His mind entertained the vision of her body once again and his fins shivered in pleasure. He didn’t feel ashamed for wanting her. He’d fight heaven and hell for her, knowing a day of his love was greater than Azor could give in his lifetime. Forced to wait, he wondered if his fate would mirror that of his brother Jax. Bone Island, then ultimately, death.
As time ticked on, guards milled in from the practice field to eat and Nicole checked in on the Princess once again. By midmorning, Blanchard and Chauncey wrangled a row of cuffed prisoners from the dungeon for the final removal of rocks at the Tahoe gate. Neither Azor nor Xirene returned.
The same scene repeated at lunch and the prisoners returned to the dungeon to be served their one meal of the day. Jacob’s gut twisted at the sight of his comrades, their bodies smaller than before, the crazed look in their eyes from worrying about their fate. He’d join them soon enough, locked away, awaiting his punishment for who knows how long.
Lost in a daze, Jacob didn’t notice Grommet approach.
“Snap to it,” he said with a surly smile.
Jacob groaned and blinked slowly. “This has been the worst day.”
“Duuude,” Grommet said, while clapping his friend’s back, “could have been a whole lot worse, considering.”
Jacob frowned. “Considering what?”
Grommet’s eyebrow twitched. “It’s all anyone can talk about. Tatiana accusing Xirene of bumping uglies with Azor, and you seeing her naughty bits in the process.” He clucked his tongue while making a gun with his finger. “Man, wish I’d stuck around to see
that
.”
Jacob shot him a glare. “Yeah, where’d you go last night, anyway?”
Grommet rubbed his ear. “Oh, that… after you went to the dungeon, I… had to go to the dungeon for a sec.”
“Seriously?” Jacob huffed. “I trusted you to keep an eye on things. And you could have stopped her from leaving the second-story. Now I’m going to be arrested.”
“Psscht. I doubt it. Azor’s in another world and no one wants your job… well, maybe now they’d consider it.” He hummed with a knowing smile. “For now, you’re safe. Lucky dogfish.”
Jacob scanned the faces of the guards. Their looks, ranging from “way to go” to “dead merman swimming,” suddenly made sense. “Where’s Azor anyway?”
“They finally opened the gate, so I’m assuming he’s in Tahoe. Seems his sister Galadriel might be there as well.”
Jacob’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yeah—converted and everything. Kind of crazy, if you think about it. Jack had her right under his fin this entire time and didn’t know it.”
Huh? This can’t be right.
Galadriel was in Florida and a mermaid when he last saw her. And as of last night, she and Jax were still promised. He, of all people, would be the first to know if someone had converted her, loosing his connection to her. Then who could this girl be?
Grommet stretched and yawned. “So anyway… nothing’s as good as your peep show, so enjoy the stardom.”
“What about Xirene?”
“Word on the current is she moved out. Don’t need the jealous mate and accused adulteress living under the same roof, that’s for sure.”
Jacob sighed. In spite of everything, he would miss the herbs she added to their meals. Better than the stuff they served the guards at the palace. He had to look on the bright side. Maybe with Xirene gone, Tatiana would be happier.
Upon spying Nicole with Tatiana’s lunch tray in hand, Jacob raked his fingers through his hair and waited for a report on the Princess’s well-being.
But within seconds, Nicole returned with a worried look on her face. In her hands were two uneaten plates of food.
“Why isn’t Tatiana eating?” he asked.
“She says she’s not hungry.”
Jacob’s fists clenched. If Azor hurt her, Tahoe be damned, he’d go ballistic and rip Azor’s fins off right now. “Is she ill?”
Nicole shrugged. “From what I can tell, she’s okay. Depressed, maybe. Should we notify Prince Azor?”
“No,” Jacob said quickly. “He’s busy. I’ll handle it.”
“Okay.” She swam past him, but within seconds, she returned from the kitchen in a frenzy. “The knife is missing from her tray.”
Jacob pumped his tail hard to propel him through the porthole and lugged open her door, unannounced.
Tatiana gasped and straightened, hands tucked behind her back. “Hades, don’t you know how to knock?”
“Princess,” he said, eyes wild, searching the room. “Please, let me see your hands!”
“What—? No!”
“Just show me what you have behind your back.”
“Get out of here, Jacob!” She pointed with one hand, keeping the other against her fin. “After last night, I don’t ever want to see you again.”
