Madly and Wolfhardt (9 page)

I met Aidan’s eyes and, despite the teasing light in them, I saw how serious he was.  He winked at me and I smiled.  It appeared that we were both in for a bumpy ride. 

It wasn’t a little thing to defy Mer customs, especially for royalty.  It wasn’t acceptable for any reason—not for love, not for the mating tie that binds two people together for all eternity, not for anything.

As if on cue, Jackson’s face popped into my mind.  Like a rude subway patron, I brusquely pushed him aside and forced my mind back to the task at hand.

“Kellina, I’ve got some things to tell you.  They are very important things, but they might be a little hard for you to believe, ok?”

Kellina smiled at me then at Aidan.  She thought I was getting ready to tell her a doozy, I’m sure.

I took a deep breath and jumped in head first.

“Jersey, Aidan and I are Merfolk.  Our home is called Atlas and it lies several miles off the coast beneath the sea.  We are the offspring of the angel Neptune.  God chose our race to be the keepers of the evil spirits of supernatural creatures.  They are called Lore.

“Thousands of years ago, two fallen angels, Lucifer and Proserpine, created demonic minions that have black hearts, unnatural powers and many shapes.  When Lucifer took over the Underworld and cast Proserpine out, she came to Neptune for his help.  Neptune agreed to help her on the condition that she tell him all she knew of the creatures.  Eventually she did, and Neptune devised a system for imprisonment that the Mer have used to this very day to contain the Lore.

“Proserpine used pearls to travel to and from the Underworld because they were hearty enough to withstand the fires of Hell, yet weak enough that she could break free from inside them.  Her special pearls, however, were too strong for lesser creatures to escape, so they are the basis for capturing and containing the Lore in Atlas.  I am wearing one of only four in existence.”

I showed her my bracelet, with its ebony pearl in the center.

“Normally the pearl is silvery white, but it turns black when there is a breach in the containment system.  All four bracelets are linked to one another and to Atlas.  My parents, Warden Major and Warden Queen of Atlas, each have one and there is one stored within Atlas, reserved for my betrothed, the Prince of Atlas.”

“Betrothed?  You’re engaged?”

Of all the questions I might have expected Kellina to ask, that one was quite possibly the lowest on the list. 

“Not yet,” I said, glancing quickly at Aidan.  “But I will be on the eighth day of the eighth month of my eighteenth year.”

“To whom?  Have you met him yet?”

I glanced once more at Aidan.  He had panic in his eyes.  It was for that reason that I didn’t answer Kellina entirely truthfully.

“My betrothed has yet to be determined,” I said casually.  “That’s the least of our worries, though.  The problem is that, recently, as you can see by the color of the pearl, there has been a breach in the containment system and several Lore have escaped.  In the event of such an occurrence, Atlas is shutdown and no travel or communication is permitted between Atlas and the outside world.”

“How did that happen?” she asked. 

Both her question and her demeanor were casual, surprisingly so considering the subject matter.  It seemed that Kellina was having no difficulty believing what I was telling her.

“We believe that a member of royalty has betrayed us.  They’ve kidnapped my sister and may be using her as leverage to control my parents.”

Kellina frowned.

I took a shaky breath.

“Needless to say, it is of utmost importance that we recapture the Lore and find a way to free Atlas.”

“And how do you do that?”

“Well, that’s the tricky part.  Locating the Lore can be a bit of a problem, as they are spirits and the only record of the identities of their descendants is locked away in Atlas.”

“Descendants?”

“Yes, the human descendants of the bodies originally capable of housing the Lore.  When a Lore escapes, it will make its way to the descendant of its body and awaken that human to its heritage, to its power and memory.”

“Memory?”

“Yes.  The Lore were created to destroy certain blood lines in order that Lucifer might have greater dominion over the earth.  Basically, they were sent to destroy some really important people, if you will.”

“What about those people, the important people?  Don’t they remember what happened?  Isn’t there, like, a record or something somewhere?  Like a family history or something?”

“Well, with the Lore in captivity, for hundreds of years, Atlas has provided a shield that encompasses Slumber.  It confines the residents to a life free from their gruesome histories, one they have no memory of.  What little of the history has survived the annals of time, which is not much, has been watered down and is now what most humans recognize as fairy tales and folk lore, urban legends.  Just like you didn’t believe in werewolves, most humans fail to discern the importance of those stories.  And, until now, that has never presented a problem.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, we’ve found one of the families, the family that will be the initial target of the first escaped Lore.”

I paused, watching Kellina carefully.  I had her complete attention and her eyes were clear and receptive.

“And?  Who is it?”

“Kellina, it’s you.  You are the descendant of a girl we know as the Straus Maiden.”

CHAPTER SIX

“As in the Straus Maiden that you told me about last night?”

