Chapter Ten

  Back at the beach, Savannah and I tried to help the three freshmen girls, Connie, Cindy, and Jenny feed the bonfire. It was my suggestion to increase the flames. I hoped that the humans could make it off the island before they were killed. Maybe a rescue team would see the smoke and find us. It wasn’t fair that the Ancients were set on murdering the remaining humans.

  But a part of me feared that maybe the Ancients would attack the rescue boat. That would be an even bigger terror. Logan, Andrew, and Steve told me that they learned from the French school of mers that the Ancients hypnotized that giant kraken into sinking our ship. I was astounded at the powers we possessed as a species. It was surreal.

  I stepped back from the fire feeling a bit too hot. It was tough being so close to the heat, but even tougher was being around the girls. They smelled like food. Their soft flesh, warm and pungent by the fire, was a constant temptation. Really they needed to stay away from us and keep even farther away from the Ancients who seemed set on devouring them. “Make sure you stay out of the ocean,” I cautioned the girls, my arms crossing tightly over my chest, but Savannah bumped me on the side when I said that.

  “Jeez,” I said, scowling at her.

  “Why should we?” Connie interrupted my irritation with the slightest bit of attitude. She was a tall fleshy blonde and the leader of the three. Even though she was a bitch, her body smelled like hot shrimp and rare steak, seasoned just right. She needed to take a step back, but she just stood there like an idiot on a kabob taunting me.

  “Don’t you know what happened on the yacht?” I asked, my voice laced with tension. Was she really that clueless?

  “Watch yourself,” Savannah whispered in my ear as she tossed another branch into the fire. Maybe she was concerned I would tear Connie’s flesh to shreds right there on the beach, but I think she was more concerned that the Trident Court might find out that I was cautioning the humans on the island. She must have been afraid of what I was saying. According to Marcel, the Ancients were planning to kill every last human. I just couldn’t let that happen.

  Jenny, the strawberry blonde with dimples and a spicy apple pie scent that made me think of desert butted in. “Oh, I do! I know what happened on the yacht,” she said, her cheeks heating up. I took a step back, biting my inner cheek as she continued, “There was a huge octopus that killed everyone. It injected a poison into some of you and the poison made you guys gorgeous and strong with all sorts of weird changes. Do you think the octopus could come back?”

  Though my hands were balled into tight fists underneath my crossed arms, I chuckled, blinking so my eyes wouldn’t dry out too much in the heat. Boy was she stupid—but creative. I’ll hand her that. “Yeah, I do. It wants to eat you,” I said firmly.

  She gasped and then giggled. Probably, she thought I was joking. Stupid dingbat. The sun was really hot even though it was almost evening time. I looked across the fire at the ocean longingly, but turned back shortly thereafter to chuck a stick at the fire.

  I heard Cindy sigh causing me to glance over at her. Her eyes welled up. She was a petite brunette with ringlets. Her flesh smelled like hot butter on lobster. Dang, she was gourmet. “Jake said sharks killed Jason, Jeff, and Talia, but Emily won’t talk about anything.” I wished she wouldn’t talk about Jason. She wiped the perspiration off her forehead with a hanky she had tucked in the bodice of her tethered pink prom dress. I sucked in a hot breath of air and tore another thick branch off the limb behind us and threw it in the bonfire.

  “Emily’s traumatized by something,” Jenny added. She had a light shawl over her bare, fleshy shoulders, but I could see salty perspiration marks on her teal colored prom dress that she had pinned up on the sides. My eyes trailed down the sinews of her thighs.

  Connie tossed her buttery blonde hair off her pink shoulder and scoffed, “She’s just a spoiled baby that is scared of everything. I’m not afraid of the water. Even if there was an octopus, it would have swum off by now and sharks rarely attack people, so I’m not worried.” She stood before the bonfire looking at us with her hands on her hips. “Plus it’s too damn hot to just sit around in this soupy heat without cooling off in the ocean.”

