Deep Blue (The Mermaid Chronicles Book 1) (17 page)

             
The next weeks passed in a blur, and soon it was almost February already. Alice was back almost completely. Her parents were beyond happy. Not only was their daughter there, but finally it seemed that even David was taking an interest in the town. Alice had introduced him to the younger Caraway and they were now great friends. Apparently Tommy had even taught David to surf. Of course, what their parents didn't know was that anytime they fell off their boards they went on a romp through the kelp and out further than their parents would have liked. As mer they were fast and sleek in the water, unstoppable.

             
Alice and Adam seemed to be an item to outsiders. Really, it was more like they circled around and around each other, never truly connecting. It was a strange dance. Adam felt for her more than he would say, but Alice just wasn't ready for that kind of relationship. Still, the Baileys couldn't have been happier. Alice often met Adam on his boat, but Adam couldn't join her in the water, not the way Alice swam. He felt it, too: it seemed the more time passed, the further she grew from him. He felt exactly how David had. He came up to a wall of glass every time he tried to touch Alice.

             
At the same time, Adam was teaching Alice to love the world again. He was showing her things in the world that were worth loving. Alice had loved the ocean first, and now Adam was teaching her to love other things, too. He was bringing her out, putting her back together, ever so slowly.

             
When Alice was in the ocean, the water filled and swirled around her heart, beating against the stones she carried inside. One day they were on his boat, just her, Adam, Tommy, and David. They were playing Twister, of all things. Adam and Alice were still on the mat. David was watching and laughing at them, and Tommy was spinning the spinner.

             
"Right hand blue."

             
"You know, I think you're cheating, Alice," Adam said.

             
"Why?"

             
"Well, I'm guessing you're not made up of the same thing as I am."

             
"You getting stiff, old man?"

             
"Don't call me old man!" he said, losing his footing and falling. "Dammit!" They all laughed.

             
"And the fish win at Twister!" David yelped. They all kicked back, grabbing beers from Adam’s mini-fridge.

             
"So where's your brother, Tommy?" Adam asked.

             
"Why you ask?"

             
"Honestly, I thought I'd be stitching him up after some kind of fight after Brassila died."

             
"Nah, Finn knows how to take care of himself. I think he's avoiding the maids. Pretty sure they've redoubled their efforts, now that he’s technically the clan leader. I heard a visiting maid got scratched up pretty bad the other week."

             
“She said she cut her hand cooking,” Adam smiled.

             
“Must not have known we had a doctor on the payroll, then, eh?”

             
"You gonna pair off this year, Tom?"

             
"Aw, hell no. I'm trying to beat Finn's record."

             
"Finn still hasn't paired," Alice pointed out.

             
"Exactly," Tommy said, "Single as long as you can manage it. I thought you, of all people, would understand that, Alice." They all laughed, except Alice.

“Come on sis, it was just a jape.”

“I know.” The all heard a splash near the boat and looked over the side. There swam a red head that seemed to follow their group as often as Ashley followed Finn. Alice stood up and moved over to the rail.

“Kari, what’s wrong?” Alice said after one look at her face. Kari grabbed onto the ladder and used her deceptively strong arms to climb up a couple of rungs, her tail still hanging in the water.

“Tommy,” she breathed. She had swum at top speed to reach them. Tommy appeared behind Alice, along with David.

“The Marianas maid,” she breathed, but Tommy already knew what had happened. He didn’t need to hear another word. Adam appeared at the edge.

“Slow down, Kari,” Adam said gently.

             
David took it upon himself to lift Kari up the rest of the way. The two of them fell on the deck exhausted. He wove out from underneath her while Adam got her a towel.

             
“Don’t bother,” Tommy said. “The Marianas maid is dead.” Kari looked up at him, her big blue eyes full of terror. Adam turned to him from his place attending to Kari. David stood far away from everyone, and Alice hadn’t moved at all.

             
“The one I…”

             
“No, it was the other visiting maid, the prettier one,” Tommy said, his face all annoyance and seriousness.

