Perilous Waters (11 page)

The thought of Brian as a creature made Julia feel sick. She realized Ethan watched them. She shifted uneasily.

Julia chewed on her lip. She remembered the icy, claw-like hand on her leg, the glimpses of serpentine eyes. She had seen enough gorgons and minotaurs to know that creatures were nothing to mess with. If Brian had been bit by one, they had to act fast.

“Why would the creatures be able to come now?” Kaitlyn asked.

“I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is, the Sorceress has already gained so much power in another timeline, that she was able to open a portal. Unless… maybe this has to do with the nymphs and Scylla, who have been warring each other for centuries. I wish I could speak with the nymphs and get more information.”

Julia’s eyes remained transfixed on Brian. Whatever was going on with the Scylla and nymphs would have to wait. The black lines beneath Brian’s skin crept and curled up his neck and down his right arm, causing alarm bells to sound in Julia’s mind. “It’s getting worse,” she said. “There has to be something we can do.”

“Even if your magic alone can’t help him, we need to get him back to the surface,” Ethan said. “Nymphs aren’t exactly on our side.”

Confusion cast a shadow over Julia’s thoughts. “But… they saved him.”

“
Meliah
saved him,” he said, casting the mergirl—the nymph—a meaningful glance. “That doesn’t mean she has her people’s approval.”

“Meliah?” she echoed. How did Ethan know her name?

The nymph… Meliah… glanced at the doorway as a low voice sang out. She frowned slightly but moved past them to brush aside the veils, revealing another sea person. His body glowed faintly, like all the other nymphs’ bodies did. Julia almost believed the underwater world was lit by them.

His perfect, chiseled face looked at them with disapproval before he turned to Meliah, speaking in a deep song that sent shivers up Julia’s spine. The sound was like music, like what she imagined angels would sound like. The girl began answering before the man finished his song, and their words melted together, high and low, so aching and beautiful that Julia held her breath.

Angie placed a hand on her arm, as if she wanted to form the connection. When nothing happened she lowered her eyes. “I forgot we can’t use Convey here,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “If I remember correctly, mortals are forbidden from entering this realm.”

“I could kind of tell he doesn’t want us here,” Julia said, eyeing the sea-dude’s hard-set features.

The man’s harsh song ended. His face darkened and his jaw clenched. He leaned toward Meliah, who lifted her chin even as she took a half-step back.

“Uh oh,” Julia whispered. “This guy doesn’t look happy.”

“Way to state the obvious,” Kaitlyn whispered back.

Meliah’s face was set in determined lines. She turned from the guy. He nodded tersely and left, though not without a disgusted, sweeping glance at them. Meliah let go of the curtain and crossed the room. Her eyes locked on Brian’s motionless form before she faced Julia.

Julia nearly backed away as Meliah approached.

“Wh-what is it?” she murmured, looking into the nymph’s eyes and noticing the gold flecks sparkling from within their ocean blue depths. The nymph’s song seeped through the air. Matching her slow, drawn-out notes, Meliah’s hands lifted until they touched one of the seashells strung throughout her hair. The power of her song, along with her mesmerizing eyes, left Julia feeling warm and dizzy. In another moment, she would need to sit down.

The nymph held her gaze a moment longer before drifting to Brian’s side. The fog lifted from Julia’s mind. She was left with a strange pressure in her palm. She looked down and realized Meliah had left a seashell in her hand.

“Whoa,” she murmured, examining the pale iridescent item. A gift, or a token of some kind. She would need to ask Angie about it later.

The male nymph returned and she tucked the small shell in her pocket. His condemning gaze fell over Kaitlyn, Angie, and then finally to Julia, who couldn’t help thinking that she already had enough moody guys in her life.

The sea-dude handed Meliah a long, glass-like blade. It gleamed against their golden bodies. Ethan stepped forward, but Angie said, “Trust her. She’s the only one who can help him.”

The tension didn’t ease from Ethan’s face as he watched his brother. His helpless body remained unconscious as the nymph held the crystal blade only inches from his heart.

Meliah brushed back the hair from Brian’s brow, her own golden locks falling over him. Her gaze drifted down his face to his chest, her hand trailing after, tracing the black lines that curved beneath his skin as the soft hum of her song rose and fell in time to his breathing. She rested the knife across his chest and rose to her feet. The crystal glowed with magic that seeped into Brian’s body.