Jacob clenched his jaw, wounded by her words. “Princess, last night. I didn’t mean to—that was very—I shouldn’t have—I—” But a suitable excuse or apology wouldn’t form logically on his tongue. “Damn it.”
Her shoulders dipped forward, her spirit relenting. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and how were you to know Xirene had a bubble, and then my skirt…”
Jacob bowed. “It will never happen again.”
She laughed scornfully and shook her head. “You’re right, it won’t.”
He frowned, confused, but approached her, determined to take the knife. “That doesn’t warrant you doing something rash. Show me your wrists, Princess.”
“What?” Tatiana backed into the corner, still holding something against her leg.
He put out his hand. “I want the knife.”
She gave him an incredulous look before revealing the knife. “You think I’m trying to kill myself?” She laughed. “Already changed your mind after the
girl of strength
lecture. Who do you take me for, Jacob?”
Jacob backpedaled in the current. “No—of course not.”
She shook her head and grasped the hilt. With a turn to the horizon, she looked off in the distance. The sharks passed with feigned aloofness. She let out a small sigh. “Go ahead. Give me today’s lecture about how stupid I am to be with Azor.”
Jacob opened and closed his mouth. “I just want to know why you kept the knife.”
“To stab Xirene, why else?” She laughed sadistically.
Jacob tilted his head. “That’s not funny. She’s not even here anymore.”
Tatiana arched her brow. “What—? Oh, great. It’ll be my fault for that, too, and then once Azor finds out you saw me…” She waved the knife across her neck. Her cheeks reddened and she quickly flipped her tail nervously. Beige colored sand ballooned in the water. Then Jacob spotted a tiny hole in the wall between two bricks. He stiffened.
“I know things have been tense,” he held out his hand, “but you don’t have use for a knife.”
“I’m not giving it to you,” she said more firmly.
“You’ll never get through the mortar in time before Azor returns, and what about the sharks?”
She pursed her lips. “Won’t I though? As if he’ll notice. Maybe you were right Jacob. I am his pawn.”
“I won’t allow you to escape.”
Strained laughter pressed from her lungs. “You mean, I can’t escape unless I go with you,” she said more forcefully. “Fish sticks! I know what you’re really trying to offer me, so don’t try to deceive me, Jacob. I’ve figured out what you want, and it’s what you’ve wanted since the moment we met.”
Jacob reached backward with his tail and pushed the door closed. “Princess, your safety and happiness is all I want. And that means you can’t go through the shark tank.”
“Or what? I’ll die? I doubt he’ll even miss me. At least the sharks will want me.”
Jacob’s pulse hammered in his veins. He wanted to tell her he wanted her. That he’d love nothing more than to help her escape, if she’d just allow him time to retrieve his trident. But the bracelet Azor slapped onto her wrist glared back at him along with her disdain. He’d treat her like gold, but she didn’t want him to come. The fact she’d rather die than have Jacob escort her showed she didn’t care for him at all.
He bowed his head. “Please give me the knife.”
She turned in a huff. “Leave, now.”
Jacob swam to her in a flash and wrapped his arms around her torso, trapping her arms. She hissed, flipping her tail and snapping her teeth. Her fight was weak, unlike the first time, but the heat wasn’t. Like before, a spark ignited between them—hotter. His want seized his body as he felt her hot glow against his scales. She had to feel their attraction. He controlled his urge to bury his nose in her hair, to kiss her neck. He merely held her until she stopped thrashing.
“Drop the knife, Tatiana,” he whispered calmly in her ear.
“Call me, Princess!”
“Drop the knife.”
“No!”
“We’ll find another way out of here, just drop the knife.”
“I said, no!”
Jacob clamped her wrist, forcing open her hand. She grunted, fighting him harder than before, then eventually the knife dropped to the floor. Jacob immediately let her body go and snatched the knife. She flared her tail, smacking him across the face, and swam to the opposite corner, massaging her wrist.
“Get out,” she barked, then pointed to the door. “Get out!”
Her siren scream blasted him into the closed door. He fumbled at the knob and flew down the porthole within seconds, knife safely in his fist.
23
: : :
Sharks
“Princess!”
Tatiana sucked in a startled breath as she opened her eyes, expecting to finally see Azor. Jacob’s terrified face peered down at her instead.
