Evermore (26 page)

Peace settled over me. This way they wouldn’t find out we’d died.

My body was lifted and slid into a body bag. The zipper slowly made its way upward, sealing me inside the claustrophobic space. Then there was silence. I strained to listen.

“The other one is ready,” one of the guys said.

“George, what’s going on?” I heard my mother ask out of breath, hysterical.

“Oh, crap,” I mumbled. “Fin?”

There was silence. Did they take him already?

“Fin,” I whispered-yelled, then my heart stopped. Had he suffocated in the bag? “Fin!”

“Oh my—” Mom choked back a sob, still outside. Was she viewing Fin’s body? Where was he?

“Ma’am,” the guy pressed. “This is a crime scene. You need to step back.”

“No!” Her voice shook. “Show me the girl!”

The boots returned, pounding the ground. Hands tugged on the bag, and fresh air flooded the suffocating space. I held my breath. A strangled shriek of my mother cut the silence. I willed Fin to sing something, to do something, but I didn’t know where he was, and I had to play dead.

The zipper once again sealed me inside, and I worked to keep my breathing level as not to create movement. Mom left crying, and I strained to listen. Sweat beaded on my brow as the stench of ketchup and tuna fish wafted around me. Then my back began to ache. How long would I have to stay here?

Unable to wait another minute longer, I shredded my hands into the plastic by my face and freed myself. There wasn’t another body bag next to me. Looking out the windows, I didn’t see the truck. As far as I could tell, I was alone.

I wiped off my hands, caked with ketchup and makeup. Why did they leave me behind? Where was Fin?

The keys to the Jeep on the counter caught my eye. I’d have to go to the hospital or the coroner. Of course, after a shower.

My body was lifted and carried on a gurney across the gravel walkway outside.

“George, what’s going on?” I heard Ash’s mother say, hysterically.

Oh, crap.

The heavy doors squeaked and my body was shoved inside. Then something clicked, encasing me in silence. Heartbeats passed. Was Ash’s mom outside still? What was happening?

I tried to maneuver my hands to tug on the zipper, but whoever bagged me, cinched a strap around my middle. But if I did get out and sing to Karen, Galadriel, and the guards would see, ruining everything. I’d couldn’t do anything until I returned, the poor thing.

The blood pounded in my ears as the moisture filled air of the tiny space left my gills confused if they should appear or not, especially now that I was encased in darkness. Then the engine of the vehicle rumbled to life. The bag jostled, signaling we were on our way to the coroner. Sucking in deep breaths, I wished for fresh air, for freedom.

Then the doors opened again and then slammed shut. Someone outside banged twice against the back of the van. The vehicle began to move.

I sang, “Open the body bag.”

The zipper pulled down, and my eyes focused on blue eyes. Then my blood froze.

“Uncle?”

“Faking your death? How original,” he said with a sickly smile.

You would know.
My hands gripped onto the edges of the body bag to free myself, but I couldn’t move my arms. “You’re alive,” I said more as a statement than a question.

“Of course I am.”

“Where are you taking me?”

He pressed his finger to his lips. “I think you know where.”

I know where… what?

“When I get out—”

His laughter interrupted me, a sick and evil sound. “That’s not happening.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

He rubbed his hands together. “So many plans. So little time.”

The joy in his voice made me sick to my stomach. My heart continued to pound. Did he have Ash, too? I gritted my teeth. I had to keep him as far away from her as possible. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. Ash is dead.”

His lip picked up at the side. “Oh, you’re little plan didn’t fool me.”

I deadpanned. Did he have her?

“And just so you know, I so enjoyed our quality time together, though short-lived.”

Enjoyed their quality time? Just now? What was he talking about?

Alaster jerked his chin upward, then his brows pulled together. “She didn’t tell you? How poetic.”

Tell me? Tell me what? I shook my head and laughed it off like I knew what he was talking about. “What’s your deal? Did Grandpa and Grandma not give you enough attention as a kid?”

His fist punched into my chest, knocking the wind out of me before he put his face inches from mine. “Shut your mouth! I own you!”

I coughed, adrenaline surging through me, and I pushed my arms against the restraints to get free. “You’re a coward. You can’t get the respects of mers on your own merit, so you have to manipulate them. Guess what? It might work, but it doesn’t last long! Your true colors will show, and though your little lap dog Colin is snuggling up to the most despicable of all princesses, you still won’t win.”

