Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (2 page)

“Vienna.” Uncle Lloyd went into a coughing fit, so I hurried to the kitchen to get him a glass of water.

Vienna. Rownan’s wife and true love. I said a silent prayer that she was okay. The gate to the sea creature realm had been sealed for eighteen years. What if, gods forbid, Vienna had become sick or died? After Uncle Lloyd took a few sips of water, his coughing calmed down.

“What about Vienna?” Treygan pressed.

Uncle Lloyd held the cool glass to his forehead. “She didn’t wait.”

My heart deflated. Vienna didn’t wait for Rownan. She was with someone else. How could she? As much as Rownan loved her, he would have done anything to be reunited with her. He would have swum through hell itself to be with her again, and she couldn’t wait a measly eighteen years? “What a bitch.”

“Bite your tongue, young lady,” Uncle Lloyd said. Was her really scolding me for bad language? I was eighteen. I had faced Poseidon and Medusa and demanded a position in the gorgon sister trinity. I pretty much had say over everything that happened in regards to sea creatures. Did he actually think he could still order me around? “Go get me a cough drop from the top drawer in the kitchen.”

“Yes, sir.” I jumped up and hurried back to the kitchen. Okay, apparently he
could
still order me around.

Treygan was pacing when I came back. I unwrapped a cough drop and placed it in Uncle Lloyd’s shaking hand. “So, where is Rownan?” I asked. “Drinking himself into a coma somewhere?”

Uncle Lloyd popped the lozenge into his mouth and after a few seconds managed to say, “He’s going after her.”

Treygan stopped pacing. “He can’t. That’s suicide.”

“Yes, well.” Uncle Lloyd swallowed hard. “He believes life isn’t worth living without her, so he’s willing to risk it.”

“Wait,” I said. “What are we talking about? Going after her … and finding her where? With some other guy?”

“No.” Treygan pinched the bridge of his nose. “She didn’t wait for the gate to open. She tried getting back to Rownan a different way—an insane and perilous way.”

Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t understand what was going on. “Elaborate, Treygan.”

His eyes locked with mine. All of his inner light had been snuffed out. “She went to the damned realm. The realm of darkness and evil.”

My head throbbed and my back burned. My sea monster traits tried to surface, but I kept them at bay. “There’s another realm? Besides here and Rathe?”

“Yes,” Treygan said. “Harte.”

He pronounced it “Hartay.” The name was foreign to me. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“We don’t discuss that place.” His tone made the hairs on my arms stand up.

“Why? What’s so evil about it?”

“You don’t want to know,” Uncle Lloyd grumbled.

“Why would Vienna go there?”

Treygan sat on the couch and rubbed his hands over his face. “She probably thought she could find another way back to this realm to be with Rownan.”

“But I thought the gate was the only way.”

“It is,” Uncle Lloyd confirmed.

“Then why would she go to some damned world thinking she could find another way?”

Treygan cracked his neck. “Because for decades there have been rumors that one soul in Harte figured out a way to travel into Earth’s realm. But the Violets say it isn’t possible.”

Uncle Lloyd took another sip of water. “Legend says the gateway to Harte only works one way. Once you enter, there’s no returning.”

“Then Rownan can’t go after her,” I shrieked. “He’ll never be able to come back!”

“He has
already made up his mind,” Treygan said. “When it comes to Vienna, there’s no stopping him.”

“Sharkshit,” I argued. “I’ll stop him. I’ll ask Stheno and Euryale to close the gate to Harte.”

“They won’t.” Uncle Lloyd sighed. “Medusa tried the same thing centuries ago. Stheno and Euryale wouldn’t listen.”

If Medusa couldn’t make them do it, they definitely wouldn’t do it for me. “Where is Rownan right now?”

“He left this morning.” Uncle Lloyd turned toward Treygan. “He said to tell you thank you. And that he wished things could have been better between you two for these last eighteen years.”

“How can he be gone already?” My voice rose. “How could you let him go? Why didn’t you have Nixie send me a message?”

