by Dee J. Stone
I look back and feel a pang in my heart. I left Damarian. A part of me hopes I’ll see him surging toward me any second, that he’ll gather me in his arms and hold me close and tell me that we’ll figure this out together. But I shove those feelings aside. The best thing I could have done for Damarian and his people was to leave. I’m the cause of all of this. I need to put a stop to those damn sea serpents before they step foot in the sea.
“Cassie.” A voice carries over the ocean. My ears perk up. That voice—I recognize it immediately. Leah.
I turn around, toward the direction of the voice. I hear it again, more urgent. My heightened mermaid hearing tells me that she’s not very far. What is she still doing here? She promised she’d leave town. Unless…could Jace have kidnapped her?
Pumping my tail, I swim toward the sound. Then I see it—a boat sitting on the ocean. From this distance, it looks like a tree log. I push myself upward and stop right under it. I can’t sense her, so I don’t know if anyone else is in the boat with her. I know I can trust her, but what if she is unknowingly helping Jace?
“Cassie?” She leans over the edge of the boat, but she can’t see me because I’m too deep. I can see her clearly, though. Her brown hair is disheveled, as though she ran her hands through it too many times. The thing that worries me is the panic in her eyes. “Cassie, do you hear me?” she asks, a tremor in her voice.
I don’t know if this is a trap, but it’s obvious something is very wrong. I break the surface.
“Cassie! You heard me. You came.” The relief in her eyes can swallow up the entire ocean.
I sign in relief when I see she’s alone, then stretch my arms and rest my hands on the edge of the boat, heaving myself up a little. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you. I’ve been taking a boat out here. Calling for you and hoping you’d hear.”
Fear seizes me. “Why?”
“Is it safe to talk?” she asks. “Is there enough privacy?”
I look around. It doesn’t seem like anyone is near, but I can’t stay in the ocean any longer. “Help me out of the water. I need to get out right now.”
Her eyebrows shoot up, but she nods. “I brought some towels and clothes, just in case.” She holds them out.
I’ve never appreciated clothes as much as I do now. “You’re a lifesaver, Leah. You have no idea how screwed I’d be if you weren’t here.”
“I was just about to give up and try again tomorrow.” She holds out her hands for me. I take them, and together, we haul me into the boat. It’s pretty small, and my tail hangs over the edge. For a second, I’m worried it might capsize. But it holds.
Leah hands me a towel, and I dry my upper body while she dries my tail. I lie on my back and stare at the sky as I wait for the change. It’s getting pretty dark out.
I wince as the tingly sensation takes over the lower half of my body, and then I whimper as it burns. My hands knock against the boat as they flail around, begging for the pain to stop. No matter how many times I do this, I always feel like I’m going to die.
And then it’s over.
I tighten the towel around my chest and sit up. Leah stares at me with her jaw hanging. She quickly shakes her head. “Sorry. Still gotta get used to that. Here.” She passes me the clothes. A sleeveless, grapefruit-colored shirt and black mini skirt. From her closet.
“Thanks.” I dress into them. “So what the hell is going on?”
Avoiding my gaze, she plays with a strand of hair. “I know you told me to leave Florida. But um. I couldn’t.”
I hold back from releasing a frustrated sigh. “Why?”
“Because I’d miss Jace.”
This time, I do sigh.
“And he’d miss me! But…I realized something was off about him. He just seemed odd. Different. I can’t explain it. He was just not himself anymore.”
Yeah, because he’s a frickin’ sea serpent.
“I stayed at his place and heard him talking on the phone. He thought I was busy in the kitchen, but I heard almost the whole conversation. He mentioned your name and the children of the sea. And um, attacking and killing? I started freaking out. And then I remembered how you wanted me to leave and not tell anyone, not even Jace. It confused me at the time, because why wouldn’t I tell my boyfriend where I was running off to? But as I listened to Jace’s phone call, something felt really…wrong. I knew I had to get in touch with you somehow. I took a boat and waited on the ocean.” Her eyes trek back to mine. “What’s going on, Cass? Why would Jace say those things?”
