by Starla Night
“He chose her! Out of a hundred of your ‘highly qualified’ contestants, King Kadir chose Elyssa. That is no coincidence. Her instincts with mermen are exceptional. She funded Lucy’s expedition and was present for the final events. She should have been involved with this pageant from the start.”
Elyssa’s chest glowed. Aya always defended her.
“The male chose her because you let him. You are not a natural beauty, Aya, but today, your ugliness embarrassed me.”
The clock ticked loudly again. Aya turned white.
It just wasn’t fair.
Elyssa jumped to her feet and stomped out from behind the screen. “She wasn’t ugly. She was beautiful. And it’s not her fault Kadir chose me. It’s mine.”
Chastity Angel’s fury froze Elyssa. “It is your fault. All you’ve ever done is ruin Aya’s—”
“Stop it!” Aya flew from her seat. “Just stop. Mother. I promise you that whatever happens, I will take full responsibility.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Losing our competitive advantage with the Sea Opals will destroy us.”
Aya’s lips tightened.
“Fail with this project, Aya, and you will no longer be my daughter.”
Chastity Angel left.
Aya took a huge breath and let it out. Her shoulders slumped. She sat and rested her head in her hands.
Elyssa ached to go to her and enfold her in a comforting hug. But in this one way, Aya was truly the daughter of Chastity Angel. She would stiffen and try to pretend the argument hadn’t bothered her at all.
Elyssa returned behind the screen to give Aya a few moments to get a hold of herself. Anyway, she knew better than to speak up. Chastity Angel only turned more vicious. It was usually better to take the abuse, remain silent, and weather out the storm.
Not much had changed over all these years. Elyssa wasn’t any good, and Aya always had to try harder.
In junior high, Aya and Elyssa worked on a Sea Opal observation project for their private school science fair. Van Cartier Cosmetics scientists showed them the rare, valuable gems with unusual medicinal properties. They were supposed to write down the size, shape, and other observations for their simple report, but Elyssa noticed the gems seemed to brighten when held by certain people. Herself and Aya were two of the “brighter” ones.
She told Aya, and Aya told the scientists. It became a huge deal, not only within the company and the school, but internationally. Certain people “resonated” more with the Sea Opals. They also experienced the most healing effects.
Aya’s mother kept saying that Aya had made the discovery alone. Aya doggedly insisted that she and Elyssa made the discovery together. Then, one day, Aya’s mother visited Elyssa’s parents.
“It would be better for all involved if you would tell Aya you don’t care about the credit,” CEO Chastity Angel Van Cartier told thirteen-year-old Elyssa, in front of her parents. “Aya needs this for her future. She’s going to be president. We all know you will never do anything important.”
Her parents dismissed Elyssa to have a private adult talk. At the end of their talk, Elyssa’s step mom received a promotion, her dad received a new golf membership, and Elyssa received a pony.
Yep. Her family had been bought.
Aya stopped correcting reporters about the resonance discovery. Elyssa’s name dropped from articles, and journalists stopped trying to interview her. At school, Aya entered advanced classes. Their secret club, the Unicorn Mermaid Girls, disbanded. They saw each other less and less.
What if Elyssa’s parents had held firm and insisted their girls share the credit?
Maybe they could have had the advanced classes together. Maybe Elyssa could have gone to Harvard and Yale too. Maybe the Unicorn Mermaid Girls could have stayed together, instead of one launching so far and the other watching in awe at the star trails she left behind.
Or, so Aya had confessed to Elyssa a few months ago when they banded together at the end of Lucy’s expedition to take down the rogue company agent threatening her and the other mermen.
“We’ll start a new division of the company,” Aya told Elyssa in the helicopter. “It will be Sea Opal Acquisitions. I’ll be president and you can do merman recruitment.”
Elyssa had laughed. Spending time recruiting the sexy, beautifully tattooed mermen? Sign her up. “Do you think they have merman college job fairs?”
“If not, you’ll have to start one.”
