by Starla Night
This was what Kadir gave to Aya. Because these thirty were from different Life Trees, they had different hues. Some were pink, iridescent black, gold, or his own silver.
She removed her sunglasses and counted again. “This is only a third of what you promised. Where’s the rest?”
“Coming.”
She withdrew her hand and stood, looking down on him. The hot sun haloed her head. She was angry but controlled. “That wasn’t the agreement.”
Her anger barely touched him. His warriors sacrificed much to gather this amount. “It is what we have.”
“When will you have the rest?”
“We will pay as we can.”
“You will pay at the first support visit. In full.”
Distant sea-birds screamed on the salty breeze.
“You will have all the Sea Opals in Atlantis,” he promised.
Aya huffed, took the bag, and struggled with the weight. She gave it to two suited men, who strained to carry the dripping treasure back to their SUV.
Kadir stood. Behind and below him, his warriors watched their mating jewels disappear with stony resolve.
These were the jewels of their home cities. The jewels which they had carried to claim their own brides. Van Cartier Cosmetics demanded an unprecedented ransom for a single bride, and after much debate, they had agreed to spend all on their king.
If Atlantis was on friendly terms with any other city, then the other city could easily provide ten bags of gems. Or twenty bags. Or even a hundred bags, each bag the size of a boulder. And the older Life Tree would quickly generate even more.
But Atlantis stood alone. Anathema. Constantly at risk of destruction. They would have no more Sea Opals until they received recognition as an official city from the All-Council and made effective alliances with their nearest neighbors.
Or until they excavated the treasury from the sunken wreckage of their ancient namesake.
That was what Kadir and the other warriors focused on. Giving away their precious gems now would lead to the successful debut of a mermaid queen. More warriors would escape to Atlantis, swelling their ranks to the necessary size. Their city would become recognized. Sea Opals would flow.
Enough to tempt a thousand brides. Enough to join with each and every one of his warriors.
“In exchange, my bride,” he ordered.
Elyssa jumped. The older adults rubbed her shoulders.
Aya turned serious. “King Kadir. Please accept my cousin, Elyssa Van Cartier, as the first ambassador to Atlantis. I hope you will always respect her, be patient with her as she learns your ways, and treat her as precious to you…” Aya’s voice cut out. A strange moisture filled her red-rimmed eyes. She cleared her throat and stiffened. “As a precious, and irreplaceable treasure as she is to me.”
Elyssa’s chest glowed with her cousin’s words. Not a bold glow like Aya. A warm, gentle glow that sparkled.
“I will protect her with my life,” Kadir swore.
Aya frowned hard.
He knelt again and reached over the side of the dock. Iyen ushered the precious, tiny white blossom he had guarded into Kadir’s cupped hand.
He stood. “This nectar will permanently transform a human into a mer.”
Aya blocked his path as though she had suddenly changed her mind.
Too bad. The time for changing minds was yesterday, and the only minds that mattered were his own and Elyssa’s. Kadir strode past Aya as though she did not exist and presented his Life Tree’s flower to his bride. “Elyssa.”
Her soft lips parted. She sucked in a breath and finally, finally met his eyes. Tentative, fearful, determined. “Yes?”
“Drink.”
“Now? Oh. Um…” She reached for the flower and then stopped. “Sorry. Do you mind?”
His guts twinged. So close. “Mind?”
“Before I transform, I wanted to introduce you to my parents. This is my dad, Baron, and my stepmom, Suzanna.”
Her parents craned their necks to look up at him.
Baron brushed his thick, brown hair out of his eyes. “Hello, sir.”
“Hi there,” Suzanna said, her cheeks red.
“If anything goes wrong, send her right back.” Baron squeezed Elyssa’s shoulder. “I mean if it doesn’t work out. The whole ‘water-breathing and ruling Atlantis’ thing.”
“Dad,” she said softly. Her light proved she did not object to her father’s kindness. She only felt love for him and her step mom.
