by Dee J. Stone
Damarian shakes his head. “It is no bother.”
The Guards return, telling Syren that they couldn’t find anything. My head spins as my insides churn. “There has to be something we could do,” I say in a choked voice.
Syren holds unsteady hands over the net. I’m about to yell at him, when Callen zooms toward him and tackles him to the ground. “There must be another way!”
“No.” Syren fights to free himself from Callen, but he won’t let him go. “Release me.”
“You wish to sacrifice your life for your sons.”
“Do not, Father,” Damarian mutters, his voice the weakest I’ve ever heard. I stick my hand underneath the net, and his fingers find mine. “Cassie,” he whispers. “Remain with me…please.”
“No,” I cry. “Someone do something. Please.”
My own life seems to be draining out of me. Memories start to play through my head. The first time I saw Damarian unconscious on the beach. How I brought him home and splashed cold water on him. How he woke up for the first time, shocked that he was a human. How cute he was when he learned to walk for the first time. The utter fear I had when he nearly died because he needed sea water. The friendship we shared before he returned home, the heartache I felt when he was gone. How happy I was when he returned.
I can still feel his lips on mine, his hands on my body. I can hear the romantic things he said to me, the promises we shared. How we fought everything and everyone, just so we could be together.
Something sparks between our hands, so strong it nearly blinds me. I’m tossed to the side, knocking into the opposite wall. My whole body throbs. Raising my head, I see the net is no longer stretched over them.
“Damarian?” My limbs still aching, I push myself off the ground and throw myself over him, careful not to touch his wounds. I kiss every part of his face. “Damarian.”
With weak arms, he snakes them around me, pulling me to his chest. “Cassie.”
“What the hell just happened?” I ask Syren, who is crouched next to Kiander.
He looks just as bewildered as me. “I am not certain. There was electricity between your hands. It caused the net to break and dissolve.”
I blink at my hand. What on Earth?
I don’t have too much time to dwell on it because something doesn’t feel right. Life is still draining out of Damarian.
“He’s not getting better,” I say.
Syren touches Damarian’s chest. “His heart is weak.” Moving back, he studies his sons. “They are not receiving the sustenance such as we are. The net must have kept them alive.” He grabs two stones from the floor and tosses one to me. “Carry them,” he says to the few mermen who came with us into the cave. Two lift Damarian’s arms over their shoulders and drag him toward the entrance. Two others do the same to Kiander.
They lower them to the ground. I get down, taking Damarian in my arms. His breathing is labored, his gills expanding and contracting very fast, like they’re working overdrive. Syren and I cut Damarian and Kiander’s palms and shove their hands outside. After a second or two, they groan. We cut their other hands and the same thing happens. When Damarian’s body is lit up like mine, he slumps against me. His breathing grows more even.
“Cassie,” he murmurs.
I press my cheek to his, squeezing him tight, but not enough to hurt him.
“We must leave,” Callen says. “We do not know how long these fish will sustain us.”
Damarian and Kiander can’t swim on their own. Kyle, who’s been outside the cave all this time, rushes to grab one of Damarian’s arms.
“Have you caught sight of any rebels?” Syren asks the Guard who was in charge of the outside party.
“Not one.”
He nods to everyone. “It is time we return home.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
As soon as we emerge out of the Deep, the fish unlatch themselves from our bodies and rush into the black water. Our skin turns back to normal.
I glance at Damarian, who is still being carried by Kyle and another Sapphire. I thought he’d start to get better once we left those waters, but his head lolls to his side and his eyes are barely opened. Kiander looks the same.
Are they going to die?
I swim over to Syren, who’s gazing at his sons with a concerned expression. “Are they going to be okay?” I ask.
His eyes don’t leave them. “I have never seen wounds such as these.”
“What were they made from? Those nets?”
He shakes his head. “I do not know.”
“What…what are we going to do?”
He finally looks at me, a determined look in his eyes. “We journey home and heal them.”
I nod, my chest hurting. After risking my life to come here, will I just lose Damarian?
We head home. There are no rebels around. I’m not sure how many we killed, but I know there were a few survivors, including their leader Gyron. They could be regrouping now.
Shoney swims at my side. I smile, rubbing her fin. You did good.
She inclines her head. So did you.
Traveling back home seems to take forever. I keep glancing at Damarian, trying to determine if his condition has gotten worse, but he looks the same.
We finally make it to the colony. The merpeople swimming around gape at us as we bring in the wounded mermen. A Guard member rushes ahead of us to inform Kiandra and the rest of the family of our arrival.
When we draw closer, I see her outside. Her eyes widen with pure shock when she takes one look at her sons. The mermen hurry into the cave and place Kiander and Damarian on the stone table. I take Damarian’s hand. It’s colder than it should be and his eyes keep fluttering.
“What has happened?” Kiandra gasps.
Syren lightly touches a wound on Kiander’s lower back. “They were tortured,” he tells her. “I have not seen wounds such as these. They are not healing.”
She hurries to a large oyster shell and pulls out sea plants, then returns and dabs one of Damarian’s wounds. A soft, weak hiss leaves his mouth. She does the same to Kiander.
