Evermore (10 page)

I darted inside my house, happy as ever. Nothing could change my good mood or our fortune. Everything was working out as planned. We could do this dual life.

“Ash?” Mom asked as I darted up the stairs. “I want to show you something.”

The dimness of the oncoming twilight reminded me the sun had already ducked behind the mountain range. As if in response, my legs began to itch to reveal their scales.

“I need to study for finals.”

“It’ll just take a second.”

She walked past me to her room, and I followed. On her bed lay the beautiful, long veil my sister and I had drooled over as kids, one I’d seen only a handful of times and was forbidden to touch, let alone try on. She lifted it up.

“I thought… for your something old.”

“Your veil?”

“Yes.” She led me to the full-length mirror, then slipped the veil’s clip into my hair. I sucked in a startled breath at my reflection, the contrast of red under the white.

“It’s so beautiful on you,” she said breathlessly.

I turned to her, the emotion welling in my throat. “You think so?”

Her lip quivered and she nodded, her eyes watering with tears. “You’re a vision.”

“Oh, Mom. It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”

She swiped away her tears. “I know we’ve had our issues, but I feel like this wedding has healed us. That by bringing Fin into our family, I finally understand you.”

I pulled in a gasp. After everything, I’d felt the same way — whole — even though, with the way mer bonded with their mother it really couldn’t be. Maybe it was just, delayed.

I threw my arms around her neck and hugged tight, so thankful I had her, the real her, and not some mer-mojoed woman.

“I love you, Mom,” I said. “So much.”

“I love you, too.”

She held me for a long moment and I didn’t want to let go, but I knew if I didn’t, there would be consequences to pay.

“I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to study,” I finally said.

She let go, then wiped away another tear. “Okay. Yes.”

As I darted into the hall, the veil trailed behind me, lifting in the air, all princess-like and romantic.

Lucy eyed me with disdain. “What are you doing?”

“Mom lent me her veil, and when it’s your turn, you can wear it, too.”

She snorted and shook her head. “That old thing? No thanks.”

I pulled my head back, glancing to Mom’s room. “That’s rude.”

“Laura Jane thinks you’re only getting married because you’re pregnant.”

My mouth dropped open. “Well, you can tell Laura Jane she’s not invited to the wedding.”

“What?” Lucy put her hands on her hips. “Mom!”

Scales burst on my skin, and visions of me falling off the trellis as a mermaid rocked me. I had to get into the safety of my room and outside now.

“What’s wrong?” Mom walked into the hall.

“Ash says Laura Jane can’t come to the wedding,” Lucy whined.

Mom tilted her head. “Ash. Is that true?”

“Mom,” I started to argue, but my legs were starting to fuse at my crotch, slowly ripping my jeans. “Fine, she can come.”

I ran to my room and slammed the door shut. Throwing open the window, I tried to lift my leg to step outside when the horrible sound of my jeans ripping down the seams filled the air. I lost my balance and fell over, yelping out in pain.

“Owwwwwww!” I wailed.

Mom knocked on the door. “You okay in there?”

“Fine,” I squeaked out, grabbing the comforter off my bed to cover up. Tears leaked from my eyes as I rocked back and forth, rubbing my scales to try and stop the burning sensation. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Though the song had kept them from opening my door after I’d gone into my room at night, I still felt the need to cover up all the same.

I stared at the ceiling until her footfalls fell away. What the heck was I going to do now? The guys would already be in mer form, and unable to slither up to the house to sing this away for me. Could I just stay in here in my room all night?

After a few minutes, my scales pulled tight from the lack of moisture, and the overwhelming need for water was all I could think about. Fin and I had never discussed that this might happen. What was I going to do?

Scooting to sit on the boxed seat under my window, I raised myself up and I scanned the lake, but saw no one. Fin should have his phone with him if he kept it in his sling pack like he was supposed to. Then I heard mine ringing downstairs.

“Crabfish on a cracker.”

“Ash, honey,” Mom called. “It’s your phone. Do you want me to answer it?”

“No!” I fell to the floor and pulled myself to the door, opening it a crack. “Can you bring it to me?”

“Get it yourself,” Lucy sneered as she walked by. “
Princess
.”

I cringed. More than one mermaid had called me that within earshot of my sister during the last week. “Please, Lucy. Can you get it?”

She laughed, then slammed the bathroom door. At the sound of water rushing in the sink, every cell in my body screamed for the moisture. The phone started to ring again.

