Galadriel laughed. “They’re so terrified, especially after that poor guard was stabbed. They think all humans are evil and lurking around every corner to steal their blood.”
“But they can sing,” Fin said.
Galadriel shrugged. “I think they’ve forgotten that, but it’s to our advantage, right?”
“Well, then let’s get started.” I sanded my hands together. “What do you need?”
“Makeup for starters,” Galadriel suggested, then her eyes brightened. “There’s some in your bathroom.”
“In my bathroom?”
Galadriel laughed. “You think I would decorate your home and not stock it, too? I’ll go get it.”
I reached out and snatched her hand, remembering we hadn’t cleaned up the blood and glass yet. “Let me get it.”
She tilted her head. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I waved my hand dismissively. “Get everything else set up in the kitchen.”
I brought her the makeup sets, and while Galadriel quickly painted Fin’s skin gray and applied a gel mask that looked like peeling skin, I worked on my own face and thought of how we’d make this look believable to the point they wouldn’t cart off our supposedly rotting bodies to Natatoria.
“So what does Natatoria do with their dead?” I asked.
“We take them to Bone Island,” Fin said, “or have a funeral pyre.”
I bit my lip. “Then we have to make this be our Bone Island, right?”
“I guess so.” He eyed me in terror like he had no idea what I’d suggest next.
I moistened my lips, tasting the powdery makeup. “What if when the guard arrives, we’re carted off by humans instead, like… to the morgue.”
Galadriel glanced toward the window again. “They might freak about that, because, you know… cutting you up and stuff.”
“True,” I said. “But do they know about autopsies?”
Galadriel pushed out her lips. “No, I don’t think so.”
“So, what if they see us dead, then the ambulance comes.”
Galadriel’s dragged her teeth over her lips. “They’d be terrified.”
“Too terrified to sing?”
Her fingers slowed while she thought. “Just leave it to me.”
After we were sufficiently covered in makeup, Galadriel grabbed the ketchup and started squirting it on us as we lay on the floor in the kitchen.
I wrinkled my nose. “This stuff smells too much like tomatoes. I don’t think it’s going to work.”
“Oh. There’s a can of tuna in the pantry.” Galadriel leaped over us to get it.
“You bought us food, too?” I asked.
“Of course I did!”
She opened the can, then spilled the juice on the floor.
“Thank you for doing this.” I kissed her cheek before lying back down. “You know the drill?”
“Yes, yes. Just get into your places.” She flapped her hands and glanced out the window again.
Fin draped his body over me while Galadriel laid the suicide letters next to us. I’d penned a story that mirrored the pain oozing from the cracks in my heart, and Fin’s said he couldn’t live without me — the irony too biting to think about.
“This is actually very romantic.” Her voice was soft as she positioned us. “Like Romeo and Juliet.”
A book nerd after my own heart.
“Except we aren’t really dying,” Fin said, annoyed.
“True… just, stop moving.” She sighed, contented. “Perfect. Okay, I’m calling 9-1-1 now.” I heard her footfalls retreat to the foyer, then her hysterical voice telling the dispatcher the address of the house.
I squeezed Fin’s hand. How or why he’d chosen to support me on the eve of his father’s court battle showed how much he loved me. How much he cared.
“All done,” she yelled to us. “Here goes.”
A blood-curdling scream sounded from her lips, then trailed away as she ran outside. It took a little bit, but within the minute, footfalls crunched on the gravel path.
“What’s wrong, Princess? Is that—?” one goon started, speaking in thick Natatorian.
“Blood?” the other finished.
“Yes.” Galadriel panted, out of breath. “I tried to save them! I yelled for help! But… you didn’t hear me, and I couldn’t save them! What are we going to do?”
Her muffled sobs sounded like she’d pressed her mouth against her hand, or to one of their chests.
“Don’t cry,” the lower voiced one said.
“Poseidon,” a man squeaked from what sounded like the doorway. “What do we do now?”
“Well, I don’t know!” Galadriel shrieked.
“Are you sure they’re dead?” Squeaky asked.
