by Brandon Witt
I met his stare and refused to look away but did my best to keep a challenge out of my words. “For how long?”
“Have I not made it clear you will have an extended life?”
My heart clinched in pain at the confirmation of a life sentence. More than, it seemed. “And my sister?”
“She will be well taken care of. Given luxury equal to yours.”
Schwint must have known what I was going to say because he squeezed my leg so tightly it hurt. I ignored him.
“When can she go home?”
“She will stay as long as you are under our protection. We will offer her the same gift of life that we will bestow upon you.”
“No! You can’t! I won’t—”
Schwint’s voice was nearly a shout. “I’ll take her place!” Gwala’s fierce gaze flashed to him, and Schwint lowered his volume but managed to keep his voice steady. “I will take her place. If it please you, I will stay. If you need a capti… if you need someone near that Finn loves.”
“Yes, you will be here. I confess, we have never allowed a mate to reside here before, but I believe we have learned from our errors with Omar.”
Hope sounded in Schwint’s voice. I couldn’t believe he was really offering such a sacrifice. “You’ll allow me to take Cynthia’s place?”
Gwala laughed, all softness gone from both his voice and his expression. “No. Love of a mate may fade and die over the years and be as useful as a bloodless corpse. No. The enchanting witch will stay, as will her brother. She is the only captive, which is the term I believe you started to use, as much as I find it offensive. Both you and the warlock are free to come and go from the Cathedral as you desire, unless we require specific service from you.” He turned to me. “Which will be often. You and your fairy mate are not prisoners. You are an employee as such, and he”—he flicked a finger toward Schwint—“is your guest as long as you desire. However, should either of you choose to no longer remain under our protection or leave this peninsula, I will be forced to have an experiment of my own. You see, while I am very devoted to my new queen, I must admit I would be most ecstatic if your sister might prove the one demon descendant that could successfully transition from witch to vampire.”
Eight
BRETT WRIGHT
Water radiated from my outstretched hands, the strength of the current causing twin cyclones to spread out nearly fifty feet in front of me. The farther they pushed through the water, the wider their diameter of impact. As they reached the massive body of the decaying sperm whale, pressure shoved back on the palms of my hands. With doubled effort, the swirling torrents gushed forth, emptying from somewhere within me. The whale cadaver rocked as if caught in a minor breeze. Another outpouring of power through my fingers and the whale lifted and shot backward amid a flurry of decomposing flesh particles.
Laughing, I shook my head at Wrell. “You’ve got to be kidding.” I motioned toward a small squid darting by. “I’d be lucky to make that little guy notice me, let alone move that rotting monstrosity even an inch!”
His chiseled face grew even more serious as he projected another image of the whale washing away in a stream of demon-made currents.
“Seriously, Wrell. I’ve only managed to make anything happen six or seven times since we’ve started this. You might want to start with a more achievable goal. You don’t want me to get a complex.”
He reached out a hand, causing his left pectoral to twitch, and pressed an encouraging squeeze on the back of my shoulder. With his touch, he gave me yet another behold-the-whale-moveth silent movie. Even his visions couldn’t compete with the impact of his touch and warrior sensuality. Turning, I lowered my hand to help cover his effect on me. “I know, I know. I’ll get there. Thanks for believing that. I hope I can prove you right.”
Looking away from the whale, I noticed Therin and Lelas conversing a few feet away. I thought I saw Lelas’s eyes dart away from my growing reaction to Wrell, and I cursed my body once again. I still couldn’t figure out how mer sexuality worked, but I had yet to see any evidence of arousal from anyone. Of course, as serious as the mers were, sex was probably a very solemn ceremony that even their bodies didn’t dare betray without proper permission.
I glanced back at Wrell, which was stupid, as his face definitely didn’t help the situation. “You mind if I take a break for a moment?”
I didn’t wait to see his response and swam toward the whale. Nothing like a rotting carcass to get the blood flowing away from certain parts of my anatomy.
