by Starla Night
Bella cupped her hands over the dark blood. “No. No. Please no.”
Her soul light flowed into his. Despite the new pain, old disease, and his other injuries, peace welled in his heart.
His wounds were deadly and incurable.
Bella would cure them.
He lifted his lips. “Kiss me.”
“Balim.” Tears dampened her cheeks. “You’re dying.”
“I need…your strength.”
“Anything.”
His words were draining along with his strength. “Happy, Bella.”
“How can I be happy in this tragedy?”
“Happy. Kiss.”
She didn’t believe him but pressed her lips to his.
Their souls entwined and multiplied. Not ten times or a hundred times.
A thousand.
Her mouth fitted to his, and, sensing his response, she teased her tongue along his seam. He opened to her, welcoming her in and possessing her in return.
She loved him. His darkest time and his brightest. He was not a murderer to her. He was a warrior. A healer. A male.
Hers.
She pressed one hand to his belly while she nestled beside him. His heart beat with her blood, and his mind focused on their connection. His cock filled with their shared past. She had once invited him into her body while wearing a plastic, and she would do so again.
He connected to her. And her soul filled him with a fierce determination to live, to always chase the light, to heal others.
Now, he healed himself.
The stinging in his belly faded as his skin knit together, sealing his viscera away from the air. Her queen power shone. Because she had found her power. Happiness in sadness, sadness in happiness. The two coexisting in one.
Like them.
He pulled back, releasing her with a sigh. The bleeding had stopped. And so had the sickness. The dark bruises on his chest from the cursed dagger cut faded away. The rings disappeared.
That was why the first couple had survived.
And that was how they would fight the Blue Ring Disease.
“It is curable,” Balim said to her, aloud. “Heal the mind and the body.”
The shining in her eyes matched the brilliance glowing in her chest. “We can do that. Humans get a milder infection so if we catch it, give therapy along with whatever treatment, we can heal—”
“No.” Behind them, the general growled. “No warrior survives Blue Ring. No one.”
She fixed on the general’s still-bloody dagger and lowered her voice. “We have to go. The Sons of Hercules are bombing this ship.”
Balim was well familiar with their bombs. He groaned as Bella helped him to his knees.
The general brandished his dagger. “You are still infected.”
“A queen could cure you,” Balim replied.
“I am an All-Council general. I will never accept a queen.”
Bella tried to reason with the general. “Your bride—”
“Never.”
“If she knew you were sick, she could return to you and—”
“Others have fond memories of their brides. I do not.”
“You were not soul mates.” Balim took a deep breath and leaned on Bella. She helped him stagger to his feet. “When you meet your soul mate, you will know.”
“Stop.” He lifted his dagger in threat. “I had my bride. That was more than many warriors receive. So, we die together.”
“But my son, Jonah, is—”
“I have nothing worth living for. No one will cure me. And nothing will change my mind.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Bella had reached the end. She didn’t know how to reason with the general. Didn’t mer treasure their children? How could he wish death on her child?
The general was about to collapse. Could she attack him?
Balim held her tighter. Protectively.
They had no time. Something had to change the general’s mind.
“Bella?” Nora stuck her head in, squinting at the abrupt change from bright sun to the dull interior and still coughing up seawater. “Are you in here?”
“Nora! Where’ve you been?”
“Oh, first I was following you, and then Octopus Kong and I had to keep a low profile, and then we had to chase off the warriors. I saw you run across the deck, and I didn’t see the dick who captured you, so…” Her eyes adjusted as her gaze fell on the general. “Uh….oh.”
General Giru stared at her, dagger raised, obviously threatening them. He blinked as though he were the one who couldn’t see. “Who?”
“Great.” Nora touched her chest. “I’m great. I mean, I’m Nora. Who are you? Or, wait. Do I know you?”
“He broke into the hospital and dosed the water with Blue Ring,” Bella explained as she reviewed their options for sneaking out of the room unstabbed.
“Oh, I wasn’t around for that. I was on a bathroom, well, a what-to-do-about-rent break.”
“I would never have infected a female with Blue Ring,” the general said nobly.
“Well, that’s great. Because it would be awkward if you had.”
“Awkward?”
“Yeah. Because…” She trailed off, shook her head, and waggled her index finger at Bella. “You were right. Totally right. I didn’t believe you, but the knowledge is like, ‘Bam!’ and there’s no mistaking it.” Nora turned back to the confused general. “I’m your soul mate.”
Wait.
What?
Balim made a startled noise. And the general looked the most shocked. Nora just nodded and laughed as if everything made sense.
“You are a human,” the general stated as if that made any difference.
“Queen,” Nora corrected. “And you’re a dick. As well as terminally ill. And commanding a lot of warriors who lost to a giant octopus. But also you’re my—”
“No.” He lowered his knife and turned to her, Bella and Balim forgotten as Nora became his entire world. “No, no.”
Bella edged Balim away from the arguing couple. Which direction would Jonah be? Could she leave Balim near the railing while she investigated?
“Yes!” Nora laughed again. “Admit it. You feel the same.”
“I do not possess feelings.”
