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  But Fin’s treacherous Uncle Alaster and his son Colin had other plans. After moving into Fin’s house and interacting with me, they quickly discovered my birthmark and assumed I was the lost princess Galadriel. With aspirations of becoming royalty, Alaster had Colin kidnap and force promise me. Since I was already promised to Fin, the plan failed. But Alaster still fed me the essence anyway, converting me into a mermaid.

  In the meantime, Fin and Galadriel (the real lost princess) crossed the country to Fin’s house, in a mad rush to rescue me. Then, in a last ditch effort to hide his treachery, Alaster burned down the house, trapping me, along with Colin, Galadriel, Jax, Ferd, and Fin inside the basement. We narrowly escaped with our lives.

  At the same time, Azor used the disruption of his promising ceremony to cleanse Natatoria of Jack’s rebel alliance. Tatiana, after discovering he’d committed promising polygamy with his servant, Xirene, who was pregnant with his child, did something very few mer were capable of doing: break the promise connection between them. After the babe was born, Azor murdered his father, King Phaleon, because his desire to be king outweighed everything else. In the meantime, Tatiana had fallen in love with her bodyguard, Jacob, who secretly was one of Jack’s rebels. Azor blackmailed Tatiana with Jacob’s life, so she’d pretend the babe was hers so he’d fulfill the requirements to take the throne. She succumbed to his bidding, and Azor was crowned King, as he’d wanted. When he was about to execute the rebels, starting with Badger, the Lost Ones — those condemned to die on Bone Island, led by former King Merric, returned and demanded justice. When the babe was discovered to be a girl and not the required boy, Azor’s control unraveled, and the people demanded his life as punishment. When he tried to escape through the Pacific gate, the sharks devoured him along with his Dradux guard.

  And the mystery was explained about my pesky birthmark that looked like a fleur-de-lis that wasn’t a birthmark at all, but a tattoo given at birth to show that I was of royal blood. I’d been switched at birth with Azor, a human child turned mer, so Phaleon could be king. Of course, none of that mattered now with the royal family dethroned and the Council leading the colony.

  So much. Too much.

  “What are you looking at?” Desirée asked, standing over my shoulder.

  I looked up from the notebook, pulled back into reality. “It’s a wedding idea book.”

  “Oh?” Her face brightened. “May I?”

  I handed her the book and watched her eyes as she flipped through it, skipping the pages with anything to do with the outdoors or land.

  “Oh, my. So many lovely ideas.” Her gaze met mine. “So I’m taking it you’re moving ahead with things. Are you planning to have it here? In the remodeled audience hall?”

  I bit my lip. With everything we’d been through to mend our past, I didn’t want to anger her. Could I tell her the truth? “I…”

  “She wants to have it on land,” Tatiana interrupted. “On her parents’ beach.”

  Her eyebrows puckered, and I wanted to take back the mention of my human parents the moment it was said.

  “It’ll be a perfect opportunity, actually, to introduce mers to land, to human culture,” Tatchi added.

  Desirée kept staring at me, fear and pain radiated somewhere deep within her irises. “But what about the humans? Aren’t you worried about being discovered?”

  I shrugged. “Tatchi and Fin were my closest friends growing up, and I never suspected a thing. And considering my background, I’m an expert on humanity.”

  “She should be teaching my class with me,” Tatchi added.

  Desirée nodded slowly. “I’m sure you’re right, but we should discuss it with the Council.”

  Though Desirée had expressed reservations, I already knew the Council had discussed this, and recently decreed that mers could go on land if they wanted. The only restrictions were they needed to graduate from Tatchi’s classes, and then be accompanied by an experienced merman during the first visits until they’d fully acclimated.

  “So, are you excited about going home?” Tatchi asked as if to break the tension.

  At her use of the word “home,” Desirée frowned. I cringed, not wanting my mother offended any more than she already was.

  “I don’t know if we’ll go on land,” I said quickly. “Probably just look at the house from the water… a quick trip.”

  Please stop, Tatchi!

  Though I knew seeing the burnt house would be horrific for Jack, he’d most likely want to hunt down his slimy brother and give him hell right then and there. I merely wanted to get home and tell my family all about my supposed Africa trip and make sure they were okay.

  “That reminds me.” Desirée returned her attention to the babe momentarily. “Fin is looking for you.”

  Nicole let out a coo and sprang into her fin, shredding her diaper.

  “Now, now, sweetie. We only phase underwater,” Tatiana said.

  Nicole arched her back and screamed, and her tail morphed back into legs. Once Tatiana was able to put on another diaper, she set the merling on the floor. Nicole took off crawling, her bouncing, dark curls flowing down her back.

  “Aren’t you going to burp her?” Desirée scooped up the child and attempted to hold her over her shoulder. “She’ll get a tummy ache.”

  Nicole arched her back again and screamed in Desirée’s ear.

  “No, no.” Desirée smacked Nicole’s behind.

  A blood-curdling shriek came from the merling. Tatiana stood aghast, putting her hand to her mouth before she snatched the babe from Desirée’s arms.

  “Look who’s starting those terrible twos.” Tatchi chuckled nervously.

