Everblue (16 page)

28

ASH

“Ashlyn, please wake up, sweetie.”

My mom’s voice bounced inside my tired brain. Everything ached. Beyond my closed eyelids was a bright light, too bright for me to want to look at.

“Ohhh,” I moaned.

I brought my hand to shield the nuisance and found something taped across my skin, hindering me. Beeps and other whooshing noises coupled with the antiseptic smell were more hints we weren’t at home.

“Mom?” I groggily choked out and opened my right eye a crack.

“Oh, my heavens.” She grabbed ahold of my tethered hand. “Yes, honey, I’m here.”

I looked around the strange space, apparently a hospital room. My weighted body felt detached as I attempted to sit up. “What happened?”

 “Just lie still,” Mom said and put her hand on my shoulder. “You . . . apparently had an accident and fell into the lake. The Ranger found you before it was too late and brought you to the Forest Ranger Station. They were able to warm you up and stop the bleeding until the ambulance could arrive.”

“Bleeding?” I reached down to my leg and felt a mountain of gauze.

“Yes.” Her hand trembled. “You’re going to be okay though. They’ve patched you up. You’re good as new.”

“New?” I mumbled. I felt nothing of the sort. Thrown out of a moving car and run over was a better description.

“Look who’s awake,” a blonde nurse in pink,
Hello Kitty
patterned scrubs said as she pulled back the curtain and walked into the room. Before I could answer, she popped a thermometer in my mouth and replaced the bag of fluids running down a tube into the back of my hand. She checked my temp reading, wrote something in my chart, and smiled. “Very good. How do you feel?”

“Tired.”

“I bet. You’ve been through a lot, but the fast work from the Ranger gave you the best chance for recovery.”

“Ranger?”

Fuzz lined my brain and impeded any memory beyond my excursion to the island. The past came in short movie clips: the coffee can of treasures, rowing back to shore, the bitter wind, the picture floating into the water. I never wanted to be that cold again. For the first time ever, water terrified me. With a vacant expression, I looked toward Mom.

“You fell into the lake, sweetie, and cut your leg pretty badly.”

My hand went to my mouth to hide my embarrassment. Then I froze. The warmth of my lips felt different—tingly somehow.

“I remember,” I mumbled, part in acknowledgement and part to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming.

“Where did you manage to fall in, honey?”

My gaze met hers. Worry stamped unforgiving grooves into her skin, creating small fissures. Gray hair mixed with brown lined her temples like weeds in a pristine lawn. What if something bad had happened to me?

I glanced down and played with the tape on my hand. “I don’t know . . .”

My nurse gave Mom a reassuring look. “Well, you’re almost back to normal. I’ll give your doctor an update. Maybe you can go home today. How’s that?”

Mom sighed, the kind that sounded like a huge boulder had been lifted from her chest. I willed the nurse to stay, but she squeezed my blanketed foot and walked out the door instead.

Mom kept looking at me with her deep blue eyes, her powerlessness threatening to choke me. I almost burst into a monologue of a million sorrys when my nurse came back in the room. I held my breath.

“I almost forgot your lunch.” She put a cafeteria tray on my bedside table.

“Thanks,” I mumbled and decided to wait on spilling the truth of what happened. My stomach hurt from hunger and I lifted the lid covering the plate. Palatable fragrances of macaroni and cheese, and steamed broccoli hit my nose. At least the food looked better than the bland cafeteria crud they fed us at school.

“I’m… I’m going to go call your father,” Mom said and left the room.

I nodded, wanting to be alone. My guilt would keep me company.

While I ate the first couple of noodles, my brain fought to remember the details of what happened to me after I fell into the water. A Ranger dragged me out of the lake? How could that be? I’d been so far off shore. The memory was there, murky like the bloody water I’d almost drowned in. Blood. That’s right, lots of blood. I’d heard a voice. A male’s voice . . . like Fin’s. Only melodic. And a light—a beautiful light. An angel?

A knock at the door interrupted my brainstorm.

“Uh, sorry to intrude. I just got off work and wanted to stop by.”

I smiled at the graying gentleman in front of me. He wore a button down shirt and dark green slacks. A gold park emblem on his lapel tipped me off.

I set down my fork. “You’re the guy? The one who saved me?”

“Well . . . not really, Miss. Someone brought you into the back room of the station without my knowledge . . . and left. I called the ambulance once I saw your condition. I wanted you to know. They deserve the credit.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with amnesia.

“Oh?” His version of the scene ran through my head and I pressed my lips together. They tingled again. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Good day.” He tipped his hat and left.

Mom passed him on her way back in the room.

“Was that the—?”

“Yeah.” I shoved a peach into my mouth, unsure how to explain what his role was in my daring rescue. “He’s the Ranger.”

“I wanted to thank him.” She darted back to the door and scanned the hall. “Sir? Sir!”

“Mom!” I called out, hoping to stop her before she made a fool of herself. I tried to get out of bed, but my leg protested in pain, forbidding any sudden movements. “He doesn’t want the attention, Mom!”