“It’s going to work out,” Suzanna said with a short laugh.
Their anxious gazes pleaded with him to take good care of their daughter. Kadir had known Elyssa for less than a day, and yet, he was about to take her far out of their reach.
“I will protect her,” he repeated softly. “She will return to you many times. Together, we will rebuild Atlantis. You will meet her often. And, soon, our son.”
“Right.” Her dad released Elyssa and held his wife for strength. “I’m too young to be a grandfather.”
“Hush, Baron.” Suzanna raised her chin. “We’ll hold you to that promise, King.”
The other warriors shifted. Even in the thin air, they must sense Suzanna’s hope and longing, her anxiety and pride. This deep familial connection was what he hoped to secure for his young fry. To know the love and protection of both parents. Not only the father.
Now, thanks to Elyssa’s insistence to introduce her parents, the warriors who returned empty-handed to Atlantis could hear the hopeful message for themselves. The future they clung to was also a future held tightly by humans.
Aya cleared her throat.
Elyssa’s cheeks reddened like her step mom’s. “I guess I’ve held the schedule back long enough. Um, how, exactly, do I drink this?”
“Cup the flower in your hand. Drink the liquid pooled in the blossom.”
“Like this?” She pinched and lifted the flower.
Its thin walls collapsed inward. Precious nectar dripped out and stained the dock.
His heart pounded. He cupped the flower again. “Do not lift it from the water.”
“Oh.” Her light dimmed. “Sorry. I’ll, uh, be more careful.”
They maneuvered awkwardly. She finally rested her chin against his hand and tried to suck the blossom closer. He tipped his hand. The last drop of nectar poured into her mouth—along with the cupped seawater.
She choked.
Seawater streamed out of her mouth and dampened the front of her green dress. She coughed and hacked. Her step mom clapped her on the back. Her dad rubbed her elbow.
His warriors stared, stunned.
Soren lifted a brow. His authority-challenging lips curled into a sneer. Kadir could imagine his question. Are you sure you chose the best bride?
Elyssa hacked. She rested her hand on Kadir’s forearm. “Is… it… always like that? When people change?”
He did not know. “The sacred island brides transformed before coming to us.”
His warriors calmed. Yes, perhaps her reaction was natural.
But worry sliced into his confidence.
Had Elyssa received any nectar? At all?
She cleared her throat and met his eyes. Hers were red and full of tears from coughing. “Okay. I’m ready to try again. Let’s drink.”
“That was all the nectar.”
“Oh.” She sucked in a shaky breath and squared her shoulders. “Then, this is it.”
She removed the kelp dress to expose a white bikini dotted with pink flowers. She hugged her stepmom, kissed her dad’s cheek, and waved brightly at Aya. Aya waved back, worry tightening her body. Elyssa turned, marched past Kadir, and jumped off the dock, into the ocean.
Where she abruptly proceeded to drown.
Chapter Six
The ocean was bouncy and salty. Southern Florida was as warm as a heated swimming pool this time of year, and the sandy beach below Elyssa stretched for miles.
Was it always so bright and clear? Could she always see schools of fish far a
way, suspended like flocks of birds against an endless blue sky? It had been a long time since she’d been brave enough to open her eyes underwater. So, maybe.
The transmitter earrings Aya gave her so they could track her location made an annoying, high-pitched humming in her ears.
She tried to take a breath.
Hot seawater slammed into the back of her throat. Her nose clogged. She gagged.
Elyssa thrashed for the surface.
The maroon-tattooed warrior known as Iyen hauled her out of the water and into Kadir’s strong arms. Her throat burned hotter than when she choked on the nectar. Was there an instruction manual?
Kadir rubbed her back. “Breathe.”
Everyone was watching. Aya. Her parents. The documentary crew and all the employees. Elyssa would transform. She would.