  Desirée watched on with a disheartened look as Tatiana returned Nicole to the floor. The merling crawled over to the closet.

  “She needs to be disciplined.”

  Tatiana trailed after her daughter, her lips into a taut line. The tension mounted.

  I popped to my feet. “That’s just crazy how quickly mer kids grow. I wouldn’t have thought her to be the same girl, considering she’s crawling already.”

  “I know.” Tatiana took a flip-flop from Nicole before she could stick it in her mouth. Nicole let out a wail, shifting back into a mermaid. “Do you have time to come with me to the park? I want to take Nicole for a swim before she… Holy crawfish!”

  A puddle gathered under Nicole’s tail, and she started to splash in it.

  I ran and grabbed a towel from the bathroom and handed it to Tatchi. “I’d love to, but I think the guys want to leave once Badger finishes with his sparring lessons.” Glancing out the window, my eye caught Badger and Jack swimming in the courtyard. “Oh, shoot. I think I’m late.”

  “I’d love to go with my grandmerling,” Desirée said with a smile.

  “Okay. Let me clean up this mess first.” Tatchi swaddled the wiggling girl in the towel, then put her on the changing table.

  “You two have fun.” Feeling left out, I faked a smile and headed for the door before disappointment settled in. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Desirée turned with a concerned expression. “Please be careful, my sweet. Promise me.”

  “Sure, Mother,” I said, still not comfortable with calling her that. “Always.”

  She gave me a dejected smile, then returned to the babe, cooing over her. For a brief moment, I got the feeling she was disappointed in me, that I would never be important to her until I produced a merling of my own.

  TWO – FIN – May 15 – 2:15 p.m.

  Walking down the hall toward my sister’s apartment, I watched as the door swung open and my favorite redhead walked into the hall. My eyes swept over her pink beaded dress that hugged her curves just right, and my insides squeezed.

  “There you are, my Ginger Girl,” I said before she saw me. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. Her beauty left me speechless. Poseidon. Breathtaking.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

  I took a few long strides
to close the gap between us, just to touch her. “It’s too easy losing you here. We need cell service.”

  “So you can call me on my shell phone?” She laughed, sending a thrill through me, and I kissed her to capture it inside me. My love. My girl.

  She pulled away, breathless, but I couldn’t let her go. She looked up at me with those long eyelashes, a coy smile on her lips. “If you keep kissing me like that, we’ll never make it to Tahoe today.”

  “Oh?” My arms squeeze her tight as my lips meet hers again. “Is that what we’re supposed to be doing today?”

  “Maybe.”

  Someone cleared his throat behind me. Ash let go and jumped away from me.

  Dad stood off to the side. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Badger is ready when you are.”

  Ash’s cheeks flushed red as she giggled, moving nervously next to me, her hand molded into mine. “Hey, Mr. Helton.”

  “Call me Dad,” he said.

  “Dad.” She looked down.

  “You ready?” I asked her, unable to think straight momentarily.

  She nodded, but there was something behind her eyes. Fear?

  Jack headed down the hall. “Knowing Badger, he probably already left without us.”

  As Ash and I followed, Dad shared his plans to remodel, but as we got closer to the porthole entrance, Ash seemed to stiffen next to me.

  “You okay?” I whispered.

  “Me?” She kept her eyes forward. “I’m fine.”

  We exited through the porthole and shifted into our fins. Badger swam across the courtyard.

  “Aye, lad. You look a little flushed,” Badger joked. “Whatcha been doin’ making us wait like this?”

  I cocked my head to the side. He’d been teasing me every chance he got after he found out I’d run off and ended up promised to a human. “Nothing. I couldn’t find Ash.”

  “Ah, sure, lad.” He winked at me.

  “You ready?” Jack asked.

  “Yes. Let’s git before the barnacles have a time to fasten on me tail.”

  Dad and Badger swam ahead, and I stuck back with Ash to get out of earshot, confused about what happened to her normal spunk.

  “Okay. Something is wrong.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing. Are you nervous? Do you not want to go?”

  Thinking back to the disaster that had happened the last time with Ash’s family, I could see her apprehension. Ash had hated that I’d sung in order to persuade them to believe we were going to Africa on a mission trip, that it was more important than finishing school and becoming an Olympic hopeful.

  She shook her head. “No. I need to go.”

  I waited, but she didn’t say anything further. “Did something happen with my sister?”

  Her expression became puzzled. “No. Of course not.”

  “Then what is it? You were fine this morning.”

  “Well…” She bit her lip, and I imagined the worst — that the conversation of being converted into a human would come up again. “She wants her students to come to our wedding.”

  I stared at her, stunned for a moment, then my shoulders sagged in relief. “And you don’t want them to?”

  “No. I do.” She lowered her head again. “It’s stupid.”

  “What?” I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me, stopping us in the current. “Is this about me asking your dad?”

  She sucked in the water and flashed a coy smile that made me want to kiss her lips.

  “I’d like you to do that, yes. I just… I’m not good with all this mer mojo stuff.”

