“Go where?” Rose pipes up from the circle of mermaids, she looks concerned.
“Our home has been destroyed, remember? Where on earth could we possibly go?” Alannah joins in too. Sophia looks at me from behind Alannah’s shoulder, her eyes searching mine for a speck of comfort. I cannot forget that Oscar didn’t make it out of the city. He’s probably dead, or worse. She needs anything I can give her right now and as her brown eyes, that remind me so much of a very special little girl, sparkle with unshed tears, I know I have to give them some kind of reprieve.
“Look, I know the city is gone, but that’s not our home. Not really. I mean we’re mer. The Occulta Mirum was just a lot of pretty buildings, but nothing is as beautiful as our actual home and that’s the ocean. Nothing can take that from us, except death, and as far as I can tell everyone here is still breathing.” It’s probably the lamest cliché I could have spouted, but something within the maidens unconsciously lifts as their eyes fixate on my face. Or most of them, anyway.
“That’s all very nice, but it doesn’t solve the problem of where we’re actually going to go,” Rose’s irritating tones cause me to roll my eyes slightly.
“Right you are. What I’m trying to say is that we’re not bound to somewhere that has buildings, walls or even a roof. We can go anywhere we want. However, if you want walls and a roof, if that’s what makes you feel safe, there was this place I read about… From the silent times?” I look around at them and their eyes widen as they all remember.
“The what? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Rose bursts again and this time Sophia speaks up before I can defend myself.
“That’s because you’re too young. However, if you’d have done your reading and worried about filling your head instead of the hair covering it, you’d know that Callie is referring to the Ice city. The mer used it to stay away from prying human eyes.” She turns to me and her eyes are still red, but this time they’re rage filled. She puts on a polite smile, totally not hiding how pissed she is. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s low key and it’s protected. We all know that demon activity has been on the rise.”
“It has?” Rose speaks again, unable to grasp the concept of shutting the hell up.
“Yes, Rose, where do you think Jason has been going, the pub?” Sophia says this, gritting her teeth and not even bothering to turn. Rose falls silent again and I really want to laugh, then I catch a look on her face and I avert my eyes. I wonder if Jason made it out alive. I turn to Orion, knowing that I need to respect his authority here.
“What do you think?” I ask him, trying to appear sweet.
“Does it really matter what I think?” He shrugs and then rises, moving quickly out of the chapel and into the blue beyond.
“Is he coming back?” Alannah asks me looking worried. I shrug.
“Well, don’t you think you should follow him? He is your soulmate,” she makes a little shooing motion with her hands, all the while moving her mint green and pastel pink scales from side to side in hypnotic time. I sigh, exhaling a large cloud of bubbles and turn to Azure.
“I’ll be right back,” I launch upward, tensing all my tail muscles together, zooming off after Orion. He’s not hard to find, he’s only a little way from the chapel, bathing in the dimming light from the sunset above, practicing some kind of martial art routine or drill.
“Hey…” I say awkwardly, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. There are still decisions to be made.
“If you’ve come to apologise, I’m not interested,” he doesn’t look at me.
“I’m not apologising. Why should I?” I ask him, he’s got a real bug up his butt.
“You come back here, after everything that’s happened, and you want to play hero. That’s pretty shitty in my books.”
“I’m not trying to ‘play’ anything, Orion. I just want everyone to be safe. I don’t want anyone else to die,” I speak honestly, realising that every single time I’ve watered down my feelings, twisted the truth, or not spoken up I’ve been lying to myself and pushing him away. He scares me as I watch him strike out with his fist, but it’s not the physical damage I know he can inflict which disturbs me. As always it’s the emotional scars he can leave without even laying a hand on me.
“Could have fooled me…” he starts but I interrupt him.
“I get it. I get that you’re pissed at me. I let you down and I ran. But I’m not going to do that again,” I go to move toward him but he flashes me a warning with his eyes.
