by Dee J. Stone
My body feels hot and cold at the same time. What my father told me…this is insane. I belong to an ancient race of sea serpents? Sea serpents are monsters. I mean, there have been sightings throughout history, but they’ve always been fake. Could it be they were real? Just like merpeople are real.
“I want to be alone,” I say.
Dad gets up and pats my shoulder. “I know I gave you a lot to think about. I’m right outside if you need me.”
I stare after him as he walks out the door and shuts it. What I need is to get Damarian out of here.
Chapter Seventeen
Dad comes in a few minutes later with a tray filled with food. I tell him I’m not hungry. He leaves it near the door before walking out. I strain my ears to hear what’s going on outside, but I don’t hear anything. Either they went to another room or no one’s around.
I lie down on the cot and close my eyes tight, my eyebrows coming together as I concentrate hard on Damarian. Like before, I can sense him, but it feels like static is in the way. Squeezing my palms into fists, I try to concentrate harder, locking on the pulse of Damarian that flows through my body. I take a deep breath and relax my shoulders, allowing his energy to mesh with mine. After a little while, the static is gone and I can sense him clearly.
Damarian, my mind says.
We’ve never actually communicated telepathically, but he reached out to me in a similar fashion when he was held captive by the rebels. I felt his voice in my head.
Focusing harder on my merman’s pulse, I try again. Damarian, do you hear me?
Nothing. I let out a frustrated sigh. Unease creeps up my spine. Could they have done something to him? Maybe he can’t hear me because he’s been sedated.
Damarian, I try again, mustering every ounce of strength I have. Damarian, do you hear me?
Again, nothing. I slam my fist against the cot. What else can I do? Even though I don’t hear voices out there, I’m pretty sure at least one of those…whatevers are keeping guard. If I try to escape, he’ll catch me. And Dad might order him to sedate me again.
Cassie?
My body shoots to attention. Damarian? You can hear me!
Cassie, my love. I sense the relief in his tone. It matches the way I feel. Are you all right?
I’m fine. What about you?
There’s a slight pause before he says, I am all right.
I don’t know if he’s trying to be brave for my sake. Listen, I tell him. I’m going to get you out of here.
Me? What of you?
I bite down on my bottom lip. I’ll be okay, but you need to get out of here. You were right when you said before that this place isn’t safe.
The connection gets a bit wobbly, as though Damarian’s emotions are growing unstable.
Don’t worry about me, okay? I think I have a plan—
My love, you are mistaken if you believe I shall escape without you.
We don’t have time to argue about this. My dad told me some alarming things. I can’t tell you about them now, but you need to return to the ocean. You’ll be safe there.
I can’t protect him, but his people can. They have the rebel threat under control for now, and I know they will do whatever they can to keep him safe.
Cassie—
We’ll meet again when I’m out of here. But you can’t be here a second longer.
My love…
Please, Damarian. You need to trust me on this. I love you and will do whatever I can to protect you.
I love you as well. It sounds like tears choke his voice.
My own eyes fill up. Swallowing a few times, I tell him what I want to do. I’m not sure it’s going to work, but I don’t have a lot of options.
Is this…farewell? Damarian asks.
I sweep the back of my hand across my eyes. For now. But we’ll meet up again. I promise.
I love you, my sweet Cassie, he says again. For all eternity.
And I love you. Forever.
When I’m sure Damarian’s ready, I flatten my palms on the cot and shut my eyes as tight as I can. I latch onto the pulse of my merman beating in every part of my body. I use everything I have to strengthen the bond, and a few seconds later, he and I merge together, our minds, bodies, and souls as one. His eyes become mine, my strength his. It’s like he and I have become one person.
Damarian is still in the tank. Two men are stationed at the door, their eyes locked on him. With me providing him with energy, Damarian takes a deep breath before he throws himself out of the tank. At once, the men charge at him, one reaching into his pocket for a syringe. Damarian thrusts his hand out, shooting electricity at him. He collapses on the floor, the syringe rolling to the opposite end of the room.