“Yara, I’m at my rope’s end. My last bit of interfering caused me to lose my sight. I can hardly breathe. My kidneys are kaput.” Uncle Lloyd rubbed his neck, like holding up his head was too much effort. Like his life had become too much to bear. I wished I could carry all of his guilt, sorrow, and pain for him. “If I interfered one more time, even one gesture, one conversation with any intent to meddle, I might have died before I saw you again. Before I could say goodbye to you and Treygan.”

Tears welled in my eyes. “But ….”

Treygan rested his hand on Uncle Lloyd’s—his father’s—shoulder. “You’re the wisest and bravest man I have ever known. I’m honored and grateful to be your son.”

A tear rolled down my cheek as I stared at them. I couldn’t imagine my world, or any other world, without Uncle Lloyd in it. He would get better. He had to.

I wiped away my tears and stood. “You’re going to be okay, and I’ll find Rownan and Vienna and bring them back. You didn’t interfere. This is my choice and mine alone.” I threw my head back and shouted at the ceiling, loud enough to go through the roof, through this world, and into the Inbetween, or wherever our gods existed. “You hear me, Medusa and Poseidon? This is my free will! He didn’t meddle! Don’t you inflict one more inkling of pain on him!”

Treygan held my face in his hands, forcing me to stop shouting and look at him. “Enough. If we have any hope of stopping Rownan from going to Harte, we need to leave now.” 

I nodded.

Uncle Lloyd struggled to stand up then hobbled toward the den. “There is a gateway to Harte on the darkest border of Rathe. No one goes near it, but that’s where Rownan is headed.”

Treygan held my hand. “We’ll find him. He has a head start, but it would take him all day to swim back to our realm then to Harte’s gateway. I swim much faster than him. I can make up for the lead he has on us.”

“No,” I argued, full of hope. “I can fly to him. I fly faster than you can swim.”

Treygan flinched, but I didn’t have time to soothe his ego.

Uncle Lloyd turned to face me. Knowing he couldn’t see me tore a hole through my soul. He reached forward and I placed my hands in his. “Yara, please listen to me. And listen carefully. I’m honored you consider me family.” He coughed and wheezed, trying to pull air into his lungs. “Words can’t express how proud I am of you, or how much I love you. My soul will rest in peace knowing you and Treygan have each other.”

“Stop it.” My eyes burned again. “Stop talking about dying. That’s not happening.”

He squeezed my fingers tighter. “Remember, once upon a time I was a gorgon. I grew up hearing our kinds’ stories. One of them was about a merman who went into Harte, and he made it back alive.” More wet and strained coughing. My lungs burned from sympathy pain. “But he only lived to tell one other soul about it.”

“You mean there is a way?” Treygan asked.

“It’s a longshot, but it’s your only shot.” Uncle Lloyd wiped a drop of blood from his mouth with a handkerchief.

“Don’t say another word.” I tried pulling away, but he kept a tight grip on me. “No more meddling. Nothing is worth losing you.”

“Rownan is my son. I’d gladly give up my life for him, Treygan, or you. In this case, Rownan needs me to meddle, and you and Treygan need to hear what I have to say.”

“No.” I shook my head and closed my eyes, as if that could keep him from talking. 

“It tears me apart to think of any of my children entering that evil place, but there’s no stopping Rownan—that I’m sure of. You two are his only chance of surviving. He’s not strong enough to find his own way out. I’m sure of that too.”

“You’re not putting yourself at risk,” I told Treygan. “I’ll go with Rownan.”

Treygan smirked. “I promised you I’d always be your guardian, and you think I’m letting you go to Harte without me?”

Truth be told, I didn’t want to go without him, but it seemed awful and selfish not to put up some kind of fight. Rownan wanted to swim through hell to find Vienna, and Treygan and I would either have to stop him or go with him.

My muscles felt like limp tentacles, my back ached, and my broken wrist still throbbed.