“Sure you do. And you feel you’re my—”
“I have had a bride.” He raised a finger. “One. Taking a second defies the law of the ancient covenant.”
“Oh, well, laws are made to be broken.”
His mouth opened and closed. “But I am the second commander of the All-Council armies. I cannot speak with, much less claim, a modern rebel queen.”
“And yet here we are speaking. Claiming is right around the corner.”
“Then I cannot take that turn.”
“You can’t fight reality.”
“Yes, I can.” He held up his finger again, refusing Nora the same way he’d refused to succumb to his illness. With sheer willpower. “And I do. I make reality.”
“Look, you’re making yourself sick.” She started toward him. “I’ll heal you. I’ve got lots of practice, so I ought to be great at it.”
He jolted back and stepped around a desk to keep it between them. “I do not need healing.”
“You do. Look at you. I can’t believe you’re standing upright.”
“I do not need you. I refuse you.”
“What’s your name? I’m Nora.”
“No one. I have no name.”
“General Giru,” Bella offered, easing another step deeper into the hall.
Nora stopped and smiled. “Giru. I like it.”
“You do? Nora. It is simple, like a proper name of the mer.” He seemed to taste her name.
She smiled. “Yeah. But I have to warn you, that’s about the only ‘proper’ thing about me.”
He shook himself and backed away from her again. “I fought your people. Poisoned them. Stabbed your healer.”
“Looks like he got better.”
“We are e
nemies!”
Nora closed the distance between them.
He lowered his knife to protect her from its blade. “I enforce the order. Tradition. I uphold the propriety of the mer.”
“And I got in trouble a lot as a kid.” She rested her hands on his bare chest just below a row of blue rings. “Let’s get this sickness off you.”
“I uphold the past to safeguard the future of our young fry.”
He did? All right, then!
“So help me find Jonah!” Bella raised her voice. “That’s what I keep trying to tell you. They’re sending fighter jets to bomb this boat, and my son, Jonah, is here!”
The two stopped and turned. Her words broke their private spell.
“Where?” Nora asked.
“Young fry Jonah?” General Giru frowned. “He is still here?”
So, General Giru knew Jonah. He was here. “Herc said so. And we have to find him before—”
“Mom?” Jonah stumbled out from a corridor. He yawned and shuffled in pajamas she didn’t recognize, but in the crook of his elbow, he held his ragged bear. “Mom. Hi, Mom.”
Her heart exploded.
“Jonah!” She rushed to him and threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight.
He was here. Really here. Awake, in her arms, and here.
And he had hair. Inches of puffy red hair. She stroked it. “You’re awake. Are you all right? How long have you been awake?”
“Awhile.” He yawned again. “You’re naked.”
“Uh, yeah.” She hugged him. “I’ll, uh, find a towel.”
“You’re all naked. All of you.”
“It’s a long story.”
“The mer do not wear human fabrics in the sea,” Balim told Jonah, unselfconscious about his nudity. “We swim naturally and do not require these fabrics for staying warm.”
He seemed to accept that explanation. “Where’s the doctor and everybody? Oh, General Giru.”
“Young fry Jonah.” The general frowned. “You did not exit the ship with the others.”
“They never let me out. I heard shouting, but I was playing the Switch, and then it got quiet, so I took another nap.”
She kept hugging Jonah, partially to shield her nakedness from him, and partially because she couldn’t let him go. “Has General Giru been kind to you?”
“Yeah, we’re friends.” He squeezed the bear. “The doctors said I’m cured because of the Sea Opal elixir I drank and you just didn’t realize it. I’ve been waiting to tell you a long time.”
“I came as soon as I could.” She swallowed and stood, still holding him. Had he always been so tall? All arms and legs and boy? “The doctors hid you away from me. They are not good men.”
“General Giru is good.”
The room grew silent.
Jonah looked at the general expectantly.
The general’s brow wrinkled as he finally understood that he was not standing on the side of right. Self-hatred flexed across his features. Horror crossed with denial.
“It is not too late to change,” Balim told the decorated warrior. “Save this mother and young fry.”
He frowned.
“General Giru?” Jonah asked.
“He’s made mistakes too.” Bella pulled Jonah to Balim’s side and took his hand. “We all have. And we’re getting out of here. If that’s okay with General Giru.”
Without a word, the general sheathed his dagger.
Balim let out a long breath and sagged against Bella. He was healing, but still terribly weak. She held him up, her own knees trembling, the single pillar of strength in their new family.
Jonah looked up at Balim. “Are you a general too?”
“No. An ordinary merman.”
“Balim’s a merman doctor.” Bella squeezed Jonah. She would continue until the happy reality sank in. “He consulted with me on your treatment after Faier.”
“Faier was cool.” Jonah studied Balim. “He had more scars on his face.”
“Scars are the marks of great heroes,” Balim told Jonah.
“Like your chest?”
Balim looked down at the healthy red scab. “Hmm.”
“Yes,” Bella said. “Like his chest.”
Jonah pulled up his shirt to display scars from his treatments. “I’ve got hero marks.”