“I don’t believe you,” he strikes out with his other palm, impacting nothingness. I wonder if he’s picturing me.
“You don’t have to believe me. There are bigger issues than you and me here. I’m not saying that I want you and I to be besties, I know that’s too much to ask. I just want us to work together. For those people in there. I’ve let them down too. I need to be there for them now. So do you.” He stops punching out, stilling, his shoulders slumping.
“I don’t think I can.” All malice has left his voice and all that resides in the space between us is water and despair.
“Of course you can,” I laugh slightly, snorting. The Orion I knew wasn’t this full of self-doubt. What has happened to him?
“I’m the reason the city burned. I was too busy being caught up in losing you and I missed what was right in front of me,” he blames himself for everything.
“You didn’t miss anything. I was around Saturnus just as much as you and I didn’t suspect anything either.” I move over to him, positioning myself and placing my palms on his shoulders. He doesn’t pull away.
“Let’s go back inside. It’s no use worrying about what’s already happened. We have to move forward.” He nods, not fighting me. I turn and pull his hand behind me; this small touch sends a familiar jolt of sensation up my arm. I look back to him and his face has turned glacial again. The sea is still around us and I wait as he draws breath, wondering what he’ll say.
“I’ll follow you… but I don’t trust you.” I’m surprised to feel the wind knocked out of me at such a simple expression. It’s perhaps the first time I’ve realised that for all my complaining and whining about being vulnerable and not wanting to get hurt, I can hurt too. I close my eyes slowly, looking away from him. My heart breaks.
Back inside the chapel all talk has turned to the journey north. Apparently my suggestion of a destination is the only one anyone has been able to come up with.
“We need weapons. Supplies. We have nothing,” Cole says aloud as I re-join the conversation.
“What would we need weapons for?” Skye looks worried.
“What do you think, Princess?” Azure chimes in and her deadpan facial expression is so intense I’m impressed it’s not melting off her skull.
“Surely you don’t expect us to fight? We’re mermaids,” she puts emphasis on the last part of the word and I laugh.
“We can’t be picky about who picks up a sword anymore Skye, the army we had are gone. You’ll need to learn to fight, all of you,” I turn around to them. A mermaid who I have not noticed before says something; it’s barely a whisper. Her powder blue tail, pale skin, and white hair are dim now in the dying light, and her giant baby blues make her look like an angel.
“What’s your name?” I lower my height slightly, bending my tailfin under me and she looks terrified.
“Emma,” she whispers.
“What was it you said before, I didn’t quite catch it.” The conversation resumes around me as people lose interest in what I’m doing.
“We’re not all like you… I don’t think I could fight.” I turn from her, rising slightly in the water.
“Listen, all of you. If I can fight, so can you. Atargatis made us all who we are, she wouldn’t give us anything we couldn’t handle,” I look down at Emma, her kind sweet face is looking up at me like I’m Atargatis herself.
“Yeah that’s great, Callie, but if you were listening rather than indulging what’s-her-face down there yo
u might have noticed that we don’t have any weapons!” Rose scolds me and Orion looks like he might legitimately punch her in the face. The sand stirs around us and I have a brainwave.
“Hang on! I know where we can get some weapons… but…”
The group looks up at me once more and I trace each one of their faces. Do I really want to put them in danger again? I don’t know if the maidens can handle it. I look down at Emma; she isn’t exactly a warrior. She looks more like a scared teenager. Then I remember, I was a scared teenager. If I can do it, so can they.
“But what?” Sophia asks me as the final light of the day vanishes below the horizon.
“It’ll be risky,” I reply.
CALLIE
A few hours and a lot of yelling later the remaining mer and I hang, suspended above the crevasse to abyss which holds the Cryptopolis and Necrocazar in its belly. Rose doesn’t look impressed.
“Are we really doing this?” She looks down, her eyes sparkling in the dim moonlight, shimmering from the surface refraction.