Treygan came out the winner of our fight on the Triple Eighteen, and he deserved to win. Maybe I deserved all the bad things that happened—and were still happening—to me. I deceived Yara. I kissed someone other than my wife. I lied to my own kind. Sure, I did it all to survive and get back to Vienna, but karma doesn’t care about reasoning. Wrong is wrong, and eventually consequences must be paid.

I was severely paying.

Vienna’s brother said she sank into a deep depression as soon as the gate closed. No one could snap her out of it, not even her mother. Vienna was convinced that the gate between Earth and Rathe would never open again. Everyone in Rathe assumed we were as good as dead, sealed away permanently from our realm. No one believed we could last eighteen years without Rathe’s suns, moons, and water.

Vienna only waited two years. Her mother said she grew more crazed and impatient until she couldn’t take anymore. One night she disappeared, leaving a note saying she went to Harte to find the legendary secret gateway to Earth’s realm. That’s the last anyone heard from her.

A stabbing pain shot through my wrist. The broken bone bulged beneath my skin, threatening to break through. I should have let the Violets heal me like Dina suggested, but I had been without Vienna for almost two decades. I couldn’t wait a minute longer, and I couldn’t risk anyone trying to stop me.

Cradling my injured wrist against my chest, I dove deeper, weaving between giant buttress trees and ignoring the macaw fish swimming behind me. Why Medusa felt the need to create swimming parrots was beyond me. They served no purpose except to pollute the ocean with their cackling gibberish that no one wanted to hear.

I waited for them to stop following me. The elders told me I would know I was getting close to Rathe’s border by the lack of plant life—or any other life. They said to look for black rock formations rising out of the water. One would look like a mountainous trident. A lightless pass between the trident’s spears would allow me access to Harte. I hoped it was cold on the outskirts of Rathe. The colder the water, the faster I’d be able to swim.

A burst of red exploded to the side of me. When the bubbles cleared, Nixie’s ruby eyes glowed in front of me. Her red hair rose around her head like flames.

What are you doing here?
I mentally asked her.

She smiled and dipped down, then snaked her body against mine.
I’m here to entice you to stay.

I’m going to Harte. No one can stop me.

She raked her talons over my chest then ran her hands through my hair.
I promise, once you get a taste of me, you won’t worry about Vienna anymore.

I pushed her away from me.
As always, thanks for the offer, but no. I’m going to find my wife.

She looped behind me, and then I was launched upward. We broke through the surface and Nixie hovered above the water, holding me under my arms. I hated that sirens were so strong.

“Let go of me!” I demanded. “You have no right to interfere.”

“Maybe I don’t, but Yara does. She ordered me to find you and stop you from swimming any farther.”

“Screw Yara! I don’t care how much power she has. She can’t control me.”

“Apparently she can, because here we are. You don’t seem to be going anywhere.”

I whipped my tail back and forth, trying to hit her or wiggle free, but it was pointless. Nixie had a firm grip on me. “What are we going to do, hang here until Yara arrives?”

“I offered to make the wait more enjoyable.” She purred in my ear. “The offer still stands if you’d like to learn why redheads are more fun.”

She knew I’d never take her up on it. “This is bullshit.”

Nixie let out one of her shrill bird calls and it echoed across the ocean. A similar cry answered back. “She’s on her way.”

“You wouldn’t fly me to Harte’s gate like I asked, but you’ll fly here to stop me just because Yara says so?”

“I’m Yara’s siren. I do what she tells me.”

“You’re just going to accept that and let her control you for the rest of your life?”

“It’s my duty.”

“You’re deranged, Nix.”

“No, I’m content. I have a purpose. I’m assigned to the most powerful and unique member of the gorgon sister trinity. I lucked out.”

I had heard about Yara’s transformation, but I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. She was flying toward us.
Flying.
She had giant, sparkling white wings that matched her hair. As she got closer, I saw a silver serpent hissing above her left shoulder.

She halted in front of me and Nixie. Her wings flapped hard, blowing us backward.

