: : :
Tatiana thrashed against her handlers when King Merric held out his trident.
“Silence!” He waved his weapon over the swarming crowd. “We will handle this civilly!”
“I am King!” Azor yelled. “Arrest them all!”
In the tumult, Tatiana scanned the crowd, unable to see Jacob. She panicked, calling out to him. But the older mers couldn’t compete with the Dradux strength and weapons. She pinched her eyes shut to think, then reopened them, spotting Jacob next to Azor, held off by the Dradux guarding him. She lifted her chin, infused with courage, and yelled, “Azor cannot be king because the merling is not mine!”
Jacob’s eyes widened as a hush overtook the square.
“What? No—” Azor began.
“It’s true!” Pearleza called from the nave. “This child is Xirene’s, Azor’s handmaiden. They were promised first,” she said, pointing at Azor. “I kept the lie because Azor threatened to kill my child. I swear to you, Tatiana did not birth this child.”
The crowd murmured in anger and confusion.
Then Queen Desiree’s voice floated from behind Tatiana. “It’s because I switched Ashlyn with Azor as a baby. He cannot produce a child of royal blood.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Azor. But it’s true.”
“Lies! All of you!” Azor seethed. “The King wouldn’t have accepted me as his son if I wasn’t. I’ve fulfilled the law and produced a child. I’m the king!”
“But you broke our law!” Tatiana interrupted. “You kissed me while promised to another! You must pay for that crime!”
“I—” Azor looked around nervously. “Well then, where is she? This other woman, Tatiana? You have the promised tattoo and so do I.” He raised his hand.
“No!” Jacob yelled, gritting his teeth. “She’s promised to me! Tatiana’s tattoo matches mine!” He held up his hand as well.
Another gasp fell over the crowd. “Bone Island!” they yelled. “The shark tank! Off with their fins!”
Tatiana’s heart rocketed blood through her body. Her promise to Jacob was going to be their doom. She looked to her father for help. He kept a conflicted expression, holding off a band of Dradux determined to get to Merric.
“And what’s your defense, Tatiana?” Merric asked.
Tatiana’s head whipped around. She blinked, unbelieving the blame was being pinned on her.
“Defense? It’s my word against his,” she said plainly.
A sneer filled Azor’s lips. “And I did nothing wrong.”
She leveled her gaze to Azor. “You stole my choice, Azor.”
“I did no such—”
“I’m not finished!” she interrupted. “You claim you didn’t kiss another, but this war is evidence you did. If you were bonded to me, you would have understood why my father interrupted our ceremony and forgiven him. But no! Even against King Phaleon’s advice, you went after my father. And when you didn’t find him, you punished the people instead by starving them and taking away their loved ones. And even today, you deceived them with this child and tried to behead the rebels in the square!
“But before our ceremony, you
had
unconditional love. If you would’ve been honest and told them you’d fallen for a servant, they would have accepted her as their queen. Your bigotry and impatience killed that love. And in these last two weeks, we’ve watched you pit mer against mer and suffocate the song, killing the Natatoria we all loved and fought to preserve.”
Azor laughed. “I was not in charge. Queen Desiree drove us to this ruin. And how can you, a land-walker, think you’ve got this all figured out? By bringing Merric and his bag-of-bones army to usher us into a utopia again? You’ve only graced Natatoria with your presence for a month and proven your worth by committing promise polygamy. Everyone knows you, the rebels, and your father have created this war. If you think by letting the mers decide between you and me who is at fault, then let them. They’ve experienced hell under Desiree’s leadership, and now they need a man. And I will start with the removal of the rebellion!” He gestured to Jack.
Tatiana pulled her shoulders tight, fear pulsing through her veins as the crowd, newly energized, began to chant, hate behind their eyes. They were going to kill her dad.
47
: : :
Revenge
Mers surged around Jacob, pushing and pulling, chanting for Azor’s, the rebels’ and Tatiana’s deaths. Jacob’s fear spiked. He had to get to her before anyone else did, save her from this mess.
A siren emanated from the rush of bodies as a clang reverberated from the center of the square. Bodies tumbled outward from the spray of blue essence, previously trapped behind a gel dome. Like magic, the Lost Ones around the spring became youthful once again. Jacob sucked in a cleansing breath of the water, feeling his muscles rejuvenate.