“Won’t I?” He smirked. “With you and Ash officially dead, and your father arrested for exposing the mer, they all think humans are gun wielding murders ready to drain them of their blood like vampires. Once Garnet and Colin give birth to a son, the mer will be salivating for a King to stop this madness. Not before your father is executed, of course. Then I’ll come to the rescue, having wiped away our secret from the minds of men, and guide my son as he rules his kingdom.”

I ground my teeth. He’d used this entire fiasco to swoop in and claim his prize. My blood drained from my face.

And now that he’d taken me, I was at his mercy. “Where’s Ash?”

Alaster smirked. “Dead, isn’t that right?”

I struggled to get free, but I knew it was futile. Alaster had thought of everything. There would be no rescue for me this time.

I paced the living room, my insides crawling with worry. Fin had been gone for two days, and I hadn’t slept a wink. The coroner, the hospital, even the guys at Dad’s work, knew nothing. He’d simply vanished. I tried not to think of the worst — that Alaster had him — but there was no other explanation. Most likely, once I was freed, Alaster had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Always there.

Always watching.

Tears drizzled down my cheeks. First my son, and now Fin. I didn’t know how much more I could bear. I pinched my eyes shut and screamed. Alaster needed to die!

Gentle knocking pulled me from my grief. I stopped and listened, then walked onto the patio toward the locked hatch door. The rapping started again.

“Ash, it’s me! Tatiana! Open up.”

I unscrewed the wheel and the door popped open with a soft whoosh.

Fingers gripped onto the rim and a blonde head emerged from the porthole.

“Tatiana?” I asked breathlessly, not trusting my eyes.

“Galadriel told me the truth.” She leaped up from the hatch, phasing midair, and crashed into me with a strangling wet hug. I broke into sobs on impact. “If I ever lost you.”

I buried my head into her shoulder and clung onto her tight, my body convulsing. She was all I had left.

“I’m so sorry,” she kept saying. “I should have never insisted on a big wedding. This is all my fault.”

“No. It’s not.” I wiped away my tears. “It’s Alaster. He’s back.”

Tatchi’s eyes widened in horror. “What? I thought he was dead.”

“No.” The bile crawled up my throat once again. “And I’m pretty sure he has Fin. He’s the one who’s been behind the guy in the white van; all of this.”

“What?” Her mouth gaped open. “You have to tell your mother. She has to know. She has to let Jax and Jacob free so they can find him!”

I pressed my palm to my forehead. I couldn’t go, not with the chance she’d force me to stay. Not to mention all the questions and sympathetic looks.

“I need to stay here and find Fin.”

Tatiana’s tiny frame went slack. “Okay. Where have you looked?”

“The coroner, the hospital…” I whimpered. “He’s probably at Alaster’s research facility.”

“Research facility?”

“Yeah… don’t ask. But I don’t know where that is, and I don’t know where else to look.”

Her expression turned hopeful. “Jacob does. He was there when Fin found you. He knows the building.”

I grabbed onto her hand. “You have to get him here then.”

She gripped me tighter, her face pained. “I don’t know how, but okay.”

Goosebumps pebbled my skin. “I’ll wait here for you in case he does come home.”

“Of course.” She kissed my cheek, then rushed to the open porthole.

Bubbles popped along the surface of the water. Then a head full of dark hair from a guard immerged.

Though I didn’t recognize him, he startled to see me. “You’re alive?”

“Run!” Tatiana yelled.

I turned to run and slipped. My body skated along the wet tiles, my legs smashing into the glass door. I rolled over to get up. Strong arms clamped onto mine and yanked upward.

“Let go of me!” I shrieked, kicking and biting.

“Cooperate, Princess.”

Why did they insist on these stupid titles? I continued to fight as he dragged me to the hatch, but not before he secured my mouth with a strip of cloth so I wouldn’t siren once underwater.

He dropped me down the hatch and pushed my head underwater. I heard Tatiana’s muffled cries from somewhere in the distance, but I couldn’t see her.

The wish I’d kept the ink necklace Galadriel had given me slipped through my mind along with her warning. Royalty was never safe. I was going home whether I wanted to or not, and I had a lot of explaining to do.

