by Sara Summers
It felt weird to sneak through Marie’s apartment the way I had throughout my teenage years, but at the same time, it felt good to feel my age again. I was only twenty, but the council treated me like I was supposed to be an old and wise adult.
I don’t want to be an adult all the time.
I realized as we snuck through the kitchen.
Ava grabbed two Tupperware containers out of the fridge, then handed them to me. I put them down and slid onto the counter, sitting up with my feet dangling off the way I would’ve when I was growing up in Marie’s apartment.
A smile lingered on my face. For the first time in a year, I felt like myself again. Even if it was just for a moment that was a good feeling to have back.
Alena handed me a spoon and then jumped onto the counter with me.
“The soup is cold, but it’ll have to do.” She whispered. “I ate the rest of the leftover pizza yesterday after Marley dropped me off.”
“Marie let you have pizza?” I raised my eyebrows, quietly pulling the lid off the first Tupperware. “After Marley snuck you out?”
“She agreed that going to find you so you could save Marley’s mate was the right thing to do.” Alena shrugged, opening the second container. “This one has fruit salad in it.” She added, her voice still a quiet whisper. “And I think she’s getting loose in her old age. We’ve started eating out two or three times a week, and from what I understand the council tells all the older people that they have to cook every meal on land.” Alena added.
“Yeah, that’s a stupid rule.” I couldn’t disagree with that one. “But Marie isn’t that old.” I protested.
“Are you kidding? She said the council almost refused to let her take me. They questioned her ability to raise another teenager after you cussed them out when they told you that you were supposed to be the queen.” Alena told me, putting a bite of cold soup in her mouth.
“Really?” I was shocked. I mean, not about the time I cussed out the council. The first time they told me all the rules I was expected to follow and all the queenly duties I had just inherited, I freaked out.
I came to accept the role a week or two afterward, of course, but I hadn’t known about it until they dragged me into the ocean and to a mermaid city I couldn’t remember seeing before.
“Yep.” Alena nodded.
I tried a spoonful of cold soup. It was potato soup, so it was delicious. Although, it would’ve been better if it was warmer. Since it was so cold it was pretty much just potato mush.
After a few bites of that, I tried some of the fruit salad. It was good, too, but a little hard to eat with a spoon in the dark.
Alena and I stayed up until three AM whispering while eating fruit salad and cold soup. I was surprised when we went to bed, because of how alive it made me feel. Doing fun things with my sister, the one I’d just barely discovered, was so much different than the everyday responsibilities that threatened to consume my life.
It was nice not to feel alone in the world. I guess that’s what sisters are for, sometimes. They remind you that there’s someone who cares about you even when everything else goes to crap.
That night, I would’ve preferred another sister over the soulmate who didn’t want me. It would’ve been nice if there were three of us to hang out and talk and laugh at things that really weren’t funny.
But instead I had Sam, and eventually I’d be grateful that I did.
Chapter 7
The next morning, I couldn’t stop yawning. Alena and I shouldn’t have stayed up so late. But then again, looking back at how much fun we had together, I didn’t regret it at all.
Marie heard us getting ready to go and came out of her room, dragging a suitcase behind her.
“I’m coming with you.” She announced.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea…” I warned.
“I’m not sending the entire royal family to New York City all alone.” Marie scowled at me.
“I’m not part of the royal family.” Sam protested.
“Sure you’re not.” Marie rolled her eyes at him, which seemed to surprise the man. “Someone has to keep you safe, and I’m going to do it.” She said. “Don’t bother arguing.”
“Leah did offer us an extra ticket.” I admitted, looking over at Alena. “Alright Marie, you’re in.” I agreed.
We all squeezed inside Sam’s truck for the ride to Glacier. Alena and Marie sat in the back, and they didn’t seem to mind being a little close to each other. None of us talked much through the four-hour drive. I had nothing to say to Sam, and apparently the same thing was true for him.
I had to call Sav for directions to Leah’s house, which was the place we were meeting. It took a little extra time to get there down the bumpy dirt road in the forest, but we made it there in one piece.
When we climbed out of the car, a whole group of the shifty girls hurried out to hug me. I half-smiled as they engulfed me in a massive group hug. Though I’d seen Leah, Sav, and Marley, I hadn’t seen the rest of them in the entire year since I’d become queen.
“Ava!” someone shrieked. I figured it was Brooke because she had the most energy out of our entire friend group.”
“It’s so good to see you in person.” Kennedy, my otter friend, smiled. As they all stepped away from me, I noticed Sam eyeing Kennedy.
“Stop staring at my friend.” I muttered under my breath, turning to Sav and Leah. “Is there anything you need us to do? We still have a few hours until we need to be at the airport, right?”
“Yeah, about three hours.” Leah nodded.
I noticed that her stomach was looking a bit rounder than I remembered it, and my eyes widened. With the power the ocean gave me, I could already see a hint of the futures of the children in her stomach, thanks to the coties they would be born with. She would have two babies, both boys.
“Are you pregnant?”
She blushed.
“Yep. We’ve got a baby wolf on the way.” She admitted. I didn’t correct her, but Jazz did.
