Stumps glanced around at the alien features around him with nothing but open curiosity in his expression. If Narissa was a mermaid, how did she look so human compared to so many of the others here? As he looked closer, however, there were a few mermaids who were beautiful.
A voice spoke at the other end of the room. “Time grows short. Is that all, my daughter?”
“That is all,” Narissa said, her voice sounding forced and grim.
Footsteps and the sound of crying sounded from the mouth of the cave. River turned as Edmar strode in, pulling a resisting girl behind him. When River looked closer, he realized it was Anne.
Narissa realized it too. She ran forward, and when River was sure she would stop, she kept going, plowing into Edmar. The force knocked him back but not over. Quicker than River’s eyes could follow, she pulled a small, silver knife from somewhere and held it up to Edmar’s neck. He froze as if he had no doubt she would plunge it into him.
“How dare you!” she screamed. “I told you to leave her alone.”
When he didn’t answer, she pulled her knife back slightly, and he swallowed. But then he smiled, as if completely at ease. “But my dear, she was so perfect. Even you cannot deny it. Young, healthy, all alone, and so very, very wounded inside.”
“I could kill you for this.”
“You can try, princess. No doubt I’ll enjoy it. But for now, there is a ceremony to be performed.
Chapter Eleven
Narissa had exhausted all of her control to keep panic and shock from overwhelming her when River came in. This was a nightmare, surely. But the floor of the cave was cold and rough beneath her feet and the smell of wet rock and algae filled her senses. This was really happening.
When Edmar brought Anne in, she lost it. How had this night gone so completely wrong?
Her mind raced with ways to save Anne and River, but there was nothing she could do. She had no authority over Edmar—none. Her mother was the only one who could free Anne and that would never happen. Everyone would believe she had brought River, but even so, she couldn’t just say, “Oh, never mind. I’ve changed my mind about this one.” Now that he knew about their world, her mother would never let him go without the influence of the sanding spell to bring him back.
Her only hope was to help River resist the power of the mer song. But how would he do that once the music of the sea was forever in his mind?
Thinking fast, Narissa stepped away from Edmar and Anne and closer to the wall, as if defeated. As soon as she turned away, her mother spoke.
“I did not expect you, Edmar. As you see, I have not invited males to our circle tonight.”
“It isn’t necessary,” he responded. “You can invite males to come when Anne returns in one week to complete the ritual.”
With her mother’s attention on Edmar, Narissa took the chance to step close to the wall and scrape the rock with her fingernail until some of the thick slime came off in her hand. Moving slowly so she wouldn’t draw attention to herself, Narissa went to stand by River. He looked down at her so coldly that the frost spread to her heart. Such contempt as she saw in his eyes would surely kill his feelings for her, but she would save him if she could.
Pressing the slime into his hand, she whispered, “Put this in your ears, but don’t let anyone see you.”
He raised an eyebrow but took the wad of slime. Only because she was watching carefully out of the side of her eyes did she see when he made the move to fill his ears with it. Narissa had no idea if it would work, but it was worth a shot.
Eponnia directed Stumps toward her mother, who held the sanding rod. It glowed white with Poseidon’s magic, the hollow tube making a white circle of light in the dim cave. Eponnia pulled the corner of Stumps waistband down, and Narissa’s mother pressed the sanding rod to his skin. Stumps jerked and light shot from the connection until she pulled the rod away. A circle of red appeared on his skin where the skin had been cut open.
Narissa flinched as if the wound was hers. She remembered all too well what it had felt like when she’d received her own. But the pain would only last a moment more until the ritual was complete. She watched as her mother reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out a handful of white sand. She pressed it to the wound she had just made and rubbed it in. After a moment, she pulled her hand away, and the loose sand fall away, streaming to the floor of the cave and leaving behind only the sand that had stuck in the wound.
“Next,” she said.
Eponnia moved Stumps back into line and brought Brody forward. When the ritual was performed on him, he winced at the pain but he accepted it without question. Then it was River’s turn. When Eponnia went up to him, River looked at Narissa, his eyes challenging her to make him do this. Her heart broke as she said, “It’s the only way they will let you return to the surface.”
His expression grew harder, if that was possible, but he submitted. River never broke eye contact with Narissa as her mother sanded him but he flinched slightly as the sanding rod was pressed into his hip. When it was over, he moved aside and crossed his arms tightly in a defensive gesture.
Then Anne was dragged forward, crying. As she flailed and strained, trying to get away, Anne’s eyes met Narissa’s in a desperate, confused plea. With nothing to offer her friend in the way of help in that moment, Narissa was forced to watch Edmar and Eponnia hold Anne still for the sanding.
All at once, Narissa realized how wrong this was. The humans were being forced against their will. She’d seen humans struggle against the ritual before, though never hers. In the past, she’d been able to reassure herself with the knowledge that the humans always chose to become mers in the end—but no longer. Such thinking was a blatant self-deception. They only came back because the power of the mer song made it impossible for them to resist.
