World of Aluvia 2 (26 page)

A fissure of anxiety slid through Phoebe’s triumph, making her joy stumble. She had a sinking feeling she didn’t want to hear whatever Odessa was about to say.

But the elder mermaid ruthlessly continued, voice growing louder, “What was once a gentle nudge to trust her is now a clarion call to serve.”

To
serve
?

Odessa―a powerful elder mermaid―felt compelled to serve her? That sounded even worse than before.

Much, much worse.

hoebe looked at Tristan, who stared back at her, eyes huge. His breath heaved raggedly.

“Do you feel the compulsion, too? Is it worse?” she asked him. She had to know.

He was silent for a long moment, his grip tightening on her hand, and her heart sank.

“I’m not sure what I feel. It’s all so…
much
,” he whispered back, short of breath.

Phoebe recoiled as if he’d struck her. Her hands flew to her mouth, covering the quivering of her lips. She wouldn’t show weakness. Not here. Not now.

Based on watching fairy keepers with their charges, Phoebe had concluded that fairies didn’t mind the compulsion to stay with their keepers these days. On the contrary, the wee ones now danced with delight when Sierra arrived to spend time with them. Then again, they weren’t exactly fully thinking creatures, at least the little ones.

But how could she have a relationship as an equal with Tristan if she had power over him like
this
? As a master and a servant? Would they always be so close but so far from being true partners? She’d only been fooling herself to hope she could keep her power contained. She felt sure this was why he wouldn’t meet her gaze after hearing the news of her increased magic. Even with all they had shared, surely he was second-guessing if their attachment was real enough to protect him from a life of servitude. To her, the mer-charmer.

The pain cut. She had to get away. Now.

Tristan tilted his head up enough to catch her eyes, and his confusion was evident. Shock, hurt, and bafflement paraded across his handsome face. She had wished to see excitement about her new status as a permanent part of his world. Hope. Instead, she saw pinched cheeks, upturned eyebrows. Fear for her? Or fear
of
her?

“Phoebe―” he began, hand out to her.

Holding his hand but knowing she’d never hold his heart hurt too much. She couldn’t bear to feel that distance between them. She wasn’t going to deal with fear and pain. Not anymore. She wasn’t even human anymore. What else did she have to lose?

“Fine, milady. Just tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it. I’ll even go fight water wraiths for you myself.”

Odessa’s smile was like a cat’s with canary feathers plastered all over it. Tristan inhaled sharply, but Phoebe kept talking. “But first, you told me I could go see my sister when we were done here.”

“We aren’t done here, and we don’t have time,” Odessa said.

“Mother, you promised,” Tristan protested, cheeks gaining twin spots of pink.

“Humans have broken many promises.”

“Phoebe’s not that kind of human.” Tristan snapped, and then paled.

Odessa laughed. “That’s right. She’s not any kind of human anymore.”

Tristan turned so he blocked his mother’s view of Phoebe for a moment.
Go,
he mouthed.

Phoebe uttered a soft laugh that held no humor at all. How ironic that she could finally stand up to Tristan’s mother, now that the power she had always wished for had destroyed the future Phoebe dreamed of with Tristan.

“Odessa, I’m going, and you can’t stop me.”

She then spoke directly to Tristan. “But I’ll return. I give you my word of honor. As a merfolk.”

His eyes were wider than sand dollars; his tail went completely still. A thousand words were in his eyes as he lifted his hand in farewell, but all he said was, “I am selfish enough to be glad of it.”

Well, of course he wanted Phoebe’s help for his people, even if her powers frightened him now. No one else could do for them what she could. That didn’t make him selfish. It made him a loving leader for the merfolk, one the fools didn’t appreciate.

Heart heavy, Phoebe swam off, leaving the merfolk behind her. Her magic whispered their hope and fear to her as she went. But she couldn’t tell which they felt the strongest.

The moonglow of Phoebe’s skin faded as she sped toward the shore. She tried to use the new part of herself that controlled the light to reach out her mind to Queenie, showing her images of where Sierra should go. Hopefully, the message would get across to them.

As Phoebe swam, she yanked down her coiled braids, never feeling less like a princess in her life. As confident and exhilarated as she had felt when all that magic blazed through her, stark reality was setting in. Even though they accepted her help now, she knew the merfolk weren’t happy about her transformation and increased powers. And she still might not be enough to defeat their enemies.

When she surfaced, the small tent on the rocky shore stunned her, along with the hundreds of tiny lights surrounding it. Fairies were everywhere. The tent looked like it had been there a while, coated with salt and sand. Someone burst out and ran toward to the water.

