Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (13 page)

Gazing up at the moon, I wondered how much more there was to this otherworldly magical existence. I covered Rownan with his coat and left.

A kiss goodbye didn't cross my mind until I was walking down the street. I had never left Rownan without kissing him, but my urges and feelings were changing rapidly. I didn't know whether to fight the changes or embrace them.

A white heron perched atop a streetlight spread its wings above me. It let out a deep, guttural groan and craned its neck. The street seemed creepy with no trace of anyone but me and the bird.

I looked over my shoulder a few times, but never saw anything other than shadows. When I heard a faint laugh coming from an alleyway I took off running to the ocean, eager to get away from something—or someone—I felt watching me.

T
he feeling of being followed stayed with me until I reached the water. Still wearing my dress, I dove in. Before the bubbles even settled Koraline appeared in front of me. Of course. She had probably been watching me all night.

Her green pigtails floated on either side of her head.

Hello, Yara.

Hi.

We've wasted too much time, she thought sternly. We're returning to Solis.

Okay.

She looked startled. Maybe she expected me to put up a fight, but I wanted to go back. I wanted answers. I wanted to understand what I was, and what it would mean for my future. And to tell Treygan I was sorry for what he went though.

Koraline and I swam side by side while I marveled at my ability to see. As a human I had been swimming at night plenty of times. Back then, even in the shallow parts of the ocean, I couldn't see anything. Now I could see clearly. Things were a tad darker and colors had a neon hue to them like an arcade game. But I could see in the middle of nowhere with no sunlight.

Exhaustion crept over me and my speed decreased. Koraline drifted ahead, then turned back when I stopped swimming.

Are you okay?
she asked.

Can we rest for a minute?

She looked around.
We aren't in the best resting place. This is a high-risk zone for predators.

Predators?
I scanned the area, expecting to see a giant squid.
I figured we would be safe in the water because—
Well, crap. Why would I assume that? Why would I assume anything about this way of life?

Because?
she prompted.

Because I'm an idiot and don't know anything about being a mermaid, or what I should be afraid of.

I would like to change that if you would stay put and let me educate you.

I nodded in agreement. I wanted to ask her some questions right then, but she broke eye contact, squinting at something behind me. Her head turned from side-to-side, pigtails gliding against her cheeks with each swing. Then her eyes met mine and her usual confidence changed to alarm.

Yara, are you bleeding anywhere?

Bleeding? No. Why?

She grabbed my forearm, dragging me beside her much faster than we had been swimming earlier. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but she stayed focused ahead. Why would she ask if I was bleeding? Did I look injured?

Something big moved in my peripheral vision. I tried to catch a glimpse of it, but we were swimming too fast. Then another big something loomed in front of us. Koraline dove deeper, pulling me with her. This time I saw it. I wished I hadn't.

Inches separated us from the white belly of a shark. I swallowed a mouthful of water, gasping with fear.

Predators. Bleeding. Sharks. Oh, God.

I pumped my tale with all my strength, trying to help us swim faster. Koraline looked over her shoulder. I followed her gaze. Another shark swam just yards behind us.

This isn't normal,
she mentally shouted. Even with terror consuming me, I noticed her skin had taken on a purplish hue.
They don't stalk like this unless they smell blood.

What do we do?

Her eyes were wide. A stream of unintelligible chatter poured out of her. It was like listening to a cassette tape on fast forward. She yanked me upward and the tip of my fins brushed against a shark's head. He flailed his tail and snapped his teeth at me.

Keeping a death-grip on my arm, Koraline grabbed my chin with her other hand.
We have to fight,
she insisted.

What!

We're crazy strong underwater. Hit them on the snout and all around their eyes. As hard as you can. Destroy their receptors. Hit them over and over and keep swimming away after you do. You'll know when they can't detect you anymore.

No! I can't. I'm too scared.

You have to, Yara.

My eyes bulged at the massive bull shark swimming up behind her. Its razor-sharp teeth looked like a splintered picket fence. Koraline let go of me and spun around to face it. I watched, paralyzed, as she raised her purple arms above her head and smashed them down in front of her.

She flipped herself over like she was about to ride on the shark's back. She kept swinging, punch after punch, while he thrashed in every direction. How was she moving so fast? I couldn't do it. I couldn't fight like her. I was so scared I couldn't move.

Something butted against my back, shoving me forward. I turned to face a giant, creepy eye belonging to a tiger shark. I thought the other sharks were big. I was wrong. This shark was
huge
.

This is it. I'm going to be eaten alive by sharks.

Koraline rushed toward me, but so did the shark's rows of teeth. I swung at the tiger, nailing him in the side of his head.

Good girl!
Koraline cheered in the seconds our eyes met.
Keep hitting!

