OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2) (48 page)

Read OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2) Online

Authors: Sutton Shields

Tags: #Young Adult, #horror, #ocean, #Romance, #Fantasy, #Mermaid, #Sea, #Merpeople, #paranormal romance, #Merman

BOOK: OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2)

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Gully, her eyes wide, quickly grabbed the jar. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my—oh, Marina, you wished for all imprisoned Normals everywhere to be freed and allowed to live as equals with everyone else.”

“You can read it through the jar?” I asked.

“Oh, sure,” she said, scratching her head. “That would have been a nice wish to come true.”

Polly narrowed her eyes on me. “It’s not as eloquent as Katrina’s. Couldn’t you have been more prolific?”

“Polls, my idea of prolific involves words like ass, crap, crud, and dang. You’re not getting a poet with my brain. You’re lucky to get sense.”

“This is true. Well argued.”

The babies giggled like crazy, sending us all into hysterics. Our family was happy and, at least for the time being, safe. It felt really nice.

“Must Savior shift prevail…we without…” In Gully’s hands was the transcript of Katrina’s wish, only none of the words read were part of what we heard at the close of the Overfalls.

I stood up. “Wait. Maile?”

“On it,” said Maile, hurrying to tighten Gully’s hair.

“Gully, read Katrina’s wish again,” I said.

“Savior must shift. Without Savior, we finally…prevail,” she said, casting her worried eyes up at me. “This was her real wish, not what we heard, not what we saw. I was too busy staring at the trophy to pay attention to what was written in the sky, I guess. They probably didn’t worry about me actually decoding it because I’m…so…flaky.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Gully,” I said. “And you’re not flaky. You’re your own magic. Don’t down yourself, okay?” She smiled the smallest relieved smile imaginable. “Doctor? They asked the stars to help rid the universe of my ass, right?”

“Indeed. They wish to rid themselves and, consequently, this world of the Savior.”

“Is that even legal?” asked Mom. “Jex?”

“Wish is a wish and separate from the realms of heaven,” said Jex. “Even bad wishes, like bad nightmares, can come true.”

Troy’s eyes were furious. “‘Savior must shift.’ What do they mean by that?”

Doctor Tenly glanced at Gully, but she shook her head solemnly. “We don’t know. Relocate, possibly?”

“Yeah, relocate me right into an ashy pile of scatter-able nothingness,” I said.

“Aw, are we gonna let a little morbid subtext ruin the party?” said Jex. “Can’t we have one day of proper fun? Besides, I want to see that shiny little present out front.”

“JEX!” shouted Treeva.

“What shiny little present?” I asked.

“We wanted to surprise you, Marina,” said Treeva. “I’m not sure now is the—”

“Now is the perfect time. Look, so what if Kat-litter wished for my death. It’s not anything new. I’m still wearing the smite-colored bull’s eye, right? They want me dead. Period. This wish is just some new-fangled notion of how to get the job done. And the crazy, brilliant brains in this room will figure out what they’re up to and stop it. Nothing has changed in the Marina-must-die saga.”

“Marina’s right,” said Troy. “The one sure way they win, is if we let them ruin the fun we carve out.”

“So, to get back to the carving…what’s the shiny little something?” I asked.

“Look out the window,” said Doctor Tenly, smiling.

Pulling back the heavy drapes, I immediately spotted my silver mermobile sitting in the U-turn of the driveway, all fixed up and waiting for a spin.

“Are you kidding me?” I shouted. “It’s mine?!”

“It’s yours,” said Treeva. “The racing commission felt it only right you have it for any underwater travels, both as the Savior and as, and I quote, ‘One helluva driver, for a Normal girl.’”

“Does this mean I can drive it on land?” I asked, rather dumbly.

“Well, it is parked on land, so…” Troy teased.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I said, nudging him.

“Welcome, Captain Oblivious.”

“Ooh, you’re good, aren’t ya?”

“That’s not fair. I worked hard in the Overfalls. I want one. Get me one. Now,” said Polly huffily.

“We can all drive it,” I said. “Can’t we? I mean, I’m cool with sharing.”

“You can all share, if you like,” said Doctor Tenly.

“Are you nuts?! Share a beauty like that? You’re outta your wits, Savior,” said Jex, suddenly grabbing hold of his wings.

“Shall we go see your new ride, Marina?” squealed Airianna, handing my baby sister back to Mom.

“Aw, bloody, bleeding feathers. Right in time to screw up the fun part. Must go. Gettin’ called. One of your ilk,” said Jex, pointing at Treeva, Troy, and the rest of the merps, “is about to go piss-crazy and eff everything up.” Jex soared through the ceiling, dropping a few feathers as he did.

“Zoom-zoom time!” I squealed like a dork.

As we walked outdoors on a glorious summer afternoon, we rattled on about college, love, weather, and speedy vehicles.

“Still think I deserve primary rights to the mer-car-thing,” said Polly.