“Ash?” Mom called, sounding more annoyed this time. I braced myself for her to change into the evil mother I knew well.

“I have a cramp. Can you bring it to me?”

After one ring, it stopped.

“Hello?” Mom said. “Fin?”

I held my breath. Blood rushed in my ears, making it hard to hear.

“Yes, she’s studying in her room. What do you need?”

The toilet flushed, making me crazy to the point of not being able to think straight. I needed to get into the water, any source would do, and I needed it now.

The lock of the door clicked. Lucy walked out and sneered. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“I have a cramp. I need my phone,” I grated at her as my talons began to form under my nails. “Go get it.”

Lucy merely stuck her tongue out before she disappeared in her room. She was just like Azor, her real brother — a complete bassfish.

“I’ve put your phone on the stairs,” Mom said. “I know you’re trying to study, so call Fin when you’re finished. He needs to talk to you.”

Her footfalls faded to her office downstairs. Silence. Dad had left to go to work already, and Gran would be in her room watching her TV shows. This was as good a time as any to make a break for the stairs. Maybe I could slither outside.

I pivoted my fin out of the way of the door and rocked my hips to help me drag myself forward. Though I only had to go a few feet, it looked like a mile with how fast I inched myself. My heart hammered as I panted for air. If someone caught me, I had no idea what they’d do.

Something deep inside my belly pinched, at the spot where my merling grew, and a strong sense of survival took over. I had to get out of the house.

I army-crawled into the hallway while wiggling my hips, all the while cursing the carpet. If it were hardwood, I could have slid across easily. My throat burned with thirst as I tried not to grunt or hit the wall with my tail. Slowly I made headway. Inch by inch.

Memories of when Fin was chained to the wall in the basement by his evil uncle, finned up and out of the water, came to me. As a newly changed mer, I’d never experienced much time out of the water, but then I’d never asked how long we could survive without it. Was that the reason for Bone Island? The terror if it practically suffocated me, of shriveling up and dehydrating to death.

Once I got halfway to the stairs, I took a second to rest. Sweat dripped down my head, taunting me with its delectable wetness. I wiped it off and touched my scales. They sucked in the precious liquid, then pulled taut in agony, just wanting more.

Rolling onto my side, I sat on my butt. My fin snagged on the carpet. When I pulled to free it, I smacked myself into the wall.

Lucy’s door opened, but I couldn’t see her, thank Poseidon. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” I quickly slid into the bathroom to hide. My fin smacked the door, then the tub, making a loud thump.

“Stop making so much racket!” She blew out an annoyed breath, then slammed her door.

My phone started to ring again. I could see it light up on the stair. So close, yet so far. Ring. Ring. Ring. The sound taunting.

Mom turned the corner, angered to see the phone unattended to. “Ash?” She called, then looked upward from the bottom of the stairs. “What are you doing?”

I froze. “Nothing.”

“Are you on the floor?”

“Uh, yeah.” I pulled my head into the bathroom, and once again yanked on the door to close it, but my tail filled the entire space. The creak on the third step of the stairs sounded loudly. She was coming.

In a panic, I tried to pivot, and put my tail behind me, making more thumping noises in the process, but then my body was in the way now.

“Ash?” Mom’s voice was so close, too close.

“I’m fine, Mom.” Heart racing, I curled into myself and had just enough room, when her hand made purchase with the door, stopping me from closing it.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

She pressed harder as I knelt with my tail bent underneath me, the fin smashed up and inside the tub. Quaking in the dark, I pulled a towel off the wall and held it to my body, praying she couldn’t see anything.

Then the urge to vomit overtook me from the strain. I dry heaved. If Mom had Kryptonite, that was it. Her hand released from the door.

“I’m going to be sick,” I said quickly.

“Oh, honey,” she said. “Was it something you ate?”

“Don’t talk about food.” Another wave rolled through me, making me gag. I broke out in a fresh glossing of sweat. I needed water, now.

She moved somewhere further down the hall. “Do you need anything?”

“No.” I turned to the toilet, and let loose my dinner, unable to help it.

“Oh, gross,” I could hear Lucy say.

“Don’t come in.” I closed the door and locked it.

“I’ll leave your phone out here,” Mom said through the door.

The ringing started up again, but I had to get into the tub. Turning on the water, I pulled myself onto the toilet, then dunked my tail in. A sigh of relief escaped from my lips as I slipped the rest of the way in.

