The Kiss That Saved Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 2) (49 page)

“Oscar!” I exhale, I can’t wait to tell Sophia he’s safe. Then I wonder if I should mention it or not.

“Star! I’m sorry! I tried to save you!” Azure yells and Starlet’s eyes are wide. She looks like she might cry. Orion is silent at my back.

“What’s going on there?” Cole asks him.

“Well, after you and I last saw each other I became best friends with Saturnus and Solustus, we had a nice tea party and they let me braid their hair!” His sarcasm makes me want to laugh, but somehow I manage to contain it. He continues, “How the hell should I know? They’re not exactly good with the sharing their evil plan bit…From what I can tell they’re clearing debris…” He finishes this and a question inside me surfaces.

“You don’t suppose the Necrimad is underneath the city...” I look to Orion and he shrugs.

“I don’t know…” He looks unsure. Vex suddenly turns his neck, looking at something behind him.

“They’re coming back. I’ve got to scram!” He looks scared and it surprises me. Maybe he really is on our side after all.

“Tell Star I’ll be watching. She knows what I mean,” Azure blurts and he nods. The mirror turns back our reflections on us, cutting off the conversation.

“So he’s on our side now?” Orion looks angry. I get ready to speak but Azure beats me to it.

“Yes. We need someone on the inside. Unless, of course, you want our sister to die?” He shuts up. Things get awkward between us and Cole takes it upon himself to break the silence.

“So what’s with the trident?” He asks. Azure has an answer for that, too. I wonder when she got so helpful.

“It was Titus’… but he never used it. He thought it made him look cool more than anything. Bloody narcissus.” I hear her turn of phrase and stare at her with a cocked eyebrow, she really can’t pull it off without the British accent mixed in. “Yeah I heard it!” She snaps at me and I laugh.

“Should we try take that mirror with us? Could come in useful,” Cole suggests, but Azure shakes her head.

“No, it’s too big for a long journey. Besides, once it’s cracked and the pieces are separated it useless. Eventually, Saturnus will smash the other one to pieces. He won’t risk us looking in on him,” she speaks with such certainty that no one questions her.

“We should go. I don’t want to leave the others outside. Anything could come back and pick them off.” Orion nods and we make a hasty exit from the throne room. I pass the trident to him as we make our way through the charred passages.

“Why you giving this to me?” He looks at me, suspicious.

“You’re the best fighter here. You need a weapon more than me.” I lie. The truth is I can’t bare the feel of it in my hand, a reminder of the crunching and snapping of arteries and veins. He doesn’t question me, but gives me a slight smile.

“Thanks.”
 

Outside we’re met by an alarming and yet slightly hysterical scene. The mermaids and Ghazi are staring down at something on the ground. Orion speaks first, sounding as authoritative as I’ve heard him in a while.

“What happened?” The girls all move to speak at once and Ghazi rolls his eyes. He’s standing with his arms crossed. “One at a time!” Orion barks and they all jump at the volume of his voice. It reverberates off the walls of the city, ringing in our ears.

“We captured a Psiren!” Rose looks practically gleeful.

“I hit him over the head!” Skye states, pride radiating from her.

“I tied him up!” Emma is smiling. They move backward and reveal a Psiren, bound and unconscious on the floor. Sophia moves forward.

“Ghazi did most of the fighting part,” she explains directly, I wonder if my expression is that obviously incredulous.
 

“Ah,” I nod and give her a smile. I can’t help myself, deciding then and there to tell her about Oscar. “Oscar, he’s alive.” I look into her eyes and watch them tear up.

“How? How do you know that?” She asks me.

“There was a mirror, we could see into the Occulta Mirum, just for a moment. I saw him. He’s with Starlet.” At this sentiment her face drops.

“She’s been captured though, hasn’t she?”
 

“Yes,” I breathe out. “I didn’t know whether to tell you, but if it was me, I’d want to know.” I rub my left shoulder with my palm, feeling the tension in my muscles.

“Thank you,” she sighs. It’s not a happy sigh, but I don’t think I can ask her to be happy. I hope I’ve given her at least a little relief. Our eyes break as I realise that Orion and Marina are causing somewhat of a scene.

“That thing needs to be killed. I won’t risk it telling Solustus anything, or coming after us when it wakes up!” He barks at her, leaning forward. She’s red in the face.

“I’m just saying! If I had to live in this place, I’d be homicidal too! Look at the décor! These creatures are in pain!” She is gesticulating wildly.

“They. Murdered. Christian.” Orion spits. There’s a gasp. The maidens recoil slightly and my eyes pop open a little. That was over the line. Even for him.

“Yes, and killing this creature won’t bring him back,” she spits, her Italian temper flaring. The group falls silent, suspended awkwardly in the water, nobody daring to move. A few moments pass, and Orion eventually shrugs.

“Fine. Leave it here. We need to go,” he doesn’t look anyone in the eye but rises high above, leaving us behind. I look at Azure with a confused expression and she shrugs too, mimicking her brother. So she doesn’t know what’s going on either.
 

Well,
I think,
I hope he sorts himself out soon
.
 

We have never needed a Crowned Ruler more. With that thought, I realise things have changed forever. The city I had fallen in love with is gone and a new reign of darkness and terror has begun for everyone under the surface. Fear knots in my belly, melding together with the guilt that still hangs heavy in my soul. I have hope though; hope born from the instinctual gut feeling that journeying north will bring answers.

