Fated - A Mermaid's Curse 2 (14 page)

“
I will.” Blake looks at me and puts his hand on mine, right on the table. “You have no idea how thankful I am for this, Mike.”

Him and Carol both smile at us. “It’s our pleasure. Now, moving on. What are you two doing today?”

Blake smiles. “I’m taking Arianna to the aquarium and then we’re leaving town.”

Mr. Jones nods. “We’ll be flying up in two weeks for the company’s yearly dinner. I expect to see you both there.”

“
Of course,” says Blake.

After breakfast, we get our things in the car. We then say our goodbyes and head to the aquarium.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

BLAKE

I love the look in her eyes and she watches the pool where they keep the dolphins. They only have two of them out on this area today.

“
Do you want to feed them?” I ask.

She nods excitedly. I pay the fee and we approach the pool. There are other people around, trying to get the dolphins to come to them to be fed. As soon as Arianna grabs the fish and moves her hand toward the water, not just one, but both dolphins rush toward her, lifting their heads and opening their mouths. She laughs and looks at me. “You should feed one of them.”

I grab the fish and she watches me as I move the fish toward the water, but the dolphin shakes its head and then splashes water all over me before turning to look at Arianna.

Everyone watches amazed, me included, and she just laughs. She grabs the fish from my hand and feeds them both at the same time. Then she touches them at the same time, petting them as she says, “Now that wasn’t very nice,” she looks at me then back at the dolphins. “You should let him feed you, too.”

She looks at me and I grab the fish and they both shake their heads. She pets them and tells them to be polite. I’m the one laughing now, but they both lift their heads and open their mouths.

The people who were trying to feed them, move to Arianna’s side and she helps a little girl feed them, too, and then another. When I turn around, there’s a line of kids waiting.

I take a few steps back and lean against the wall, just watching her. After a good fifteen minutes or so, she walks toward me and I’m still watching her, amazed. I grin. “Are you like a dolphin whisperer?”

She shrugs. “I guess they just like me.”

I chuckle. “That is an understatement. They love you. I’m almost jealous.”

She laughs and comes closer to me.

“
I’m yours and yours only. You have nothing and no one to be jealous of.”

I wrap my arms around her, lifting her off the ground and kissing her. “Let’s go home,” I say.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ARIANNA

The drive back is nice. Quiet.

“
We’re about thirty minutes away,” says Blake. “I want to go to the apartment and pack some of my things to take to the island.”

I nod. “Do you think Owen would mind going to the doctor with me? I was supposed to go in for a follow up.”

“
Oh. Well, I’ll take you. We can pack later.”

“
It’s just a follow up, Blake. I’ll be okay. This way you can get your things done and we can move on and back to the island.”

He looks like he isn’t sure and I hope he let’s this go because I really need to talk to Owen and I need to talk to him alone.

“
Are you sure?” he asks and I nod.

He calls Owen from the car.

“
Hey man, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I need to go back to the apartment to pack and Arianna asked if you could go to the doctor with her.”

I can tell that Owen catches on right away. For one thing, Blake can’t be there when we talk to the doctor.

“
Yes, of course. When?”

“
I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“
Okay. See you then.”

We get to Owen’s right on time. Blake drives into the parking garage and sends Owen a message. Minutes later, he’s walking toward the car. He is wearing cargo pants and a black shirt, and sunglasses. He looks nothing like the intimidating man that I first met.

Blake catches me watching Owen. “Are you really sure?” he asks.

“
Yes.”

“
Can you call me if you need anything? If you need me there for any reason, I’ll drop everything and be there right away.”

“
I will.” I lean over and kiss him.

Owen stands outside of the car with his arms crossed. Blake opens the window.

“
It’s a little rude to keep others waiting while you make out, brother.”

“
Shut up,” Blake says playfully.

I get out and make my way over to Owen.

“
Take good care of her,” warns Blake.

“
I will. As if she’s my own,” Owen grins.

Blake gives him a warning gaze. “This was a bad idea.”

Owen laughs and puts his arm over my shoulder.

“
Relax, bro. Are you coming here after or should I bring her to the apartment?”

“
The apartment is good.”

“
Okay,” says Owen. “We’ll see you then.”

I wave bye to Blake.

Owen still has his arm around my shoulder.

Blake shakes his head as he laughs, and drives away.

Once Owen gets in the car and shuts the door, he says that he called to make sure the doctor would be there. He starts the car, but I stop him before he drives away.

“
Owen,” I say.

“
Yes?”

“
I have something that I need to ask you.”

He sits back and looks at me.

I look away, avoiding his gaze. “I’m afraid that the same thing will happen again if my kind was to find out that Blake and I are going back and forth on those waters. I was wondering if you could use black magic to keep them from seeing anything… or to mask us somehow.”

When he doesn’t see anything, I look over and see the sparkle in his eyes.

“
There is a cost for using back magic. You should know this better than anyone else.”

I nod. “I do, but I will do anything to keep him safe. Just tell me the price.”

Owen leans his head back on the seat and closes his eyes as if he is considering it. When he opens his eyes, the sparkle is gone.