The other guy bounds for Damarian, but Damarian knocks his elbow into his face, smashing his nose. I don’t think either Damarian or I know exactly what we’re doing—we’re just acting. I have no idea if the others can hear what’s happening. Damarian grabs the hem of one of the guy’s shirt and tears it open, sliding it off his body and wrapping it around himself to dry off. He does the same with the other guy’s shirt, placing it over his tail.
My heart rate shoots up to an unhealthy pace as I wait for Damarian to shift from merman to human. Are the others on their way down there? It doesn’t take long before Damarian falls on the floor, his body convulsing as he’s engulfed in pain. My body feels as though it’s on fire, too.
Through the fog of pain, I see two figures rush into the room. My dad and Jace. Jace lunges for Damarian, a syringe in his hand. Damarian is in no shape to defend himself. I thrust out my palm, which causes Damarian’s hand to shoot out. Electricity flies out, knocking Jace in the chest and hurling him a few feet back, right into Dad. They both crash to the floor.
Damarian’s transformation is complete. He springs to his feet, holding his hands out in front of him. Jace, clutching his chest, sits up, but it appears as though he doesn’t have enough strength to stand. Dad is still lying on the floor. With Damarian’s hands still raised, he quickly dresses into one of the guys’ clothes, then dashes to the front door. His fingers close over the knob, but it’s locked.
He yanks on it. It doesn’t budge.
I’m low on energy, but I push myself to dig deep inside. The next time Damarian tugs on the doorknob, it breaks off. With a stunned expression on his face, he rushes away.
A groan escapes my lips as my connection with him dies. I’m so weak I can barely keep my eyes open. Just as I’m about to black out, the door to my room flings open. I don’t have enough strength to open my eyes. Someone grabs my arm and jerks me off the cot. The next thing I feel is a blow to my cheek. Then to my nose and cheek again. My whole face stings.
Something metallic drips into my mouth. Blood. Before I have a chance to react, a fist slams into my stomach. I bend over and drop to the floor. A shoe kicks my ribs. Pain explodes all over me. I curl into a fetal position, tears running down my cheeks.
The door barges open and someone stomps into the room. I hear a struggle, a few punches, and some curses. Someone gets knocked to the floor. When footsteps approach, I throw my hands over my face, shielding myself for the next onslaught. But it doesn’t come. Instead, I feel a gentle hand on my arm. An ocean scent engulfs me.
My eyes fly open. “Damarian.” My voice is so weak I can barely hear it. I turn my head to the left and see Jace on the floor. That action causes my head to explode in pain. I wince.
Damarian’s hands cup my face, his fingers softly pressing into my jaw. “My love. You are injured. That wretched beast!” He storms to Jace’s limp body and glares at it, raising his fists like he wants to beat the living hell out of him. His chest expands and retracts violently, his ragged breathing filling the quiet room. Just when I think he really will beat him to death, he lowers his hands.
“What are you doing here?” I breathe. “We decided that…you were going to…escape to the ocean.”
The door slams open, and Dad and the others file in. Damarian lunge
s for Dad, but two of the guys grab his arms and lock them behind his back. Dad binds them. “Back to the tank,” he orders. They drag Damarian to the door.
“Damarian,” I rasp. “Damarian!”
They continue dragging him.
I dig deep, very deep, mustering everything I’ve got. Damarian and I once again merge ourselves together. Charged with my energy, Damarian pries his hands apart, breaking through his bindings. He lands a punch right between my dad’s eyes. He stumbles back, shaking his head like his brain’s been knocked out. The other two guys charge at Damarian, but he pushes his palms out, causing them to fly back, like a bomb exploded. One of the guys knocks into the wall and falls to the floor, his head bent at an unnatural angle. The other one is on the floor, too, his leg a bloody mess.