The tide of the crowd turned like a snake looking for something to devour. In the distance, Jacob spotted Azor and the four Dradux fleeing behind him.
“Let’s get him,” Grommet growled, charging ahead. Fin, Jax, and Badger filed in next.
Jacob panned backward to Tatiana, watching her flee with Jack and Merric. He faced forward; joining in the cry with his fellow warriors, weapons raised.
“Get back!” Azor yelled, whipping his tail in attempts to stab anyone who dared get close to him.
The four pressed onward, corralling Azor and his men like fish caught in a net. Acting as if they were fleeing for their lives, Azor and his men swam with all their might. But instead of hiding in Azor’s compound like Jacob had suspected, he and the Dradux entered the shark tank, slamming the door behind them.
Azor turned with a smile, hate brewing in his eyes. “You think you’ve won,” he said with a laugh, eyeing the four of them. “But you haven’t! I’ll live to see another day. You’re idiots to listen to Tatiana’s lies!” His glare pressed into Jacob. “She’s incapable of love! All she cares about is the crown!”
Jacob glowered at him from between granite spires of the shark tank. “I pity you, that you still can’t admit you were wrong. You’ll pay for what you’ve done to her.”
“Done to her?” Azor swam off laughing, holding his sword out as they crossed through the swarm of sharks. “I’ll see you in Hades, Jacob!”
“Come on,” Fin said, grabbing the door of the shark tank. “Let’s follow them!”
Badger flashed his cuff. “You go right ahead, but I can’t.”
“Red Tide!” Jax cussed, gripping the bars. “But I’ll be damned if I’m following him in there.”
Jacob shook his head, angered. “That sorry son of a bass won.”
“Aye,” Badger said, gripping onto his shoulder. “He might have escaped, but he didn’t win. He’ll be back, mark me words.”
At a screech, everyone doubled over and held their ears. When it stopped, they lifted their heads and stared across the pen. Ferdinand appeared and stood guard at the mouth of the Pacific Gate.
“Ferdinand!” Jax yelled. “What the hell is he doing?”
At each attempt of Azor’s men to gain ground, he shrieked, paralyzing them. The sharks, antsy and angry at the noise, began to dart about, passing closer and closer to Azor and the Dradux. Everyone watched on; fear tightened in Jacob’s gut.
“Stop him!” Azor yelled, pointing at Ferdinand.
The Dradux attempted to swim faster. But a shark turned, barreling toward Azor as he hovered behind the pack.
Jacob turned at the last second when a sickening crunch filled the water. A bloodcurdling keening followed in short choppy bursts and Jacob winced, watching the shark whip Azor’s lifeless body in the current. Blood coated his gills as the rest of the Dradux were attacked, and after several minutes of chilling screams the water was silenced, finally.
“Aye,” Badger said, palming his beard. “What a way to go.”
Jax swam to the spires, yelling for Ferdinand. But through the murky waters, no one could see anything.
: : :
“Tatiana!” Jacob yelled, swimming up to her, his gills flapping out of breath.
“Jacob!” she called back, leaving the shelter of Merric and her father’s circle.
They crashed into one another, their bodies pressing so close that nothing was between them, their lips hungry to know their lover was alive, safe.
“What were you thinking?” he asked, pushing her hair from her face, studying every inch of her skin.
“I don’t know. I just had to do the right thing.”
“And the merling—?”
She frowned. “I know, I’m sorry. She’s Xirene’s, but there wasn’t time to explain—”
He smothered her with another kiss, his soul alive and awake, whole in her presence. “If something had happened to you—”
“I’m so sorry.” A small sob escaped her lips. “Is it—?”
“Yes. It’s over,” Jacob exhaled, pushing the grim memory from his mind. “Neither he nor his Dradux will be bothering you, or anyone in Natatoria again.”
She exhaled, whooshing out a breath of relief.
“And I promise to never, ever be apart from you again.”
“Me neither,” she whispered.
“What happened?” he asked, touching her again as if he didn’t believe she was okay. “The crowd wanted to crucify you.”
“I don’t know. One minute they were charging me, threatening to drag me to Bone Island, but then my dad and Merric were there, holding them off. And the crowd pulled backward, then turned and headed after Azor… like his retreat was his admission of guilt. And then the screams. Everyone stopped in their tracks. But you should have seen it. It was like something heavy had lifted off everyone. And then the servants came out from the palace and took off their gloves, looking for their loved ones. There were so many… and they’ve been promised all along. Look.”
