“So you’re working with Lief? Helping the very humans you despise?” Vance asked.
“He works for me. Does my bidding. Weak-minded fool,” the finfolk sneered. “When my allies in the oceans told me of your escape from Ta Cathair, I began tracking your movements. I was mere moments away from capturing you when you got caught in that net and those primitives pulled you aboard.”
“I remember it all now,” Iaira said. “I was being chased by something, I didn’t know what. And I raced into the bay but got caught up in the fishing net and hit my head on Lief’s boat, trying to get loose. Then I woke up on the deck. And I remembered who I was. I told Lief, and he promised to return me home and keep my secret. But then—”
“I changed the plan,” the finfolk interjected. “And I saw a need that only the human could fill. Thankfully, you were very forthcoming with the locations of the colonies, and that helped me make Lief a very wealthy man.”
“But you wanted to know about Ta Cathair…and I never told you,” Iaira said. “No matter what you tried, your magic couldn’t get it out of me.”
“Not then, that is true. But it eventually did.”
“What do you mean?” Iaira said, suddenly unnerved. The creature leaned down and ripped the coral pendant necklace off Iaira’s neck.
“The only remnant of your parents’ shipwreck. Your pretend parents, of course. And the pretend shipwreck. You were so sentimental that you never took it off.”
“It was enchanted,” Iaira realized with a heavy sigh.
The monster grinned. “I could hear and see everything.”
“The ships at Atlantis were yours,” Vance concluded.
The finfolk nodded. “I instructed Lief to follow you there, but it was simply the first sacred point. So we kept following until you led us right to Ta Cathair.”
“What will you do, creature?” Tashi asked. “Attack the city single-handedly? Even if you have brethren, your kind was defeated before—you will be defeated again.”
“I don’t think so,” the finfolk replied. “You see, Lief is above Ta Cathair right now, aboard the Pearl. The ship named after you will be the tool of your kingdom’s destruction. I designed it myself. Ironic, don’t you think?”
“The drill,” Sam blurted out. “That’s why you made Lief rich. You needed him to build a ship powerful enough to—”
“Free the Leviathan,” Iaira said, completing Sam’s thought.
“And the drill is moving beneath Ta Cathair as we speak,” the finfolk told them. “The Leviathan will rise up and kill your people. All of your people.”
“Just like you killed Maris?” Vance interjected, baiting the creature.
“Not yet,” she responded. “I kept him alive, just in case he proved useful. But now that you’re here and Ta Cathair is under attack, I can eliminate him. After I eliminate all of you, of course.”
“But the Leviathan can’t be controlled,” Iaira reminded her. “You’ll be dooming the world.”
“I’ll be dooming humanity, and they deserve it,” the finfolk responded angrily. “They pollute our life’s blood, and we must hide and cower? They deserve their destruction. Starting with these two.” The monster moved toward Sam and Vance.
Now, this is quite a pickle, Vance thought. He didn’t have a backup plan. And with Sprite and Penelope on some special errand for Phylassos, there was no cavalry coming. He racked his brain for a way out, but none appeared. The finfolk stood over Vantana and gestured with her hands. The ranger knew a spell being cast when he saw one, and given her recent declaration, it probably wasn’t going to make him more handsome. Sure enough, the air suddenly left his lungs in a whoosh. He felt his chest tighten as though he were being slowly suffocated by a boa constrictor. His body seized up, and the lack of oxygen was no doubt going to turn his brain into jelly. He could feel death closing in, when Sam suddenly cried out.
“Wait!”
The monster paused. Vantana inhaled as much air as he could.
“Kill me first,” the boy demanded.
“Sam!” Vance, Tashi, and Iaira exclaimed all at once.
“I’m serious,” Sam told them. “If we’re all going to die, according to the fish-woman here—”
“Finfolk,” the creature corrected him, irritated.
“Whatever. The point is, I want to go first. I love to go first. I love riding in the front of the roller coaster or being in the front on the log ride at the water park; you know, the one who gets drenched. I even like the first day of school and the first day after vacation. I like it when the teacher calls on me first. I actually try to be the first guest at any party I go to.”
