by Dee J. Stone
I have no idea what to do after that. We need to make sense of everything my father told me. If what he told me is the truth. That I’m really one of those…things. He said my body is at war with itself, the mermaid and the sea serpent fighting for control. Which one will reign supreme? He claimed it’s inevitable that I will turn into one of those monsters. Does that mean Damarian and I will no longer be mated?
Finally, after what feels like hours but is probably only a few minutes, a car stops before us. A guy who looks to be in his mid-twenties rolls down the window. “Need a ride?” he asks.
I don’t know who I can trust. Could this guy be a sea serpent, too? Maybe sent by my dad? Should I be able to sense them? He claimed all the sea serpents are one unit and can feel each other’s emotions. I don’t feel anything as I take in this guy, who lowers his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and raises his eyebrows, looking at me as though I lost my brain. I didn’t sense the sea serpents back at the house. Maybe I would have if I tried.
As the guy watches me in the same manner, I slow down my breathing and concentrate on—what exactly? I have no clue. But the guy is getting impatient, his eyes moving from me to Damarian. My merman rests his hand on my shoulder. “Cassie?”
I don’t feel anything toward this guy. Maybe he’s not one of them. But if he is, he’s one person. Damarian and I are stronger together. We can take him down.
“Look, do you need a ride or what?”
I blink a few times. “Sorry. Yes, we do.”
He nods toward the backseat. “Hop in.” Damarian and I get in, and the guy steps on the gas. “Where to?” he asks.
I still don’t know if I can trust this guy, but I don’t see any other choice. We need to get to my house as quickly as possible so we can grab whatever we need and take refuge at the beach house.
After I tell him where to drop us off, he looks at me through his rear-view mirror. “That’s on the other side of town.”
I glance at Damarian. He looks as hopeless as I feel. “I understand,” I say, closing my fingers over the door handle. I can offer to pay him, but I don’t want to have any ties to him. Just to be on the safe side.
He holds out his hand. “It’s okay. My parents live in that area. It won’t hurt to pay them a visit.”
My body is swallowed in relief. “Thanks! That’s so kind of you. Are you sure it’s no problem?”
His eyes move from me to Damarian. “It seems like you two are in some sort of predicament. I don’t mind helping out. Let’s just put this under my good deed of the day.”
I lay my head on Damarian’s shoulder. Maybe this guy is being very kind because he plans on handing us over to my dad, but I tell myself to be positive. There has to be light peeking out of this abyss of suck that has claimed our lives. We’re going to get through this—we will.
When the guy turns into my neighborhood, I sit forward in the seat, my eyes scanning around carefully. Everything seems normal. Damarian puts his arm around me and nuzzles his nose into the side of my neck. He’s probably so confused about what’s going on, but he knows he can trust me. I know it was my idea to send him off to the ocean, but I have to admit that I feel safer having him here with me.
I tell the guy to drop us off a few blocks away from my house, just in case. Damarian and I thank him before climbing out. I keep my eyes on the car until it’s out of sight. He didn’t look suspicious, just kind. I hope that means we have nothing to worry about.
Before we left to the ocean, I hid the key to my house under the welcome mat so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it when I was a mermaid. It’s still there. I stick it into the lock and push the door open. Before stepping in, I put my finger on my lips and nod to Damarian. He returns it. Our hands lace together and we walk inside.
The house is dark. I stand still, straining my ears for any sound. I don’t hear anything but the ticking of the clocks. When I’m in my mermaid form, all my senses are heightened. I could hear everything, even the water dripping from the faucet downstairs. I wish I had those senses now to make sure no one is in the house. I would probably be able to hear breathing or the slightest movement.
“I’m going to turn on the light,” I whisper to Damarian.
He nods.
With his hand still in mine, I head to the light switch in the hallway and flick it on. We raise our hands, ready to take on anything that’s in our way, but the area is empty. We carefully go through the rest of the house, looking in closets and under the beds. No one is here.
“I don’t know how long we have until my father comes looking for us here,” I say as I get a suitcase from the hall closet. “Grab some clothes.”
We stuff the bag with whatever we think we’ll need. Clothes, shoes, canned food. Lots of sardines. I slip my hand underneath the mattress for the money I hid there for emergencies. One thousand bucks. I make sure to lock all windows, then swipe the key to Leah’s cousin’s beach house off the key rack.
“Ready?” I ask Damarian.
He picks up the bag. “Yes.”
I lock the door, and Damarian and I hurry out of my house. Once again, I check my surroundings to make sure no one is trailing us. I don’t see anyone around, but that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear. I take Damarian’s hand, and we start running as far away from my house as possible.
Leah’s cousin’s beach house is quite a distance by foot, but we can’t chance taking a cab or hitching a ride with someone. I don’t know who I can trust, if I can trust anyone. No one can know where we’re headed.
We reach the beach house thirty five minutes later. I meticulously check the exterior of the house to make sure no one is hiding in the bushes before letting us in and bolting the door shut. Damarian and I inspect every inch of the house, as though we’re cops searching for the bad guys. When we’re one hundred percent sure every room is clear, and that all doors and windows are secured, we collapse on the living room couch.