“You can hardly control yourself,” said Meikle, holding hands with Bobby. “Wouldn’t want to see you out on the streets with actual pedestrians and buildings to demolish.”

“Want to have dinner tonight?” I heard Trey ask Airianna. “I have a special something for you.”

“For me? Really? Of course I’ll have dinner with you. Where else would I be?” I could actually hear the smile on Airianna’s face.

“What’s going on up there?” said Troy, gently tapping the top of my head.

Looking at the faces of all my friends—my family—I realized this was probably the most normal moment we’ve ever had together (mermobile notwithstanding). If anyone from our old world happened upon us, they’d see nothing more than a group of ordinary teens, hanging out.

“Happiness. That’s what’s going on up there. Actual, real happiness,” I said, squeezing his hand.

Crossing into the driveway, my mind entirely peaceful, Airianna came out of absolutely nowhere and whipped in front of me, grabbing both of my shoulders.

Not able to read her expression—and wondering what on earth Trey said to shake her world this time—I said, “Whatcha doing, Airi?”

Her body jolted—her eyes bulged—blood splattered on my face and shirt.

“Saving…you,” she said, falling into my arms.

“AIRI! No…no…what do we do? What do we do? What…God…help…no,” I said, holding her in my arms as we fell to the pavement.

Protruding from her chest—from her heart—was an arrow with a trident tip covered in blood.

“DOCTOR TENLY!” Troy shouted.

“Airi? Baby?” Trey dropped to his knees by my side and brushed her hair back. “Hang on. We’ll fix this. We’ll fix this.”

“Oh, God…no. Airi,” said Doctor Tenly, leaning over us, sniffing the air. “There’s nothing we can do…nothing. Ai-ri.” His voice broke when he said her name one last time.

“WHAT? WHY?!” I yelled.

“Lethal, irreversible mer-poison,” said Treeva, her voice shaky.

“There has to be something! Something…anything…something. We’re running out of time! Meikle? SOMEONE SAVE HER!” I screamed, crying.

To my horror, tears rolled down Meikle’s cheeks. There was nothing she could do to save our friend.

Airianna tightened her hand around mine. “Thank…you…for being my family,” she said to us all. Spritz, dragging his tail, walked over and licked Airianna’s face before resting his tiny head on her stomach.

“No…no…no…you can’t leave. You can’t…can’t…you…can’t.”

I felt her hand weakening around mine. “Don’t…forget me,” she whispered.

She was gone.

“NO! No! God…no,” I cried, collapsing against her lifeless body. “Don’t go…please…PLEASE…don’t…go.”

The wind seemed to weep as it whipped around us, and with it came the frightening scent of vinegar and bleach. That November night in downtown Saxet Shores flooded my mind. I heard Mallorey’s voice saying, “
There was this odd smell, like bleach and vinegar
.”

The Dealer.

Numbly looking around the ground, I spied the king of diamonds propped against Airianna’s body, wearing drops of her blood like a medal; on the card was one word:
D
ead.

Slowly, I raised my eyes, knowing exactly who I would find, standing in all her glorious evil. Perched stoically atop a sand dune was The Dealer, crossbow in-hand…only it wasn’t Katrina at all, or any of her family.

It was a man…a familiar man; he wore a black suit with a gray, high-collar shirt, his bright red hair shining in the sun like flames of the devil.

“Dad…Daddy?” The words fell from my lips like venomous bombs. Super-speeding myself to the dune, I stood disbelievingly before my father.

Smiling sinisterly, my father said, “
Over, over, over she
...fell. Done.” He disappeared into the wind.

Pain. Pain. Pain. Breaking. Can’t…breathe.

The next thing I felt was Troy’s arms wrapping around me as I tried to scream away the pain. So…much…pain.

“The Dealer…was my dad.”

“I saw him, I saw him,” he said, still holding me as we fell to the sand.

“Airi saved me from my own father. It was him...he murdered Airi. She’s gone, Troy…she’s gone,” I said, sobbing in his arms.

In the distance, a beam of sparkling white light fell upon the driveway of Hambury House. We watched in combined devastation and awe as Airianna’s soul lifted from her body and followed the light, straight to heaven.

When the light had vanished—when it had taken Airianna away from us—a sudden clap of thunder roared inside my head. Words—truths—repeated themselves over and over again. It was so loud, so very loud.

My father was The Dealer. My father wanted me dead. My father killed my best friend. Kill. Dealer. Death. Dad. Done. Dead
.

Then it all stopped. All was quiet. But it wasn’t the same peaceful serenity I had known only minutes ago; it was…empty…an empty, dark quiet, like a lonely, dusty room where ghosts lurk, whispering words, hoping to frighten. Only, I wasn’t frightened. I was revitalized by a simple musing. Maybe it was a ghost whispering nonsense, or maybe that was what I wanted to believe. After all, who could be invigorated by such a disturbing thought? A thought that went something like this:

Well, if daddy lusts after death so much, I’ll make sure to introduce them…
properly
.

Table of Contents

Chapter One