Dad and Damarian stand before each other, Damarian’s fists raised. Dad takes a few steps back, and for the first time in my life, I see the utter fear on his face. Damarian’s eyes move to mine. I know the question in them—should he hit my dad? He’s my father, Damarian’s father-in-law. But as I look at my dad, I don’t only see fear. I see an evil brewing in there, bursting to come to the surface.
I don’t know who that man is, but he’s not my dad.
I walk over to Damarian and take his hand. My father’s eyes move to me, and for a split second, I see the pain of betrayal buried in there. I’m about to back down as the guilt nearly knocks me over, but scales appear on my father’s face. The same bluish, greenish, grayish ones that appeared on me.
I stagger back, the shock rendering me frozen.
“This is who we are, Cassie,” he says, his voice deep. “Sooner or later, you’ll know where your loyalty lies.”
Jace, who is still on the floor, stirs and moans. I look at him, then at my father. “Is he one of you?”
“Yes. Jace is a sea serpent. And so are you—”
“All this time?” I demand. Ever since the beginning? Since he helped me carry Damarian to my house when he washed up on shore? When he got together with Leah? When he and I started to become friends?
“He didn’t know at first,” Dad says. “He was pretty young when we were cast out of the sea. But once you took some of Damarian’s power, you awakened the dormant sea serpent inside him. Everything came back to him, the memories of what happened in the ocean. He remembered that his parents were murdered by the children of the sea.”
Damarian shifts beside me. By the look on his face, I can tell he has no idea what my father is talking about.
Jace is my best friend’s boyfriend. Does she know what he is? Could she…have anything to do with this? No way. I won’t believe it.
“Convince him to take the throne, Cassie.” Dad steps forward, his eyes shining like he’s possessed. The scales have disappeared from his face, but he still looks like a monster. “Don’t let love blind you. We are your people. Your own flesh and blood. Are you going to turn your back on us? Are you going to turn your back on your little brother and sister?”
I glance at Damarian. He still looks confused, but I can see how much love he has for me. It’s evident all over his face. I think back to everything we’ve been through, how he saved me from death and how I saved him from the same fate. The friendship that forged between us when he was on land. How that friendship turned to love. I think back to how many times we fought to be together.
Then I look at the man standing before me. The man who fathered me and left me. The man who tried so hard to have a relationship with me. Was any of that even real? Has my father had ulterior motives all this time?
The image of my half siblings crosses my mind. Little Ruthie and Bobby. They are innocent in all of this.
I can’t choose both.
I already know who I belong with.
With my eyes pinned on my father, I raise my hand that is linked with Damarian’s. It’s as if I’m pointing a gun at him.
Dad squares his shoulders, though a hard swallows makes its way down his throat. “Don’t make me hurt you, Cassie.”
“Don’t make me hurt you,” I say. “Let us go, and we can forget all of this. Continue living your life with Sheila and the kids. Let me and Damarian live ours. Put a stop to all the violence, Dad. It’s not worth it.”
“Not worth it?” His eyes blaze. “You didn’t live the past few hundred years yearning for the life you once had. For the people you once loved. If you don’t convince him to take the throne peacefully, we’ll do it by force. Mark my words, Cassie. There will be pain. There will be bloodshed.”
Damarian’s hand trembles. I squeeze it, hoping it calms him. My father claims that if Damarian takes the throne with no protest, the sea serpents would live peacefully with the children of the sea. But I doubt that. The merpeople annihilated most of their race. My dad’s family. Jace’s family. If I were them, I would want nothing but revenge. If they would enter the water, there would be another war. I need to prevent that.
“The past is the past, Dad. You’ve made a wonderful life for yourself. You have a beautiful family, a great job, and you have me. We’ve finally reconnected after all these years. Aren’t you happy with that? What else do you want? And Jace. Up until now, he didn’t know what he was. I haven’t had the chance to get to know him well, but it seems like he has a good life. He has an amazing girlfriend and great friends. Why would you want to ruin that?”