She didn’t come back—her voice echoing down the hall. I slapped my forehead.

What a mess.

29

FIN

With my blood pummeling through my veins, I slipped back into Natatoria unnoticed. A group of mermaids, tittering and giggling, swam past moments later chaperoned by an annoyed merman displaying the gold Natatorian insignia strapped to his bicep. He gave me a glare that might suggest he’d seen me return, until one of the mermaids told him to be nice while she winked at me.

I wanted to laugh. Suddenly, they seemed as appealing as an old woman. Ashlyn was the only one I wanted to look at and be with for eternity—petting her soft white skin, gazing into her enchanting green eyes. Thoughts of tangling my hands in her red curls and bringing her lips to mine grappled with my being. How could I have left her with that incompetent Ranger? Was she okay? Did she make it to the hospital in time? I knew she was still alive, at least.

Wracked with grief, I hurried home to find it empty. Mom and Tatch were still at the palace, but would be home soon enough. Maybe I could tell them what happened. After all, Dad had kissed Mom under similar circumstances.

Ashlyn’s sweet lips and tender body in my arms wrapped around my mind. With one kiss, everything had changed. All I wanted was her—forever. I had to be with her or I’d go mad.

I phased into legs and sprawled out on the couch, wishing for a TV show to pass the time. With a groan, I pounded my fist on the granite arm of the couch. A searing ache of longing replaced the initial high when I’d promised myself to her. Now our distance rubbed salt into my soul.
Why didn’t I just heal her with my blood? Then I’d know she was all right.

When I heard Mom and Tatch talking outside, I got up and hid in my room.

“Fin, are you here?” Mom asked after entering the house. She sounded distressed.

“Yeah, in my room.”

I clenched my jaw. There was no way I could handle another minute without knowing if Ashlyn was okay or not. I had to get back on land before the sun set and double check. I marched into the living room, ready to spill my guts.

I stopped short. Azor, Colin and Uncle Alaster were standing in my living room, each of them exuding their own flavor of a condemning stare. The one I wanted to wipe off with my fist though was Colin’s ugly little smirk.

 “Finley, we need to talk,” Azor said calmly, motioning for me to sit down.

I darted my eyes to Mom, then Tatch, who both were a little pale. My heart began to hammer but I remained composed, taking my seat. Yes, I’d left my post without permission, but no one saw me leave Natatoria.

Crap!

Then I remembered. I forgot to deliver the rocks.
Kiernan must have told Azor I didn’t return. If only I had gone back, then he could have been my alibi.

Azor ran his hand through his obsidian hair and frowned. “Where were you today?”

Great. Here we go.
“At Mr. Gumboot’s place.”

He raised an eyebrow. “The whole time?”

“No. He wasn’t happy with his selection of rocks, so I left to find him some new ones. Good customer service is key, you know.” I smirked.

“You never returned.” Azor’s eyes fell into slits.

“I couldn’t find any that where smooth like he wanted. The work day was over, so I went home.” I leaned back and rested my ankle on my leg. Neither Alaster, nor Azor would be able to do so, forced to sit ladylike in their archaic man-skirts.

Azor leaned forward. “You were seen today, outside of Natatoria.”

A laugh exited my lips. “Oh, really? By whom?”

Uncle Alaster sat up and placed a digital camera encased in a watertight container on the coffee table. “Colin was able to recover this—” The blood drained from my face as I eyed the proof. “—and mind-wiped the owner, but I’m not sure if anyone else saw.”

My glare landed on Colin’s overly happy, beady eyes. “And you’re sure it’s me?”

“Quite sure, Cousin. I, of course, was running a charter when you chose to jettison out of the gate, creating five-foot waves. My cruisers panicked and thought an earthquake had erupted along the fault line, causing a tsunami. I had to mind-wipe the entire group and confiscate this camera.”

Every cell in my body wanted to pummel the little snitch.

“Five-foot waves? I highly doubt that.”

“Tomorrow the lake is going to be swarming with boats and divers. I can’t wait to see what they say on the evening news.”

“Colin, you little—” I lunged for him, but Azor held me back.

“That’s enough, Finley. Unfortunately, you’ll need to be sanctioned. This is serious. A trial will be set after we assess the damage. You’ll need to come with me to a holding cell.”

“What? And Colin mind-wiping an entire group of people isn’t grounds for sanctioning, too? What about the gate? And even now, who’s guarding it?” I glanced over at Tatiana’s anxious eyes and then towards Mom. She wouldn’t look at me. I threw my hands into the air. “This is insane!”

Azor ignored me. “Alaster, I’m hoping you and Colin will be able to contain any rumors. And keep a better eye on the gate.”

“Of course, Captain.” Alaster bowed his head.

Out of the corner of my eye, Colin moved to snatch up the only known evidence of my infraction off the table; I countered to stop him. What was on the camera anyway? I didn’t surface the water until I reached Ashlyn’s body. No one was around.