What was she doing to him? Should they be trusting her? Julia caught Ethan’s gaze and her heart plummeted. If anything happened to Brian, it would be all her fault. It was just another thing to add to the pile of reasons why Ethan would hate her until the end of time.

Meliah relaxed against Brian again. She ran her hands across his flesh. The black lines along Brian’s skin curved like ivy down the length of his arm and well past his neck, up his jaw and cheek. The girl brushed the backs of her fingers against his face, continuing her soft song. The crystal knife in her hand gleamed.

Julia swallowed as Meliah lifted the knife. Her heart beat wildly. The sharp edge flash like ice and Meliah’s song rose, her eyes growing wide. She drove the tip of the blade into her own luminescent forearm, her voice cracking as she sang. A drop of golden liquid appeared at the site of the wound, followed by a stream that trickled down the side of her arm in a steady flow. Her breath hitched and she forced the blade deeper, her slim shoulders hunching forward like an injured animal.

“No,” Julia murmured, taking an involuntary step closer, ready to stop her. She couldn’t see someone hurt and just do nothing, but Kaitlyn held her back. With a soft cry, Meliah drew the blade in a deep line across her skin. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she held her arm above Brian’s wounded leg, letting her golden blood flow over the gash.

Tears welled in Meliah’s eyes. Her short, whimpering breaths grew faster. The male nymph began a low song that made Julia want to cringe. It sounded like a roar. Like thunder. He tried to take the blade from Meliah’s hand but she stopped him with a lift of her chin and a flashing glance. Whatever she said next caused him to thrust her hand aside and leave the room.

The black poisoned lines continued to spread. They curled around Brian’s face like a vine looking for a foothold. All the while the sea girl’s blood continued to pour from her arm. Julia rubbed her own arm and almost turned away.

Pale, golden blood soon completely covered Brian’s wound. Meliah’s swallowed tightly. Her lids lowered. With a deep breath, she brought her arm up to her lips.

“What’s she doing?” Julia whispered.

Angie shook her head vaguely. Her gaze remained fixed on Meliah, who now moved her mouth across the wound on her arm. A slight crease formed between her delicate brows. When her lashes lifted, golden fluid glistened on her lips.

She leaned forward, positioning herself over Brian. In one hand, she still held the crystal knife. Her other hand slid up Brian’s torso and neck until it reached his jaw. With a soft caress of her thumb, she parted his lips. Then, she pressed her mouth to his.

Heat crept up Julia’s back. No matter how neutral she felt about him, she didn’t want to watch this. Especially because Meliah didn’t seem content with a peck. Her mouth worked in a slow, methodic rhythm. Was a kiss supposed to wake the sleeping prince? Julia started to turn away, when she realized what the nymph was doing.

She was feeding him her blood.

Julia could hardly breathe. If there was a list of things she had never expected to see in her life, a nearly naked seagirl giving her unconscious ex-boyfriend a mouth-to-mouth blood transfusion would have been on it.

After what seemed like an eternity, Meliah broke contact and hovered there, just an inch or so above him. Her short, panting breaths made her bare breasts rise and fall, brushing against his damp shirt. Her wound still flowed with golden blood. She seemed paler, with fevered eyes that stared at Brian as though she could wake him with the force of her will.

“Hot,” Kaitlyn whispered.

The glimmering sheen of Meliah’s body faded. With a small whimper she curled forward and sank into the bed beside Brian. The knife dropped from her hand, landing noiselessly on the cushions beside them.

Julia fell to her knees, trying to see Brian’s skin beneath Meliah’s golden hair. How had this day turned so utterly bizarre? She looked up at Angie. “What just happened?”

Angie shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“But you know everything!”

Angie blinked down at her. “Not much is recorded about nymphs in general, other than the fact that they have always been neutral, helping neither the Fates nor the Sorceress.”

Julia swallowed tightly. “Meliah isn’t neutral. She passed out from helping Brian.”

“More like swooned out from kissing him,” Kaitlyn snickered.

Brian groaned, coughing and rolling onto his side. He took an enormous breath as his eyes opened. He brought his hand down to his leg and winced.