  “Just stay at the edge of the…” I started to say the word, shore, but Savannah’s expression was on fire, so I stopped. Didn’t she care about the humans? Maybe we were all predators now, but I couldn’t put my head around intentionally murdering people I knew. My fantasies were nearly overwhelming, but with self-control, I would stop myself. I licked my lips. Yes I would. Just step back and breathe. My head was pounding. I regretted killing Jason. It was a horrible mistake that I would die to take back.

  “Raz and I are going hunting in the jungle. We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Savannah said, tucking her hair behind her ears. Maybe she was feeling the same thing I was. At least somebody was thinking rationally.

  Jenny’s eyelids flew open. “Don’t do that! Wild animals will kill you in there! I think that’s how a whole bunch of our classmates died.”

  “We won’t get killed with these.” Savannah patted the two knives fastened to the waist of her wet jeans, a pair of pants she must have found in someone’s backpack that got washed up to shore. She told me to keep my clothes wet so that I didn’t get overheated on land, but I didn’t listen. “We need protein,” she said to the girls.

  “You’re right,” Cindy agreed. “We can’t live on just mangos and bananas.” I wondered how much better they would taste if they started fattening up with meat.

  “You couldn’t catch a fish to save your life,” Connie teased her friend.

  Cindy pursed her lips together. “Oh, and you can?”

  “I’m just saying we need the animal substance to get on,” Connie said sarcastically, her eyes wide and challenging.

  “There are sea urchins and snails in the tide pools,” Jenny added.

  “Oh, and you’re going to eat that slimy mess?” Connie laughed, fixing the hand tied satin mini-skirt she had hanging over her shapely hips and round buttocks. Apparently, she made the thing out of her prom dress. She had the same fabric tied clumsily over her fleshy breasts.

  “Maybe, if it comes down to it.” She folded her arms.

  Cindy giggled. “I know you, Jenny. No way in the world would you eat snotty squishy bottom dwellers that eat the poop of the fish.”

  I laughed at that, putting my hand on Cindy’s shoulder. Oh, it was warm. I pulled back suddenly.

  Her eyes widened. “What?” She looked at me.

  “Nothing,” I mumbled, rushing behind one of the piles of branches we had lugged over.

  Her eyes blinked several times as she stared at me. She seemed confused. I tried to ignore her and pull myself together. “There was a bee on your shoulder,” I said, trying to cover for my strange behavior.

  “Is it gone?” she asked, jumping around and swishing at her body.

  I chuckled. “Yeah, it flew away.”

  She sighed, rolling her eyes and then went back to poking at the fire. Like that did anything.

  The other girls were talking about the oysters in the cove. Sea creatures actually sounded promising to me. I started to wonder why I hadn’t thought of eating them. So cool and soft in the mouth. An aphrodisiac. Maybe they would curb my appetite and keep my mind straight. Even though I was burning up, my body shuddered at my morbid thoughts. Never again, I told myself. Never ever.

  “Come on,” Savannah said, probably reading my mind. The telepathy thing would take getting used to. I knew we weren’t going hunting. She just didn’t want them to know we were going in the ocean to the Ancient’s get-together. What would they think of that crazy shit?

  I didn’t want to meet the Trident Court. After what they had done, I hated them. But as pathetic as it was, I couldn’t wait to see Marcel. I knew he was dangerous in more ways than one. Aside from the fact that he was married to Brigitte, he was a mer killer. The guy could lose control and tear me to shreds. He probably felt reckless and out of control around me the way I felt around these girls.

  But now that Savannah had revealed so much about his past, I had many burning questions tugging at my mind. I hoped he would confide in me more. Surely, I wouldn’t ask him private details, but possibly he would offer them up on his own. He seemed set on keeping me safe. Surely, he wouldn’t kill me.

  I also was dying to ask him about Donny. It didn’t make sense that he was swimming so deep down in the ocean. A human couldn’t do that without special gear. I sunk my toes in the sand as I thought about Donny. The sand felt cool on the webbings that had recently grown between my toes.

  My mind reeled. Was Donny a mer? Savannah said he must be. But if he was one of us, why was he avoiding our school? And there was that creepy ensemble of my things on that table in the room of the yacht. Did Donny have anything to do with that? No way. He was too sweet. I couldn’t imagine him stealing my things. But a part of me wondered because why was he swimming up to the yacht? Maybe he was staying there and that room was his. The idea of it made me very uncomfortable.