“Two wolfies.” Jazz threw in. “I’m telling you, I have a sense about these things.”
“Sure you do.” Leah rolled her eyes. “I can’t handle two babies, so there is no way I’d end up with twins.”
“We could show you the campus if you want.” Sav offered, changing the subject and adjusting the little girl on her hip.
“Did you adopt her?” I raised my eyebrows again. “Sorry, I’ve been gone a while.” I said, sheepishly.
“This is Lyssie. She was my brother’s daughter, but now she’s mine.” Sav smiled. “Don’t worry about it.” She told me.
“So she’s a panther?” I smiled. Sav didn’t know that I was in on the secret, but I knew she couldn’t have kids. Besides that, she didn’t realize that I recognized the girl as a panther the moment I saw her. Mermaid magic and being queen could be a useful advantage.
As I said the word, the little girl in her arms shifted into an adorable, tiny little panther.
“Lyssie.” Sav complained, shaking her head as she put the tiny panther on the ground. “Don’t get lost.” She shook her finger at her child. The baby panther hissed and then took off into the forest. Sav sighed and shook her head.
I pulled my gaze off the baby panther, my cheeks warming when I realized what it meant that Sam didn’t want me. I would never have kids, either. No tiny mermaids, no being a mother…
My heart sank a little further, but I forced myself not to show the sadness.
“Ava, who’s this?” Kennedy prodded me to remember my mate, who was still staring at Kennedy with his eyebrows wrinkled.
“Oh, this is Sam.” I introduced him, though it was a bit awkward since he didn’t want to be what he was.
I checked to make sure my friend Bree wasn’t there; she was a human, so I couldn’t tell everyone that he’d been changed if she was there.
“He was a human until yesterday. Now he’s a merman, and my mate.” I explained.
They gaped at both me and
Sam.
“You got stuck with a tail and a soulmate in one day?” Jazz asked. “That bites.”
“No kidding.” Sam grimaced.
Pretty much the whole group of girls winced at the anger in his tone. What girl wants to hear that someone’s soulmate doesn’t want a soulmate?
“Alright, did you want to give us a tour of the campus?” I forced a smile and changed the topic.
“Sure.” Sav nodded. “Anyone else want to see it?” she checked. A few of the girls nodded. “Okay, cool. Jazz, will you give the tour?”
“Of course.” Jazz grinned. “The school is my baby. Ava, you drive with your crew. The rest of us will lead the way.”
“Sounds good.” I nodded.
My group climbed back into Sam’s truck even though none of us wanted to drive any longer. When Jazz pulled away, we followed.
As soon as we were driving, Alena spoke up. She went right to business, my sister-slash-attack dog
“Sam, why were you staring at Kennedy?” She demanded. “You’re Ava’s soulmate, and even if you weren’t, you’re not an otter.”
“I know, I just…” Sam grimaced. “Look, one of my buddies from the military was an otter shifter. He told me that he knew where his soulmate was but didn’t want to go after her yet. He didn’t feel ready for some reason.” He sighed. “I saw the mark on that girl’s collarbone and recognized it immediately. It matches my friend’s.”
“What?” I demanded.
“I shouldn’t have told you; he swore me to secrecy.” Sam sighed. “I know it’s wrong, okay?”
“If one of your best friends is a shifter, why are you so against being one yourself?” Alena spoke up again. Marie listened silently from the back seat, a calm observer.
“Just leave me out of this. We’re talking about my friend.” Sam snapped.
“Fine, but you have to tell Kennedy.” I warned. “Or at least call your friend and tell him to get his butt back to the world of the living.”
“This has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it, Ava.” His words were harsh. I knew I shouldn’t have let them hurt me, but they did.
I folded my arms and looked out the window.
None of us said anything else on the way to the campus.
Chapter 8
After the campus tour, which wasn’t much of a tour because the buildings were barely starting to go up, we went back to Leah’s house. Jazz picked up a few boxes of pizza, and we all ate that for lunch.
Though I felt a little uncomfortable at first, it became easy to fall back into talking with my friends. They were fun to be around, and I had missed them more than I realized.
The afternoon flew by with chatting and card games, and before I knew it, we were on our way to the airport.
None of us said much during that ride either, and I felt a little bad that I didn’t start any conversations. Still, I didn’t know what to say.
Sam had been studying Kennedy through the whole afternoon. It hurt me a little that he paid more attention to her than he ever had given me, but I didn’t let it show. He wanted nothing to do with my world, and I would just have to accept it.
As we boarded the plane—we had three and a half rows between the group of us—I realized that the group of shifters going to the summit was pretty much made up of the shifty girls. There were a few others, including Marley’s and Sav’s mates along with an unfamiliar guy sitting by Leah, but other than that we were it.
“Why don’t we have alphas and other leaders from all the groups of shifters?” I asked Jazz, who sat across the aisle from me.
“We contacted a few, but none of them were willing to come. They said it would mean risking their lives and wasn’t worth dying for.” Jazz shrugged. “I understand why they believe that, to an extent.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I nodded, though I didn’t really understand. Wouldn’t all types of shifters want to be accepted by humans? That was why we were going to the summit anyway, wasn’t it?