But that had not happened. Aya didn’t control the company. Her mother and the board of directors did. Aya couldn’t invent a division just because the two of them made starry-eyed plans over the pristine Gulf of Mexico. She couldn’t even get Elyssa an official invitation to the pageant. The best she could do was sneak Elyssa in.
This time, rather than letting their parents divide them, they had to succeed together and prove Chastity Angel wrong.
Elyssa carried out her contracts. “I won’t let you down”
Aya dropped her hands and forced a tired smiled. “Of course you won’t. Don’t ever think that. All signed?”
Elyssa set the thick packet on the clean dresser.
Aya stared at the first page for an unnaturally long time.
This had to be so hard. Aya’s contract was probably already signed in triplicate. Now she was forced to read over another woman’s, even though that other woman happened to be Elyssa.
“Aya?” Elyssa touched Aya’s arm. It was cold. “I’m sorry we couldn’t both be chosen.”
She straightened, flustered. “What? No, I was thinking. Excuse me.” She put on her reading glasses and lifted the papers.
Elyssa wanted to reach out again, but she curled her fingers to give Aya the space she needed. “You worked so hard on this pageant. You deserved to win.”
Aya let out an exhale. She removed her reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Just because you work hard doesn’t mean you’ll succeed. You also have to have the right skill set. Kadir almost left today without selecting a bride. That’s why I asked you to come.”
What? So Aya knew he would choose Elyssa? “You planned this?”
“Not this. But you’re good with people. Much better than I am.”
Again, Elyssa wanted to pull her into a hug. She rubbed Aya’s arm. “You’re good with people.”
Aya looked away. “You’re the only one who would say that.”
Elyssa rubbed warmth into her cousin’s smooth skin. Aya had been the founder of the Unicorn Mermaid Girls. She surely wanted to be chosen today too. Who wouldn’t? It was bad luck that Elyssa had stumbled in at exactly the moment Kadir was also backstage. Yeah. It was a coincidence that she had stumbled, and then Kadir had been forced to catch her, and then he chose her because they had touched.
“You’re great with people,” Elyssa said because it was true. Aya was a leader. She organized the pageant and managed the whole company as vice president. “That can’t be why you asked me to come today.”
“If Kadir tried to leave without a bride, I wanted you in the wings. I was going to throw you at him like a big ball of rubber bands and glue. You would keep him immobilized while I executed my contingency plans. By the end of the pageant, at least, I expected to know his type.”
A big ball of rubber bands and glue. Heh. “Sounds messy.”
“It sounds harmless and endearing, which is what you are. And I mean that in the best way. You did once stuff fifteen marshmallows in your cheeks and sing ‘Baby Beluga’ so we could win unicorn T-shirts in the lunch relay.”
Elementary school memories. They had painted on mermaids riding the unicorns. Elyssa had run across the old T-shirt in her scrapbook only yesterday.
Aya thumped the contract packet. “But I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Oh. Despite how she’d defended Elyssa to Chastity Angel, Aya also thought Elyssa wasn’t capable.
She swallowed back her disappointment. “I’ll try my best.”
“I know you will,” Aya said patiently. “If
anyone’s going to make this work, it’s going to be you. No, the problem is, we don’t know what’s really down there.” She tapped her reading glasses against the dresser. “Atlantis is a rebel city. It has unique problems, and apparently, it’s considered anathema by the ‘All-Council’ ruling body. I can’t even predict what might go wrong.”
The thought Elyssa couldn’t be queen had never crossed Aya’s mind. Elyssa’s heart swelled. She straightened her shoulders. “I think it will be okay.”
“Name me one real life first-contact story that ends well.”
“Sacajawea married a real, live English guy.”
“She died of smallpox in England.” Aya’s eyes widened with sudden realization. “Do they have underwater diseases? You’re not resistant. How will we handle medical evacuations?” She held her head and stared into space.
Another it’s-midnight-and-our-project-isn’t-perfect-yet freak out. How nostalgic. “You already thought of all this, right? At least twenty times?”
“But I thought of it was when it was other people. People I didn’t know. Not you.”