Vantana had gotten to know Sam London well enough to know that he was stalling. But why? What was he waiting for? Was he simply trying to prolong the inevitable, or did he know something Vance didn’t? Whatever the case, the doctor knew when there was a time to pile on, and this was it.
“Now, hold on a minute,” Vance demanded, just as the finfolk had begun to shift toward Sam. “Don’t I get a say in this? I’ve competed my whole life in all kinds of things. From apple-pie-eating contests to bog snorkeling, and I never ever came in second place. I’m not going to start now.”
“How about I kill you both at the same time?” the creature suggested in a huff. She raised her hands again, and Sam interrupted.
“Can I choose?” he asked.
“Choose what?” the finfolk responded, growing increasingly more impatient.
“The way you kill me. Like the method or spell you use.”
“No,” it replied.
“Seriously? I mean, it doesn’t seem like that much to ask,” Sam said. “I’d just like to be able to pick how I bite it.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” the monster said, exasperated.
“Oh, I get it. That’s the only death spell you know,” Sam concluded.
“I think you hit the nail on the head, Sam,” Vance added. “If this finfolk here was an ice cream store, instead of thirty-one flavors on the sign outside, it’d just be a big fat one.”
“Yeah,” Sam chuckled. “A flavor called ‘Lame.’ ” They both laughed. That really upset the creature.
“Shut up and die!” it snarled, and raised its hands, preparing to unleash its magic.
“Finfolk, I too have a question,” Tashi chimed in. The creature eyed the Guardian. “How are you going to kill me, exactly?” Tashi must have spotted Vance and Sam’s strategy and decided to get in on the action, the ranger surmised.
“I haven’t decided,” the monster told her.
“But you have a plan?”
“What does it matter?”
“I am very hard to kill. Perhaps impossible,” Tashi said. “So I was wondering how you would do it. That way, if I knew it wouldn’t work, I could tell you now and we’d save a lot of time on trial and error.”
“Maybe I’ll just keep you as a pet,” the finfolk said.
“She’d make a terrible pet,” Sam told the creature.
“I’d be a great pet,” Tashi retorted, feigning offense.
“She would not,” Sam mouthed to the monster, then said, “But I’d love to take the pet option. Not ideal, but given the choice…”
“I agree,” Vance said. “I’ll take the pet option as well.”
“I wouldn’t mind the pet option,” Iaira chimed in.
“Enough!” the creature exclaimed, now thoroughly annoyed. “There is no pet option!” They all started to vocally complain, but the finfolk was done listening. She raised her hands again, and a swirl of bluish fire began to form on her fingertips. This is it, Vance thought. And then a male voice echoed through the penthouse.
“Hello?”
“Is she here? Do you see her?” a girl’s voice asked. The creature froze and narrowed her big fish eyes.
“
Who is that?” she asked with equal parts suspicion and irritation.
“Sounds like we have guests,” Sam remarked with a wry grin.
SL002-130-80
SUBJ: Gomez, Francis
SOURCE: WS, BG
DATE: ████████
When Francis Gomez spotted the new post on Pearl Eklund’s social media page, his heart soared. There had been no word from his favorite celebrity for what seemed like an eternity but was actually just a few days. Francis was still coming off cloud nine from his surprise meeting with Pearl at the retirement home, where he worked as a nurse. Formerly worked, that is. He’d been fired for allowing Pearl to speak with one of the patients—a guy everyone called “Crazy Murphy.” Murphy had appeared to know Pearl and had announced that she had a fin like a mermaid.
Even though he was fired, Francis considered that day to be his best ever. Pearl was as perfect in real life as he imagined her to be. But her disappearance had left him in a lurch. Searching for a new job had given him a lot of downtime. Downtime that would have normally been spent obsessing over Pearl’s latest posts or reading news about her from various fan sites. But the stories had dwindled and people began to lose interest after her father’s announcement that Pearl was on a humanitarian mission. This new message from the Miami “it” girl could not have come at a better time.