“Yes! We are actually doing this. We’ve argued enough! We’re here, so let’s shut up and get on with it!” Sophia bursts, yelling and Cole gives her a small smile. Orion floats next to me, still. His brow has remained in the same furrowed position since I shut him down. He had objected to the idea of raiding the Psirens home turf for left over weapons, just like he was objecting to any ideas that were potentially risky in any way shape or form. He had lost his nerve, and the lack of courage doesn’t suit him as a leader, or a warrior.
“Okay, come on…” I coax the rest of the group, those watching the banter with bored stares. They’ve had enough of debating, of feeling the anxiety build within them at the thought of going down into the dark. So have I.
I turn to Orion, who looks away, refusing to catch my eye, but Azure gives me a kind of impressed half smile as I hold her gaze for a second. She’s been fairly quiet. She didn’t, however, object to the idea of raiding the Psiren city and in a way I wonder if it’s because she’s craving blood.
I revolve in the water, diving at high speed as I anticipate the increase in pressure and I see Azure and Orion as they overtake me, plunging ever downward into the dark. I can see the shimmering of Orion’s scales, however dull, radiating royal blue beneath me, but I can’t see Azure, her tail has lost its shimmer after everything she’s been through. I look up at my own, it still sheens, like that of the rest of the mer, demonstrating once more that my dance with darkness had been temporary. Still, the repercussions from my time with the Psirens isn’t and though I might now swim among Atargatis’ own once more, my time with those made by Poseidon has left more of an impact on me than is visible from the outside.
As I descend deeper into the darkness, I get the eerie feeling of other eyes watching me, eyes I cannot see, and I miss the enhanced vision that Titus’ magic had allowed. I feel a hand gripping onto mine, warm and unexpected. I look back, expecting to see Orion, but instead am met with the scared, large blue eyes of Emma. She is so out of place here, and I hope my decision doesn’t put her in harm’s way. She seems too delicate.
I stop, falling though the darkness, letting gravity pull me down and wonder momentarily if that’s how Orion feels when he looks at me. I let go of Emma’s vice like grip, knowing she needs to learn to face her fear.
We near the bottom of the canyon, bathing in the eerie white of jellyfish that crowd the entrance to the city.
“What now?” Sophia whispers to me, her eyes as large as dinner plates. I can see from here that her flesh is goosed all over.
“Now, we sink,” I say, but everyone is already moving. Azure is already neck deep in the jellyfish cluster, entering the city from above.
“That was messed up.” I can hear Skye muttering as she pats her hair down with one hand.
“This place is named Cryptopolis… what did you expect?” Cole asks with a cocked brow.
“I knew I should have stayed behind with Philippe,” she blows bubbles in a half-irritated sigh.
“It’s better if we stick together. Besides, Philippe can take care of himself,” Orion remarks and she suddenly looks embarrassed.
“Whoa,” I hear the word fall from Rose’s lips and I know she’s looking down. I follow her lead, looking down on the Necrocazar, the blackened walls, the crushed bones and the eels sparking light into the central square from jars hung on old ship masts.
“Azure… did you know it was this… big?” Orion asks his sister and she looks amused, licking her bottom lip and crossing her arms. “Of course you did,” Orion answers his own question.
Come on, we don’t want to be stood out here, anyone could be lurking, Fahima’s voice echoes in my head as her hand grips onto my elbow and I know she’s repeating a concern of Ghazi’s.
“We need to move. We can’t just sit here ogling.” I remember the first time I had seen the city, the need I had felt to stare. It was unbelievable, but to me everything is, including the fact I’m half fish and maintain perfect hair underwater. The fact these mer, who are hundreds of years older than me, are struck with disbelief too tells me I was not wrong in my first reaction to this place. I have lived here and yet it still sends a chill over me. “Azure can you take everyone to look for weapons? I have something I need to retrieve,” I look at Azure; her pale flesh is practically glowing down here. I can tell she’s adapted for this kind of world. Her pupils are dilated black and I know that she’s using her enhanced Psiren vision to see details I’m no longer privy to.