Sierra. It was Sierra. She was waiting for Phoebe.

Relief poured through Phoebe, and if she had still been human, her eyes would have overflowed with tears. Now all she could feel was a tightening of her throat and stinging at the back of her eyes. She waved at Sierra, who ran straight into the sea without stopping, sending droplets flying everywhere. Stark fear, anger, and relief flashed across Sierra’s face as she rushed deeper into the water without any sign of discomfort from the cold. Phoebe swam until she was shoulder-deep, then stopped, waiting. Any farther and scales would show. Her hair plastered her neck and shoulders, covering her gills and the vivid tattoos. Good. She wanted to break this to her sister as gently as possible, but Sierra was about to get the shock of her life.

“Phoebe! By all the stars, where have you been? What were you thinking?” Anger was clearly pushing relief aside as Sierra reached Phoebe and grabbed her by the arms. “I’ve been out of my mind with worry! None of the merfolk would tell me anything except you were with them! Are you okay? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Phoebe moved her mouth, but of course nothing came out. She patted her neck and shook her head, trying to communicate, but the water was too dark for Sierra to see below her shoulders without careful examination.

“Tell me what’s going on!” Sierra’s voice rose.

Phoebe did the one thing she could think of. She backed up slightly and then dove down, letting her tail rise about the water for a long moment. She even flicked it in her sister’s direction. When she rose back out of the water, Sierra was paler than the white rocks along the shore.

“Is that… a
tail
?” she managed.

Phoebe motioned for Sierra to come under water. She simply knew her own magic would support Sierra the way Tristan’s had so often supported Phoebe. Sierra didn’t budge. Phoebe finally lost patience and pulled Sierra under the surface.

To her credit, Sierra didn’t panic, but she did look wild-eyed at Phoebe’s fin. Who could blame her, really? The change was still shocking to Phoebe, no matter how natural it now felt. Phoebe finally could speak.

“I’m so sorry, Sierra. Tristan was dying from a water wraith attack. I saved him, but the magic of the sea took my human life and turned me into a mermaid in exchange for his healing.”

One side of Sierra’s lips curled up in a trembling smile, as if desperately awaiting the punchline. Her gaze moved to trace the many merfolk tattoos swirling over Phoebe’s shoulders and arms. “This has to be a joke, right? People don’t just… grow fins! It’s not possible!”

“I know it sounds crazy, but I swear, it’s true. I entered the water first with a merfolk tear―they do truly exist―but I didn’t change until I told the magic of the sea to do whatever it took to save Tristan.” The tale did sound outlandish, but her sister had to believe. Phoebe called out, “Queenie, tell her for me!”

The fairy queen flew over and floated just above the clear water. A wash of comfort slid through Phoebe. Queenie was telling her it was okay. Phoebe considered how to send images of her time under the water to the little creature, to share with Sierra. Focusing on the way she felt when she connected with Tristan, Phoebe followed the thin magical line connecting her to Queenie. Though the link was far, far fainter than hers with the merfolk, it was enough.

Frowning in concentration, Phoebe relayed an image of the water wraith. Queenie squealed and did a backflip.

Sierra cried out, “What? What is it?”

Quickly, Phoebe followed that image with others, more beautiful ones: the coral cliffs, the dancing seaweed, a smiling Mina, a serious Tristan.

Queenie hummed, trilled, and then glowed more brightly.

Sierra closed her eyes as she received the torrent of images from her fairy queen. When she opened her eyes again, they were full of amazement―then blazing fire.

“Who gave you the right to throw away your life like that? Did you ever stop and think what it would do to me to have my sister stuck in the ocean forever or die at the hands of a sea monster? I would give up anything for you―” She cut off abruptly as her voice broke.

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” Phoebe said, compassion robbing her of any anger. “You’ve given up so much for me. And I’m grateful. But you have your life with Micah and your fairies. And now I have mine with the merfolk. It’s not that I wanted to stay forever, but I do love the ocean and, Sierra, I have real magic now.”

“Maybe you could still have your magic on land. With us!”

“No, Micah was right. I’m tied to the merfolk the way you’re tied to your fairies.”

“But I didn’t turn
into
a fairy!”

“Look, I know you think I’m too young to handle a serious problem, but right now, the merfolk need me to help. I can use magic in ways they can’t, and I’m willing to fight when they aren’t. The water wraiths have been stealing their people and sucking away their life energy, taking every last drop of their magic. The creature Corbin talked about, Baleros? The merfolk finally believe he’s waking up, but that’s not enough. I’ve got to stop him, or at least do my part even if the merfolk don’t really want me. They think I’m charming them against their will, but I have to help them anyway.”