“We are sea serpents,” Dad says. “The ocean belongs to us, just as it belongs to any other creature of the sea. We will return to our true forms and we will reclaim our place in the ocean. It is inevitable, Cassie. And in time, you’ll come to understand that.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going to have any part of this. Please, Dad. I’m going to ask you one more time. Leave things the way they are. Continue living your life the way you’ve been doing the past six years. Let me and Damarian live ours. I love him, Dad, more than anything. Don’t deny us happiness. I beg you.”
Dad tears his eyes from us and turns around. He stands there with his back facing us for a few seconds before saying, “If you won’t give in to me willingly, I’ll have no choice but to use force.”
He spins around and thrusts out his palms.
Chapter Eighteen
I’m thrown in the air and collide into the wall behind me, my hand breaking away from Damarian’s. I collapse on the floor, my body stinging. Damarian is on the floor next to me. I push the pain away and get to my feet, my hand automatically searching for Damarian’s. His slides into mine. Our legs move on their own, running toward my father. We jump a few feet off the ground, and I raise my leg, kicking his stomach. It’s such a strong blow that he crashes through the wall, leaving a large hole.
Holy crap. I just kicked my dad. But he attacked us first. He’s now my enemy. The man lying on the floor is not the same person who took me fishing when I was a kid. He’s not the same man who bought me a bucket full of gummy worms when I had a hard day at school. He’s not the same man who refused to let me give up when I couldn’t learn to ride a bike. He’s not the same man who kissed my cuts and told me not to worry because they would heal by my wedding. No, the man lying on the floor is a monster.
“We must flee,” Damarian says. “Before they awaken.”
Tears glisten in my eyes. “Damarian.” My head moves toward the direction of the hole. Is my father seriously injured? Fighting for his life? I know he attacked me, but…he’s still my dad.
Damarian hugs me close. “I am sorry for all that has occurred, my sweet Cassie. There is a lot I do not understand. But it is highly imperative that we leave before they awaken.”
I nod. He’s right. I don’t understand the full extent of what they’re capable of. Dad just attacked us. I have no idea how. If he’s capable of accomplishing that alone, I fear to think what the rest of them can do.
Securing my hold on Damarian, I pull him toward the exit of the room. I don’t look back at my father. I don’t want any part of me to even contemplate helping him. As we make our way toward the front d
oor, I find a few more bodies lying around. My eyes meet Damarian’s. He took them down when he returned to save me. I don’t think they’re dead.
I open the door, and we run out. It’s starting to get dark outside. I have no idea how long I was held captive by my father. It could have been hours, it could have been days.
“You shouldn’t have come back for me,” I say as we run down the block. I don’t recognize where we are. It’s not my neighborhood. We could very well be miles away from my house.
“I could never abandon you, Cassie.” He brings our interlocked hands to his lips and kisses the back of mine.
“I know,” I say, leading him farther away from the house. “But they’re not going to give up. You heard my dad. At least if you were in the ocean, I’d know you were safe.” True the rebels are still around, but his people would protect him. That’s more than I can do for him on land.
“I do not understand why your father captured us,” Damarian says.
I check to my right and left to make sure no one’s following us before I say, “I’ll explain everything. But first, we need to get to safety.”
We can’t stay at my house—that would be the first place my father would look. We can’t escape to the ocean because I’m not welcomed there. Even if we stayed far from the colony, the rebels could find us.
“Leah’s cousin’s beach house,” I tell Damarian. I step into the gutter and try to flag down any passing car. Maybe someone will be kind enough to give us a lift. “We won’t be able to stay there for too long,” I continue. “Because I’m pretty sure Jace can squeeze the info out of Leah, but it’s good enough for now.” I hope.
Damarian’s hand is sweaty. It’s never been like this before. That means he’s extremely nervous. I rub my thumb over his knuckles, giving him a reassuring smile. Whatever happens, we have each other. “We’ll drop by my house to pack a bag,” I say. “Grab as many things as we need and find shelter at the beach house. We’ll be okay.”