“What’s wrong?” she squeaked, gaining her bearings, sweeping her eyes around Azor’s room.
After their fight earlier, she’d moved in to Azor’s room rebelliously to wait for his return.
“It’s an ambush!”
“An ambush?” Tatiana sat up; all her anger from their earlier fight melted away, replaced now with fear. “Here? Now?”
“Yes. I need to get you out of here.” He studied the walls for a moment and grimaced at the carvings. But quickly dismissed them and held her gaze, hand outstretched.
She took it and swam with him to the hall, too scared to question him. Grunts and feral cries of war, along with weapons clashing, resounded from the floor below—similar to what she’d heard at the promising ceremony with Azor. However, the frustration and hate-filled sounds revealed no one wanted to spare any lives today. Death was the agenda.
Tatiana clung to Jacob’s arm in fear. “What do they want?”
“Shhh,” Jacob said.
At the end of the hall, Grommet hovered over the porthole, two crescent-moon knives in his hands. He gave Jacob a nod and Tatiana’s heart lurched.
“I’m not going down there,” she whispered.
Jacob escorted her to a neighboring guest room, sliding the iron door shut behind them. He then pulled a nearby rock cabinet to hold the door in place, sealing them inside. A safe room.
Though sturdy, she didn’t think the cabinet would keep the murderous horde out forever.
Tatiana grabbed onto Jacob’s bicep tighter. “What are we going to do?”
His jaw clenched and he gently moved her aside. “This,” he said in determination. In an instant, he’d swiveled around and wacked his tail into the wall with a grunt.
Tatiana squealed, bordering on a siren scream. Jacob put his finger to his lips before he wacked the rock wall again. Then he took the flat end of his trident and tested the bricks until one moved. He smashed his tail once again and three fell free to the other side.
Tatiana listened by the door to the sounds growing louder. “Are they rebels?”
“Not rebels.”
“Then who are they? Why are they here?”
Jacob stopped for one moment to eye her. “I’m not sure, but they’re here for you.”
Tatiana gulped, unable to catch her breath. “Where’s Azor?”
“Conveniently in Tahoe.”
As Jacob continued to bust out rocks, creating a small rectangular hole, his plan became clear. They were going to escape through the shark tank.
The sight of the great whites circling in the distance through the tiny hole dissolved any courage she had mustered. Yes, earlier she’d planned a delusional romantic and dangerous attempt to escape through the shark tank to the Pacific with maybe a close call—all as a stunt to gain Azor’s attention. Now, with the blood and fear she smelled in the water from downstairs, and the beasts with their dead eyes circling closer and closer, she was paralyzed with fear. They’d eat her the moment she left fin of the compound.
“I can’t go out there.” She clutched at her throat. “I don’t care if you’re with me, or not.”
Jacob frowned, knocking the last rock free. “You were all charged and ready to escape earlier. What changed?”
“Reality,” she said softly, fins shaking.
Jacob took a deep breath. “Well, I’m sorry to say, sweetheart, you’re better off with the sharks than facing what’s in here.”
She studied Jacob quizzically. “You say that like you’re not coming with me.”
“I can’t. My brother is trapped in the dungeon. I have to free him first.”
In shock, Tatiana froze. He wasn’t coming with her? What happened to, “where you go, I go?” She blinked, waiting for him to tell her he was joking. But Jacob merely held out his trident to her.
“It’s simple. Just strike one and the others will feed on it, leaving you freedom to escape.”
Simple?
Wide-eyed, she stared at the weapon, refusing to take it. He placed the trident in her palm and positioned his body next to hers. Heat, like earlier, pressed into her as he wrapped his hands over hers and jabbed the trident forward and twisted. “Like this.”
She gulped and allowed him to control her movements, short and jerky.
“Twist after you stab, then yank backward. That’ll create the most blood.”
Blood.
Her head swirled. Her father had showed her how to shoot a gun once, but this? Stabbing an animal—one with razor sharp teeth that fed off of her fear, that would kill her in an instant if she missed.
“Just…”—he closed his eyes for a beat—“do not siren, unless there’s no other choice. Do you hear me?”
She whimpered, slowly shaking her head. Was he really not going with her?
Jacob ignored her hesitation and pulled the shimmering cape from his utility pack, the one she’d worn before. Fastening the cords around her slender neck, his warm fingers rested at the hollow at her throat to tie the bow.