“Why do I have to babysit?” She grumbles, her tailfin hypnotic in its motion.
“Because you know this place the best. You’re the expert here.” Her eyes light up at this and she takes a large breath, shifting slightly in her posture and puffing out her chest.
“Oh… okay, come on you lot. Follow me,” she leads them down until they’re beneath me and tiny in retrospect.
“What are you going to do?” Orion hasn’t descended with the rest of them. I can’t work out if he’s suspicious or concerned.
“I’m going to see if Solustus left the scythe here. It was in the throne room of the Necrocazar last time I saw it,” I explain. His tail twitches slightly and I see his abs tense.
“They have a throne room? Like seriously? Wow. They’re more deluded than I thought,” Orion chortles. I don’t know why but his response irks me, he’s so sure of himself and I’m surprised to find myself thinking he’s a little ignorant.
“Yeah well, Solustus certainly is.” I think, trying to avoid saying something that will start an argument. I have work to do.
“They all are, Callie,” he retorts and I roll my eyes. Nope, okay… argument it is.
“They’re children, Orion. Most of them aren’t much older than me, some are younger. I know they’ve done wrong, but I can’t help but feel like they’ve been manipulated by Solustus and Alyssa. It’s scary waking up and being half the person you once were. I’d have clung to anything that helped me make sense of what had happened,” I explain and his eyes narrow.
“You really think those things are just misunderstood?” He looks at me. I decide to turn the tables on him.
“Maybe… I can’t forget the fact that could have been me. If I hadn’t of died in your arms. If Azure had gotten to me before you… If I’d have become a Psiren and hadn’t had you to take care of me. I could have been one of Solustus’ army.” His eyes widen and he says nothing. I swim past him, descending into the streets of the dark city. As I fall through the water, I can’t help but despise Orion a little for his ignorance. He’s so obtuse to how the real world operates for someone so old. He sees things black and white, and I am very much a modern dove grey. I contemplate this as I move over vertebrae and teeth silently, wondering now if it’s the fact he can’t quite place me, can’t guess what I’m thinking or understand my motivation that is what makes us incompatible. He wants me to be safe. Predictable. But I am not. The last of my predictability was washed away with my curls and toleranc
e for the sun.
I enter the throne room, empty now except for the throne and a mirror.
I look into it, suddenly wondering why I hadn’t taken greater interest in it before. I have always seen it as belonging to the room, an expression of Solustus’ narcissistic personality, but it seems like an odd object to have now I think about it. The rest of the throne room is so primitive. The throne made of bone, the animals used for day-glow. Bones coat the floor and it suddenly seems that this highly polished, ornate, pristine surface is completely out of place.
I swim over to it, rising over the pointed bones which form the high arc of the throne and place my palm on its cool surface. It’s then that I notice, not the scythe, but the trident in a worthy second place propped behind the throne, reflected in the mirror, hidden from the view of anyone in front of the bone construct. It hadn’t been what I’d wanted to find, and as I do a quick sweep I know in my gut the scythe is gone, but it’s better than nothing. I move to take it in my palm.
I feel the flesh on the back of my neck tingle, a primal warning that I’m not alone.
“Alyssa,” I speak the name, knowing instinctually that hers are the eyes resting on my back.
“Did you know, Callie, I didn’t think you could ruin anything more for me than you already have. But I guess I was wrong! Because of you I missed my revenge on the race that betrayed me, my whim, performed by my children.”
“I didn’t keep you here,” I remind her, wondering why she hadn’t left and joined Solustus long before now.
“I’ve been looking for you though, haven’t I? Solustus wanted you detained. Imagine how disappointed I was to return to your empty cell,” she sneers. I wonder still why she’s here.
“You’re scared of him…” I articulate the epiphany as it hits me.
The Kiss That Saved Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 2) Page 32