Tatch caught the nonverbal exchange.

“Don’t you want the camera, Azor?” she asked with a silkened voice. “For evidence?”

“We should return it as quickly as we can to its owner,” Alaster shot back. “Before his subconscious forces him to remember what really happened when he can’t find it.”

Azor glanced towards Alaster, then at the clear box in Colin’s hand with disgust, apparently undecided on what to do. His naïveté had to have left him unsure how to work the foreign gadget. As a rule, human technology was looked at as being something useless to the mers and thus to be avoided. Azor strictly followed those guidelines.

“Azor,” my sister purred as she slithered closer to Colin and plucked the box right out of his hand. “Let’s look at the pictures first.” The case opened with a hiss.

She clicked the buttons with a stoic disposition, then her shoulders softened.

“Maybe you should look, Azor?”

She got up and perched herself on the arm of the chair Azor sat in. She demonstrated the gadget with one hand and wrapped her other hand around his shoulder. “See? There’s no fuss.”

Azor tightened his eyes for a fraction of a second as each picture flashed on the screen. “Yes, I see what you mean.” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Still, Alaster is right. The camera should be returned. Colin?”

Tatiana held out the contraption with a coquettish smile. Colin took the camera and threw it into the box, unconcerned with damaging the device. Azor, unaware, gazed headily into Tatiana’s eyes.

I gasped. “So there’s no damaging pictures?”

Alaster coughed and grabbed his son by the arm. “Come, Colin. We have a gate to guard and rumors to squelch.”

They left through the porthole before I could raise a larger stink.

Azor snapped out of Tatiana’s bewitching stare and looked angrily at me. “Yes, the pictures seem to have discounted Colin’s claim you were seen as a merman by humans, but your unauthorized exit must be discussed. You better hope they don’t find any other evidence against you.”

“Wait. Let me get this straight. I leave unauthorized through an unguarded gate, and I alone get in trouble?”

“You didn’t have permission to leave, Finley. As far as your uncle’s post is concerned, that’s my business.”

“I was getting rocks!” I yelled. “Because it’s my
job
to make the elder mers happy. I only left for a minute!”

Azor turned and scowled. “You just can’t leave and get rocks.”

“This is utterly ridiculous!” I pounded my fist on the chair, breaking off a piece.

Tatiana batted her eyelashes at Azor. “Aren’t you overreacting?”

“No, Tatiana. Finley has broken the law,” he said plainly, then turned to me. “Be prepared to answer when the Council asks what you were doing. How you managed to create a wake while retrieving rocks is beyond me, but a solid explanation might reduce the time of your punishment.”

Unlikely.
“You’d better stop rumors here in Natatoria too. Once it gets around the gate’s unguarded, other mers might stop by for a visit,” I said with a sneer.

Azor glared. “Don’t test me, Finley. The other mers respect our rules and you need to be reminded why we don’t break them.” Azor motioned for me to get to my feet. “We must go.”

Mom kept eyeing me with worry. “When can I visit my son?”

“Mag—excuse me—Mrs. Helton, not until after the trial next week.”

The withering glance of my torn mother ate at the lining of my stomach. How could I have been so careless? Colin tricked me into revealing what happened and I fell for it—hook, line, and sinker. By blaming me, Alaster completely avoided a reprimand. Without Dad’s help to smooth matters behind the scenes, I doubted I’d get a fair trial. I could kiss Tahoe goodbye for my future now.

Azor made me go behind the curtain and phase first.

“Sorry,”
Tatiana said, once she exited the porthole behind us. She and Mom floated, clinging to one another, in the current under the eve of the porch.
“What were you doing out there anyway?”

“Nothing,”
—besides promising myself to the girl of my dreams, risking the family’s livelihood and putting everyone in jeopardy—
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Better not have been nothing. I just flirted with Azor. Ugh.”

I withheld a nervous laugh.
“Something personal. I’ll tell you later.”

“Oh-kay,”
she said disparagingly.

If we had more time, she might have pulled out the truth.
“Take care of Mom. Who knows how this will turn out.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m going to see you before the trial somehow.”

Our eyes met.
“Don’t you dare do anything rash.”

“We’ll see.”

“Finley, let’s go,” Azor said, noticing I’d stalled.

Azor and I crossed the bluff and the girls disappeared out of view, leaving me with my guilt. I had no idea what the punishment would be for leaving without permission. If Alaster or Colin testified, it would be my word against theirs, considering they’ve no proof. Maybe I could mention the fact they weren’t monitoring the gate. There was no way I was going to take the fall for everything.

As we swam closer, I noticed a few changes to his grandiose living quarters—more gilded surfaces and additional spires. The magnificent coral garden stood out, rumored to be directly from Fiji to accent his statue of a bare-chested mermaid—a custom he wanted reinstated.

A new room protruded off to the side, which he bragged he had built specifically for his hunting trophies. But in the back, behind a barnacle
-
encrusted stone fence loomed the ravenous creatures no one ever wanted to contend with—great white sharks.