“Hey. I’ll be alright.” Elyssa grabbed Aya’s shoulders. Aya flinched but endured the contact. “It’s like you said. This is our chance! As soon as they accept me, I’ll demand that they invite you. We’ll be mermaid queens together. Just like we always dreamed.”
Of course, that dream was from before mermen were real, and before Aya became vice president.
But her dreamy, hopeful cousin was still inside. The sharp, cold business executive who accomplished great things hadn’t killed her dead. Yet.
Aya nodded slowly.
“Okay.” Elyssa squeezed Aya in a soft hug. She couldn’t help herself. “Enough doubts. This is going to be great. In one month, I’m going to be the most amazing queen.”
Aya’s shoulders remained stiff, as Elyssa had predicted. She couldn’t accept comfort. She was always the strong one. “Please be careful.”
“Of course. I’ve got people skills.”
Aya snorted and Elyssa released her. Her eyes were red but she gripped the packet with new determination. “I’ve got no choice but to believe you.”
“That’s right.” Elyssa grinned.
Her cousin started reading the packet with a small smile on her face. Good. Aya felt better. Mission accomplished.
Now, Elyssa just had to talk herself into believing everything she said was true.
Chapter Five
Kadir waited on the dock for his bride. Early morning sunlight touched the bay. A sensation like electric eels pooled in his belly.
“Will she really come?” Soren demanded beside him.
They stood on the wooden dock. The tide was high, and waves splashed against the slats. On both sides, his warriors bobbed in the ocean. Although it was very unlikely any other city’s warriors would come this close to the human-filled shoreline and engage an attack, his warriors were ready for danger from any direction.
Kadir rested his palms on his wet jeans. “She will come.”
What Soren and the other warriors didn’t know was that Kadir almost didn’t want her to.
From a very early age, he had known the old traditions were wrong. Bringing his race into a new era was his destiny. He embraced and fought for it. Founding a new city was the first step. His actions now ensured his city’s — and his race’s — survival.
Yesterday, he’d glimpsed the end of the old ways. A modern woman who possessed a cell phone and a television would transform by her own choice and stay on as a queen, dawning a new era of revitalization. His gut told him that human was Elyssa. All claims began with the kiss. So, yesterday in the auditorium lobby, when Elyssa vowed to rule Atlantis as his queen, Kadir had pulled her forward to claim her lips.
Now he couldn’t get the memory out of his mind.
It consumed his thoughts. Distracted him from the plans he should have been making with his warriors for their return journey to Atlantis. Enslaved his soul.
As he waited for her arrival on the dock, the memory surged once more to the forefront. Unbidden and uncontrollable. The kiss had foretold danger, and he kept reliving it to fully identify exactly what was dangerous.
She’d stumbled. For a human who’d spent her whole life walking, she was oddly unprepared for it. He’d stepped forward to catch her.
She’d braced her hands against his biceps. Her small body fit into his arms as though she were designed to rest there. She let out a quick, surprised breath and looked up at him in apology.
Her expression froze as he lowered his head to claim what was his.
Their lips touched.
She melted against him.
Her softness felt like nothing he had ever prepared for. What he had intended as an imperial stamp of possession, perfunctory to complete the contract, intrigued him to linger.
He cupped her cheeks, holding her where he wanted her. Her lips trembled. What was her flavor? He had to know. He teased her lips. Sweet murmurs of hunger encouraged him to do it again. He nibbled at her gently with his teeth.
Her lips parted.
He surged into the opening, connecting with her deeply. She moaned, yielding completely to his possession. Feminine and gentle, with hints of sweetness and spice. For some reason, he couldn’t get enough. She tentatively returned his thrusts with her own curious exploration. He took what she offered, claiming her wet interior, inside and outside, for him alone.
In her chest, her light flared to blinding. Something shifted deep within his soul.
What was that? He’d jerked back. Struggling to catch his inner balance, he’d rocked, even though he was standing flat-footed on the even tile floor of the auditorium lobby.