“Wait, don’t touch your—”

But Brian hissed as his hand found his open wound. He bolted upright, his eyes wide and disoriented. He looked first to his injured leg, then at each of them in a frenzy, glancing around at the walls and then down to Meliah’s unconscious form. He rolled her onto the cushion beside him, staring mutely. At last he returned his gaze to Ethan. “What’s going on?”

Ethan helped him stand, glimmers of relief shining behind guarded, silver eyes. “You’re all right,” he said, pulling him into a hug.

Was he all right? A trail of crimson and gold pooled on the floor beneath his feet. Julia stared at him, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. He
would
be all right. The black lines had already begun receding from his face and arm, after all. Julia’s gaze moved over him, unable to pinpoint the subtle change she sensed in him, other than a golden glow to his skin. It was barely noticeable, blending with his tan and his blond, drying curls.

The sea girl had saved him… he probably had some residual magic left inside him. Julia glanced to where the sea girl lay on the bed, curled like a flower petal and as still as death. She hadn’t made any movement since the moment she had collapsed. She looked so pale. So fragile, even before cutting herself open to save Brian, she had looked spritely and small. Why had she helped him, at the cost of herself?

Angie knelt beside Meliah, brushing back her golden locks. Her fingers trailed along the unconscious girl’s jaw and slipped to her neck, as if feeling for a pulse. “She needs help.”

Brian frowned at the nymph, looking at her as though she were a puzzle to be figured out. “She pulled me from—from monsters,” he said, his gaze flitting up to meet Ethan’s. “Is that why she’s hurt?”

Ethan shook his head. “You were bit by one of those monsters. It was poisoning you. She used her blood to keep you alive.”

“Her
blood
?” He dragged both hands through his hair. “What is this place?”

“There’s a lot we need to tell you,” Ethan said, but before he could continue, the male nymph returned. Julia backed away as he approached the bed. He lifted Meliah with a fierce glare. Meliah’s head fell back. The golden locks of her hair tumbled behind her and nearly swept the floor as he carried her off.

Brian stared at the pair.

“He’ll make sure she’s all right,” Angie said, her voice shaky. “The bigger question is, was her blood enough to stave off the Scylla poison?”

“It seems to be working so far,” Ethan said.

Brian looked down at his arms, still covered in receding black veins, and then back at the doorway where the nymph had carried Meliah out from. “Why would she risk her life for me?” Brian’s gaze darted between them all. “Who are these people?”

“They aren’t people, they’re nymphs.” Kaitlyn said, still leaning against the wall but now checking her perfectly polished black fingernails. “And we are at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Hey,” Julia said at the sight of Brian’s stricken face. “You can’t just drop that kind of info on someone.”

“Why not? He may as well know the truth,” Kaitlyn said. “Hey Brian? Look around. If you think this is a dream, you’re wrong. You are miles under the ocean, and those monsters chasing you? They aren’t even the scariest kind.”

“That’s enough,” Julia said.

“Protective of him, now?” Kaitlyn purred. “Since when do you care?”

Julia’s eyes stung as the wounds on her heart tore open. She cared for Brian in the wrong way for romance. That didn’t mean she didn’t care about him at all. And this wasn’t exactly the time to be dealing with emotional baggage. The nymph guy didn’t seem thrilled that they were here, and the sooner they left, the better. “Can we explain it to you later, Brian?” Julia asked.

“How do you think we’re getting out of here?” Kaitlyn scoffed. “Do you know how deep that mergirl brought us with her magic? There’s
no way
we can make it out without her, and she’s probably dead.”

Angie’s eyes rounded and Julia’s skin prickled at the thought. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be… that would be too terrible.

“Maybe… maybe someone else can take us,” Angie said, attempting to peek out of the doorway, only to be met with the angry nymph’s glare.

“Too risky,” Ethan said. “We don’t know who would be in agreement with Meliah for helping us. The golden light that lured you down here? Nymphs have that light too, and they can control it. They could lure you to the bottom of the ocean just as easily as they could help you to the surface.”

Kaitlyn’s dark hair fell in wet strands across her face. “I hate that we did this. No offense, Ethan, but you could have saved your brother your own damned self.”

“Kaitlyn!” Angie cried out.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “We can’t even use our magic, so we’re useless here. What’s the point of us coming?” Her green-eyed gaze darted across the watery ceiling and the room. She released several shallow breaths. “No magic. And now we’re stuck.”