Heaven.

Even underwater, I could hear the phone ringing, but I didn’t have the energy or the willpower to get out and retrieve it quite yet. Fin would have to wait a few more minutes.

Then I remembered I was still wearing my mother’s veil.

The phone kept ringing, then rolled over to voicemail. I cursed. What the heck happened? Where was she?

Dad hovered in the current close by. “Where’s Ash?”

“I don’t know. Her mom said she was upstairs studying and that she’d call back, but now no one is answering, and she’s not here.”

My mind went to the worst, that she was too late and finned out in her room. Without water, she’d die.

“I have to get a closer look.” I broke the surface.

My eyes zeroed in on the light illuminating out of her bedroom window, but there was no silhouette. Helpless, I called once again. This time, the phone just rolled straight to voicemail. If it weren't for the fact I needed it, I would have chucked the phone onto the beach. Instead, I stuck it in my sling pack.

I kicked my tail and swam to shore.

Dad intercepted me. “No, Son. You can’t go up there.”

“But I have to do something!”

“Let’s just wait for a bit. I’m sure she’s okay.”

“Okay?” I was shaking with adrenaline. “How can you even say that? What if she fished out in front of her mom? They’d panic. I’m sure authorities are on their way.” Then I had an idea hit. “Convert me.”

“What?”

I sucked in a breath. “Convert me, then persuade me to go get her. I’ll bring her to the water, then you can bring me back. Mom has some essence on her, right?”

“No. That’s ridiculous.” Dad shook his head.

“I’m going to lose her!” I said, breathless. “She’s carrying my child!”

Dad put his fist to his lips. “There’re risks. What if she made it to the bathtub?”

“What if she didn’t?”

“Do you have a friend you could call?”

“A friend?” I slapped the water. “Are you nuts?”

The longer we watched the house, the more my scales ached. We’d cut things too close, talked at dinner too long, gotten comfortable. This is what we’d been warned of ever since we were merlings.

“Please,” I begged.

Dad closed his eyes, then balled his fists. “Fine, but we can’t do it here. We need to do it in a place where we can collect your blood to revive you.”

My heart raced. “Then where?”

He blew out a hard breath. “The houseboat has a tub.”

“Okay.” I kicked my tail, propelling me to the houseboat.

Dad followed. “It would be easier to persuade someone.”

“Who’s going to walk along this beach now? It’s dark.”

“If we made a scene,” Dad suggested. “Someone would come.”

Though his idea sounded better, her family would flip out if anyone but me walked into the house uninvited. “No. We can’t chance it. She’s running out of time.”

“It’ll break your promise to her,” Dad said.

“I can easily kiss her once this is over. I can’t lose her.”

Dad’s brow furrowed. “But we could lose you.”

“How?”

“You could not be revived in time.”

“So, you’re saying it’s between either her or me?” When he didn’t answer, I moved closer. “What if it were Mom in there, huh? Would you sacrifice yourself or just stay out here and wait?”

Headlights illuminated the trees by the shore. A van came into view and parked in the lot. The engine died, and a man stepped out, eyeing Ash’s house.

“Hey!” Dad called out before he did a backflip, creating a huge wave. “Over here!”

The guy turned toward the beach, and froze, just staring at us.

“Come here,” Dad sang.

The guy leaped back into his van, but he didn’t drive away.

Dad growled. “What is he doing?”

“Come here,” I sang, hoping he’d hear me.

The guy flicked on his headlights, illuminating the beach and the water.

Dad kicked his tail and landed on the shore in the beam of light. His song burst from his lungs. “Turn off your lights and come here!”

The lights didn’t go off. Instead, the engine started.

“Doesn’t he hear us?” I asked.

“Probably not.” Dad swiveled around and rolled into the surf, cursing the entire way. “Or he’s deaf.”

Deaf. Just like the one Hill Billy boy with the gun in Oklahoma. Each minute we wasted took chances with Ash’s life.

Visions of when Alaster had chained me to the wall to dry out coursed through me. I wouldn’t wish that torture on anyone, well, maybe him.

“Change me!” I yelled. “We’re running out of time.”

Mom’s head popped out of the water. “What’s going on out here?”

“Ash is stuck inside,” I said, frantic. “I need Dad to convert me.”

She pulled in a gasp. “What?”