“You do.” She hugged him. “I’m so proud of you.”
His skinny arms went around her back. “Um, Mom? Why is everyone naked?”
“Ah.” She released him and covered her bare chest and lower. “Yes. About that—”
Starr’s voice crackled through one of the overhead speakers. “Bella, can you hear me? Bella, they’re bombing the boat. If you’re still on there, get off now.”
The voice of Bella’s Starr galvanized the group, and Balim hobbled with Bella and her child out of the room.
Jonah’s eyes bugged. “Bombing?”
She ushered him across the deck following the general and Nora into the sunlight. Her words were for Balim. “Jonah’s still human. He can’t survive underwater like we can.”
“Then he must not submerge.”
General Giru’s voice rang out. “He will not suffer an injury while I am here. I will operate the platform for you. Back, beast!”
The general raised his trident against the flailing arms of a curious, semisubmerged Octopus Kong. He had crawled up the side of the boat like a massive, squishy, friendly Kraken.
“Whoa.” Nora forced the trident down. “That’s Octopus Kong. He’s our friend.”
“Mer are not ‘friends’ with deadly cave guardians.”
She lifted her chin. “Funny how you can be a merman your whole life and not know how friendly giant octopuses are.”
“You will not endanger young fry Jonah with this giant cave guardian.”
“Watch me.”
Bella passed the arguing couple. “Jonah, how well do you remember your swim lessons from last summer?”
“That was two summers ago, Mom.” He got onto the platform and settled, squinting in the sunlight and shivering as the sea sprayed him.
Bella noticed his physical reactions at the same time as Balim. “We have no life vests. Just keep your head above water. Oh, I need to grab a blanket.”
Balim stopped her. “No, Bella.”
“But he needs food and water. And I didn’t check the cabin. I might find a first aid kit. At least a flare.”
“We must go now, Bella.”
She made a worried noise.
He calmed her with reason. “I will enter the water first and catch Jonah. Come next. We will travel faster together.”
The platform reached the plunging waves, and Bella helped Balim jump.
Rough waves crashed over his head, shoving him into the safety of the deep.
He fought the shift from human to mer. His belly wound and chest laceration complained. He needed his healer tools.
Balim’s head broke the surface, and he sucked in a deep breath of air, keeping his lungs while his sight shifted to human. “Jonah—”
Octopus Kong’s tentacle wrapped around him and dragged him under once more.
He pushed on the giant cave guardian, releasing his air and shifting to vibrate. “No! I must catch Bella’s young fry. He is human and must breathe air!”
The giant cave guardian rotated his dark plus-shaped eye to focus on Balim as though to ask him, skeptically, if he was serious.
“Release me,” Balim insisted. “We must escape from the boat. It will soon explode.”
Octopus Kong thrust him above the waves. He gasped and coughed as he shifted forms once more.
On the platform, Bella clutched Jonah to her chest. Her desperation eased as she saw him.
Above on the ship, Nora had to hold back the general from leaping in and attacking the giant cave guardian.
Jonah looked on with equal parts wonder and terror. “Wow. Did it try to eat you?”
“No,” Balim gasped, the tentacle still wrapped around his middle. �
�A misunderstanding. Take my hand.”
“Will it try to eat me?”
“No.”
Far above in the sky, tiny whining wasps flew toward the boat. Were these the fighter jets?
“Hurry.”
Bella moved smoothly despite her agitation. “Jonah, take Balim’s hand. Got it? Good.”
His hands were small and slick in Balim’s grip.
Jonah fumbled his bear. “Mom?”
“I’m right behind you.” She followed, sandwiching Jonah to the tentacle, trusting Octopus Kong as Balim did. She patted the giant cave guardian’s exposed rubbery skin. “Let’s go.”
The giant cave guardian flew them across the ocean’s surface, creating a monstrous ripple, while keeping chests and, most critically, heads above water.
Jonah shouted in surprise when they plunged through waves, and then he shivered.
Nora and the general disappeared from the platform into the water.
Octopus Kong slowed and then stopped.
“Is this far enough away?” Bella asked in concern.
Balim replied. “You know human weapons better than I.”
“Maybe we should flee a little—”
Ker-ka-BOOM! Ka-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The ship erupted in a flash of light.
Balim’s ears rang.
Jonah clapped his hands over his ears. Bella winced and clapped her hands over Jonah’s so two pairs of hands were covering his young ears.
Balim covered hers.
The ocean cratered and surged. They dipped into a deadly wave. Octopus Kong shuddered.
The distant, whiny wasps sped away.
Jonah wiggled and Bella dropped her hands from his ears so Balim released hers. Jonah hugged his mother. She squeezed him back and threaded her fingers through Balim’s.
The boat smoked a long, black tail into the sky. “There’s our distress flare.”
They watched for some time.
Jonah cried suddenly. “Aw, no!”
Bella startled. “What is it?”
“I left behind my Switch.” He squinted at the fiery conflagration. “Can we go get it?”
“No,” Balim said.
“We’ll get another one,” Bella promised.
Jonah’s chin wrinkled, and he looked like he was trying very hard not to cry.