Jace must have been talking to my father. Or to another sea serpent they’ve “recruited.” Who knows how many more have joined them by now?
“Does Jace know you came out here?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “He thinks I’m working an extra shift at the juice bar. I made sure no one followed me. I’m so lost and confused.”
I take a deep breath and try to let it out slowly, but my body is shaking so it comes out in ragged breaths. “Leah, we need to talk. But not here.” It doesn’t seem like anyone’s around, but I can’t take the chance. “Do you know somewhere private we can go? A place no one knows about?”
“My cousin’s beach house?” she asks.
I shake my head. I can’t risk Jace knowing about it.
“I don’t know any place…Actually, I might! My dad just sold one of his beach houses to a young couple. They don’t move in until the weekend. Maybe we can stay there, but just for one night.”
I nod. One night is good for now. After that…I don’t know what I’ll do. Maybe withdraw all the money I have in my savings account and run away somewhere…
Then it hits me. Mom. New York. I need to get as far from the sea serpents as possible. Maybe the longer I stay away—and from Damarian’s power—the weaker the sea serpents will become. Then they won’t invade the sea. Maybe if the serpents are weakened, the merpeople might heal from the poison and be able to come on land, shift into humans, and kill off their enemy.
That’s the best plan I can come up with. Hopefully it works. And hopefully Damarian will stay in the ocean and not come looking for me. I need to cut off all ties with him, because I can’t absorb any more of his power.
One day, we’ll be together again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I come out of one of the downstairs bedrooms of my temporary residence and join Leah on the living room couch. “I just spoke to my mom. She’s ecstatic about my coming to New York. My flight is early tomorrow morning. Are you sure you’re cool with lending me clothes and some money?” We made a quick stop by her house and packed a bag.
“Of course.” She puts her arms around me. “But what’s going on, Cass? I’m dying here.”
I gently pull out of her embrace and hug my upper arms. “What I’m about to tell you…it’s not pretty.”
She nods slowly. “It’s better than being left in the dark like this.”
I guess she has a point. I wring my hands together on my lap, keeping my eyes on the floor. Then I take a deep breath and tell her about the sea serpents. When I’m done, her eyes are nearly popping out of their sockets.
“Mermaids, sea serpents. Are there crazy octopus ladies, too? Your dad? My Jace. He kidnapped you. Beat you?”
I hold out my palms. “I was just as shocked as you. Confused. Betrayed. Hurt.”
Tears pool in her eyes. “But Jace is a good guy. He wouldn’t even kill a damn bug. Believe me, I had to learn that the hard way. My Jace can’t be…evil.”
“But that’s just it, Leah. The thing that’s inside him—the sea serpent—it’s not…him. Not really. Just like the one inside me is not me. I met her.”
Her eyebrows rise.
“Damarian and I…” My voice chokes up. Just saying his name makes me miss him so much. “We went into my body to try to fight it off.” I shake my head. “We couldn’t. It’s gotten too strong. That’s why I have to leave to New York. I need to be as far away from
the beach as possible. I mean, there are oceans in New York, but as long as I’m not near the sea serpents, they won’t try to kidnap me and force me into the water. And I need to stay as far away as possible from Damarian so I don’t absorb any more of his power. It’s so hard to not reach out to him and see how he is, but I need do.”
“This is insane,” she says, incredulous. “I can’t believe we’re actually having this conversation. This has to be a dream. No, a nightmare.”
“I wish,” I mutter.
“So what’s your plan?” she asks. “You run away to New York and…?”
“I hope that the sea serpents will grow weaker and weaker as the days go on, because they’ll no longer have access to Damarian’s power.”
“The power he has because he’s the real king of the mermaids, right?”
“Yeah. He only has a portion of it, though. Because he hasn’t taken the throne.”
“But it’s enough for the sea serpents,” Leah says.