“Where are the fry?” Syren asks.
“Doria has taken them to play.”
The room gets quiet as Kiandra cleans more wounds.
Syren tells the mermen they can leave. All of them besides for Kyle lower their heads and exit.
“You may take your leave as well, Kyler,” Syren says.
“Would it be all right if I remain here? I wish to see Damarian and Kiander get well.”
Syren nods. “Very well.”
We’re all quiet again. Kiandra continues rubbing plants on her sons’ wounds.
“I don’t get it,” I say, my gaze dead locked on one of Damarian’s burn marks, waiting and hoping to see signs of healing. “Why did they hurt them? Didn’t they want Damarian to be king?”
Darkness clouds Syren’s features. “Perhaps they wished to torture Kiander until Damarian conceded.” His eyes move sadly from one son to the other. “Perhaps they grew upset when he refused.”
“He would never concede,” Kiandra says, dabbing more wounds. “For he is mated to Cassie.”
They, along with Kyle, look at me.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“You are Damarian’s mate,” Kiandra says. “If Damarian agreed to take the crown, you would be queen.”
It feels like the wind got knocked out of me. “What?”
“Unless they wished to kill you,” Syren says.
“Damarian would be left with no mate. No heir to the throne.”
“Perhaps they assumed mating with a human is not mating,” Syren says.
Meaning, if they killed me Damarian would still be able to take another mate—a mermaid. They would rule.
“But that would be taking a big chance,” I say. “What if killing me left Damarian with no mate for life?”
They’re quiet, until Syren says, “Damarian would be the true king. Upon his death, if he has no heir, kingship would tra
nsfer to the next in line. Kiander.”
I fold my arms as anger boils inside me. “So either way they would end up with Kiander as king.”
“Yes. Or his fry.”
How ridiculous is this? I brush some of Damarian’s hair out of his face. He’s fast asleep now. “Let’s assume they’re still sticking with their plan. They know about me now and that I’m a mermaid—a child of the sea. Will they do anything with me?”
Kiandra and Syren exchange a glance. Kyle looks a little uncomfortable.
“What?” I ask.
“Many consider you an abomination,” Syren says in a low voice. “A human turned child of the sea…it is not natural.”
So even if we get rid of the rebels and all is fine in the ocean, I might not be welcomed here. I sit down on one of the chairs, my head spinning.
Kiandra sits near me, taking my hand. “You are Damarian’s mate, Cassie. You are our family.”
“You don’t see me as an abomination?” I glance at Syren. He called me that when I first came to the colony.
“We do not,” Syren says.
A sigh of relief escapes my lips. They don’t know how much that means to me.
“If it’s any consolation,” Kyle says. “A lot of my clan didn’t know how to treat me when I returned to the sea.” He takes the other seat near me. “But we’re very accepting people, Cassie. You’ll feel welcome here in no time.”
That makes me smile. “Thanks, Kyle.”
“Syren of the Sapphire clan,” a voice says from outside.
Syren’s body stands to attention. “The Guard,” he says, then swims out. When he returns, he’s followed by a few members of the Guard. And Queen Flora.
Kiandra and Kyle launch off the chairs and do the merpeople bow. I stumble out of my chair and copy them.
Flora waves her hand, telling us to be at ease. Her gaze falls on Kiander, who’s lying unconscious on the stone table. Her entire face fills with pain.
One of the Guards swims forward. “My queen, this is not a sight you should see.”
She holds out her hand, shushing him. Hesitantly, she swims to Kiander and runs the back of her fingers down his cheek. “What is causing him to be ill?” She looks at Damarian. “What has happened to them?”
No one says anything.
Her gaze moves to Syren. “Have they been tortured?”
He nods.
Her eyes flash with fury. “Have you eradicated the sea of these beasts?”
“Many,” Syren tells her. “There were survivors. I imagine they will regroup and gather more followers.”
Her gaze is back on her husband. “I want each and every one of them captured.” She looks at one of the Guards. “Search the waters day and night. They will pay for what they have done to their king. We do not tolerate treason.”
“Yes, my queen.” The Guard bows before leaving.
She lowers her head to Kiander’s, resting her forehead against his, her eyes shut. “He is a breath away from death,” she whispers.
My stomach coils. I look at Damarian. He’s probably at death’s doorstep, too.
“Why do they not heal?” Flora demands.
“We are not certain,” Syren says.
“I could not treat their wounds,” Kiandra says.
“No,” Flora says as she studies the burn marks, her voice far away. “These are not average wounds. They will not heal on their own.”
“My queen, are you familiar with wounds?” Kiandra asks.
Her hand traces a large mark on Kiander’s chest. “I have an interest in healing. No, these will not heal without assistance.”
“From what?” Kiandra asks.
She doesn’t seem to know the answer to that.
Kyle swims forward, bowing his head. “My queen, if I may?”
“Yes?”
“When I was a fry, I grew ill. An elder at the Emerald colony fed me a unique species of plant. It eliminated the disease.”
Flora’s face brightens. “Is the Emerald with us?”
Kyle shakes his head. “She perished many moons past.”
“Orja,” Syren mutters, rubbing his chin.
“Pardon?” Flora asks.