“Of course they are. Look at them.” She sniffled.
“We should get a healer,” Deep Voice suggested.
“It’s too late for that! First the wedding disaster, now this?” Galadriel began sobbing. “I can’t take anymore.”
Bare feet slapped the wooden floor of the house. “How do you know they’re dead?” Deep Voice asked.
“I felt for a pulse, and there was nothing. You check!” Galadriel pressed.
“No,” Squeaky said abruptly. “I trust you. You’re family and all.”
Galadriel continued to wail. “They killed themselves because they couldn’t… handle… the pa-a-ain.” Above her hysteria, there was the sound of paper flapping in the wind. Our letters?
“I can’t read it… it's English… whoa,” Squeaky grunted. “Catch her.”
There was a thump on the floor.
“Poseidon!”
“I told you to catch her,” Squeaky exclaimed.
“I know, but you were closer, you jackfish! What’s that smell?” Deep voice asked. “It’s like dead fish.”
Galadriel sucked in a breath. “What happened?”
“You fainted, Princess,” Squeaky explained.
“I need my mate. Get me Jax!”
A siren from a fire truck wailed far off in the distance, coming closer.
“Poseidon! What’s that?” Deep Voice asked in a panic.
“I don’t know.” Galadriel’s voice scaled an octive. “It’s… an ambulance. Oh shoot! They’re coming! They know! We gotta hide.”
“They know? How?” Squeaky said.
“Coming. Who’s coming?” Deep Voice said, panicked.
“The authorities! We have to hide!” There was a rustle of feet. “Not here! Outside!”
After a few grunts, the room grew quiet. Then the rumble of a diesel reverberated outside. I peeked to see red lights flashing through the window. At the knock on the door, I held my breath.
Boots pounded against the hardwood floor and entered the room.
“George,” one of the guys said tensely. “Is that Bill’s kid?”
“Oh, shit,” the other said. “I think you’re right.”
Warm fingers touched my neck.
“Pronounce us dead,” Fin sang.
“Uh… you got a pulse?”
“No,” the other said. “They’re already cold. What are we going to do?” the first guy asked.
“I can’t believe this.” The other stood with a grunt, taking off his rubber gloves. “We gotta call the coroner.”
“Don’t tell Bill,” Fin sang. “Turn us in as Jane and John Doe.”
Peace settled over me. This way they wouldn’t find out we’d died.
My body was lifted and slid into a body bag. The zipper slowly made its way upward, sealing me inside the claustrophobic space. Then there was silence. I strained to listen.
“The other one is ready,” one of the guys said.
“George, what’s going on?” I heard my mother ask out of breath, hysterical.
“Oh, crap,” I mumbled. “Fin?”
There was silence. Did they take him already?
“Fin,” I whispered-yelled, then my heart stopped. Had he suffocated in the bag? “Fin!”
“Oh my—�
�� Mom choked back a sob, still outside. Was she viewing Fin’s body? Where was he?
“Ma’am,” the guy pressed. “This is a crime scene. You need to step back.”
“No!” Her voice shook. “Show me the girl!”
The boots returned, pounding the ground. Hands tugged on the bag, and fresh air flooded the suffocating space. I held my breath. A strangled shriek of my mother cut the silence. I willed Fin to sing something, to do something, but I didn’t know where he was, and I had to play dead.
The zipper once again sealed me inside, and I worked to keep my breathing level as not to create movement. Mom left crying, and I strained to listen. Sweat beaded on my brow as the stench of ketchup and tuna fish wafted around me. Then my back began to ache. How long would I have to stay here?
Unable to wait another minute longer, I shredded my hands into the plastic by my face and freed myself. There wasn’t another body bag next to me. Looking out the windows, I didn’t see the truck. As far as I could tell, I was alone.
I wiped off my hands, caked with ketchup and makeup. Why did they leave me behind? Where was Fin?
The keys to the Jeep on the counter caught my eye. I’d have to go to the hospital or the coroner. Of course, after a shower.