He sighs. “This one is on me. Just remember that.”

“
Thank you,” I say kindly.

He nods and drives off without saying a word the entire way to the hospital.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“
Relax. Doctors are always late,” says Owen. “It’s their thing.” He rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Just be glad we get to wait in the comfort of his office.”

There is a knock on the door and the doctor comes in. We say our hellos and he moves right to the point and asks how I’ve been feeling. I tell him about the pain in my legs and he makes a note. He looks concerned, which makes me nervous.

Then he takes me to do a series of tests while Owen waits.

I know it has been over an hour when we get back into his office. The doctor holds x-rays and other results.

“
Well, I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but there has been no change since last time. Your internal organs are still the same as when you were in mermaid form.”

I nod sadly. In a way, I was hoping that had changed.

“
I still think you need to be cautious,” says the doctor. “If anything changes, come back and see me.”

I nod.

“
What about the pain on her legs?” Owen asks.

The doctor takes a deep breath. “Did this happen before?”

I shake my head. “Not that I remember. I used to get sick when I was away from Blake, to the point where only turning back into a mermaid and getting into the sea would make me feel better, but nothing like this.”

The doctor looks at Owen, “You really messed up here, didn’t you?”

“
Yeah, well, we’re not here for therapy, doc. We’re here for answers.”

The doctor shakes his head and looks back at me. “I can only assume that it’s your body longing for the sea, or just getting used to having legs again. We’ll monitor it. Call me if it gets worse. If that happens again, I want you to get in the water to see if it helps at all. That should either confirm or rule out one of my theories.”

“
Okay,” I say

“
Well, if that is all, we should get going,” Owen says.

I face the doctor. “Thank you.”

“
Take care, Arianna. Please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything at all.”

I nod and we leave the hospital and head to the apartment.

Once we get there, we can hear Blake and his dad fighting before we even get out of the elevator.

CHAPTER THIRTY

OWEN

“
Damn it!” I look over at Arianna and she looks terrified, and I know that Blake will kill me if I take her in there right now.

“
Arianna,” I whisper. She looks like she is in shock. I put a hand on each side of her shoulder. “Listen to me, okay? I want you to go to my car, lock yourself in and hide.”

“
I—I can’t leave him here alone,” she says in between sobs.

“
I’ll take care of him. But I need you to do as I say, okay? He wouldn’t want you in there.”

We hear something crashing into the door and she flinches.

“
Go!” I tell her. “Now.”

Now she is crying. Crap. “I’m sorry. I hate having to talk to you like this, but I either drag you to the car and hide you myself, or you go there alone and do as I say so I can get in there and help Blake.”

I take a deep breath when I see that I finally got through to her. I put my keys on her hand, make sure she gets in the elevator and that it’s going down, before I make my way into the apartment.

The apartment is destroyed. There is glass everywhere. I see dad standing tall in front of Blake, and when he realizes that I’m here, he moves and turns to face me. That is when I can see Blake, laying on the floor with blood running from his nose and lips.

I hear a loud noise coming from the room and soon after, one of dad’s man, Darius, comes out into the living room and stands behind dad. Dad walks toward me, grabs me by my shirt and pulls me close. He whispers, “one month,” he warns, “or that will be you on the floor, only… much worse.”

He and Darius walk out, slamming the door, and I rush to Blake.

He panics. “Where is she?” he yells.

“
She’s safe. I asked her to go to my car and hide.” He tries to get up, but puts his hand over his stomach in pain. He can’t even stand straight.

“
Lay down, Blake. She is safe.”

“
No. I need her here where I can see she is safe.”

“
Okay, I’ll go get her. Are you sure you want her to see you like this?”

“
I don’t care. I just need to see that she is safe!”

“
Okay, Okay, I’m going.”

I rush to the elevator and once I get to the parking garage, I look around to make sure that dad’s car is nowhere around. I then rush to my car.

She is peeking over the seat and opens the door right away. She looks scared as hell and she should be.

“
How is he?” she asks.

“
A little beat up, but he wants you there where he can see that you’re safe. Come on.”

That is probably the longest elevator ride ever. She is shaking the whole time and I don’t know what to do. Finally, the elevator stops and she rushes inside the apartment. She doesn’t even look at the mess around. She goes straight to Blake. He’s now sitting on the couch, holding an ice pack to his lips and keeping his head up to stop the nosebleed. She slowly sits next to him and takes the ice pack from his hand, holding it up for him. I watch them in a daze, happy for my brother and maybe a little jealous, but I wouldn’t want any of that anyway. The last thing I want is to bring someone into this mess of a family.

I clear my throat. “I’m going to go pack the stuff from your room.”

Blake laughs. “There is not a whole lot left. That should make your job easier.”

I see Arianna’s arm go around his waste and he winces. She stops right away and lifts his shirt up slowly. He doesn’t stop her, which surprises me. She gasps as soon as she sees the bruises.

“
I’m okay. This is really nothing.” I know he meant to say this to make her feel better but she jerks at the thought that things were worse than this before. If she only knew how often…