“Hopefully, it won’t last for much longer.”
Leah tucks her knees to her chest and rests her cheek on it. “So Jace is a monster.” There’s no mistaking the dejection in her voice. “The one guy I met who I actually can see myself having a future with turns out to be the sworn enemy of my best friend.”
I rub her arm. “I’m sorry.”
She starts to sob. I scoot over and take her in my arms. I hold her and try to comfort her, but I don’t think anything I say can make her feel better.
“I’m so stupid.”
“No. You’re not.”
“You met a gorgeous merman while I met a monster.”
“I know he cared deeply for you. He only found out the truth recently. I think he really loved you. Maybe he still does.”
She shakes her head. “No. Not the way he was acting. I don’t even know who he is anymore.” She laughs bitterly. “Oh wait, I do. He’s a sea serpent who wants to rule the ocean and wreak havoc.”
I wish I knew what to say to make her feel better. I lay my head on top of hers and rub her back. “You have to leave town. Jace is very dangerous.”
“I know.” Her voice holds nothing but tears. She’s trembling.
I continue rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. Eventually, she falls asleep.
I think I do, too, because the next thing I hear is footsteps. My eyes snap open to a dark room. I jump to my feet, straining my ears. The footsteps are outside. A shadow is at the front door.
Oh no. They found me.
I shake Leah. “Leah, get up. We need to leave.”
Her sleepy eyes open. “What?”
“We need to leave.”
The front door crashes to the ground, producing a yell from Leah, who grabs my arms, her nails digging into my skin. I’m too freaked to pay attention to the pain. A man walks inside, followed by three other figures.
I block Leah from them, raising fisted hands. I may only be one person, but I will kill them all.
The four of them stand before us. I can’t see their faces due to the dark, but based on the leader’s body, I know he is my dad. And I know the man right beside him is Jace.
“I told you it was inevitable, sweetie,” my father sneers. “Now, did you really have to go through all that trouble if we’re back here again?”
Leah’s nails dig further into my skin. I bite my lip so I don’t cry out in pain.
“Get her,” my father says.
“Don’t touch me!” I shout as two of them step forward. I punch one in the face. He staggers back a bit, but seems unaffected. Without Damarian by my side, I’m useless.
No. I won’t believe that. I lunge toward the same guy, aiming to land a blow on his jaw, but the two guys grab me by the arms and lock them behind my back.
“What are you doing?” Leah’s voice shrills. “Jace, how could you do this?”
“Take her to the car,” my father instructs.
I struggle to break free, but the only thing I’m gaining is making myself tired. The guys lift me off the floor and drag me toward the door.
“Don’t take her!” Leah yells. “Jace, please.”
“Will you shut up? Geez.”
I look back at my best friend and mouth, “Run.”
She shakes her head, her eyes wider than the moon.
I beg her with my eyes. She needs to escape.
The men drag me out the door and throw me into the trunk of a car. I bang my fists against the top, yelling at the top of my lungs. Maybe someone will hear me.
The car speeds away.
I continue yelling and banging my fists. Damarian’s face enters my mind. He senses my distress. He wants to help. But I shove him away. I don’t know what having his power inside me will do. I can’t risk providing the sea serpents with any more strength.
The car comes to a stop. A few seconds later, the truck pops open and four hands reach for me, yanking me out. They haul me into the same house they brought Damarian and me to when they kidnapped us. I yell and kick my legs, but that only causes one of the guys to slam a piece of cloth over my mouth. My kicking doesn’t seem to have any effect on them.
They bring me downstairs, to a medium-sized pool sitting in middle of the room. It’s much larger than the tank Damarian was held in. My father stands next to it, a sinister smile on his face. “So close,” he says. “I can almost feel it. Can you?”
Every organ in my body plummets when I realize what he plans to do.
“Throw her in.”