“Try again.” Kadir shucked his jeans and trench coat and slid into the water. He helped her in and effortlessly treaded water. His gaze was so intense. Like he needed her to do this right. “Transform your body first.”
They ducked under the surface.
He bent one leg at his knee to show her his foot. In the water, his toes flattened and elongated, and the thickly folded skin between them stretched tight. Webbing flared between fingers. Silver tattoos scrolled across the thin, delicate skin. His tattoos turned iridescent as a fish.
Her feet didn’t flatten or turn into scuba fins. Her fingers did not grow webbing.
While the hours ticked past, Elyssa failed to accomplish anything more than holding her breath for a long time. And that was only when she forgot to think about it.
Even the mermen grew concerned.
Soren swam above her while she doggedly floated, holding her breath and focusing on her not-webbed hands. “Kadir, she is not trying.”
She wanted to cry. If she tried any harder, she was going to burst a blood vessel.
“Give her time,” Kadir rumbled beneath her, in a voice that both soothed and tingled, like a fingertip drizzling massage oil down her spine.
She had been so excited to do this, and so fearful of messing up in front of Kadir. And now, Kadir was her rock. Focused, calm, undefeatable. His faith never wavered. She would transform. If it were just the two of them, she almost thought maybe it would be possible.
He hung upside down. With his mouth closed in an encouraging smile, he somehow spoke to her. His voice vibrated inside her chest. “Now release the air trapped in your mouth and try to speak.”
She opened her mouth. “I…agh…tr…agh.” Air bubbles gurgled out and seawater choked the back of her throat. She gagged and bolted for the surface.
Soren’s voice chased her. “She spilled all the nectar. You should have selected a brighter bride.”
She broke free of the water and grabbed onto the dock. Gagging disguised her free flowing tears.
Her parents sat on shaded benches at the private company marina. Employees sprawled nearby. The scuba diver film crew had already used up their tanks of air and left.
Only Aya remained on the dock. Her face was red with heat, and her nose and ears were pink with sunburn, but she wasn’t going home until Elyssa was.
“Hang in there.” Aya patted Elyssa’s hot, wet back twice. She was seriously worried. “Lucy said the first transformation is the hardest.”
“Not this hard.” Elyssa sniffed the salty wetness.
Kadir should have chosen Aya. She wouldn’t have gotten distracted by introducing her parents. Aya would have drunk the nectar and been half way to Atlantis by now.
“I’ll try Lucy again.” Aya dialed her cell phone.
Elyssa thought she had pumped Lucy and Torun for everything they knew during the yacht ride from the Gulf of Mexico back to Florida, but obviously, she had missed a few steps. If she had been a bride pageant contestant, she would have attended their special training a week ago. Instead, Elyssa took them out for dinner afterward and chatted about silly, pointless things.
Kadir’s head popped above the water. He addressed Aya. “Elyssa has failed to transform. I must return to Atlantis.”
Elyssa cringed. He had to go back to Atlantis alone. The entire project failed. All because of her.
Aya stopped the call and scrambled to her feet. “No. You signed an agreement. You can’t go back alone.”
“I do not take orders from you.”
“Take them from yourself! You signed—”
“It’s my fault.” Elyssa stopped the argument over the lump in her throat. “I can’t transform.”
Aya tore her gaze to Elyssa with effort. Her determination shone. “Yes, you can.”
“We have wasted too much time on this.” Kadir spoke the heaviness in Elyssa’s own heart. “I will return to Atlantis and cultivate a second flower.”
Elyssa hated this. But it was the only thing they could do. “Ok—”
“No!” Aya shook her head violently. She took it personally as if Kadir were insulting Elyssa. “Something’s already changed. Elyssa, you’ve been underwater for more than nine-minute stretches.”
“I’ve always been good at holding my breath.”
“Not that good. The world breath-holding championship for women — without oxygen — is eight.”
That couldn’t be right.
Kadir frowned. “You believe there has been a change?”