I awoke in a room similar to the one I’d rescued Ash from, throat parched, unsure how long I’d been asleep. Light came from a contraption around my neck, the same as Ash had worn when I found her. My gut squeezed when it hit me. Alaster and the ARC were one in the same. He’d been behind it all: the stalker, the murder of the guard, Bill being knocked out and Ash’s abduction. Colin had been his front-runner, mind-mojoing Lucy, and feeding his dad details so they could set it all up. It was an inside job.

My head swayed. Why hadn’t Ash told me Alaster was the one who took her? The regret we didn’t torch this place when we left ripped through me. But then again, Jax and Jacob wouldn’t know where to look for me, and might have only set him back a few days.

Two tubes, a clear one and one with red fluid were attached to my arm, doing something to my veins. I fought against the restraints tying me to the gurney, rocking the bed. Maybe if I could get it to tip over, I might be able to break free and sing my way out of this shit hole.

“I wouldn’t do that.” The same girl I’d seen before entered the room, the redhead they’d called Candy.

“Let me go,” I sang.

She laughed. “That won’t work on me, darlin’.”

I swallowed and studied her hand, not seeing a promising tattoo. Then it clicked and my head sunk back into the pillows. Why hadn’t I figured out earlier that she’d been promised via polygamy? Candy wouldn’t have a tattoo if Alaster was promised to someone else, but she’d be loyal to him and unaffected by the song.

“What am I doing here?”

“Curing cancer.” Her eyes crinkled with her huge grin. “But you need to be cooperative, or else I’ll do this.” She pulled out something from her pocket and pressed her thumb against it. The light around my neck turned off. Instantly, my fin spread from my hips, silver and sleek, and busted through the sheet tucked under the mattress. The second it happened, I began to crave the water.

An evil grin spread over her lips. “Uncomfortable, isn’t it?”

“Not at all,” I sneered at her, then swiped my tail upward, aiming for the restraints. The barb sliced through the binds on my left wrist, then the right. Her eyes widened in fright.

With a wicked laugh, I launched myself off the bed, yanking and ripping out the cords tethered to me. I landed in front of her, grasping for her ankle. She screamed, tripping on her overly high-heels, and fell on her butt in the hall. I slapped my hands to propel me forward. My scales squeaked as they rubbed against the linoleum floor, competing with her incessant shrieks. I had this one chance to get free, but I had to get my hands on that remote.

She skittered away from me like a crab, but as the adrenaline evaporated, exhaustion set in. I stopped, wheezing for air. Once Candy realized I’d never catch her, she popped to her feet. Then her eyes lifted to something behind me.

I flipped over, tail barb out.

“Are you done fighting?” Alaster asked from further down the hall.

Whipping my tail around, I poised myself to sting him in the leg. Then the light turned on. My tail split into two legs before contact. But that didn’t matter; I jumped to my feet to charge him anyway. Then the light flickered out. I fell onto the floor with a loud thwack, fished out again. Groaning, I worked to catch my breath when the light came back on. My legs returned, but I wasn’t going to go through that again. Placing my palms on the floor, I remained on all fours.

“I like you cowering before me like a dog,” he bit.

The opened seam of board shorts, exposing my junk, made this all the more humiliating, but I wouldn’t let him see that it bothered me. He’d make a mistake and when he did, I’d strike him dead.

“You finished?” I asked, “because I can do this all night.”

“Can you?” He pressed the button again, making me shift. “Actually, without water, things might get a little… difficult.”

I rolled over and began scooting away from him on my backside.

Alaster’s eyes tightened. “Looks like I’m going to have to teach you to behave.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

The pinch in my shoulder made me reach back. Something fuzzy stuck out of my skin. I tugged it out, finding a dart with a red tip. My vision started growing fuzzy, my limbs weak. The dart fell out of my fingertips onto the floor. A girl’s laughter echoed in my head. I tried to stay upright, but my body slumped over. Eventually, I collapsed to the floor.

“Hurry, help me,” I heard Alaster say as someone grabbed me and yanked.

I willed myself to fight against them, but my body didn’t obey. They lugged me back to the same room and dumped me on the floor. I lay on my side, not sure if I were a man or a fish.

“You
will
learn some manners,” my uncle grated through his teeth somewhere behind me.

I lay there, panting.
No. You’re the one who needs a lesson, dear Uncle.

Somehow, someway, he’d make a mistake and I’d be ready once he did.