Jacob turned and sure enough, in the square, mers were embracing and kissing: servants, guards and pure-bloods, betas and rebels. It was as if there wasn’t ever a caste system to begin with.
And directly in front of them, Pearleza kissed Council member Fendole, a merman he’d believed to be widowed. And in her arms she held onto Azor’s daughter and a boy. Jacob’s mouth gaped.
Tatiana grabbed him, piercing him with fire behind her blue eyes. Unable to control himself, he covered her mouth with his, and she molded into him under his touch. His heart rocketed in anticipation of the moment when they’d finally be alone so he could show her exactly how much he loved her.
“I love you,” he breathed against her lips.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
: : :
“Do you, Jacob Vanamar James take Tatiana Renee Helton to be your lawfully promised mermaid?” Oberon asked.
Tatiana’s fin trembled as she gazed into his blue-grey eyes, making her stomach quiver. He was very soon to be hers and she was his, lawfully, intentionally, forever in bonded bliss.
“I do,” Jacob said with a smile, his voice husky.
“Heck, yeah,” Jax, the best merman added.
Giggles sprung from the audience and promising party as Galadriel, one of Tatiana’s bridesmaids, glared at him. “Hush.”
“I’m just sayin’.” He winked at her. “It’s about time.”
Oberon continued, “And do you Tatiana Helton, take Sir James to be your lawfully mated merman?”
She stared up into his face, adoringly.
“I do,” she said with a coy smile.
Sea stars, do I ever.
“Then by the power bestowed upon me by Chancellor Merric and the United Mers of Natatoria, I now pronounce you mermaid and mate. You may kiss your maid.”
Cheers from the audience flowed from the square as Jacob brought Tatiana’s lips to his, kissing her deeply, lovingly. He finished by pressing his forehead against hers, looking down at her through his dark eyelashes. “Now you’re really stuck with me.”
She wove her hands around his neck, restraining herself from weaving her tail against his, too. “I go where you go.”
They turned, hand in hand, and Ash, her mermaid of honor, handed her official sister-in-mer a seashell bouquet as the boys choir broke into a soft ballad. Tatiana glanced down the line of mermaids dressed in soft purple, until she found Galadriel and Pearl. She beamed and mouthed a heartfelt, “Thanks.”
Badger’s catcall rose above the crowd, “Let’s get this hooley started!”
A mix of young and old rose on their fins and clapped for the newly promised couple. She marveled at the support of so many mers, in awe of the response after what had happened just a week ago. Merlings swam down the aisle, scattering starfish on the sandy runway. In the back, Fendole, Pearleza’s mate, held the little blue-tailed merling squirming in his hands toward Tatiana. The baby reached out and pulled on a tendril of Tatiana’s hair.
“I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this, but she’s just too cute not to love,” Jacob said as the girl wrapped her tiny hand around his finger and brought it to her mouth.
“So,” Jax said, after Grommet and Fin joined them, oblivious to his interruption of the sweet moment. “When do we get a move-on to the promisetide?”
Galadriel nudged him in the stomach. “Is that all you can think about?”
“Heck, yeah.” Jax snorted. “We’re all going still, aren’t we? I’m dying for a break after all of this work.”
“Well, of course we are,” Galadriel said. “After we stop by Tahoe for a quick visit, so Ash can check on her parents, then we’ll be on our way to Hawaii—in a plane, mind you.” She wrinkled her nose at Fin.
Fin smirked back at her, then turned to Jax, flapping his lips. “And you thought this was work? Just wait ‘til my dad gets us going on the rebuild in Tahoe. He’s not going to build your house for you.”
“I can’t wait,” Ash said, sighing, snuggling into Fin’s side.
Fin raised a brow. “Me neither, my ginger girl.”
“And then our
official
wedding, too, under the evergreens.” Ash batted her eyelashes.
“Most definitely,” Fin said. “Though, I should ask your dad’s permission first.”
Ash shook her head. “You’ll have to sing his permission, you mean. He does own a gun.”
The group laughed.
“Only if I’m your mermaid of honor, of course,” Tatiana shot Ash a grin, “and we don’t forget our scholarships to Florida Atlantic University.”
“College? In Florida?” Galadriel blew out a breath of water. “No thank you.”