He had been in the midst of preparing for a job interview when his phone emitted the special chime he’d programmed to correspond with Pearl Eklund’s social media page. He nearly dropped the phone as he juggled it to bring up the message. Her new post was unlike any she had ever posted. It was a video, and Francis couldn’t click the play button fast enough. Pearl didn’t appear as made-up as she always did, but maybe this was a new, more natural look for her, he concluded. Whatever the case, she still looked Pearl-tacular. He turned up the volume and listened, intently.
“Hello, my shiny little gems. Long time, no chat. I’ve been super-busy doing a reality television show….Yay! In the episode we’re shooting right now, I’m pretending to get captured by a hideous sea monster. Gross! But guess what? Whoever gets up here to my penthouse and rescues me gets to hang out with yours truly and party! How Pearl-tastic is that? My passcode to get inside is 4-2-4-7-2. Don’t pay any attention to the security guards; they have to pretend to not be in on it. It’s all part of the show. There are hidden cameras everywhere capturing the action. So you have a chance to be a star, just like me! But you need to hurry if you’re going to win the ultimate prize. Good luck, my gems. I’m counting on you!”
Francis watched it a few more times on his phone as he rushed out of his house and headed downtown to the Eklund Energy building. The job interview would have to wait.
SL002-130-81
SUBJ: Bradley, Wanda
SOURCE: WS, BG
DATE: ████████
Wanda Bradley had been following Pearl Eklund’s rise to fame from the very beginning. She saw Pearl in her first fashion show at a local mall and became an instant fan. She met the model a few times since then at various appearances that the social media star held around town. Wanda belonged to the Precious Gems Fan Club, an elite group of Pearl Eklund fans who were highly active on social media and often received replies from Pearl herself—which indicated that the star actually read their posts. This made Wanda a minor celebrity in her high school. She even received a handmade gift from Pearl the previous Christmas that included an autographed picture of the star, as well as a blanket and pillow that Wanda used every night.
Wanda styled her hair like Pearl’s, which was no small feat, considering the star changed her hairstyle weekly. Wanda also did her makeup like Pearl—agonizing over internet videos to ensure it matched perfectly. When she tried to dress like the model, her parents told her they couldn’t afford it. But Wanda was not easily stopped when it came to her idol, so she went out and bought fabric, learned how to sew, and created her best duplicate outfits for a quarter of the price. She was obsessed with all things Pearl Eklund and was devastated by the star’s recent disappearance. No one had seen or heard from Pearl in the fan community for days, though her dad claimed she was on a mission helping the poor. That was Pearl, Wanda thought. Always so generous and selfless. Wanda’s parents generally disagreed with their daughter’s rosy assessment, and that led to a few arguments around the dinner table about vanity and arrogance. But her parents were just jealous, Wanda concluded. Without Pearl’s presence, Wanda felt like she had lost her best friend. She couldn’t stop refreshing the pages of Pearl-related sites and the star’s own social media wall to get the latest update. And then it happened. A video appeared from Pearl. She was back and she was in trouble.
Not real trouble, of course, but trouble cooked up in the context of a television show. Now she was inviting her fans to help save her. This was the moment Wanda had been waiting for. She would not only be in the presence of her idol once again, but she would also be on television! Maybe she’d become as famous as Pearl. Her daydreams were growing more elaborate by the second, until she refocused herself, slipped out of the house, and headed to downtown Miami. She didn’t even bother calling her friends. If they didn’t already know, it would mean less competition. She was determined to be the heroine and save her absolute favorite damsel in distress.
When Francis Gomez appeared in the doorway to the study in Pearl Eklund’s penthouse, Sam London knew his plan had worked. Then Wanda Bradley followed, and Sam smiled in quiet celebration.
“Oh my God! She’s in here, everyone! It’s really her!” Francis exclaimed.