“We need to get out of the light.” Dad pulled the both of us underwater. “If he takes pictures—”

“Jack,” Mom said as a warning.

“I don’t care about pictures. Ash’s life is at stake.” I glared at the both of them. “If she dies, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Dad stopped and looked at me. “Come on, Maggie. We need to do this.”

The three of us swam to the houseboat. One by one, we kicked our tails and leaped onto the deck. I slid across the floor, smashing into the table, taking out a few wedding decorations with me.

“Fin, be careful,” Mom said as she unwove fabric from my tail.

After I was free, I slithered into the bathroom, and tried to stuff myself in the tiny tub. How would we do this without making a huge mess?

“Are you sure about this?” Mom asked Dad, her expression pensive.

“I—I don’t think we have a choice.”

My heart lumbered on, anxiety snaking through and choking me. Dad approached slowly, pulling himself across the floor with one hand while holding a knife in the other. Mom brought several bowls.

“I can do it fast or slow,” Dad started.

“Just do it quick,” I interrupted.

“Okay, I’m going to have to cut you on your neck, your upper fin, and your armpit—”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” His eyes flashed in warning.

“I don’t have a choice. Do it already!”

He brought the knife to my neck and held it there. The cold metal felt like ice against my throbbing jugular. At the pinch, I held my breath. Hot blood poured down my neck and chest. Mom blanched and turned away while Dad grabbed a bowl to collect the liquid.

I leaned back, thinking only of Ash. Thinking of when I’d rescued her from drowning, of our first kiss.

“Lift your arm.”

He sliced into my armpit, and I sucked air through my teeth to keep from groaning. My head spun, and I clutched the side of the tub for support.

“You’re doing good,” Dad said in a low tone.

He switched out the bowls with Mom’s help. I imagined Ash’s soul holding onto mine, not wanting to leave. Then my ears began to ring. I knew whatever happened, it would be soon.

“You should get that,” Dad said anxiously.

“No. Keep going,” I said, my throat raspy.

“What if it’s Ash?”

Then I realized the ringing was coming from my sling pack. Dad put pressure on the wound while I shakily pulled the phone out. Ash’s name illuminated on the screen, dancing around in small circles. I hit the talk button and barely had the strength to hold the phone to my ear.

“Fin?” Ash’s voice cracked.

I almost dropped the phone in relief, and Dad quickly propped up my elbow. “Ash. What is going on?”

“Maggie, a towel,” Dad mouthed.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice echoing in the background. “I finned out… and… I’m in the tub… No one saw me.”

“Poseidon. You freaking scared me.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she mumbled over and over between her sobs.

I wanted to reach through the phone and hold her.

“No. Don’t be.” Delirious, I pressed my cheek against the cold wall as dad pressed the towel to my armpit. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“It happened so fast, but luckily, I was able to make it to the bathtub.”

“No, more,” I said softly. “This can’t happen again.”

“I know.” She sounded as weak as I felt. “I threw up, so I think they won’t bother me in here. Dad isn’t home tonight, either.”

“I almost had to—” I stopped, realizing I was talking out loud.

“Almost what?”

I blew out a breath. She didn’t need to know how close I’d come to risking my life by stripping my fins for her. “I would have slid up to your front door if I had to…” I lied. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I can’t keep all of me underwater, so… I’m miserable, but… I’ll see you in the morning. I have to go. I’m worried I’ll drop the phone.”

“I love you, Ash,” I murmured.

“I love you, too,” her voice faded. “Bye.”

When she hung up, I let out a groan. The phone tumbled from my fingers and hit the floor.

“You’re okay.” Dad patted my head and turned on the shower. “Take your time.”

The water cooled my aching scales. Opening my mouth, I swallowed away my dry throat. Then I tried pushing myself up, collapsing in the tub. Exhausted or not, I still wanted to go get her, but I knew Dad wouldn’t convert me now.

“Let me help you out,” he said.

Together, they heaved me out, and I flopped onto the floor. Blood and water smeared across the floor. “Sorry, Mom.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Mom gave a kind smile. “I’ll clean it up in the morning.”

I turned off the shower and slowly slid past the dining area to the outer deck. Mom and Dad had already returned to the water, watching anxiously from the water. Glancing across the yard, I noticed the van wasn’t in the lot anymore.

Tomorrow we’d have some mojoing to do, but for right now, all I wanted to do was sleep.