The Kiss That Saved Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 2) (46 page)

“You can step up anytime, brother,” Saturnus turns and moves away from me, leaving me in a flurry of bubbles as his words reach me. I don’t know what to make of them, I only know I can’t let him take everything I’ve worked for from me.
 

I catch up to him in a single push through the water and say nothing, unsure how to reply. We reach the site of shattered sea glass in mere moments.

“I’d expected your army to have assembled by now. What kind of loyalty is that?” Saturnus questions as we rise to a great height. I look over the city and find that the Psirens are scattered, kicking up rubble and smashing things with gleeful abandon. I find myself embarrassed.

“They’re ensuring the rest of the mer are dead,” I assure him, knowing full well that the last of the mer are long gone.

“Whatever you say. Their numbers are low. So low in fact that I believe as soon as the Necrimad is released from the seal that we won’t have a problem with the final part of the ritual,” Saturnus smiles to himself.

“Whatever do you mean?” I ask him and his brow creases.

“Didn’t you listen when we had those long early meetings, brother? Don’t you remember?” He seems more hurt than irritated which is an odd reaction from him. If I’m honest I wasn’t really listening to his infernal religious ramblings.

“It was so long ago….” Lies spill from my dry, cracked lips, seeping between my jagged teeth. Saturnus looks down at me as he rises slightly in the water. “If you would jog my memory. It has been a long day.” I fold my arms and look up to the setting sun; it’s light is blinding.

“Very well, but listen up Solustus, I will not be repeating this again,” he looks agitated but I can’t quite believe it, he loves reciting ritual and scripture, he thinks it makes him closer to being one with the Gods.

“I’m listening,” I reply sharply.

“Well, we have two more phases of the ritual to complete. Phase one was, as you know, the siphoning of lunar energy into earthly matter.”
 

“The scythe,” I remember how hard it had been to manoeuvre the scythe and its bearer into the right place at the right time without revealing our true intent and I shudder.

“Yes. Well, phase two involves releasing that energy via the sacrifice of the seer. She is pure, I am sure of it. Her blood will release the beast under the next full moon,” Saturnus is smiling, pleased with himself.

“But we’ll still need to release the Necrimad’s powers from its flesh,” it all comes rushing back to me.
 

“Yes. That itself unbelievably, is the tricky part. In order to release the raw power of the Necrimad, there’s a tad more we need to prepare for,” Saturnus reminds me, I try to recall but I forget the specifics.

“Okay, more rituals… seems simple enough to me,” I remind him and he snaps.

“Don’t you think I know that? Of course it would be simple if it were merely a phase of the moon or a naïve blonde we had to manipulate alone, but there are more factors at play here. Poseidon put a damn lock on this beast for a reason. There are so many conditions to its release because there is only one instance he could think of in which anyone would want to release it.”
 

“Which is?” I ask, finding myself strangely enraptured.

“That the world needs to be purified. Cleansed and wiped clean. Poseidon hates mortals don’t forget. It wasn’t difficult for him to foresee a day when they’d all need to be eradicated,” he speaks with such superiority, as though he has a direct line to Poseidon’s inner thoughts and I’m tempted to remind him that the one of us who has been closest to him is me. Unfortunately, I can’t deny that he’s right.

“So what does the last ritual entail?” I ask him, shaking my head slightly. I’m becoming tired of all this chatter and crave the silence of the dark.

“There are scales of good and evil, as long as the mer exist they will tilt those scales to keep them in balance with the evil of this world.”

“But why?”

“When they’re made they’re infused with the magic of Atargatis. It’s what keeps them immortal, that Goddess’ magic on this plane of existence is what keeps the scales balanced in favour of good. Once enough of their blood is spilled and her magic released into the aether, the scales will tip and the ritual can be performed,” Saturnus’ forehead is creased as we look out over the city and faint smashing sounds reach us from the brutal beasts of my army.

“Brother, that sounds impossible.”

“Not impossible, easy. There aren’t enough mer left to do any real damage. They’ll make a foolish final stand at some point, what with their romantic notions that hope and love will conquer all. When they do, we’ll be ready and waiting. We don’t need to kill off all of them, just enough to tip the scales. The Psirens’ increasing numbers have made the task easier. We are many.” I nod my head, hearing what he is saying. I find myself being able to recall our prior conversations now. I had known all this information subconsciously, but I had been too romanticised by the notion of finally being able to raise an army of the undead, those who had been claimed by the sea.
 

CALLIE

My head is pounding. The sun is hanging low on the horizon about to pass through the division between worlds. I haven’t moved an inch in quite a while. Orion is opposite me, Azure at my side and everyone else who has decided they want a say in what is debatably becoming a giant shouting match are encircling us.

“We’ve already been over this Azure! I’m not going back there!” Orion throws up his hands again; agitated at the fact he’s having to repeat himself for what seems to me like the millionth time.

“She’s FAMILY!” Azure yells, getting up in Orion’s face again. I raise a hand and rub my forehead, trying to release the tension that’s building there from trying to refrain from laughing. You’d think being a centuries old civilisation of people chosen to save the world they’d be more organised.

“Yes, okay. We get that you want to save Starlet!” I burst, suddenly feeling that I’ve had enough. Orion turns to me, his eyes blazing fury.

“What gives you the right to an opinion?” He is acting snarky, but I know it’s because I’ve hurt him. I take it and breathe deep.

“I just think that maybe yelling the same thing at each other over and over might not be the best way to resolve things. But hell, what do I know?” I cock an eyebrow at him, trying to come off cool and collected like Vex. In reality I hate the fact that I’m going up against him in front of everyone. I don’t want to make him look incompetent, I’ve already done that enough.