ORION

My steed shifts underneath me, his hooves galloping against invisible earth, treading water. His leathery wings extend outward as I sit side-saddle, my sister at my back. We’re leading the pod, if that’s what we are called now. We are divided. Azure and I are sitting on Philippe’s back, riding ahead, and the mermaids and Callie are lagging behind us while Ghazi and Cole are keeping watch at the tail end of our fragmented processional.

“You’re quiet,” Azure notes and I nod, not saying anything. “You know, this is going to be a real long trip if you’ve decided to play mime.” She rises from the Equinox’s spine and moves to face him, keeping pace with the horse’s continuing forward motion while caressing his nose. She looks up at me, her eyes the familial ice blue and sighs. “I thought you’d be happy. Callie isn’t infected anymore.”
 

We pass over coral reefs vibrant with colour but they do nothing to soothe my ragged temper. I’m not really in the mood to talk, but knowing my sister she won’t shut up until I say at least something.

“I’m not happy. Callie… she’s different somehow. She doesn’t need me anymore,” I feel my shoulders sag and my heart sink. The ocean has lost its thrill and as I look around all I can see is endless, darkening blue pressing in on all sides.

“Are you serious?” Azure’s eyebrows pinch together.

“What?” I look at her as her expression becomes angry.

“You’re seriously telling me you have a problem with her, the person you waited all that time for, because she doesn’t
need
you like some pathetic whiner?” Azure’s fist is clenched, she’s taking long strokes backward in the water, totally erect now as Philippe continues to canter onward, his leathery wings outstretched and beating a pulse. Suddenly I feel her gaze on me, burning into me and I shrink further.
 

“Yes?” I answer, unsure of how to respond. She’s making me seem ridiculous. She moves forward, slapping me across the left side of the face.

“Have I taught you nothing? You think I
need
a man? No. Do I
want
a man? Well… also no. But if I did, I wouldn’t be pussyfooting around.”

“Azure, this really isn’t any of your business,” I sigh, running my hands through my hair. Cole comes into view, swinging his tail to the left and pivoting round in front of me. He looks suspiciously at Azure.

“Everything alright here?” He looks at my sister with a wary glance sideways.

“Everything is fine. I’m just slapping my dumbass brother for being… well, a dumbass.”

“Fair enough,” Cole says it with such a straight face that I almost don’t register with what he’s said. When I do, my head snaps back to the left, scorning him with my stare. He swims leisurely back to the rear of the group.

“Seriously, we’re not in the position to take the fact the people we love are still here for granted, Orion. Just look at those women back there; half of them are widows. Are you and Callie really going to not be together out of stubbornness?” I’m sort of shocked to be hearing this from her at all, when I think about what a state she was in only a few weeks ago. She’s starting to radiate Starlet’s tone and attitude with each passing remark. She has a point, but that’s exactly why I don’t want to talk to her about it anymore.

“Butt out. It’s over,” those two words are out of my mouth quicker than I realise and I wonder if I still believe them. Everything that had pulled us apart is still an issue, isn’t it? Callie has changed, so much so that I almost don’t recognise her when she speaks. She’s so authoritative. When we had first met she was so unsure of everything, except of course the fact that she didn’t want to be looked after. She’s certainly changed, hardened somehow.

“Do you think… that the darkness, made her, you know…”
 

“Screwed up in the head like me?” Azure finishes my trail of thought, but I give her an unsavoury look before turning to look back at Callie.

“Yeah,” I sigh.

“Did you not see how she reacted to killing Alyssa? I’d say she’s doing okay. She’s strong,” Azure comments and I’m surprised by her words.

“You really think that?” I exclaim and she rolls her eyes.

“Well, not that my opinion means anything, but yes. She lived down there and she’s come back tougher. She’s not so bratty as I remember anyway.” I shoot her a stare and she pokes her tongue out, returning to stroking Philippe’s mane. It’s the calmest I have ever seen her and I think the open ocean is doing her good. I’d heard people say that the ocean could heal the most broken of hearts, and it looks like my sister is slowly piecing hers back together.
 

We’re a long way from the city, travelling fast and making good pace and the natural world is all consuming as we wade through it. While I would usually be savouring its richness like honey, I can’t help but find everything around me bland; that is until I clamp eyes on the one thing I can’t bear to want. Callie.

She’s among the mermaids, smiling and laughing. She’s a good ruler, or so it seems. Despite her time with the Psirens the mermaids seem to like her. They trust her, even though she’s young, inexperienced, and naïve. They can’t help but listen when she speaks, respecting her. The new her is more compassionate to the pain of others than I’ve seen before. She’s less impatient with the mermaids who I know she once considered shallow and is trying her best to get to know them better. I think back to the fire in her eyes as she turned, spinning to a halt before facing Alyssa. She had killed her, single-handedly. I wonder if I would have done as well with all those tentacles, which she had unbelievably outwitted without any help at all. I had known her death had affected me, but maybe something inside her had snapped at that moment too. Perhaps she felt as helpless as I had, and she knew the only thing that could keep her truly safe was knowledge, strength of will, and physique. Not me. Had I made her feel so terribly weak by locking her away, adorning her with jewels and love bites, staking my claim? Maybe I’ve sold her short all along. Maybe, just maybe, she’s stronger than I thought. Maybe, after everything I’ve tried to do to keep her safe, I’m the weak one, for not being able to let her go.