  I thought back in time. It surprised me tremendously when he asked me to the prom. I didn’t even think he knew I was alive. But then, out of the blue, he invited me. He could have asked a number of girls who didn’t have dates, but he chose me. Why? Did he have some sort of infatuation with me that I wasn’t aware of? He did used to flirt with me in junior high.

  I remembered how Jason said Marcel kissed Donny on the deck of the yacht before kicking him into the ocean. Was Jason just making that up? Maybe not. Marcel must have kissed him to convert him into a mer. Yet, he must have hated Donny if he kicked him into the ocean right after the kiss. If he loathed him so much, why would he choose to turn him? And why was Donny hiding away from us? It just didn’t make sense.

  If I had gotten a better glimpse of Donny from the window of the sunken yacht, I might have seen if his hair had grown long. That would tell me if he was a mer now. But it was such a brief glimpse that I barely saw him at all. For all I knew, it could have been someone else.

  “Hello,” Savannah said to me, waving her hand before my face. “Is anybody in there?” She was smiling playfully at me.

  The freshmen triplets laughed. They were off to the side, picking branches off one of the limbs we carried over.

  I sighed without saying anything and looked past the bonfire at the ocean. I was getting way overheated. That was probably why I spaced out. I steadied myself against Savannah’s shoulder.

  “Damn,” she said. “We have to cool you off. “I told you to wear wet clothes, but you didn’t listen.”

  I nodded unsteadily not acknowledging the girls. At that point, I didn’t care if they saw me in the water. I didn’t have a choice. I had to regulate.

  ***

  Once we cooled off in the ocean, Savannah and I headed into the jungle. I could never get used to how thick and dense the greenery was there. So many plants. I marveled at the beautiful orchids and the thick, woody vines of varying lengths and shapes. We stopped at some pink, yellow, and green leafy looking flowers and drank from the rainwater that had collected in the bowl shaped centers of their waxy leaves. “Damn, these things hold a lot of liquid,” Savannah said as she lapped up the contents.

  “Be careful not to eat those tadpoles swimming around in that one.” I pointed to a big leafy bowl holding probably four gallons of water in it.

  She laughed, her eyes widening. “I want those tadpoles,” she said, rushing over. Without hesitation she sucked the dark creatures into her mouth along with the water.

  Now I was laughing hard. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but when I first turned, I went into the forest, buried my body in mud so only my head was sticking out, and ate all the insects buzzing at my face.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes even wider as she wiped her pretty lips with the back of her hand and we fell into hysterical fits of laughter. It was great, like old times before my mother’s boyfriend came into the picture and before Jake Stevenson raped me.

  “Come on,” she said, our laughter waning even though we still had big smiles on our faces. “You need to dress up for the get-together.”

  I scoffed, still chuckling a little. “How am I supposed to do that?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

  “We’re going to the French mers’ tree house. Sabine, Marine, and Brigitte have loads of clothes. All sorts of designer shit. They are expecting us.”

  My stomach clenched as I thought about seeing Marcel there. “Why can’t I just wear this bathing suit?” I looked down at the strappy teal colored one piece Marcel had given me. I had a strip of cloth tied over my hips that covered my upper legs.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “That’s like wearing shorts and a tank top to meet the president of the United States at the White House.” Her lyrical voice was sarcastic. “Please.”

  “Okay,” I responded shaking my head and chuckling under my breath.

  Chapter Eleven

  When we got to the tree house we joined the French mers and our new school: Logan, Andrew, Steve and Jane in the beautiful shell pool. Back at the beach, Savannah had introduced me to Steve and Jane. They were pretty nice. I got the feeling they were interested in each other. Jane’s face flushed whenever she looked at Steve and Steve kept putting his hand on her shoulder.

  Steve was handsome and had long strawberry blond hair with a strong face. I think he was a new history teacher at Sunshine High. I wasn’t so good at guessing ages of older people, but if I had to, I would say he was in his thirties. And Jane was probably around the same age. I heard she was a sewing teacher at our high school. She was beautiful with long chestnut hair and a vibrant glow to her tan face.