When Anne had been sanded, all the mers in the chamber, a dozen or so, sang the song of the sea. It was a song of thanks that had been sung for eons, ever since Poseidon had rescued the first drowning humans by turning them with his magic. For the first time, Narissa did not join her voice with theirs. She would have no part in the compulsion that would drive Anne and River back to the sea.
The haunting melody reverberated off the chamber walls, the notes rising and falling like waves on a shore. The words of the song belonged to an ancient language that only the gods understood. It was passed from generation to generation and sung on the nights leading up to the full moon to call humans to the sea. Once the laws had changed and the mers confined to the realm, the only humans that could hear it were those that had been sanded.
As the song ended, the mers’ voices swelled to an exultant, compelling cry, then ebbed away like the tide. When the only sound left in the chamber was the distant plink of water, Narissa’s mother broke the silence.
Her voice was both musical and exultant, her posture commanding. “My Lovelies, you must return in one week when the moon is full. The siren who has chosen you will be your guide. If you wish to complete the change and become a child of the sea, bring me a token—something that symbolizes your transcendence from land to sea.” She waved her hands at the human clutter on the shelves around the room. “It will be kept here as a tribute to the gift you give our people. You will be made whole and strong. You will be revered among us. If you should decide not to join us, however, I will take the sanding from you and you will be as you were before—weak and infirm. The choice is yours.”
Narissa glared at her mother, whose silken words hid fathoms of deception. Narissa had never heard of anyone resisting the compulsion of the spell. She still believed that it would be a good choice for Stumps and Brody, but now guilt stabbed at her conscience. Seeing River and Anne caught in her people’s toils, knowing how much they would be losing, she knew she had broken the trust of all those whom she had recruited before. She still believed they would be helped by it, but the choice should have been theirs to make. Wasn’t that all she had ever wanted? A choice? How could she deny it to others?
/> “Daughters, please escort them to the surface. Edmar, you must see to your Lovely.”
He nodded and gripped Anne’s arm, pulling her from the chamber. She walked like one in a trance, and Narissa knew she was in complete shock.
Stumps moved forward, his face calm and peaceful as he leaned on Brody for support. Brody looked like he’d been dazzled by a bright light and kept shaking his head as if to clear it. But he was smiling too. Several mermaids slid across the floor ahead of them, then dove into the pool, ready to help the two men to the surface. They no longer needed the touch of a mermaid to be able to breathe underwater, but they would need help finding their way.
One of the mermaids reached up for River’s arm, and Narissa glared at her. “Don’t touch him.”
“Are you claiming him?” she asked, her voice little more than a hiss.
“Yes.” Narissa said, her voice hard like steel.
She moved off, but before Narissa could turn back to River, her mother came over to them. “My daughter, does this mean you have given up your irrational decision to leave the sea?”
“No.”
“But, I do not understand. You have just claimed a mate destined for the sea.”
“He’s not if I can help it,” Narissa said, grasping River’s arm, not knowing how much he could hear through the slime in his ears. She tugged gently on his forearm until he followed. But though he went with her, his face was set hard like stone and he would not meet her eyes.
In the outer chamber, she motioned for him to clean out his ear, but he said, “I already did. As soon as the singing was over.”
“Oh.” What would he think of her claiming him? What was he thinking about all of this? But they couldn’t talk here. “You’ll be able to breath underwater all the time now that you’ve been sanded. Can you swim to the surface by yourself? I know it’s dark, so I can lead you if you’d like.”
He stayed silent, nodding in answer to her question.
Narissa nodded, trying not to fall into despair at every new sign of his anger. She deserved every bit of it, but perhaps if she could explain that she never wanted this, he would forgive her—at least a little.
“I’ll be glad not to be out there alone,” she said, slipping into the water and touching the circle on her hip to transform. River slipped down off the cave ledge into the water next to her. “Touch your sand tattoo and your body will adjust to breathing underwater. I’ve heard it’s scary to breathe in water the first time. I was so young the first time that I don’t remember. I mean, you must have done it on the way down here, but now you must do it deliberately.”
“I’ll manage,” he said, shortly. Then he reached out and touched her tail. He jerked his hand back sharply. “So you are one.”
Narissa lowered her head. “Yes. And if you complete the ritual, you will be too, though you will keep your legs for now.” Moving closer, she whispered to keep her voice from echoing off the walls. “But I will save you from that if I can.”
Before he could speak, a head broke the surface beside them. The mermaid wrapped her arms around River’s torso and tried to tug him away from Narissa. With a quick flick of her tail, Narissa pushed her away. “He’s mine,” she said. “Go away.”
“But I wants this man. He make so pretty babies.”
“Not with you.” For the second time that night, Narissa pulled her silver knife from the sheath attached to her belt. Knowing the mermaid would be hard to convince, she poked the back of her hand. The mermaid gasped and lunged backward before diving into the luminescent water.
“Come on, River. Let’s get you to the surface before I have to fight off all the females in the gulf.”
Narissa dove, keeping her eyes on the mermaid, who lurked against the tunnel wall holding her bleeding hand to her chest. Her bulging eyes glared at Narissa, but Narissa glared back, establishing her dominance. Remembering that River would struggle to breathe at first, she turned and watched to make sure he was okay as they swam through the tunnel and out into the open water. His expression was tight, and it looked for a moment as if he was coughing, but soon he relaxed and cycled the water through his lungs more naturally.
