“They’re gone, Mother.”
Narissa gasped. “Gone?”
“They left,” the guard explained. “We thought it was by your orders.”
Narissa turned to River. “We have to find them.”
“How? Where would he have taken her?”
Narissa shook her head, unable to think. “No, the question is why. Why did he take her?”
“I can tell you that,” Stumps said. It was the first thing he’d said since entering the chamber. Somehow, Stumps never spoke unless he had something important to say. “He was saving her.”
“He was?” Narissa asked.
River chuckled. “What man wouldn’t try to save such a pretty girl in distress?” He looked down at Narissa and kissed her forehead. “We can’t help ourselves.”
Narissa groaned. “Just when I have the power to help her. River, what time is it?”
River glanced down at his diving watch. “Four in the morning.”
“We have to go,” she said.
“But what about the mermaids? They’ll be waiting for me.”
“We’ll figure something out,” she said, anxious to get away from her mother’s hearing. But first, she spun back to her mother. “If you want to complete our bargain, you must find Anne and take away the spell. And I must see that it has been done.”
“Bargain or no, child, you may not have any choice in the end. The Fates have a way of driving us where we need to go.”
“Then I’ll beg you to stop interfering, Mother, and let them do their job.”
She grabbed River’s hand then, and they hurried out of the chamber, pausing long enough to help Stumps. As they climbed the winding, narrowing steps, Narissa could hear the sound of crashing water below as the tide began to come in and fill the corridors.
“Let’s hope Uncle Jesse is close. There’s a place nearby where he can come close to the island, within a few yards, so we won’t have to swim far. But we’ll have to jump.”
Moving as quickly as they could, they emerged from the passage way into the rocky clearing where they’d rested earlier. The moon hovered near the horizon, and the first light of dawn tinted the sky. Narissa wasted no time in leading them down a different, steeper path. It was so steep that Stumps chose to slide down rather than be helped. He came last, Narissa watching him carefully over her shoulder. When they reached the bottom, the path ended abruptly at a rocky outcropping. Stumps, sliding down behind them, had gained too much momentum to slow down.
“River! Stumps.”
But River was already lunging toward him, barreling into him to slow him down. Still, the force almost carried them both over the edge. They all stood still a moment, stunned and breathing hard.
“Thanks,” Stumps said, gripping River’s arm.
“You got it,” he said.
Narissa searched the sea with anxious eyes. “River, it’s time to signal him.”
River peeled a wide piece of waterproof tape from his skin, revealing the light sticks beneath. He cracked them and shook them until they glowed bright. Narissa just hoped it was bright enough in the growing dawn.
It took a few minutes, during which time Narissa’s tension became almost unbearable. Then a light shone dimly to the east, breaking through the mist that had started to creep around the island. She hadn’t noticed it until then since her eyes had been focused further out to sea.
“He’s close,” she said, relief making her breathless.
Within minutes, the sound of his motor reached them. “The engine will draw their attention, won’t it?” River asked.
Narissa closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Yes, it will. River, you need to go first, before they know what to expect. Brody, you jump with him in case he needs help.”
“Righteous,” Brody said. “I always wanted to go cliff diving. In the dark.”
“Jump out as far as you can,” Narissa said.
“Are there rocks below?” River asked, understandably.
“No. Jump as close to the boat as you can.”
“Narissa!” Her uncle called from below.
“Here, Uncle Jesse,” she called back. “Get ready to take on passengers. And get them aboard as fast as you can.”
“Will do.”
River and Brody moved to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
“It looks like a twenty-foot drop,” River said.
“At least,” Brody agreed.
“Be safe,” Narissa said, her voice deep with worry.
“You sure you don’t want to rethink this whole binding-mating thing really quick?” River asked. “I confess, I’m terrified of being mated to one of those creatures.”
“When I bind myself to someone, I want it to be for the right reasons.”
River’s teeth flashed as he grinned. “Who says it wouldn’t be?”
And then, without another moment’s hesitation, he jumped. Brody stared after him, frozen at the top. There was a splash below, followed by the sound of thrashing water.
“What are you waiting for, Brody? Go after him.” Narissa planted her hands on his back and pushed.
As soon as she heard Brody’s splash, she gave him a moment to move out of the way. “Stumps, are you okay to jump?”
“Maybe not jump,” he said, shifting forward to the edge so that his leg hung over the edge. “But I can fall okay.”
Narissa stepped out of her bottoms, thinking for the millionth time that changing back and forth was a royal pain, and tried to make out what was going on below, anxious to jump but afraid to land on someone. She tied her bottoms onto her arm.
“Where’s River?” she called.
Uncle Jesse shouted an answer below. “He’s at the stern ladder, but they’ve got hold of his legs.”
That was it. Narissa jumped, pressing her hand to her mark so that she shifted as she fell. With a powerful thrust of her tail, she rocketed toward the boat.
River held tightly to the boarding ladder, his biceps bulging with the strain. Stumps and Brody were below in the water, trying to pry off the hands gripping onto him with claw-like fingers. She watched, desperately trying to figure out what to do. As soon as they got one hand off, another took its place. River couldn’t take much more, she was sure, before his arms would give out.