  We all sat fairly close in the pool while snacking on live sea snails that Laurent brought from the coves with lemon juice and rock salt to add extra zest. Their slippery bodies were surprisingly delicious. At the edge of the pool while their feet dangled in the water, Sabine and Pascal played classical Greek instruments, a double flute and a lyre. The music was fun and rhythmic and when they sang along, it became enchanting, but I was surprised and admittedly disappointed that Marcel wasn’t there. It didn’t seem right for me to ask where he was, so I kept my mouth shut in that regard.

  I followed Marine into a bamboo bedroom with another pool. This one was made of a gigantic clam shell. It was so impressive it looked like something out of a fairytale. Sophisticated evening dresses and stylish clothing, French in style, lined the bamboo walls. I felt like I was in a charming Parisian boutique. Candles hung from the ceilings in interwoven metal holders adding to the quaint ambiance.

  Marine pulled the strings to her mauve colored bikini and dropped it to the floor beside me. My eyes narrowed as I looked away, embarrassed that she was naked beside me, but in no time she wrapped in a silky pale pink mermaid robe that overlapped and crossed over in the front with a jeweled belt at her hips. It was stunning, especially the way it tied in sashes at her ankles hinting at a mermaid tail. The fabric was of some silky alluring texture I had never seen. My guess was that it was made for the ocean and would flow in a beautiful manner.

  “I know just what I want to dress you in,” she sang, her voice liquid like water. “It goes remarkably with that stunning crystal necklace you are donning.” Running her pretty hands over the row of dresses, Marine picked out an elegant fitted gown for me made out of royal blue stretch fabric with embroidered sharks, jelly fish, and whales on it of many colors. The material was so soft and luxurious and there was an impressive train in the back with layers reminding me of scales. I had never seen such fine stitching and fabric. The gown was breathtaking. I couldn’t believe I was going to wear such an attractive dress.

  She held it up before me. “Step in,” she said with a soft smile on her porcelain face.

  “Do I have to take off my bathing suit?” I asked, feeling embarrassed.

  She nodded with the hint of a grin, covering her eyes with her hand as she handed me the dress and said, “Underwater, you have that ancient mer look in this giving the illusion of a tail of the greats, but between you and me. I think our kind is more beautiful than the Ancients.” I don’t think she could help but talk like that.

  “Oh,” was all I could think to say, heat rising to my cheeks, as I stepped into the dress, grateful she wasn’t watching me in my birthday suit. The gown had a built in undergarment which was a relief. I didn’t want anyone seeing up my dress as I swam, but the way it fit so snuggly, I didn’t think I had to worry about that anyway. “You can open your eyes now,” I said awkwardly.

  Her hand fell away from her blue eyes. “You have to see this in the mirror,” Marine said tossing her long blonde locks.

  My body tensed. This would be the first time I would see my appearance since I was converted into a mer. I felt a trickle of perspiration on my forehead as she walked me over to the full length swivel mirror, while holding her hand over my eyes. My body was still stressed. “Ready?” she asked.

  I nodded without saying anything. She took her hand away and I gazed into the mirror. “Holy moly!” I took in a sharp breath.

  My face was so different. Wow. I looked so grown up with tan, smooth skin, a big contrast to the pale, blood drawn face I was used to seeing. My eyes were bluer and reminded me of the sky on a cold, bright day. They had certain sparkles that hinted at clouds and sunshine, but so blue all the same. Even though I had absolutely no makeup on, my eyes were naturally lined. My eyelashes were thicker and darker. My eyebrows were arched perfectly like a model’s in a magazine. My body was shapely and strong. The dress clung to all my curves incredibly and the sea embroidery was as lovely as an underwater landscape mural from Greek art.

  I just couldn’t believe it. Could this image in the mirror really be me? Without even trying, I had a sultry look that I didn’t think I could ever get used to. Maybe that was for luring men from their ships as depicted in ancient folklore. And my shaggy mess of brown hair was long, sleek and smooth like that of an exotic princess. Damn—this was too bizarre, especially for a tomboy named Raz.