FORTY-EIGHT – FIN – June 12 – 9:44 a.m.
My body was lifted and carried on a gurney across the gravel walkway outside.
“George, what’s going on?” I heard Ash’s mother say, hysterically.
Oh, crap.
The heavy doors squeaked and my body was shoved inside. Then something clicked, encasing me in silence. Heartbeats passed. Was Ash’s mom outside still? What was happening?
I tried to maneuver my hands to tug on the zipper, but whoever bagged me, cinched a strap around my middle. But if I did get out and sing to Karen, Galadriel, and the guards would see, ruining everything. I’d couldn’t do anything until I returned, the poor thing.
The blood pounded in my ears as the moisture filled air of the tiny space left my gills confused if they should appear or not, especially now that I was encased in darkness. Then the engine of the vehicle rumbled to life. The bag jostled, signaling we were on our way to the coroner. Sucking in deep breaths, I wished for fresh air, for freedom.
Then the doors opened again and then slammed shut. Someone outside banged twice against the back of the van. The vehicle began to move.
I sang, “Open the body bag.”
The zipper pulled down, and my eyes focused on blue eyes. Then my blood froze.
“Uncle?”
“Faking your death? How original,” he said with a sickly smile.
You would know. My hands gripped onto the edges of the body bag to free myself, but I couldn’t move my arms. “You’re alive,” I said more as a statement than a question.
“Of course I am.”
“Where are you taking me?”
He pressed his finger to his lips. “I think you know where.”
I know where… what?
“When I get out—”
His laughter interrupted me, a sick and evil sound. “That’s not happening.”
“What are you going to do with me?”
He rubbed his hands together. “So many plans. So little time.”
The joy in his voice made me sick to my stomach. My heart continued to pound. Did he have Ash, too? I gritted my teeth. I had to keep him as far away from her as possible. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. Ash is dead.”
His lip picked up at the side. “Oh, you’re little plan didn’t fool me.”
I deadpanned. Did he have her?
“And just so you know, I so enjoyed our quality time together, though short-lived.”
Enjoyed their quality time? Just now? What was he talking about?
Alaster jerked his chin upward, then his brows pulled together. “She didn’t tell you? How poetic.”
Tell me? Tell me what? I shook my head and laughed it off like I knew what he was talking about. “What’s your deal? Did Grandpa and Grandma not give you enough attention as a kid?”
His fist punched into my chest, knocking the wind out of me before he put his face inches from mine. “Shut your mouth! I own you!”
I coughed, adrenaline surging through me, and I pushed my arms against the restraints to get free. “You’re a coward. You can’t get the respects of mers on your own merit, so you have to manipulate them. Guess what? It might work, but it doesn’t last long! Your true colors will show, and though your little lap dog Colin is snuggling up to the most despicable of all princesses, you still won’t win.”
“Won’t I?” He smirked. “With you and Ash officially dead, and your father arrested for exposing the mer, they all think humans are gun wielding murders ready to drain them of their blood like vampires. Once Garnet and Colin give birth to a son, the mer will be salivating for a King to stop this madness. Not before your father is executed, of course. Then I’ll come to the rescue, having wiped away our secret from the minds of men, and guide my son as he rules his kingdom.”
I ground my teeth. He’d used this entire fiasco to swoop in and claim his prize. My blood drained from my face.
And now that he’d taken me, I was at his mercy. “Where’s Ash?”
Alaster smirked. “Dead, isn’t that right?”
I struggled to get free, but I knew it was futile. Alaster had thought of everything. There would be no rescue for me this time.
FORTY-NINE – ASH – June 14 – 9:08 a.m.
I paced the living room, my insides crawling with worry. Fin had been gone for two days, and I hadn’t slept a wink. The coroner, the hospital, even the guys at Dad’s work, knew nothing. He’d simply vanished. I tried not to think of the worst — that Alaster had him — but there was no other explanation. Most likely, once I was freed, Alaster had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Always there.
Always watching.