Narissa swam hard, hating to be surrounded by miles of dark water. She could feel the disturbance caused by River swimming beside her and was amazed at the ease with which he swam without a powerful tail to propel him. Of course, he had the powerful shoulders and lean, tapered waist of a swimmer. His body was already built for this. If he had a tail, he would be impressive, even for a mer.
They swam hard but it took time to make it to shore. As they walked out of the water, the first light of dawn brightened the eastern horizon though the beach ahead of them still lay in darkness. With the party long over, there was no one to see them leave the water. River walked a few heavy steps up the sand and sat down hard, clasping his head in his hands. Narissa sat beside him, longing to reach out and comfort him but knowing he didn’t want her.
She didn’t blame him at all for his anger. Everything he’d known of the world had just been thrown into chaos, and he surely felt as if she’d betrayed him.
Just down the beach, Brody helped Stumps out of the water while the mermaids that had escorted them stayed in the shallows watching them. Brody found his crutches and the two men walked together to the stairs that led up to the parking lot.
When they were gone, the world was so quiet it heightened the tension between her and River. Not even the sound of the crashing surf could soothe her. Above them, an engine started and headlights flashed over the rail of the parking lot, then all was quiet again. Brody and Stumps were gone. Where was Anne? Narissa wanted to find her and comfort her, but how could she leave River like this?
But with a lunge, as if spurred by a need to escape, he stood and strode away across the sand. Narissa stumbled after him, the sand on her wet dress scratching her legs as she ran to keep up with him. “River. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I never meant for you to know anything about it.”
He turned. “Do you think I don’t know that? But how could you do this to people, Narissa? Can’t you see how wrong it is?”
She agreed with him, but desperately wanted to explain herself. “I only choose people who will be better off. I’m not like Edmar.”
“Why did you have me plug my ears? It’s because I wouldn’t have a chance to resist if I’d heard the song better, right?”
“You still heard it?” The worry in her voice sound harsh in the silence.
“Yes. It was distant and muffled, but I heard it.”
“Look, we’ll figure this out.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore tonight. I need to… I need to go home.”
She followed him to the parking lot, only heading to her car once he started his truck.
Narissa kept a magnetic key holder under the bumper for times like this when she couldn’t carry her keys. Retrieving them, she got in her uncle’s truck and started the engine. When she turned to put on her seatbelt, she saw that River had not yet driven away. He sat in his truck, letting it idle as he waited for her to get safely on her way. As much as he must hate her, he was still watching out for her. It warmed her heart just a fraction and gave her the courage to face the nightmare that lay ahead.
Chapter Twelve
River awoke to the distant hum of music in the back of his mind and a fierce longing to go down to the ocean.
“Man, you are so screwed.” With an angry flick of his hand, he flung back his blankets and went into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he eyed the angry red circle on his hip embedded with white sand. What kind of freaky magic was this?
Slumping forward, he rested his hands on the bathroom counter and stared at himself. Narissa was a mermaid? No wonder she had seemed so different, so mysterious. If only his instincts had warned him that she was dangerous instead of pulling him towards her.
He remembered the painting of the mermaids luring sailors to their death that hung on the wall at her uncle’s restaurant
. He guessed that all his feelings had been nothing more than a response to her siren abilities. His stomach twisted with nausea and bitterness because the feelings were still there. He still wanted her.
After showering and dressing for the day, he made coffee and concentrated on not going down to the beach. But in the end, he couldn’t stand the restlessness, the twitchy longing.
Driving to one of the public beaches along Old 98, River parked with his truck facing the gulf, hoping that the sight of the ocean would be enough. It wasn’t. If anything, it made the feeling worse.
Burning with resentment, River got out, slamming the truck door shut, and strode to the stairs leading down to the beach. Jogging down the steps, he kicked off his shoes and left them by the stairs as he walked more slowly toward the water.
Only the top layer of sand had been warmed by the sun, so his feet dug deeper into cooler sand as he walked. Just being on the sand made him relax to a degree. But then, he made it to the edge of the surf.
The moment a cool, saltwater wave washed over his feet, a shudder of relief ripped through him. He stared out to the blue horizon, narrowing his eyes against the blinding morning sun, and wondered what would happen now.
“Mind if I join you?” a familiar and musical voice said from behind him.
He didn’t have to turn around to know it was Narissa. “I don’t know. I’m pretty confused right now.”
“I know. That’s why I came to find you.”
“How kind of you.”
“River—” Her voice broke.
He flinched at the hurt in it but held silent.
After a moment, Narissa stepped up next to him. “You know, this spot, where the land and water meet, is the only place I truly belong. I’m like the sand that way, a bridge between two worlds. I can’t help how I was born, River, but I am trying to become human. I took a big risk for that reason, so that I could stay here and have a chance with you. I never meant for you to be pulled into this or be hurt in any way.”
The Lovely Deep (The Mer Song Trilogy Book 1) Page 8