My lungs burn from all the running. Damarian takes me in his arms and holds me close. “Do not fret, my love,” he murmurs. “We will be all right.”
Everything I’ve been through in the last few hours comes crashing down on me. I bury my face in my hands and weep. Damarian rubs circles on my back, his lips skimming across my temple. I try to stop crying because I don’t have time to cry. But it’s like a pipe burst behind my eyes—the tears are never-ending.
“Sorry.” I hiccup. “I’m a mess.”
“It is all right, Cassie. What you experienced was not pleasant.”
“My f-father.” My shoulders tremble. “He’s behind it all. He’s leading the rebels.”
His body grows rigid. “I do not understand.”
I wipe my eyes and get my breathing under control. Then I tell him everything.
When I’m done, he has the most bewildered expression on his face. “Sea serpents? But that cannot be. Those are tales told to fry. They cannot exist.”
“But they do, Damarian. And I am one, too.”
He gently pushes me aside and stands, facing his back to me as he shoves a hand through his hair. “What a nightmare this is.”
“He…he wants me to convince you to take the throne. So that your power will be fully restored.”
He whirls around, his eyes alarmed. “My power? To what power is he referring?”
I nod toward his hand.
“The electricity,” Damarian says, his eyes lit with understanding. “What I suspected is true. I indeed possess power, for I am the true king.”
“This is crazy. First I’m a mermaid and now I’m turning into…into this monster? He said it’s inevitable. I am going to turn into one.”
He squeezes the sides of his head. “You are a child of the sea.”
“You can’t deny it. You saw what was on my face and arms. You saw that weird tail. It was a serpent’s tail—”
“No.”
“You know it’s true! Because of me, those monsters are going to invade the ocean. I’m going to be responsible for
the death of all the children of the sea!”
Damarian drops to his knees in front of me and takes my hands. “No, Cassie. This is not your fault. The children of the sea will not perish. They will—”
“The merpeople killed them off. Now they want revenge.”
Damarian shakes his head. “Your father claimed they wish to live in peace.”
“Would you want to live in peace with the people who killed off your race? Your family?”
Damarian opens his mouth to retort, but his lips press together. Tears enter his eyes. “I am at a loss, Cassie.”
I free my hands from his and walk to the window. Lifting the shade, I peek out. The streets are basically empty, with the occasional car passing by. I stay with my back turned to him. I don’t want to face him. Because then I’ll have to face all of…this.
Damarian’s arms come around me. “Do not be upset. We need to understand this.”
“What does Syren know, Damarian?”
His arms grow limp. “Pardon?”
I turn around. “Why was Syren so adamant about putting you on the throne? If the true king would take the throne and reach his full potential of power, that would open the door for the sea serpents to steal that power. What’s he hiding?”
Damarian’s face pales. His arms fall from around me. “You believe…my father is tied with these sea serpents?”
I throw my hands up. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything.”
“It cannot be.” His voice quakes. “Father would not betray us.”
“He kicked me out of the ocean.”
“Yes. But now we understand why he was so alarmed. If my father has the knowledge of these sea serpents, he must have thought…” His eyes widen.
My heart sinks to my toes when I see where he’s going with this. “He must have thought I was a spy,” I say. “That I was sent to seduce you and force you to take the throne. He knew you didn’t want to be king.”
His eyes widen even more. “I understand why I was captured by the rebels.”
“To get me into the water to save you,” I say. “Maybe they thought I would want to live in the ocean once I saw how amazing it is. They hoped you’d agree to take the throne if it meant putting a stop to their rebellion.”
“It is why they prevented us from leaving the sea when you shifted back to a human. For they thought I would acquiesce and take the throne.”
I sink down to the floor and hug my legs, burying my face in my knees. “I can’t believe this.” All this time, my dad has been pulling the strings. After he met Damarian and suspected he was the true king, his plan went into motion. He knew we slept together and that I would turn into a mermaid. He knew Damarian would never take the throne as long as I was living on land. That’s why he ordered the rebels to capture Damarian. He knew I would rush into the ocean to save him. He must have told the rebels to somehow force Damarian to give in, and that’s the reason they blockaded us when we tried to return to land. My father didn’t expect them to threaten my life, though. He seemed pretty shocked.
He must have originally assumed I would never change into a sea serpent because I’m only half. But once I mated with Damarian and absorbed some of his power, it woke up the monster inside me. The power transferred to the others, making the sea serpents inside them stronger. My father probably hoped I would agree to convince Damarian to take the throne once I found out who I really was.
Everything that’s happened was so that Damarian would take the throne. Just so they could steal his power and return to the ocean.
I bury my face in my knees again and continue to cry.
“Cassie.” Damarian wraps his arms around me and gently lifts me off the floor and into his arms. “My sweet Cassie.”
Nothing’s ever going to be the same.
Chapter Nineteen
Beeping wakes me up. I sit up and knock my head into something hard. Damarian groans.
