Fated - A Mermaid's Curse 2 (17 page)

“
What the fuck am I doing?” I ask myself. I throw the bottle against the wall. Walk toward the bar and flip the table over, breaking every single bottle so that the temptation is gone. I then walk toward the window and watch her until I see the boat.

***

ARIANNA

Even after I see the boat approach land, I still don’t move. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, alone and crying, but I can feel Blake’s eyes on me from the house. That also makes me feel relieved. I peeked at him a few times, worried that he would have a glass or a bottle on his hand, but he doesn’t.

When Owen gets off the boat, he rushes toward me. I’m sobbing and shivering.

“
Jesus Christ. What the fuck happened? And why is Blake standing there watching us instead of being here with you?”

Owen takes off his suit jacket and puts it around me. I look up at him.

“
I have to tell him the truth, Owen. About what I am.”

Owen sits next not me.

“
No, you don’t.”

I shake my head. “I do. The pain isn’t going away and I need to turn. It hurts even worse when I think about what I’m keeping from him. I don’t even have to tell him everything. I’ll tell him you caught me in mermaid form before and that’s how you know the truth. He doesn’t have to know about our deal or anything else.”

He sighs. “Do you honestly think that is a good idea?”

I nod.

“
I don’t like it one bit.”

“
Please,” I beg him. “I’ll ask him to keep it a secret and will tell him I asked you to do the same.”

Owen shakes his head. “What if it freaks him out?”

I sob even more now.

“
I just can’t keep leaving a life of lies, Owen. I have to tell him, even if he decides to leave me.”

I hear Blake’s panicked voice come from behind us.

“
That is enough. Just tell me whatever it is.”

I turn around and Blake’s expression softens as he sees me crying as much as I am.

Owen sighs. “Do what you need to do. I’ll be in the house if you need me.”

He walks away.

Blake not once took his eyes off me as Owen spoke. Blake hesitates then sits next to me.

After a while with me just staring at the water, quiet, he reaches for my hand, which makes me flinch for some reason.

“
I doubt there is anything in the world that would make me want to leave you, Arianna. Just please don’t hide things from me. Whatever it is, we’ll work through it.”

I nod, but I’m scared. So scared this will make him run.

I turn around so I’m looking directly at him.

“
It’s about what I am, where I came from.” I sigh, not knowing how to say it. “I’m from a different world then yours, Blake. Do you remember how you couldn’t figure out how I got to the island?”

He nods.

“
I came from the ocean, Blake. I’m a—I—”

“
Just say it, please,” he begs.

“
I’m a mermaid.”

I can’t read his expression, but his gaze moves down to my legs. I decide to tell him as much of the truth as I can and try my best to not hide or lie about anything.

“
I’m one of the few who can change. I think these pains are partially because my body is longing for the water.”

“
And Owen knew all of this?”

I nod and expect more questions, but he doesn’t ask anything else about Owen.

“
What really happened at the ocean that day when the boat flipped over?”

I sigh and look at the water. “It was Bram, my—the one my father made me marry.”

His eyes widen.

“
So, the whole thing about the reason why you were in the hospital. Were those all lies?”

“
No!” I say almost offended before I take a deep breath. “I really was there because I needed to be. My body is not wired like humans. It’s not mermaids who have offspring. The mermen are the ones who lay eggs and ultimately, have them.” He looks dazed as if what I’m telling him is all crazy and well, it is, but I continue. “Something changed in my body with—well, something changed allowing me to get pregnant which shouldn’t have been possible to begin with. When we fell into the ocean, I changed back so I could survive and so that I could save you, and my entire body reversed back to what it was,” I say sobbing, but he sits there, just watching me as if he is in shock.

“
Please say something.”

He stands up and turns to face the house. For a moment, I think he is going to walk out on me, but then he turns to face me again and kneels down on the sand, right in front of me. “You have to admit that this is all crazy, Arianna. I mean, I feel like I’m in a dream right now.”

I stand up, still crying.

He stands up with me and reaches for my face but then, lets his hand fall back down before he touches me.

“
I’m sorry. I should have been honest with you from the beginning and I know you don’t deserve yet another person lying to you.”

I turn around toward the house with every intention of telling Owen that it’s time for me to leave although I have no idea what I will do. I see Owen by the door, watching us intensively.

“
Arianna,” he whispers. I turn around to face Blake.

“
I don’t want you to leave. I’m sorry. I’m just having a hard time taking this all in.”

He runs his fingers through his hair.

I walk past him and toward the water.

“
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he asks.

“
I’m going to prove it to you.”

“
Don’t, Arianna. What if they grab you out of the water? Hell, they could have gotten to you earlier.”

“
They don’t know we’re here.”

“
You can’t guarantee that. I’m just—what if you have to turn and can’t turn back ever again? What if—”

I give him a sad smile and look toward the house at Owen and see him walk in my direction.

“
You can tell him the whole truth.”

Blake looks from me to him, “Why don’t you tell me how you are involved into all of this?”