Tears drizzled down my cheeks. First my son, and now Fin. I didn’t know how much more I could bear. I pinched my eyes shut and screamed. Alaster needed to die!
Gentle knocking pulled me from my grief. I stopped and listened, then walked onto the patio toward the locked hatch door. The rapping started again.
“Ash, it’s me! Tatiana! Open up.”
I unscrewed the wheel and the door popped open with a soft whoosh.
Fingers gripped onto the rim and a blonde head emerged from the porthole.
“Tatiana?” I asked breathlessly, not trusting my eyes.
“Galadriel told me the truth.” She leaped up from the hatch, phasing midair, and crashed into me with a strangling wet hug. I broke into sobs on impact. “If I ever lost you.”
I buried my head into her shoulder and clung onto her tight, my body convulsing. She was all I had left.
“I’m so sorry,” she kept saying. “I should have never insisted on a big wedding. This is all my fault.”
“No. It’s not.” I wiped away my tears. “It’s Alaster. He’s back.”
Tatchi’s eyes widened in horror. “What? I thought he was dead.”
“No.” The bile crawled up my throat once again. “And I’m pretty sure he has Fin. He’s the one who’s been behind the guy in the white van; all of this.”
“What?” Her mouth gaped open. “You have to tell your mother. She has to know. She has to let Jax and Jacob free so they can find him!”
I pressed my palm to my forehead. I couldn’t go, not with the chance she’d force me to stay. Not to mention all the questions and sympathetic looks.
“I need to stay here and find Fin.”
Tatiana’s tiny frame went slack. “Okay. Where have you looked?”
“The coroner, the hospital…” I whimpered. “He’s probably at Alaster’s research facility.”
“Research facility?”
“Yeah… don’t ask. But I don’t know where that is, and I don’t know where else to look.”
Her expression turned hopeful. “Jacob does. He was th
ere when Fin found you. He knows the building.”
I grabbed onto her hand. “You have to get him here then.”
She gripped me tighter, her face pained. “I don’t know how, but okay.”
Goosebumps pebbled my skin. “I’ll wait here for you in case he does come home.”
“Of course.” She kissed my cheek, then rushed to the open porthole.
Bubbles popped along the surface of the water. Then a head full of dark hair from a guard immerged.
Though I didn’t recognize him, he startled to see me. “You’re alive?”
“Run!” Tatiana yelled.
I turned to run and slipped. My body skated along the wet tiles, my legs smashing into the glass door. I rolled over to get up. Strong arms clamped onto mine and yanked upward.
“Let go of me!” I shrieked, kicking and biting.
“Cooperate, Princess.”
Why did they insist on these stupid titles? I continued to fight as he dragged me to the hatch, but not before he secured my mouth with a strip of cloth so I wouldn’t siren once underwater.
He dropped me down the hatch and pushed my head underwater. I heard Tatiana’s muffled cries from somewhere in the distance, but I couldn’t see her.
The wish I’d kept the ink necklace Galadriel had given me slipped through my mind along with her warning. Royalty was never safe. I was going home whether I wanted to or not, and I had a lot of explaining to do.
FIFTY – FIN – June 14 – 7:26 p.m.
I awoke in a room similar to the one I’d rescued Ash from, throat parched, unsure how long I’d been asleep. Light came from a contraption around my neck, the same as Ash had worn when I found her. My gut squeezed when it hit me. Alaster and the ARC were one in the same. He’d been behind it all: the stalker, the murder of the guard, Bill being knocked out and Ash’s abduction. Colin had been his front-runner, mind-mojoing Lucy, and feeding his dad details so they could set it all up. It was an inside job.
My head swayed. Why hadn’t Ash told me Alaster was the one who took her? The regret we didn’t torch this place when we left ripped through me. But then again, Jax and Jacob wouldn’t know where to look for me, and might have only set him back a few days.
Two tubes, a clear one and one with red fluid were attached to my arm, doing something to my veins. I fought against the restraints tying me to the gurney, rocking the bed. Maybe if I could get it to tip over, I might be able to break free and sing my way out of this shit hole.
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