“Sorry.” I reach to turn on the bedside lamp.
After my meltdown in the living room, Damarian coaxed me into eating and taking a hot bath to ease my aching muscles. They are so sore. I don’t know how I managed to fall asleep—I guess I must have been exhausted.
Beeping again. They’re coming from my phone. I swipe it off the night table and scan the screen. Text messages from Leah.
You’re really starting to freak me out. I haven’t heard from you in ages. Did you run off to the ocean without telling me?
Guilt overrides me. I left for the ocean without telling a soul. I was so sick that I didn’t even think about Leah. I’m about to text her back that I’m okay, but my hands freeze. She’s Jace’s girlfriend. She knows about the beach house—she was the one who showed it to me after all. She could easily pass the information over to Jace without meaning to. It’s not like she knows who he is.
Or does she? Could it be Leah’s one of them, too?
I shake my head quickly like I want the thought out ASAP. Leah can’t possibly be a sea serpent.
But what if I’m wrong? I don’t know who I can trust.
Damarian leans over to look at my phone. “What is the matter?”
“It’s Leah. She’s worried about me.” The phone is getting wet from my sweaty hand. I place it back on the night table and wipe my palm on the blanket. I twist around to face him. “We can’t stay here any longer. She might have told Jace about this house.”
He’s quiet for a few seconds before he asks, “Have you lost your trust in Leah?”
I swallow back the tears threatening my eyes. What would she say if she found out what her boyfriend did to us? “I don’t know. I can’t imagine her being on their side. But then again, I never imagined my father would do what he did. The same goes for Jace. I…I don’t know if we can trust anyone but ourselves.”
He caresses my cheek. “I am sorry, my love.”
“Jace did horrible things to us. I can’t tell Leah. It would crush her. She loves him very much.”
“But if he is not who he appears to be, she must be informed.”
“What if she’s with them?” I ask.
His face grows dark. “It is possible he may threaten her.”
My stomach leaps to my throat. “He probably doesn’t care about her. Not as much as he wants to take revenge on the children of the sea, I’ll bet. They killed his entire family.”
Damarian’s lips purse. “That is not the truth.”
I touch his cheek. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe it, either. But Jace believes it. He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He might hurt Leah.”
“What is it you wish to do?”
Goose bumps form on my arms and legs. I pull the blanket up to my chin, but it doesn’t help. I’d die before I let anyone hurt my best friend. But I can’t tell her about the sea serpents. What if she confronts Jace? Having the knowledge may put her in even more danger. But I can’t not tell her. She needs to get as far away from Jace as possible.
I grab my phone and dial her number.
“Finally! Glad to know you’re alive.”
“Leah.”
“Uh oh. You sound really serious. Way too serious for one o’clock in the morning.” She yawns.
“Leah, listen to me carefully. You need to leave Florida.”
“What?”
I don’t want to scare her. Leah’s the kind of girl who faces danger instead of running away. But I need to keep her away from Jace. “I can’t say too much,” I tell her. “But you need to leave Florida. You have family in Chicago, right?”
“Hold up. Just wait a second. Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Cassie. Are you in trouble?”
You have no idea. “I’m fine.” I don’t want to tell her that Damarian is with me because I don’t know if Jace is with her. Maybe he’s tapping into her phone. “Don’t worry about me. Just promise you’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“You’re really scaring me now.”
Tears pool in my ey
es. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to scare you. It’s just that I’m worried the people I care about will get hurt. My mom is in New York. You’re the closest person I have after her.”
She goes dead silent. The only thing I hear is her heavy breathing.
“Leah?”
“C-Cassie.” Her voice shakes.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I assure her. “Just leave Florida. Please.”
“This has to do with…those rebels?”
“I’d rather not go into detail. The less you know, the better.”
I know she’s not satisfied with the answer, but she seems to let it go because she says, “Okay. I’ll ask Jace to come with me.”
“No!” I shout. Damn, I didn’t mean to yell like that. “I mean, you can’t take Jace with you. Don’t take anyone. Please, just promise me you’ll go alone and that you won’t tell anyone where you’re staying. Not even Jace.”
“You’re talking crazy.”
“I want to protect you, Leah. Promise me.”
“Cassie—”
“Promise me.”
She takes in a deep breath. “Okay. I promise.”
“First thing in the morning. Swear it.”
“I swear that I’ll leave Florida first thing in the morning.”
“And that you won’t tell anyone where you’re going,” I say. “Not even Jace. Especially Jace,” I say under my breath.
“Fine. I won’t tell anyone where I’m going.”
I sigh in relief. “Thanks.”
“I’m worried about you. You can’t just drop a bomb like that and expect me not to freak.”
“I’ll be fine, Leah. Don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself. I have to go now.”
“No! Don’t you dare hang up on me!”
“I need to.”
“Cassie—”
“I need you to trust me.”
“I need to know that you’ll be okay.”
“I will be. I swear.”
“Just…” Her voice cracks. “Take care of yourself. I love you.”
“I will. I love you, too. I’ll speak to you as soon as I can. Bye, Leah.”