“Also, we figured that if it’s just shifty chicks at the summit, people will be more hesitant to try anything. We’re pretty well known, so to kill or even hurt any of us would lead to an outrage even among humans.” Jazz added.
I raised my eyebrows.
“So basically, if we die we’ll be martyrs to our cause.” Brooke grinned from beside Jazz, though she was holding her stomach and her face looked pale.
“Great.” I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, hoping to get some sleep. If sleep took my mind off the likelihood of dying in the next few days, that would be a bonus.
A few minutes after I closed my eyes, Sam whispered something to me.
“What?” I opened them and looked over to him. He wanted to talk to me? And he wasn’t angry?
What was the world coming to?
“I said sorry.” Sam grimaced. I had to wonder if he could make any other expression. Literally, grimaces and anger was all I had ever received from him. “I didn’t mean to stare at your friend. Even though I don’t want to be a merman, I can see why that might’ve hurt you and I’m sorry.”
“What?” I raised my eyebrows. I was shocked to hear him say anything to me, but those words were even more unexpected.
“Don’t make me say it again.” He leaned back in his seat.
“I didn’t mean… never mind.” I closed my eyes and looked away.
“She’s perfect for Grant. Kennedy, I guess. Grant’s my friend, her....” He said quietly. I turned back to him, even more surprised that he had something else to say to me that hadn’t morphed into anger yet.
“Her soulmate.” I nodded. “It’s not surprising. Most couples end up that way. Sometimes it takes a while, but for the most part when people put the effort in they realize that they’re perfect for each other. Except us, I guess.” My heart drooped more than it was already drooping, and I turned to look away once again.
I couldn’t stand to look at him, the man who was supposed to be my forever.
My soulmate.
The one who wanted nothing to do with me.
“I guess.” Sam’s whisper echoed my words, but I still didn’t look back at him.
I couldn’t look back at him.
It hurt my heart too much.
Chapter 9
When our plane landed, there were taxis waiting for us. There were men holding signs with our names on them, which was weird to see in real life. I’d only ever seen it in movies, and often when someone did have a sign with someone’s name on it they were planning to kill the person.
As we were following the drivers out to their waiting cars, I felt a salty breeze hit my face.
I stopped there, and the people behind me stopped when I did. Closing my eyes, I tried to figure out why the ocean was calling to me right there, in the middle of New York.
The girls in front of us kept walking. I heard the ocean whisper,
“Wait,”
And cried out to my friends,
“Stop! Back up!”
Luckily, my yell surprised them enough that they did what I said. Brooke, Jazz, and Kennedy jumped backward. A second later, the car in front of them exploded.
I threw my hands up in the air, intending to protect myself with them somehow. Before they got high enough to block me, Sam had tackled me to the ground. In a moment, the smoke cleared, and I watched him look at the smoking car in front of us. I could see it in his eyes, the terror. He had been in a situation like that before, I knew.
Somehow, I knew.
I’d always known the military wasn’t a happy place to be by any means, but the idea of living in a place where cars frequently got blown up was terrifying all the same.
“I think I’m going to puke.” Kennedy gaped at the car. “We almost just died.”
Everyone’s eyes focused on me, but mine drifted upward to a surprised looking woman standing across the street. She looked like a normal person, like everyone else on the street, but the ocean told me that she wasn’t like any of the other people around u
s.
She had set off the bomb.
It was strange for me to know that, I guess but that was the power that came with being mermaid queen. I had to know how to judge people, and the ocean’s power was what made it possible.
“It’s her.” I said, pointing to the woman. “The lady in the pink shirt.” I whispered to Sam.
He jumped up and ran across the street. The woman tried to flee, but Sam… he was faster. The cars were already stopped in the road, having just seen a bomb go off. He didn’t seem to have any problem weaving through the parked cars, while the woman wasn’t nearly as quick.
Sam chased the woman, and we all gaped as we watched him gain on her. When he tackled her to the ground, I had to wince. It hadn’t felt pleasant when he slammed me to the ground, and I had never tried to kill him. She, on the other hand, he had no reason to be even a tiny bit gentle with.
The pink shirt woman wrestled with him while screaming bloody murder,
“You deserved to die, all of you! You’re filthy animals who shouldn’t exist!” She screeched, but the noise didn’t stop Sam.
He pulled her to her feet and dragged her across the street, dropping her with the police who arrived as he got back to us. After a few minutes the cops brought the woman, who was still screaming, over to us.
“Did you see this woman set off the bomb?” one of the men checked as they cuffed the woman and told her what rights she had.
“No.” I shook my head. “But she told us we deserve to die. Is that proof? She knew that we were all shifters, somehow.” I gestured to the group of us, most of which still looked stricken.
“I saw her type something into her phone.” Sav stepped up beside me. “Ava yelled before I could say anything, but I saw it. That was probably the trigger for the bomb.” She told them.
“Thank you. We’ll need written reports of everything you saw.”
“No problem.” Sav nodded.
Sam looked at her strangely, and Savanna shrugged.