While I was right that I was a long way from being able to move a fifty-ton sea mammal, considering I didn’t even know I could affect water nearly three weeks ago, we’d made a lot of progress. While the four of us had stayed disciplined over the amount of miles we covered every day, we stopped frequently to practice my new parlor trick, especially when we came across something that would make good target practice.
Even though all we were doing was traveling endlessly, trying to reach Hawaii with no guarantees we would learn anything useful, I was the happiest I could remember since settling into my life with Sonia in Hillcrest. It reminded me of the first few weeks with Therin, when he’d had to teach me how to control my fire before Syleen would allow me back into the tribe. This was even better. All awkwardness between Therin and I had evaporated over the miles, at least as much as could be expected between a long-lost father who was part fish and his son who inherited his mother’s pesky demon blood. Our little heart-to-heart had gotten most of our dirty laundry out in the open, and I’m sure it didn’t hurt that our foursome spent every minute of every day together. Either get close to each other or resort to murder. I had to admit, the little-boy voice that wanted a father was finally satiated. I might have lost everything and everyone I had loved in my old life, but I’d found a new life here and a family I’d never dreamed of. Funny how it all seemed to work out. Well, if working out entailed swimming through the ocean trying to find out what was killing and capturing mermaids.
Even without getting within ten yards of it, the whale did its job, and my body quit putting out all my business for public display. Looking over my shoulder, I saw my three shadows making their way over.
I was fairly certain Wrell was aware of my attraction to him, but it didn’t seem to bother him—or entice him, sadly. Actually, in the weeks that had passed, that attraction had grown to a full-fledged crush. If I looked too deeply at it, I might have to admit to myself that I was starting to fall in love with him. I hadn’t made that mistake since high school. Fall in love with the straight quarterback. Yeah, that always works out. However, unlike high school, I didn’t delude myself in the slightest. I knew the closest I’d ever get to Wrell was the occasional touch he bestowed. Considering Wrell was about as physically demonstrative as Therin, I was rarely honored with the act—even if I thought about it a little too much the rest of the time. Honestly, I think Therin and Lelas also knew of my feelings for Wrell. While I recognized it wasn’t something Dad was comfortable with, I had to give him credit for taking it all in stride. In some ways, as much as I loved Lelas, I think Therin felt like he’d gotten a daughter through it all as well. I wasn’t sure how much time the two had spent together before I arrived, but since Lelas was only in her sixties and so much younger than him, I doubted they’d had much to bond over before.
The first few days of this journey, I was afraid it was going to be like those tortuous four weeks of the hunt for the Great Spirit. Speed swimming from sunup to sundown, no talking, no eating, no anything except getting ready to face a blood-frenzied hoard of sharks and trying not to die. As much as I hated it, I was secretly looking forward to the next one—talk about primal! I wasn’t going to tell anyone else that, though. As far as the rest of the mers were concerned, the demon boy thought the whole thing archaic, offensive, and hungry-making. While the four of us kept a similar pace as in the Great Hunt, we shared much eating, a lot of talking, and a sense of purpose and hope.
“You are going
to get it, Brett. You were able to move those rocks the day before yesterday. Just give it time.” Therin pulled up beside me. “It will be like when you were struggling to control your fire, a power that you knew you had inside of you. It will take more time for something new.”
I rolled my eyes at him affectionately. “Those rocks were about the size of Lelas’s fists, and they only moved an inch. If that.”
“It is the starting place, and I believe you will progress quickly.”
Lelas swam past us, closing the distance toward the whale. “Actually, the starting place was moving a shark that was in motion, which I personally believe was a wonderful place to start, since I am still alive to say so. I agree with Therin. You will master this power, but I also have to trust that if the situation needs that certain power, you will find it in you to pull it out at the appropriate time.” She turned away and reached out toward the whale’s body.
I started to make a comment about it being unwise to trust such a thing to chance when I realized Lelas’s intention. “Oh, no! Please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re going to do.”