  Instantly, I felt bad. Though she’d just recently found out she’d been switched at birth, and then forced to become a mermaid at the hands of my uncle, she’d lost everything — her family, her home, her security.

  I lifted her red hair so I could see her eyes. “We don’t have to rush anything.”

  She sighed. “What are we going to tell them?”

  “Whatever you want. It’s up to you.”

  She paused for a second. “I feel like a totally bad daughter leaving like I did.”

  “You’re not a bad daughter. We had no choice.” I squeezed her tighter.

  “I want them to be happy about it, about us getting married.”

  I highly doubted they would, considering our age, but then again, with the song, I could make them.

  “When they see how much we love each other, they’ll be happy for us,” I said as a cover, knowing she hated it when I manipulated humans, especially her parents.

  Her gaze rose, gauging the looming rock wall up ahead. “My dad will question you about a job and where we’ll live.”

  “Already got it covered. I’ll be taking over the charter business, and Dad’s building a cottage for us.”

  She leaned into me, eyes filled with worry. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” I tugged her close and kissed her nose. “I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

  “But then what? I can’t stay at the house at night, and what about school?”

  “Well…” I paused for effect. “That’ll be something I’ll have to mojo…”

  Her body tightened.

  “It won’t be bad. Maybe I’ll tell them they can’t open your door when it’s shut, or bug you after you say goodnight to them.” I snuggled up closer and waggled my eyebrows. “Then you’ll have to sneak out of your window each night so we can… you know.”

  I grinned mischievously.

  “Fin… focus.” She dipped her head. “My room is on the second story.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve never snuck out before.”

  “Well…” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe once, but what about school?”

  “What about it?”

  “I’m going to have to go… I don’t want you singing away that, too.” She let out a sigh. “I only have 4 more weeks left… I mean, for my parents’ peace of mind I should go.”

  “Sounds fun. I’ll go with you.”

  She nudged my arm. “Stop it. No, you won’t.”

  “I will.”

  “You need to rebuild the house.”

  “Look,” I cocked my head, “there might be questions when you get back so you might need my services.”

  She pinched her eyes shut. “You just want to mind-jack everyone.”

  “No, I don’t.” I lifted my hands. “We’ll just take it one step at a time.”

  The fissure to the Tahoe Gate came into view. Once a beautiful arch my father carved by hand was now nothing but a crevice in the mountain with a big pile of boulders stacked haphazardly off to the side. The damage made me sad, destroyed because of Azor’s greed. And then the memory of what my uncle did to the house made my anger boil over once more. It was almost like everything my father created secretly crushed their egos. After we rebuild the house, I vowed that I’d bring the gate back to its original splendor if it killed me.

  As Jack and Badger entered the crevice, Ash slowed. A slight shiver convulsed through her and she held tighter to me. Alaster had attacked her in this cave and severed her ring finger and pinkie to pass her off as Princess Galadriel. Luckily she was able to reattach them.

  “You ready?” I asked again like an idiot.

  “I’m fine.”

  The need to say something more to comfort her burned on my tongue, to tell her not to let being here bother her, but I didn’t want to patronize her either.

  We eventually made it through the tunnel and out of the gate to the other side. We both pulled in deep sips of the snowy, crisp water of Lake Tahoe.

  “Home,” she said quickly, spinning in a circle. “The water is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Clean.”

  “I know.”

  Dad regrouped with us outside the gate. “Okay, so I don’t know what to expect up there, so stick together—”

  “We’re going to check on Ash’s parents,” I interrupted.

  “Okay.” Dad gave me a look of warning. “But it’s just like always. Since it
’s daylight, we need to check the surroundings before we surface, and once we’re on land, don’t overdo the song, okay? We may just need to assess things from the water and see if there’s anything salvageable.”

  “But we’re rebuilding,” I said firmly. I’d just promised Ash we’d have a place to live — that was part of the deal.

  Dad's lips formed a hard line. “I want to see the damage first.”

  I sighed. From what I remembered, there’d be nothing left from the inferno the night Alaster burned it down.

  Cautiously, we neared the top and carefully crested the surface. I scanned the horizon, and my heart plummeted. All that was left was the lone chimney surrounded by burnt timber and yellow caution tape.

  The deathly silence was cut by Dad cursing. “When I get my hands on Alaster—”

  “Aye.” Badger put his hand on my father’s shoulder. “You and me both, mate.”

  “We’ll make it good as new, Dad,” I promised.

  But Ash wasn’t looking at the ruins. She was drifting toward her childhood home. I moved to catch up with her, tugging on her hand to pull her under.

  “We have to stay hidden,” I reminded her.

  She ducked down but kept moving forward, trance-like. “Do you think they remember?”

  “They’ll remember only what we told them, which was not to worry, remember? It’ll be fine.”

  She surfaced just by her dock and stared at the house.

  “Everything looks okay,” I said to reassure her.

  “Yeah, unless they tried to contact me.” She worried her lip.

  A police car drove up and over the hill, parking next to her house. Two officers got out and walked to the door.

  “Holy crawfish. Why are they here?”

  The door opened, and I tried to listen with my bionic hearing but was unable to catch much. After a brief conversation, the two were invited inside.