“Easy, Yara!” Nixie barked.

Yara’s wings slowed, but stayed high and wide in the air. The wind around us calmed. “Sorry about that,” Yara said. “Still getting used to all of my accessories.”

I looked her up and down. “I don’t see any selkie features.”

Pearl-colored claws shot out from her fingertips with impressive speed. She pressed the razor-sharp tips under my chin. “Do these clear up any doubts about my selkie side?”

“Crystal clear. Now come with me and save one of your kind.”

Yara’s chest turned red. I had learned that color meant sadness for her. “Rownan, I know you want to go to Harte and search for Vienna, but it’s a suicide mission.”

“Living without her is worse than suicide.”

Her voice softened. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth. You’ve been in love with Treygan for a few weeks. Vienna and I have loved each other since we were kids. Imagine how heartbroken you’d be if you lost Treygan—if he was trapped in some damned world alone. Take the pain that you can only imagine and amplify it by infinity. After that, if you still have the nerve to stop me from going after her, then you don’t have a fraction of the heart and soul people think you do.”

Her jaw went slack and sadness filled her eyes. The snake rose beside her head and hissed at me.

“And what the hell is that?” I asked. “Does that thing bite?”

“Only if I want her to.”

I tilted my head, trying to get a better look at the white-eyed serpent. “Wait, is he—”

“She,” Yara corrected. “Her name is Sage.”

“Whatever. Is she physically attached to you?”

Yara petted the snake, who was still hissing at me.

“Of course she is,” Nixie answered. “Yara is part gorgon now.”

I laughed. “That’s priceless. So, you and Treygan always have an audience when you’re together. Creepy.”

“First of all,” Yara started, “she’s not creepy. She enhances my intelligence and helps me make decisions. Second, it’s not like she watches me and Treygan all the time. If we want privacy, she goes to sleep. And she disappears when I’m in human form.”

Nixie curved her wings so they brushed up the front of my tail. “And all the good stuff happens when they’re in human form.”

“Nixie,” Yara snapped. “Don’t be disrespectful.”

“What?” Nixie shrugged, momentarily lifting me higher. “Treygan is devourable.”

“You think all men are devourable.”

“True,” Nixie said, “but I bet Treygan is exceptionally delicious.”

“Shut up.” I groaned. As if I wanted to hear them talk about my brother that way. “We all know Treygan can’t get it on with Yara. He’d turn her to stone again.”

Yara called me an idiot just as Nixie dropped me into the water. Totally unexpected, but at least I didn’t feel like a worm hanging from a hook anymore. I swam back to the surface where Nixie and Yara were waiting for me.

“Let’s get back to the bigger and more important issue,” Yara said. “Rownan, are you one hundred percent sure you want to go to Harte? You do know your odds of coming out alive are, like, non-existent, right?”

My anger dispersed into the ocean around me. I swam closer, letting down my guard, hoping Yara would try to look past our rough history together. “You’ll probably never forgive me for lying to you and mysting you into believing we were a couple. I don’t blame you for that. I’m disgusted with myself for doing it, but I thought I had no choice. All of that horribleness, all of my lies and schemes, I did them for love. Not because I’m a bad person, not because I wanted to hurt you, not even so the gate would open and all the selkies could go home. I did it for Vienna. Every move I made was so I could return to Vienna.”

Yara took a deep breath. Her weird snake relaxed against her shoulder, and I met her unblinking eyes again. “When I finally made it back here, Vienna was gone. She risked her life and soul, went to some damned, dreadful place,
alone
, on the slim chance she’d find a way to get back to me and be trapped with me in Earth’s realm. That’s the kind of stuff we do for each other. That’s how unstoppable our love is. No torture could be worse than living without Vienna.” My heart ached at the thought. I had to keep moving. Too much time to think would destroy me. “But I don’t expect you to understand that.”

Yara leaned down and lifted my chin. “I do understand. So does Treygan. That’s why we’re coming with you.”