“Legends,” he says. “Myths. Tales that are told to fry, of a mystical plant capable of healing all illnesses.”
“It is not a myth,” Kyle says.
“Where do we locate this plant?” Flora asks.
No one seems to know the answer to that.
She nods at another Guard. “Travel to the clans. Make inquiries of this mystical plant. This is an urgent matter.”
He bows and leaves.
“I only hope that we are not too late,” she says.
***
I don’t leave Damarian’s side, not even to sleep. My hand is laced through his. Even though he’s colder than he should be, his heart pumps blood throughout his body. I feel it. “Stay strong,” I whisper. “Hang on just a little longer.”
We haven’t heard back from the palace yet. We don’t know if the Guard’s been successful in learning anything about the Orja plant. We don’t even know if it exists.
“Cassie?” Zarya comes out of her room and lowers herself onto my lap. With my hand still clutched in Damarian’s, I wrap the other one around her and hold her close. “Will Dammy and Kiander be all right?” she asks. Her parents told her that Damarian and Kiander were out exploring when they got injured.
I kiss the top of her head. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure they will be.”
Zarya lays her head on my shoulder. Having her in my arms like this comforts me, makes me feel less alone. Less scared. Sliding her hand into mine, she places something in my palm. I study it. It looks like a gem from a piece of jewelry. Probably from a sunken ship.
“Thanks,” I tell her.
After a bit, she grows still in my arms. “Good night, sweetie,” I whisper.
Soon, I find my own head starting to bob
Someone touches my shoulder. Doria. “You should sleep. You must be exhausted.”
“I don’t want to leave him.”
With every second that passes, it feels like he loses more of his energy. I want to be here if he…if he…I can’t even think it.
Doria leaves and returns with some seaweed. She arranges it across two of the stone chairs, creating a bed. “Thanks,” I tell her.
She smiles, then reaches for Zarya. “Good night, Cassie.”
“Good night.”
With my hand still in Damarian’s, I lie down. I feel sleep starting to take over. The last thing on my mind before I black out is that I’m going to do everything in my power to save the man who has my heart. I’m not giving up without a fight, not after everything we’ve been through.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Syren, Kiandra, and I swim to Eteria. Flora requested a meeting, specifically stating that I should join as well. Every cell in my body is on edge. The Guard must have learned something important.
Syren’s shark accompanies us, along with Shoney. There has been no sign of the rebels since our attack, but we’re not risking anything. Syren swears they’re regrouping and gathering more members, though Kyle told us everything seemed to be in order back at his colony.
We enter the palace and are led to Flora by one of her Guards. She’s sitting on her throne, talking to a male Violet with similar features as her. Palaemon, her dad and former king. When she sees us, she gets up and swims toward us. “Syren. Kiandra. Cassie.” She turns to her dad. “Father is more versed in healing plants.”
“The Orja plant is no legend,” he says. “It indeed has profound healing abilities. But it is not easily located.”
Flora nods to the Guard standing on the side. He’s the one whom she sent to find information about the Orja. “Inform our guests of what you have discovered,” she tells him.
“A child of the Ruby clan claims the Orja plant is located a far distance from the colony. The length of time to travel to the location is one day.”
<
br /> A day? Damarian and Kiander could die by then. All the hope I had inside me rushes out.
Syren lays a hand on my shoulder. “Do not fret, Cassie.” He directs his next question to the Guard. “Are you certain there is no closer location?”
He shakes his head. “This is all I learned.”
The room gets so quiet I can hear every tail whooshing in the water.
“It is what we must do,” Syren says. “If that is the only option.”
“Father,” Flora says.
Palaemon inclines his head. “There is an element to the Orja plant. It only reveals itself to those in dire need of it.”
Neither Damarian nor Kiander is in any condition to travel. I don’t think there’s an ounce of hope left inside me.
“Or to one who has a close bond to the one in dire need of it,” Palaemon continues.
My body perks up like I’ve been zapped.
“It is my greatest desire to search for the Orja plant,” Flora says. “But I cannot. You, Cassie, are the one with the strongest bond to Damarian. And you, Syren and Kiandra, are the ones with the second strongest bond to Kiander.”
Syren, Kiandra, and I exchange glances. Syren pats his wife’s arm, then mine. “I am ready and willing to travel far to acquire this plant.”
“Me, too.” I would travel anywhere to help Damarian.
***
Because the rebels are still at large, four members of the Guard are set to leave with us.
Kiandra wraps her tail around mine and kisses my cheek, telling me to be careful and thanking me for doing this. I say goodbye to the kids and Doria, then take Damarian’s hands in mine. Bending close, I kiss his forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”
He stirs and squeezes my hand. I brush my lips lightly against his.
“Let’s go,” I tell Syren.
Together with our sharks, the six of us leave the mercolony. Syren told me earlier today that we will be traveling at an extremely fast pace. I don’t have a lot of experience swimming at such speed, and I’m worried I’ll need to rest a lot, but I push those thoughts away. I’ll use up every last bit of my energy if I have to.
I don’t have a clue where we’re going, but Syren seems to know. We swim in silence, each of us focused on the task at hand.