“Yes. You are this close.” Aya held her fingers together so they were almost touching. “And if you don’t try a little bit harder, I’ll be disappointed in the both of you.”
Elyssa scrubbed her face.
She could go under again. She’d swallow a hundred gallons of seawater if it actually made a difference.
But Aya was fooling herself. In trying to encourage Elyssa, she was just making things worse. Elyssa was going to disappoint everyone. Kadir, the warriors, her parents, Aya … and herself.
He spoke gently. “Elyssa. Your light is dimming.”
And now, on top of everything, her light was dimming. “I’m sorry. I really am trying. It feels like I’m drowning. My throat hurts.”
“Don’t give up,” Aya insisted.
His brows drew together. “Perhaps we may increase the nectar’s power by increasing your resonance.”
“Yes!” Aya latched onto the solution. “Increase resonance. What increases resonance?”
He thought hard.
Elyssa’s chest rose. Maybe she was giving up too soon. Maybe there was still hope.
“It is something you are born with. I will conference with my warriors.” He slipped beneath the waves.
Her hope crashed. The resonance studies also showed that resonance was something people had or they didn’t. Those who had greater resonance responded to the medicinal effects of the Sea Opals. People who didn’t, didn’t.
She rested her forehead on the wet dock. The waves pushed her toward the shore. See? Even the tide rejected her. She pinched the planks. “Kadir’s bride should have been you.”
Aya was silent for a long moment.
Then, her voice was distant. “I’m sorry, Elyssa. But it couldn’t have been me.”
“Hmm?”
“For awhile, I thought maybe I could do it. But, no. In all honesty, I could never be a merman’s queen.”
She lifted her head. “What do you mean?”
Aya fixed on her. Trouble crossed her face. “There’s something about this contract that you still don’t seem to have realized.”
What did that mean? “I read the whole thing.”
Although there were an awful lot of pages, and she had been skimming while fantasizing about leaping like Flipper through the waves.
Aya grimaced and opened her mouth to speak.
Kadir burst through the surface beside Elyssa. The raw, fluid power of him in his element stole her breath and made her chest ache. She wanted to move powerfully like a mermaid. She wanted to do so with him.
She wanted it.
He coughed and wiped his face, sluicing the water away. His fine, silver-flecked eyes sought h
ers with an almost magnetic power. He had new answers. He focused intently on sharing them with her.
“My warriors reminded me that although we are all born with a set level of resonance, some actions can activate our deepest strengths.” He held up his hand to enumerate them. As the water dripped off, the subtle webbing between his fingers melted back from his knuckles until they were completely separate, the same as any human’s. “Vows of honor. Protecting the innocent. Joining with a bride. Pledging to defend the Life Tree.”
Vows. Honor. Protection.
Joining.
She shivered. It was like reading a list of his best qualities. What could she do on that list? Vow something? She’d already promised to become his queen.
Maybe she just had to mean it.
She wanted to do this. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be a queen.
He focused on her with brilliant intensity. “Continue.”
“Connections,” Aya mused aloud. “That’s what all these have in common. Each act forges or strengthens the connections between people and strengthens the bonds of community.”
Connections. Elyssa needed to strengthen her bond to Kadir by forging more connections.
Wait. She had a brilliant idea.
Elyssa turned to him. “Go on a date with me.”
Chapter Seven
“A date?” Kadir repeated. Had he understood correctly?
“We can get coffee down at the promenade.” Elyssa reached up a hand to Aya, who hauled her out of the water, relief obvious on both their faces. “Wasn’t there ice cream? Maybe a movie.”
“No movie.” Aya studied her phone. “We missed the matinee.”
The females retreated into their own world as they walked down the dock. If anything, they resonated with each other the strongest. Elyssa toweled off and tugged her sea kelp dress on over her bikini. She sucked in great gulps of air as though she could not get enough.
He rose from the water and dressed more slowly, fastening the button on his jeans as his warriors bobbed to the surface.