Owen takes a deep breath. “She’s here because of me. Dad is involved in some dark shit and I found my way in on the people that he works with. Don’t ask me to tell you more than I tell you, because I won’t and Dad can never know that you know this, or even I can’t guarantee her protection. I found Arianna by the rocks on the day she married Bram and used black magic to give her a way out.”

“
Why?”

“
Just listen, okay. That’s all I can tell you. That and that you are protected now. They can’t see her or you. It’s like you are masked from that world. She is safe. Let it go.”

Blake still has his eyes on Owen. “So, mermaids and black magic,” he shakes his head.

Owen looks at me. “Show him.”

I nod once and walk into the water with my clothes and all. I take off my shorts once I get into the water and focus on the words that Owen once taught me so that I can turn. I give Blake one look and see his scared expression, before I dive into the water and then jump, diving in again, but not before exposing my full blue tail. When I stop, I’m scared to look at him again, so I look at Owen instead and see that he is smiling. That gives me the confidence to look back at Blake and see that his scared look turned into fascination as he watches me.

Owen yells, “I’m going to go get you a towel.”

He whispers something to Blake before heading in the house and as soon as he walks away, Blake walks toward me, puling his shirt off on his way into the water.

I stay where I am and wait for him. Once he gets to me, his arms go around me and he pulls me to his chest.

“
I’m sorry. It was just too much to take in.”

“
You still want me?” I ask. “Even knowing what I am… even knowing that I can’t give you children because of what I am.”

“
I’ll always want you. I just wanted you to be honest with me. I understand why you kept this. I really do. Now I’m just worried about you having to keep turning or them getting to you. And what is the deal with Owen and this black magic?”

I shrug.

He looks at me and smiles. “You’re amazing.”

I let out a sob, and he envelops me into a hug. “I hate seeing you crying.”

He pauses. “Is it okay if I carry you out of the water? He asks.

I nod and he scoops me up. I expect him to mention the difference between my legs and tail, the slickness of my skin, but he just carries me like he would any other time and slowly lowers me down to the sand, sitting next to me.

He looks from my tail to my eyes. “You’re like a dream. It really is like you’re not real. I just keep waiting to wake up and be back in the hell that my life was before you.”

“
I’m not going anywhere, Blake. Not willingly anyway.”

He looks concerned and I know that he’s worried about the possibility of me having to turn again and somehow be unable to turn back into human.

I watch him, wishing I could guarantee that is not the case, but even I don’t know what the future holds for me.

“
So was that everything?” he asks.

I nod.

“
You saved Molly that night, didn’t you?” he asks remembering how his little sister mentioned my blue tail before.

I nod.

He grins. “So if that is really everything, would please just marry me already?”

I laugh and I feel so relieved that he knows everything.

“
Yes, Blake Crawford, I will marry you.”

He leans down and kisses me. When he pulls away, he keeps staring into my eyes.

“
I wish we could get married right at this second but Mom and Carol would kill me.”

“
Blake, what about your dad? If we get married, he could stop you from seeing Molly and your mom again.

He looks saddened for a moment.

“
It’s okay, we don’t have to be married. I’m already yours.”

He grins. “I want to be tied to you in any and every way possible.”

I smile at him. “We’ll find the right time.”

“
And if we don’t soon, we will get married without anyone knowing,” he says. “I’m marrying you one way or another.”

I laugh.

“
I’m serious.”

We hear the sound of Owen clearing his throat and he hands me the towel.

“
Took you long enough!” says Blake.

“
Well, I was trying to give you some alone time.”

Blake nods a thank you and I put the towel over my legs and say the words that bring my legs back.

Blake watches in amazement as he sees the bottom of my tail fade away, revealing my feet.

He shakes his head as if to clear his mind.

“
Are you staying for the night?” he asks Owen.

Owen shrugs. “Might as well.”

Wrapping the towel all the way around me, we all go in the house.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

BLAKE

We go back inside and I expect having to explain what happened to the bar, but when we walk in, everything is cleaned up.

Arianna goes to the room to change and I tell her that I have to talk to Owen.

As soon as she’s gone, he says, “You’re welcome.”

“
For?”

“
For cleaning up the fucking mess you left in here.”

“
Owen, this stuff that you and Dad are into—”

He shakes his head. “I’m not talking about, Blake. I can’t talk about it. And so you know… if you ask him or mention that you know, things will get worse… for everyone.

I nod.

Owen turns around, “I’m going to bed.”

“
Okay.”

Instead of going to see Arianna, I stay where I am. I just need a moment to myself. None of what just happened feels real. Mermaids and magic… I shake my head.

“
Blake?” I hear Arianna’s voice and look behind me to see her standing at the end of the hallway like she is afraid to step into the living room.

I smile at her. “Do you want to go for a walk with me?”

She hesitates and then nods.

I open the door for her and when we step outside, I reach for her hand. She seems surprised at first, but then I can feel her relax.

We walk around in silence for a while. Then I suddenly stop and face her. I cup her face in between my hands and she closes her eyes.