I nodded.

Kellina watched me for several long, tense seconds before she burst into laughter. 

“You guys are sick!  Do you play pranks like this on each other?  Or is it just me?  Is this like an initiation or something?”

“You don’t believe me.”

She snorted. 

“Of course I don’t believe you.  It’s ridiculous.”

“What if I could prove it to you?”

“Prove what?  That you’re a fish or that I’m part of a famous family that’s being hunted by a werewolf?”

“Let’s start with the fish part,” I said, swallowing several rebuttals to her flippant “fish” remark.

Kellina looked a bit doubtful for an instant before she smiled widely again.  I could see her resisting the knowledge, clinging to the idea that this was all a joke of some sort.

“Alright,” she agreed.  “This should be interesting.”

“We’ll meet here after school and go down to the beach,” I said.  “I’ll prove to you that this is very real and very serious.”

Shortly after that, lunch came to an end and we parted ways.  For the rest of the day, I chastised myself.  It didn’t take long for doubt to return, doubt about the wisdom of being 100% honest with Kellina, especially without running it by Jackson first.  What time I wasn’t chewing my nails over Kellina (figuratively speaking, of course), I was aggravated over the fact that I even
cared
about what Jackson thought or what he believed was best. 

I rationalized that he was a Sentinel—well, more like
the
Sentinel—and that he and I were essentially in this together.  I
had
to give his opinion some credence.  Somehow that rationale didn’t help my stinging pride, though. 

I sighed. It seemed that Jackson was destined to keep my emotions in a near constant state of upheaval.  I suppose I should’ve been grateful for the reprieve from pining away over him.  I felt like that silly young girl with a crush again.

By the time school let out, I was ready to get to the beach and get show-and-tell over with.  The four of us met and made our way across campus and Slumber to the long stretch of sugary white-sand beach that was privately owned by the town of Slumber.  The beach was deserted, just as I’d assumed that it would be.  Perfect for my plan.

As soon as I kicked off my shoes and socks and buried my toes in the sand, my pensive mood lifted.  Just being this close to the ocean, I could feel the calm of the waters of my home easing its way into my overwrought mind and tense muscles.

“So, David Copperfield, exactly what kind of show do you plan to put on?” Jersey asked, chomping her gum sassily.

I grinned, the kind of mischief-laden gesture that drove her insane with curiosity.

“You’ll just have to wait and see like everybody else.”

She made a pouty face. 

“Sometimes I hate you.”

I flicked her protruding bottom lip with my middle finger.  She yelped.

“No you don’t.  You secretly love me.  Don’t try to deny it.”

Jersey sighed dramatically.

“Well, you do look kinda hot in a skirt.”

“Control yourself.  I’m taken,” I teased.

When Aidan cleared his throat meaningfully, I pulled up short.  I’d forgotten all about Kellina when I’d made that comment.

“Yeah, but by who?” Jersey asked, watching me carefully.

I couldn’t help the puzzlement that wrinkled my brow.  Something about the way she looked at me said she wasn’t referring to Aidan.  Unfortunately, with Kellina present, I couldn’t ask what she meant without exposing my real relationship with Aidan.

“That’s a good question.  I’ll guess I’ll find out soon enough,” I responded casually.

I turned to Kellina.

“Mer draw supernatural power from the water, the royal Mer most of all.  I’m going to show you that I’m telling you the truth and that you need to trust me if you want to survive.”

Kellina laughed uncomfortably, looking to Aidan.

“Is she always this dramatic?”

Aidan screwed up his face in wry expression of exasperation.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Good to know.”

“I’m going to try to find out a little more about Dustin Hyden while I’m out there.  See you in a few.”

With that, I was off.  I walked quickly down to the water, my soul leaping with excitement as I neared the beautiful turquoise waves. 

The salty air tickled my nose and the ocean spray bathed my face as I approached.  I stopped and closed my eyes when my toes first touched the warm shallows.  Just that small contact was like going home.  Immediately, my heart began to ache with fear for the safety of my family and my birthplace.

I took three more steps into the water.  I felt the swells breaking over the skin of my calves as the power of my natural element seeped into my body.

A surge of adrenaline shot through me, raising my pulse and quickening my breath.  It burst from my core as the magic of my heritage ascended my legs.  The two collided in an explosion of pure energy that stole my breath. 

I gasped, opening my eyes and looking out to the endless horizon.  Without further hesitation, I ran, ran as far as I could run until the waves overtook me and I dove beneath them.

Giving no thought to my clothes, I swam.  And I swam.  And I swam, until something inside me brought me to a stop. 

I felt the familiar tickling sensation as I let my scales erupt.  I equated the feel of them covering my skin to the feel of freedom, to being loose and wild in the vast oceans of the earth.  I loved that feeling.