Maybe if enough of the mermaids released him at once, he would be able to break free. Diving down, she reached around the first mermaid she got to and dug her fingers into her eye sockets. The mermaid let go with a shriek and rush of water. There were six more mermaids clinging to some part of River’s legs. They looked like a stringer of fish dangling in the water. One by one, either by pulling their hair or gouging their eyes, she chased them off. Soon, there were only two left hanging on. Before Narissa could attack one of them, they were lifted up through the water.
Swimming to the surface, Narissa watched as her uncle pulled their hands free while River pulled himself into the boat. She waited, standing guard while Stumps was pulled aboard and Brody climbed up the ladder. Then, anxious to check on River’s condition, she considered how to get herself into the boat. At some point during the struggle, she had lost her bikini bottom, and she couldn’t climb the ladder unless she changed. But she didn’t want to climb aboard nude from the waist down.
As she clung to the ladder, trying to decide, two heads popped up in front of her. The mermaids glared at her, the sight made more gruesome by the scratches around their eyes.
“You suffer now,” one of them said, in an odd, lisping voice.
Narissa reached for her knife, but fear racked her body. She wouldn’t be able to fight them off on her own now that their attention was focused on her. But just as the first one lunged towards her with an open, toothy mouth, someone grasped her under her arms and pulled her straight up.
The edge of the boat and the rails of the ladder scraped against her side and back, but she didn’t care. She felt only relief as she fell backward onto someone. Strong, familiar arms came around her and she relaxed, knowing it
was River’s chest she rested on.
Looking down, she saw trickles of blood running down his arms and legs, diluted by the sea water streaming off her. “You’re hurt,” she said.
“I don’t care,” he said. “We’re safe.”
“Where’s Anne?” Uncle Jesse asked.
“She’s gone,” Brody said. “That Tyranno dude took her.”
“Tyranno?” Uncle Jesse asked, as shocked as Narissa expected him to be.
“Yes, Uncle Jesse. She’s somewhere with your son. I hoped you might know where to find them.”
Chapter Twenty
River still lay on the deck of Uncle Jesse’s boat, holding Narissa to him, when it dawned on him that her Uncle Jesse had once been a merman. He hadn’t considered their relationship too closely before, but now, it made sense. The same otherworldly quality that he had always noticed about Narissa emanated from him as well.
At the moment, Jesse’s brows were drawn together as he considered the news about his son and Anne. “Well, she’ll be alright then. Narissa, you need to change.”
“I lost my swim bottoms,” she said. Her voice was small, hesitant… as if she was embarrassed.
“Do you have something for her?” River asked her uncle.
“Aye,” he said, opening a storage bin and tossing a large towel their direction. “Now, I’d best get us out of here.”
Sure enough, just at that moment, a head popped up over the rail, with dark, wet hair falling over the angry, bleeding face of a mermaid.
“Man, they’re determined,” Brody said, walking forward and pounding his fist down on her fingers so that she let go. Even as the mermaid disappeared from view, the back of the boat swung hard to port, making the whole frame creak with the strain.
“Did you do that?” River asked Jesse, who stood at the helm.
“No,” he said shortly.
Jesse soon had the engine at full power, making the boat skim across the surface of the water. The boat rose and fell hard as they went over high swells, so River braced himself the best he could with his shoulders. He needed his arms to steady Narissa. Her long tail that was such an asset in the water seemed to be making it hard for her to manage. “Rissa, you should change now so this will be easier for you.”
“Okay.” She pulled the towel over her, then pressed her hand to her mark. River watched, amazed as her fins seemed to collapse in on themselves, shrinking until her feet and legs began to form again. The scales turned to skin, though she reached forward to brush the last few away. “Nobody look.”
River averted his eyes and glanced toward Brody and Stumps to make sure they did as well. They both had their eyes trained behind the boat at the wake. Narissa got up and adjusted her towel so that it was wrapped around her waist securely, then sat down on the bench seat.
River sat next to her and asked, “Are we being followed?”
“Yes,” Stumps said in a tense voice.
“They’ll never keep up this pace for long,” Narissa said. “But River, you’ll need to stay out of the water until we figure out what’s going on.”
“I work for a diving charter,” he reminded her.
“Then you aren’t going to be going in to work for a while.” She growled. “Just let me get my hands on Edmar. This has to stop.”
“Let’s talk about this when we get back,” River said. He gathered Narissa close to him, his heart full of admiration for her courage and tenacity. She was so strong in so many ways. He would never forget the many ways she had fought for him tonight, defended him against the mermaids clawing and her mother’s plotting. Whatever mistakes she’d made or flaws she had, he knew now, without a doubt that she cared for him.
And now that the danger was left, temporarily perhaps, behind in their wake, her shoulders slumped under the weight of the decision she faced. As his hand rubbed her arm, he felt goose bumps break out on her skin. Gentle tremors shook her body.
“You’re shivering,” he said, concern and confusion deepening his voice.
“I think it’s just from… shock.”
“Brody, find a blanket.”
Brody jumped up and started digging through compartments. “Found one.”