She glanced over her shoulder, her expression genuine innocence. “Tell you that I am not going to do what?”
An image of Lelas rearing back and plunging her teeth into the soft side of the whale flashed through my mind.
I grimaced and felt my stomach gurgle. “Yeah, that.” I turned to the sex god behind me. “Thanks for that visual, Wrell. I’m not going to be able to look Lelas in the face for a good month and a half.”
Lelas smiled, a laugh in her voice. “While I believe Wrell may have slightly overstated my enthusiasm, I do indeed intend to dine on what the sea provides us.”
Wrell gave one of his all too rare grins, transforming his serious, fierce face to the point you could almost see the child he once was.
Therin and Wrell fell into place beside Lelas. Therin withdrew his blade as he reached the carcass and sliced off a large chunk, then handed it to Lelas. “I did not know there was anything my son was unwilling to devour.”
My lip curled even higher as I watched the three of them begin to eat. “I draw the line at things that are rotting to the point that bits of them are disintegrating.” I motioned toward the gray particles that began to mist around the slices Therin and Wrell made.
With two flicks of her lavender tail, Lelas was in front of me, holding out a thick portion of the flesh. One side still had the gelatinous-looking skin attached. “Try it. It is here for us to partake, and it saves us from having to hunt later.” She smiled at my hesitation, or maybe the ugly expression I was making. “It has a good, pungent flavor, like the roots of the gut weed.”
I gave her my best puppy-dog face. “Seriously? You want me to eat that?” I shuddered. “I’m pretty sure there’s something growing on it.”
She just nodded, smile broadening.
With an internal groan, I took the putrid meat from her hands.
I heard her laugh when I stared at it for too long. “Okay. Fine!” I closed my eyes and sank my teeth into the edge, trying to avoid the thick skin. Instantly upon contact with my tongue, bile rose. I forced it back down, along with the chunk of meat. She laughed again as I shuddered.
When I was certain it was going to stay down, I opened my eyes to see all three of them grinning stupidly at me. “Was this just some kind of prank to get me to eat that shit?”
Wrell’s dark eyes twinkled as he took a huge bite. As he did, part of the skin tore away from the chunk in his hand and stuck in the corner of his lips. His tongue darted out and swept it back in. Even he couldn’t make that sexy.
When I didn’t take the rest of the piece Lelas offered, she returned to Wrell and Therin and continued the meal.
A burp rose up in my throat and escaped through my teeth, the bubble shooting like a zigzag rocket toward the surface. Now it was down, I had to admit the aftertaste wasn’t horrible. It vaguely reminded me of a mushroom risotto Sonia had made once. It had a kind of warm, heady flavor to it. The texture was the problem, like too-firm tapioca or too-soft Spam.
I watched the three of them eat, nearly lost in the cloud of decayed flesh that billowed around them. “Oh, fine!” I swam up to them, taking a place between Lelas and Wrell. “Talk about peer pressure.”
Wrell gave me another one of his boyish smiles, and I forgot about what I was eating, at least until my teeth sank in for a second time.
Nine
BRETT WRIGHT
The shadows in the distance seemed ominous, and I felt my heartbeat speed up. The day had been so clear, the water warmer and more crystalline with every mile—the darkness ahead couldn’t be a good sign. I kept squinting, trying to make sense of the shapes. At first I thought a storm raged in the distance, with rain falling in torrents. Of course, I soon realized it doesn’t rain underwater. Half a year and I was still thinking more as a human instead of a mer.