Adrenaline made me brave. I cocked my arm back and hit him again while Koraline grabbed the snout of the bull coming up behind her.

My arms moved so fast. I couldn't believe I was holding my own against a shark.
We've got this,
I thought, smashing my fist into his face non-stop.

I felt a tearing pain and a faint cloud of red flowed past me.

No. Please no.

The tiger had nicked me in the shoulder. I still swung violently, but more sharks swam toward us. I swam away, dipping and weaving. The trail of blood following me was causing a feeding frenzy.

Koraline dove down to the reef below us. She returned with a long piece of coral in her hand. She lunged at the nearest shark, stabbing his side. Blood burst into the water as she ripped the gash open. She shoved the bleeding bull at the approaching crowd of sharks.

Now look who's for dinner,
she thought while smiling at me.

We turned to see another shark coming at us. Koraline swung at him, but I swam up and away. Sharks collided with each other, snapping and flailing their tails, tearing apart the one Koraline wounded.

Another shark swam up behind Koraline, but she was busy fighting the first one. She couldn't see the second one coming. I tried racing down to her, but everything happened so fast. He opened his mouth, baring his teeth. I screamed out loud, trying to warn her, but she turned the wrong way. She turned to look at me.

Red exploded through the water around her. A wall of bubbles rushed up in front of me.

I saw a blur of familiar blue.

More red.

Then all the sharks were gone.

And so was I.

T
he first two shattered into pieces.

At times, no matter how much I practice, I can't control the gorgon side of me. Seeing Koraline in the jaws of a shark was one of those times. It was also one of the few times in my life that I was grateful for being able to turn living things to stone. The rest of the sharks were sinking statues within seconds. At least I didn't blow up all of them.

Koraline was unconscious, but she had a pulse. I lifted her tail, wincing at the sight of it. Her fins were gone. The tattered end of her tail hung in ragged, bleeding strips.

I took a calming breath. My focus needed to be pinpoint accurate to seal the wounds without making them worse. My serpent hallmark stopped burning against my back. Icy calm took over.

Hairlines, Treygan.
I told myself.
Thin as a strand of hair.
I sealed off each wound with painstaking precision, careful not to make the stone too deep, wide, or heavier than necessary, creating stone stitches that could be removed later by a Violet. She stopped bleeding. At least there was that.

Pango and Merrick would be here any minute. Her brother shouldn't see her like this, but there was no avoiding it. I held her tight, monitoring her slow heartbeat as I sped through the water.

Pango's eyes didn't meet mine. They didn't need to. When he saw Koraline he let out a bloodcurdling scream that would be heard through the ocean for miles. Merrick and I didn't try to stop him or assure him it would be okay. We couldn't. We knew how bad it was.

Pango gently took his sister from my arms. His loud, low, heartbreaking cries echoed through the water. A severely scarred manatee circled us, sympathizing with Pango's pain. Any underwater creature within hearing range would understand the sorrow in his voice. It was a universal language down here, more powerful than human words could ever be.

Merrick tore his eyes away from Pango to look at me.
Treygan, thank you. We would have been too late. I'm sorry you had to use your—

I still may have been too late,
I interrupted.
Take her to Indrea and Caspian. Go!

Merrick took Pango's face in his hands. Koraline hung limp in her brother's arms between them. Then in a cloud of bubbles they were gone, swimming as fast as they could to Paragon Castle.

The second explosion of red had been the wrong shade for blood. I recognized the blur of ruby wings. Nixie had dived in and swiped Yara away like a bird catching a fish. Yara might have been saved from the sharks, but what would the sirens do with her?

I swam off in the other direction, to Sybarites Nest, praying Nixie had gotten to Yara in time. And that I could get to Yara before Otabia and Mariza did.

T
he climb up the sirens' cliffs didn't bother me. I would rather make the rigorous trek than give one of them the satisfaction of carrying me. The problem was, once I reached the top of the cliffs, their nest sat atop trees which were impossible to climb.

"Nixie!" I shouted up into the dark.

A chorus of moans came from the elaborate tree house above me, followed by a loud fluttering of wings. Otabia flew out of a window and joined me on the ground.

"Treygannn," she hissed, running her curled, black fingernails across my chest, and down my back as she circled me. She kept her ebony wings extended, forming a wall of black silk that blocked the moonlight. She was the showiest of the sisters, but the most sensible—as sirens go.

"Evening, Otabia."

She ran her tongue from the base of my spine to the nape of my neck. Why sirens bothered with me was a mystery. I never reacted to their advances. "Delectable. Your serpent mark tastes of fury and death." With one smooth leap into the air she repositioned herself in front of me. Her jet-black bangs framed her piercing eyes as her pupils enlarged and shrunk repeatedly.