“Well, if you’re such an expert what do
you
think we should do then?” Orion thinks he’s backing me into a corner, trying to make me look equally as incompetent. Rather than stumbling I pause for a moment, ready to prove myself to the rest of the mer.

“Well, I think this is a decision both of you are too close to the picture to make. We have military experts here, don’t we? Why don’t we ask them? Nobody can claim to know more about the capabilities of the Psiren army than the leaders of The Knights of Atargatis. Ghazi, Cole, what do you think?” I smile to myself, pleased with my answer. Orion purses his lips as silent fury consumes him, but then something else unrecognisable passes beneath his irises and his tail visibly relaxes. I turn in the water, my hair moving around me and lock eyes on the two men who I know will make the decision that neither Azure nor Orion should be charged with.

“Thank you, Callie,” Cole says, turning to Ghazi who nods, signs a reply, and then shakes his head viciously from side to side, his black locks feathering outward in the water.

“Ghazi and I agree. It wouldn’t be wise to host a rescue. We were lucky to get out of the city alive the first time. Going back in is a suicide mission.”

“There you have it. Decision made. We’re going to move away from this place,” I nod and smile at the both of them, they bow their heads and despite everything they have lost I am glad that I have managed to maybe earn a little respect back from them.

“Go where?” Rose pipes up from the circle of mermaids, she looks concerned.

“Our home has been destroyed, remember? Where on earth could we possibly go?” Alannah joins in too. Sophia looks at me from behind Alannah’s shoulder, her eyes searching mine for a speck of comfort. I cannot forget that Oscar didn’t make it out of the city. He’s probably dead, or worse. She needs anything I can give her right now and as her brown eyes, that remind me so much of a very special little girl, sparkle with unshed tears, I know I have to give them some kind of reprieve.

“Look, I know the city is gone, but that’s not our home. Not really. I mean we’re mer. The Occulta Mirum was just a lot of pretty buildings, but nothing is as beautiful as our actual home and that’s the ocean. Nothing can take that from us, except death, and as far as I can tell everyone here is still breathing.” It’s probably the lamest cliché I could have spouted, but something within the maidens unconsciously lifts as their eyes fixate on my face. Or most of them, anyway.

“That’s all very nice, but it doesn’t solve the problem of where we’re actually going to go,” Rose’s irritating tones cause me to roll my eyes slightly.

“Right you are. What I’m trying to say is that we’re not bound to somewhere that has buildings, walls or even a roof. We can go anywhere we want. However, if you want walls and a roof, if that’s what makes you feel safe, there was this place I read about… From the silent times?” I look around at them and their eyes widen as they all remember.

“The what? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Rose bursts again and this time Sophia speaks up before I can defend myself.
 

“That’s because you’re too young. However, if you’d have done your reading and worried about filling your head instead of the hair covering it, you’d know that Callie is referring to the Ice city. The mer used it to stay away from prying human eyes.” She turns to me and her eyes are still red, but this time they’re rage filled. She puts on a polite smile, totally not hiding how pissed she is. “I think it’s a great idea. It’s low key and it’s protected. We all know that demon activity has been on the rise.”

“It has?” Rose speaks again, unable to grasp the concept of shutting the hell up.

“Yes, Rose, where do you think Jason has been going, the pub?” Sophia says this, gritting her teeth and not even bothering to turn. Rose falls silent again and I really want to laugh, then I catch a look on her face and I avert my eyes. I wonder if Jason made it out alive. I turn to Orion, knowing that I need to respect his authority here.

“What do you think?” I ask him, trying to appear sweet.
 

“Does it really matter what I think?” He shrugs and then rises, moving quickly out of the chapel and into the blue beyond.

“Is he coming back?” Alannah asks me looking worried. I shrug.

“Well, don’t you think you should follow him? He is
your
soulmate,” she makes a little shooing motion with her hands, all the while moving her mint green and pastel pink scales from side to side in hypnotic time. I sigh, exhaling a large cloud of bubbles and turn to Azure.

“I’ll be right back,” I launch upward, tensing all my tail muscles together, zooming off after Orion. He’s not hard to find, he’s only a little way from the chapel, bathing in the dimming light from the sunset above, practicing some kind of martial art routine or drill.

“Hey…” I say awkwardly, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. There are still decisions to be made.

“If you’ve come to apologise, I’m not interested,” he doesn’t look at me.

“I’m not apologising. Why should I?” I ask him, he’s got a real bug up his butt.

“You come back here, after everything that’s happened, and you want to play hero. That’s pretty shitty in my books.”

“I’m not trying to ‘play’ anything, Orion. I just want everyone to be safe. I don’t want anyone else to die,” I speak honestly, realising that every single time I’ve watered down my feelings, twisted the truth, or not spoken up I’ve been lying to myself and pushing him away. He scares me as I watch him strike out with his fist, but it’s not the physical damage I know he can inflict which disturbs me. As always it’s the emotional scars he can leave without even laying a hand on me.

“Could have fooled me…” he starts but I interrupt him.

“I get it. I get that you’re pissed at me. I let you down and I ran. But I’m not going to do that again,” I go to move toward him but he flashes me a warning with his eyes.

“I don’t believe you,” he strikes out with his other palm, impacting nothingness. I wonder if he’s picturing me.

“You don’t have to believe me. There are bigger issues than you and me here. I’m not saying that I want you and I to be besties, I know that’s too much to ask. I just want us to work together. For those people in there. I’ve let them down too. I need to be there for them now. So do you.” He stops punching out, stilling, his shoulders slumping.

“I don’t think I can.” All malice has left his voice and all that resides in the space between us is water and despair.

“Of course you can,” I laugh slightly, snorting. The Orion I knew wasn’t this full of self-doubt. What has happened to him?