A couple of glances around at the other three told me they weren’t concerned. I’d gotten a little sick of asking questions all the time and feeling like a toddler constantly needing directives. Taking a moment to assess the reactions of those around me was proving to be an effective way to cut down on the hows, whys, and what-ifs. Lelas’s increasingly ecstatic grin finally gave me the hint I needed to figure it out. As soon as I did, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t visualized it instantly. I guess I’d never thought about islands as anything but big floating pieces of land. Granted, I knew they didn’t float from place to place, but I’d never really thought about it. Looking on, I couldn’t help but feel small in comparison. The mountains ahead towered from the bottom of the ocean floor until they were out of sight. What I’d mistaken for too much blur to make out the peaks was simply where the mountains jutted out of the water, their summits the tropical lands inhabited by the Polynesian people and countless sunburned tourists. Small mountains stretched out between us and the islands, huge in their own right, just not having the height to breach the surface.
Even as I sped up at the realization of where we were, I realized the other three were having the same reaction. I glanced at Therin, his white-blond hair streaming behind him, waving in time with his gleaming golden tail. “We’ll be there in no time.”
He glanced over and gave me a smile. “Do not let appearance deceive you. The size can make it seem like we are closer than we are. It will be tomorrow before we arrive.”
I narrowed my eyes at the island mountains. That didn’t seem possible, but I’d learned to trust the others. Saved time on being wrong so often. If they ever visited San Diego, I’d be the expert. I couldn’t suppress a grin as an image entered my mind of them sitting in the passenger seats of my car, their tails hanging out the windows as we zoomed down the Five. My smile faded as I remembered the vampire had destroyed my car. Not that it mattered now.
By the following day, even after a good night of rest, I was beginning to falter as we drew closer to the islands. I was the only one, though. The others sped up with every flick of their fins.
Every mile we swam, the beauty increased exponentially. Lelas was constantly exclaiming over some new fish or darting after sea turtles. Not that I blamed her. As tired as I was, I’d always dreamed of swimming outside of the Southern California coast. The waters around Mexico and Central America hadn’t been much different, but this… this was living up to the fantasy.
As secretly as I could, I glanced over in Wrell’s direction. He wasn’t grinning from ear to ear like Lelas, but his dark eyes shone bright. Although I imagined it was more in hopes of finding a lead to discover what had happened to the other mers than it was over the pretty little fish. The thought gave me a brief flash of guilt. I hadn’t even thought of the other mers in several days. I’d gotten caught up in the road-trip-funness of it all. In being around Wrell and letting myself give in to puppy-dog infatuation. In spending every day with my best friend outside of Syleen’s judgmental eyes. In getting to be around my dad and finally starting to build a relationship wit
h him. All fine and good, I suppose, but this was about so much more than me, more than any of us. If they were right, and we could discover what was happening to the mers and somehow put a stop to it, we could potentially be saving the entire species. The thought gave me another rush of energy to keep up with Wrell and Therin as they streamed ever closer to the islands.
I looked back and forth between Therin and Wrell, then paused to spin in a quick circle in the water. “Dad!”
Both of the mermen paused abruptly and turned toward me. Therin cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, son?”
“I just realized Lelas is missing! I didn’t even notice us leaving her behind.”
He smiled at me and shook his head. “She is not missing. If you recall, she went to inspect a large family of sea turtles a while back.”
I glanced once more in the direction we’d come, but saw no sign of her. “Are you kidding? That was like half an hour ago. What if she gets into trouble?”
Therin smiled, part fatherly indulgence, part you’re-cute-when-you’re-stupid. “Lelas is more than capable of taking care of herself. She knows which direction we are headed, and Wrell showed her the specific part of the islands where we plan to start. She will catch up to us before we arrive, and if she does not, we will wait.”
A crack in the side of the mountain, heavy with coral reef, flashed through my mind. I glanced at Wrell in confirmation. “You both told her all that when she left?”
Therin shook his head. “No, she was already with the turtles. She let us know she was going to spend a little more time with the animals and rejoin us shortly.”
I couldn’t keep the grumble out of my voice. “This whole not being able to talk like a grown-up thing is getting really annoying.” While I’d gotten a little better at directing my thoughts toward certain mers, I was nowhere near the level needed to have an actual conversation or pick up on communication that was too far away. Actually, to say I’d gotten a little better would be a vast exaggeration.