“Pearl!” Wanda squealed in delight as more voices echoed in the foyer, and then the two were joined by half a dozen more kids who made a beeline for Iaira. The fans pushed the finfolk aside, as if the monster were a plastic prop on a movie set, and converged on the star.
“What is this? Who are you people?” the creature snarled.
“They’re my gems. The fans you helped me create to distract me from my true purpose, to make me forget where I belong,” Iaira replied gleefully.
Within minutes, the place was mobbed with people. Francis and Wanda insisted on unbinding Iaira together, since they’d been the first to arrive on scene. Iaira asked them to untie her friends, which they gladly did. As soon as Tashi was loose, the Guardian retrieved her shekchen and searched for the finfolk, but it appeared to have been swallowed up by the crowd, which had now surrounded Iaira, snapping photos and getting autographs.
“Where did the creature go?” Tashi asked.
“She could have shape-shifted into anyone and slipped out undetected,” Vance told her. “Well done, Sam,” the doctor added.
“Thanks!” Sam replied. He knew the plan was risky. What if no one showed up or just a few wandered in and the finfolk attacked? He was counting on a big display of support to help overpower the creature. It actually wound up being a much bigger showing than he had imagined, and the penthouse was packed to the hilt.
“We need to clear these people out,” Vantana yelled to Iaira. She nodded—amid the camera flashes, personal questions, and general adoration as her gems stared in awe at Pearl’s penthouse furnishings.
* * *
* * *
An hour later, Sam, Vance, and Tashi had helped Iaira and the Eklund security guards herd most of the fans into the living room—the overflow was being corralled in the lobby. Sam noticed the Guardian tightly gripping her shekchen and keeping a close eye on Pearl’s gems. She was no doubt concerned that the finfolk could still be lurking about in disguise, and Sam motioned for Tashi, Vance, and Iaira to meet him in the study.
“I’m going to have to return to Miami at some point to deliver on that promised reward, Sam,” Iaira said once they were all in the room.
“Sorry.” Sam shrugged; he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Not a problem,” Iaira replied, smiling. “I’m happy to do it.
They saved our lives. Only problem is, we didn’t get a chance to find out where the finfolk is holding Maris.”
“That is true, but I believe I may know,” Tashi revealed. “Before we were attacked by the creature, I found a secret room behind a bookshelf in the library. I didn’t have a chance to get inside.”
“Let’s have a look,” Vance said, gesturing to Tashi, who led them into the library and stepped toward the central bookcase. The room was floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with hundreds of books. Tashi slid her finger between two of the shelving units.
“I believe this is where it opens,” she said. “There has to be a release somewhere.”
They began pulling on books, and even tried the light fixtures on the walls, like they were in some old movie with a spooky house. Sam’s eyes eventually fell upon the book he immediately knew was the switch: Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” He pulled on it and heard a click.
“You found it!” Iaira exclaimed.
Tashi opened the door, and they all rushed inside. The room was constructed of steel, and in the center was a chair. It resembled a dentist’s chair, but with clamps for binding wrists and ankles. Maris was fastened to the chair, and he looked awful. Pale, gaunt, and unconscious.
“Maris!” Iaira exclaimed, dashing to his side. “Maris?” she said more quietly, and nudged him. His eyes squinted open. “I am here to bring you home. Our kingdom needs you,” she told him softly.
“Our kingdom?” he asked. His eyes closed, then reopened. “Who are you?”
“It’s me. Fish-face. Remember?” she said with a smile. He eyed her, still unsure.
“He’s been out of the water too long,” Vance concluded. “He’s starting to lose his memory.”
“Maybe this will help.” Iaira leaned in and kissed Maris gently on the forehead. There was something magical about it, and not just romantic magic but actual magic. A blue spark flashed as Iaira’s lips touched his skin, and Sam could see the energy spread throughout the selkie’s body. It rejuvenated him just enough to bring him back from the brink. Vance unfastened the clamps and helped the selkie to his feet. He held on to Vance for support.
The Selkie of San Francisco Page 25
