Nikan told Gavin it would give her strength. He had also told her to be prepared for what she had to do. Nikan warned her of hard decisions ahead. She looked at Beshkno; he also said the warrior would show her the way — but she had to be willing to follow.
“You already know what I must do, don’t you?” she whispered.
Beshkno looked at her with his bright eyes and clicked his beak together as he lowered his head.
“I’m terrified. I’ll have to do this alone. I don’t know if I can,” she said. Beshkno moved in towards her, pressing his body against her leg.
Arista took a deep breath. This was why she was here. She came to the surface to find her mother and bring her back. Now she had a chance to do that.
She went back to the tent and found a pen and a scrap of paper in the bag Valerie had left behind. Arista struggled to write a note for Gavin as she realized she didn’t know enough of the words. It ended up a messy hybrid between the human words and mermaid symbols Kellen could understand. She hoped it would be enough.
She left the note in the tent, zipping the flap behind her. She turned back to the eagle, who was watching her. “Will you be sure they find that?”
Beshk
no clicked his beak and hopped from the ground to a branch in a nearby tree.
“I guess that’s it then,” she said as she looked around their small encampment with a sigh. “Time to go.”
˜
{ Chapter 52 }
Arista followed Beshkno down a path she hadn’t traveled yet. She trusted that he knew where she needed to go. Her mother had said to go to the eastern entry and, from Arista’s rough guess, it seemed they were headed that direction. She glanced a few times over her shoulder, half expecting to see Gavin chasing after her. She shook the notion from her head. She knew it was likely they hadn’t even made it to Nikan’s yet, let alone back to Shades.
He wasn’t coming after her. Not this time.
The sunlight poured through the leaves, casting her surroundings in a green glow. She let out a soft chuckle. It would have been beautiful were she not on her way to Salazar. She kicked a small rock out of the path. Her mother could at least have the decency to show up herself.
She shifted her gaze up to the skies to make sure Beshkno was still with her. At least she knew the others would find her note. Maybe Beshkno could show them the way she had gone. She shook that thought from her mind as well. She was doing this to keep them safe, not force them to run headlong into more danger. As much as it pained her heart, she hoped she wouldn’t see Gavin again. She knew if she did, there was a chance it wouldn’t end well.
Lost in her own thoughts, she almost missed Beshkno landing on a branch farther ahead on the path. She hurried to catch up. When she reached him, she saw that the path opened up onto the road. An icy dread filled her heart as she realized Salazar would be waiting for her. She looked into Beshkno’s eyes.
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything more you can do to help me. Please go back and wait for my friends. Make sure they get my note.”
Beshkno screeched in answer. He turned his head and with the tip of his beak plucked a small feather from his wing. He hopped down from the branch and lifted his head towards Arista. She reached out and pulled the feather from his beak. He pressed his head into her open hand.
She knelt beside him, burying her head into his soft feathers. “Thank you so much. Please keep them safe.”
Arista stood and turned to continue walking. She looked back to watch Beshkno fly into the woods. She took a deep breath as she walked to the road. She didn’t see anything immediately, so she turned north and walked a little ways until she found a boulder where she could sit and wait. She was there only a few minutes when she heard the rumbling of a car. The knot in her stomach tightened and she gripped the edges of the rock until her knuckles turned a bright white.
A black car crested the hill and pulled up in front of her. The door swung open and she saw Salazar sitting inside. She looked upon his face with horror. Most of the skin had melted in drooping and sagging clumps, black from the flames and the burns from the verbena. His mouth twisted into a hideous specter of a grin as she stared at him.
“Come on, mermaid. Mommy’s waiting.”
…
Gavin glanced at Valerie as they drove down the road. They were less than a half-hour away from Nikan’s store, and Valerie had been silent the whole way.
“What’s going on with you today?” he asked.
“Something isn’t right,” she said. “I can’t put my finger on it. But it feels wrong.”
Valerie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Have you ever had déjà vu? Or, at least the feeling of being in the right place at the right time, and knowing you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing?”
Gavin felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck as he thought back to the night when he first met Arista.
“Yeah, I know something about that.”
“This feels the exact opposite, like the synchronicity is all out of whack. Like a spinning top that’s wobbling out of rotation and about to crash.”
Gavin didn’t know how to answer, but a wave of uneasiness spread through him. “We’re almost there,” he said. He pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Soon after, he spotted the clusters of lawn decorations and the shop against the horizon.
Gavin pulled the truck in behind Valerie’s small car, already parked in front of the store.
“Good, I’m glad they’re here,” Valerie said as she yanked off her seatbelt. “One less thing we need to worry about.”
Gavin nodded in grim agreement, still unable to shake the uneasy feeling that had crept on him in the car.