“No!” I yell. The tank is filled with sea water. If I lie in there, the serpents inside them will grow stronger and stronger. I kick my legs, yelling into the cloth and trying to jab my elbows into them. But it’s no use.
They toss me into the pool.
Stay tuned for book four, Merman’s Love, coming late 2015.
Read on for an excerpt from Merman’s Love, Book Four in the Merman’s Kiss series, now available on Kindle!
Chapter One
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. I see it all, as though a movie plays in my head. My dreams, my hopes, the life I yearn to have with the guy I love. My merman, Damarian.
The two of us swimming together in the ocean as children of the sea. Exploring his world with total freedom, without anyone or anything trying to tear us apart. Running on the beach as humans in my world, our hands interlocked, the wind blowing through our hair. We talk, we laugh, we tackle each other to the ground and roll over one another as we make out like we have all the time in the world to enjoy every second together. He whispers romantic things in my ear, telling me how much he loves me and how he can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with me. How much he’s looking forward to learning more about being a human, getting a job and marrying me one day. Starting a family, one that would be filled with love and total acceptance from both our families. He tells me that our kids will be the luckiest kids on the planet, because they’ll have the chance to live in both our worlds.
He tells me it doesn’t matter what obstacles lie in our path, because all that matters is that we have each other and that our love will triumph over all.
As the life seeps out of me, I try to hold onto his soft, musical voice. To his promises. To the beautiful future he painted before my eyes. I promise myself that Damarian and I will be together one day and that my dream will no longer be a dream but a reality.
When I hit the bottom of the pool my father tossed me into, with its cold, dirty, salt-filled water, and as my vision turns black, I know deep in my heart that this isn’t the end.
***
Reclaim the ocean. Reclaim what is ours.
My eyes shoot open to the lovely sight of water. My mouth snaps open and eagerly gulps the delicious salt water. It rejuvenates every part of me, from the tips of my fingers to the bottom of my toes. I close my eyes and rise out of the water, my arms spread out, my head tilted back. The sea water caresses every inch of me, giving me what feels like new skin.
I float out
of the pool. When my feet make contact with the floor, I wobble a bit. Gone is that human weakling. Gone is that pathetic excuse of life. I’m here, and I am life. My eyes fly open. I am me and I am FREE.
“Cassie?”
My father rushes over to me and stops a few feet away. Eyes assess me. Closely. Studying. Wondering. Hoping.
“She’s still human,” Jace nearly spits. He turns to storm away, but Dad holds out his hand.
“Wait.” He moves closer to me. Hesitantly. Still wondering. Still hoping. “How do you feel?”
Inhaling the stale air those wretched humans need to survive, I let the oxygen fill me up. I stretch my arms toward the ceiling. “I. AM. FREE.”
Dad, Sheila, my brother Bobby and sister Ruthie, Jace, and some of my other brethren that are gathered around, stare at me with their jaws nearly sweeping the floor. I stretch my arms even higher to shove that ridiculous ceiling away. It’s time we leave this poor excuse of a home and return to where we belong. To reclaim what’s ours.
“No, don’t!” Dad hurries over and grabs my arms, pinning them to my sides. “It’s still daylight.”
I make a disgusted sound at the base of my throat. Sunlight. Blerg.
“We still don’t know what kind of affect the sun will have on us,” Dad says. He moves around until he’s right before me. Sheila and Jace do, too, pushing their faces in front of mine. Again, they study. Assess. Wonder and hope.
“Is she…are we…?” It looks like Jace has forgotten how to talk. “But she’s still human.”
“Cassie?” Dad hesitantly puts his hands on my shoulders.
I shrug him off and hiss.
“What is it?” He makes a move to put his hands on my shoulders again. “Cassie.”
I fist my hands out in front of me and hiss, “Cassila.”
Dad’s eyebrows shoot toward his hairline. “Cassila?” Then recognition enters his eyes. “That’s right.” He turns to my brethren. “Her true name. Cassila.” He points to himself. “Marikus.” He touches Jace’s shoulder.