River pulled Narissa up onto his lap and took the blanket from Brody. “Thanks, man.” He opened the blanket with his free arm and with Brody’s help, spread it over them, tucking it close to keep out the wind. He hoped his body heat would help to warm her. “It’s going to be ok, Rissa.”
“How?” she asked in a quavering voice.
He didn’t know, so he didn’t try to answer. He just held her tightly and hoped that, somehow, they would figure this out.
River wasn’t precisely sure how Narissa’s uncle had been able to bring the boat into the Realm, or at what point they left it for the mortal world, but by the time they reached Destin Harbor, everything seemed normal. Anxious to get Narissa home, River shifted her from his lap and got up to help tie up the boat and secure it at the dock. Jesse had brought crutches for Stumps, and with the boat steady, the older man managed to cross the deck to sit by Narissa where he put his arm around her. Grateful that she had so many people to watch over her, River jumped onto the dock to catch the mooring rope.
In no time, they were able to head for Jesse’s truck. Narissa walked slowly, still bundled in the blanket and barefoot. When her footsteps faltered on the steps leading up to the parking lot, River swept her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck to help support and steady her weight. He was surprised she didn’t protest, but it spoke to how exhausted she was. He was beyond tired himself. And since he was also barefoot, he had to concentrate on not grimacing as he carried her across the gravel parking lot.
When they were loaded in the truck, Narissa got in the back with Brody. She waited for Stumps to get in next to her, since River was the biggest of the three men and needed the front seat, but he didn’t.
“Where’s Stumps?”
River frowned. “He wouldn’t get in the car. Said he’d get back on his own.”
“What? But it will take him forever on those crutches, and he’s got to be exhausted. How could you let him walk?”
“What were we supposed to do, Narissa?” Uncle Jesse asked. “He’s a grown man. He can take care of himself. For a man with PTSD, somethings are worse than traveling a couple of miles on foot.”
Narissa hated leaving without him, but Uncle Jesse was right. And didn’t she believe in letting people make their own choices?
“We need to talk,” Jesse said, speaking again. “But first you all need to rest. And I want Narissa to have as much protection as possible, so you’re all staying at my place for now.”
“Suits me fine,” River said.
When they pulled up to Poseidon’s Realm, it was light enough to see easily as they all trooped in. Narissa was silent as they went inside, but once they’d made it upstairs, she turned to River. “I need a shower. Don’t leave, please.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
But when she disappeared into her room, River looked hopefully at Jesse. “Think I could shower somewhere too?”
Jesse nodded. “Sure. We have two spare bedrooms here that share a bathroom. They’re both free with Edmar gone.”
“Luckily, I’ve been keeping a bag with dry clothes in my truck since I started spending so much time in the water.”
“It’s like you were meant for this life,” Jesse said, a hint of dry humor in his voice.
River got his things and showered in the bathroom Jesse showed him as quickly as he could, even though the hot water felt amazing on his chilled skin. But he wanted to check on Narissa before she went to bed. Using the kit in his bag, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair after his shower, then left his things in one of the bedrooms. When he knocked on Narissa’s door a moment later, he was only half hopeful that she would be dressed again.
“Come in,” she called from the other side.
River opened the door, cautiously looking around.
The room was large with steeply sloped ceilings since it was built under the steeply slanted roof. The walls were painted a soft, sunny yellow, her favorite, he remembered. Her queen-sized bed was neatly made with white bedding and a pile of pillows that looked way too tempting.
There weren’t many personal belongings on the dresser or pictures in frames. Although he did have to smile at the bag of gummy bears and the king-size Kit Kat he saw there. The door to the closet was open, however, revealing a bit more. Several dresses hung on a bar, but what caught his attention was the odd collection of things stored on the shelves that ran vertically up the right side. Combs, mirrors, makeup, and other things he couldn’t make out. It wasn’t so much that they were there, but how many of them there were.
“I’m almost done,” Narissa said from the adjoining bathroom, shifting his attention to her.
She wore black knit shorts and a purple tank top. She smiled at him briefly, then turned back to the mirror to finish braiding her long, wet hair. With her arms up, her top was lifted high enough to expose her midriff, making his throat go dry. Which was ridiculous since she’d been wearing a bikini all night. He cleared his throat and shifted away.
“Mind if I sit on your bed?” he asked.
“Go for it. I’m about to collapse onto it though, so fair warning.”
River walked over to the bed and sat down, reclining back against the pillows. He couldn’t help himself. “I just want to make sure you’re okay before we go to sleep.”
Finished with her hair, she shut off the light in her bathroom and walked around closing blinds on the windows at each end of her room. When she got to the bed, she pulled back her comforter and sheets, then fell face first onto her pillow. River laughed and twisted around to lie next to her. He propped himself up on his elbow and played with her braid. “You asleep already?”
She turned her head as if it weighed double what it usually did. “No. I’m too stressed to go to sleep.”
“Really? You can barely keep your eyes open.”
“Yeah, but my brain is churning.”
“Mine too. Here, let me rub your back. Try to relax and not think about anything. I’ll stay here till you’re asleep.”
The Lovely Deep (The Mer Song Trilogy Book 1) Page 14