The pair hurried into the store and found Kellen and Clarissa by the counter talking to Nikan. He turned to them, his worry showing on his forehead wrinkled with deep creases.
“Your friends have been sharing their story with me, and it’s worse than I had initially feared,” he said.
Gavin frowned at his sister. “What was that you said about less to worry about?”
“I said one less thing,” she responded in a huff. “What’s going on now?”
“I assume you’re familiar with the Morrigan Prophecies?” Nikan asked.
Immediately the color drained from Valerie’s face. She wobbled on her feet and Gavin held out his arm to steady her. As he grabbed her arm, he felt her pulse quicken.
“Val, what is it? What does that mean?”
“It means we are in way over our heads,” she said. She reached up and ran shaking fingers through her hair. “We can’t do this.”
Gavin grabbed his sister’s shoulders and spun her to face him. “Talk to me — what’s happening?”
“The end of the world,” she said with a sigh. She took a deep breath. “The text is notorious in the realm of magic. Not much is known about the origin of the prophecies themselves, but they’ve never been wrong — they have always come to pass. The text ends with a series of prophecies about the end of magic itself. Without any magic at all, the world will irrevocably perish.
“Unfortunately, the timeline of the prophecies have been difficult to predict, and there have been false omens in the past. Some of the prophecies are difficult to decipher, too. But if it’s true and these events are the start of those captured in the prophecies, there may not be much we can do.”
“That might not be true,” Clarissa said as she walked to Valerie. “We found this in the same volume where your mother wrote about the prophecies.”
Clarissa handed a wide-eyed Valerie the letter from her mother.
“Your mother wrote that she believed you and Gavin could prevent the prophecies from coming true.”
“But how?” Gavin asked. “If everything else has come true, how can we be expected to stop it?”
“Prophecies are tricky creatures,” Nikan said. “A prophet can easily see the initial event, the stone thrown into a pond. The first ripples are also easy to predict. But as those ripples spread, they waver and become less predictable. This is where one can take action and tangle the ripples to impact a predicted fate.”
Gavin nodded as he considered Nikan’s words.
“I can’t believe I never found this,” Valerie said, turning her attention back to the envelope in her hands. Before she could open it, she was interrupted by a sharp pain in her side. She gasped and reached into her pocket pulling out the seashell.
“It feels like it’s on fire,” she said in alarm.
Nikan took it in his hands and closed his eyes. His hands glowed faintly, as though grasping the flame on a candle. “You must go. Arista is in grave danger. If there’s any hope to stop this, you must hurry.”
The glow faded from his hands. He opened his eyes and handed the seashell back to Valerie.
“Thank you once again for your help,” she said.
He smiled sadly as he watched the group once again leave his store. “I hope that it’s enough.”
˜
{ Chapter 53 }
Arista looked absently out the window as the world whizzed past her. They had driven for only a short while when
Salazar pulled off the main road and turned onto a lane heading into a dark forest. He slammed on the brakes, parking the car along the side of the road.
Salazar shoved Arista out of the passenger side before stepping out of the car himself. He stumbled over to her, walking with a severe hunch and limping with his left leg dragging on the ground behind him.
“Why are we stopping here?” she asked.
“Your mother needs to be by water to be at her strongest,” he answered roughly. “I’m stronger, too. Part mermaid, you know.”
He grinned at her once more, lifting a burned lip over his sharpened teeth. Disgusted, Arista looked away from him and towards the path in front of them. They walked past a few small cabins tucked away from the road then Salazar led her into a section of woods without a path. Arista brushed her hand against branches that crept into her hair and prickly bushes that tore into her legs. When it felt like there was no end in sight, the trees gave way to a small beach circling part of a lake.
“This is where she will meet us,” Salazar grunted as he walked to the middle of the beach. Arista trailed behind him, anxiously looking around. She knew she could run into the woods and, in his current state, Salazar couldn’t chase her. But she felt the ring sitting on her finger and thought once more of Gavin. She couldn’t put him in danger. She had to stay.
Salazar tilted his grotesque face up to the sunlight and shut his eyes. He was clearly unconcerned about Arista escaping. She sat in the sand, leaving ample space between them, and curiosity got the best of her.
“I didn’t think vampires could be in sunlight,” she said.
“Vampires can’t. I can,” he said, opening one eye to look at her. “It’s the mermaid in me.”
Arista glared at his twisted face and turned her attention to the water. She thought once more about the day she decided to leave home. She regretted coming to the surface, especially now that she knew her mother had forced those dreams on her. Then she looked at the amethyst heart, glowing in the sunlight.
Tangled Ripples: Book One: The Morrigan Prophecies Page 27