That was the moment his memories kept circling. What had shifted? This small thing, whatever it was, could change everything. He knew it. But how? All he was left with was the unsettled feeling of risk.
Risk to his city. Risk to his warriors.
Risk to his soul.
Yesterday, when he’d been reeling from the unidentified sensation, Elyssa had stroked his cheek gently. That small comfort was enough to give him back his center of gravity. He’d shrugged off the unsettling feeling and focused on what next needed to be done.
But when she had pulled away to complete the human’s paperwork, he had spent a long night with his warriors mulling the situation over.
Twin feelings warred within him. One was hope and the other fear. One obsession and the other panic. One craving, and the other the need to crush that craving under iron control.
Both feelings were equally powerful.
Only one feeling could win.
A different bride would make his duty easier. One of the other pageant females would perform as queen admirably, require little attention, and Kadir could ignore her to focus on his city.
Kadir could never ignore Elyssa.
Her soul light fluctuated unpredictably. She had denied his claim and then changed her mind. Their kiss had unsettled him. His ongoing, obsessive reaction to her was frightening.
The life he thought he had been training for was gone. A glimpse of a stronger, more vibrant life beckoned — if only he had the strength to swim out and spear it.
And her craveable flavor once more teased his tongue. Her soft sweetness hooked under his skin. Would her second kiss feel as unsettling? Or would it show him a more direct path to his accomplish his vision?
Despite his concerns, he had to know the answer.
Vehicles drove to the isolated parking lot. Aya arrived first. Dark hollows bruised her cheeks as though she hadn’t slept. She directed employees onto the dock. Some carried masks, tanks, and air-breathing gear. Others filmed for their TV program.
Soren couldn’t take his eyes off Aya. “You are making a mistake.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
Kadir ignored his first lieutenant.
Elyssa’s car rolled to a stop at the marina. He sensed her presence inside. She climbed out and walked beside two older humans
. A cloth in pretty shades of kelp-forest green wrapped around her body.
Aya posed her for filming, gave her black devices to fix on her earlobes, and then led her onto the dock. The two adults remained with her. Elyssa’s cheeks burned bright red and she, like everyone, focused on Aya.
Not on him.
Kadir fought the urge to storm across the dock, grab her chin, and force her attention on him. I am yours. You are mine. That was the danger, the obsession, the need to possess surging in his mind. He would not have felt this uncontrollable emotion with another bride. And he could not stop the feelings now. No matter how intently he pushed the thoughts at her, she focused resolutely on Aya and on the filming cameras.
Soren made the tsk noise. Because he sensed Kadir’s unrest or because he took Elyssa’s focus on Aya for submission to a more dominant female? Either irritated the first lieutenant.
Aya, in contrast, strode fearlessly to Kadir.
“King Kadir.” A bold red dress clothed Aya’s body, dark sunglasses hid her eyes, and white heels tap-tapped on the wood. “We’re ready to make the exchange.”
Kadir knelt. Iyen lifted the tightly woven bag full of Sea Opals into his arms. Kadir hauled it onto the wood at his feet.
“We give the bride her Sea Opals.” Kadir untied the knot.
Aya’s lips parted.
Inside, the smooth, white resin spheres gleamed.
Aya counted quickly and silently.
The foundation of a city was its Life Tree. As it aged, “Sea Opal” resin dripped from its branches and formed mountains around the trunk. At the appointed time of year, the worthiest warrior rose from the depths and placed a single Sea Opal in the sacred island’s church as his offering. Shortly after, a bride descended to join with him. Despite the abundance of gems, the covenant decreed only one, and the sacred island brides had never asked for more.
Van Cartier Cosmetics asked for a hundred.
The Life Tree of Atlantis was merely a sapling. It dripped tiny pebbles. Out of all the times to demand bags of Sea Opals, the founding of a new city was the one time a merman could not provide them.
Most warriors who escaped to join Kadir had been unable to bring much with them. A few plants from their home castle gardens, a rusty trident no one would miss, a dagger strapped to a thigh. But, out of hope for wooing a modern bride, they had all brought one mating jewel.