             
Adam clenched his teeth, “Finn, I never…”

             
“It wasn’t Finn.” Tommy said, looking at Kari.

             
“Ashley,” Kari said.

             
“Tommy, you’re…”

             
“I’m not the clan leader. I can’t do anything,” he smiled. “Someone has to talk to my brother.”

             
“I’ll do it.” David said. Everyone turned to him.

             
“You don’t know my brother,”

             
“Tommy, why can’t you just do it?” Adam asked, looking at a cut on Kari’s wrist.

             
“My brother would have no qualms taking me down, at this point,” he turned to look at Alice still hanging by the rail. All eyes followed his.

             
“Oh, hell no. How could you even…?”

             
“This is a serious problem, Alice. Who do you think she’ll come after next?”

             
“Not me!” Tommy smiled that infuriating smile at her. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can, Alice.” She scoffed.

             
“Fine, but you owe me.” Alice pulled her shirt over her head and removed her pants. She didn’t wear underwear anymore, but she was in the water before anyone could notice.

             
“Oh Alice, take this with you.” She surfaced as Tommy tossed the short-sword into the water. It floated on the surface of the water for a few seconds before it started to sink Alice grabbed it and went off in the direction of his island. Tommy was right; she was the only one who could talk to that monster. She certainly wouldn’t let David face him, and David was the only other person who understood exactly what Finn was mourning.

             
“Stop,” Kari said to Adam. She moved to the edge of the deck.

             
“Where are you going?” David asked.

             
Kari turned, “If she’s going to talk to Finn, I’m going to find Ashley. Maybe I can talk to her.”

             
“You probably can’t, you know,” Tommy said.

             
“Someone has to try.” Kari flipped herself backward over the edge of the boat.

Alice was in Finn’s territory, but she saw no one on the island. She had almost turned around when she felt the blade against her throat. She was meters from the little island and his strong arms were around her. She felt the shock, she felt the knife, but it didn't scare her anymore. She shocked right back and spun around to face his perplexed blue eyes.

             
"What are you doing here? And why are you carrying that?" he pointed to the sword. Alice spun away from him and headed toward the island. It irritated him, the way she took the liberty of crawling onto its beach. He followed her all the same.

             
She pulled her tail up onto the beach and out of the water. He came up after her and she threw the sword at him. He dodged, but pulled it out of the surf before the waves could steal it. He looked down at it and looked at the matching emerald shining in her hair.

             
“Tommy sent you.”

             
“Ashley’s killed one of the visitors,” Alice said

“What concern is that of mine? I gave this to Tommy.”

“You are the clan leader! You need to do something about this.”

“Actually, I’ve been considering leaving entirely.”

             
"Yet you just can‘t leave your island," she said sarcastically.

             
"I would be well within my rights to execute you for encroaching on my territory."

             
“Yes, Tommy said you would do that if he showed up. Really, Finn? You’d kill your own brother, after losing your grandmother? Oddly enough, I didn’t doubt you would.”

             
He raised his eyebrows. “You’ve obviously met my brother,” he paused, considering the maid, “You need to leave.”

             
“You need to stand up for your own clan. You can’t let her get away with this, Finn. I was there, I met your grandmother. You’ve been out here for months, living all by yourself. It doesn’t work; trust me, I’ve tried.” He looked up at her.

             
"I'm hiding from maids like you."

             
"Look, you arrogant brat, I'm not chasing you. I just want that clear."

             
"Oh, that's right, you have a human. You know, when you make it official, you'll be out of my ocean forever."

             
Alice was bristling. This was stupid. She was trying to help! She understood what Tommy was saying. Why couldn’t Finn do anything about this? This woman was dangerous. Just because she cared about Tommy didn't mean she had to deal with this mess.

             
"Tommy's a much better leader than you."

             
"Perhaps he is. That’s why I left him the sword." He tossed it back at her. She just stared at him, seething, bristling with electricity. She leapt into the water and disappeared. She swam back to shore. She wanted to be away for a while and, besides, she had work later. The tourists had begun coming in. They had to be more careful. They were required to use the private beach to disembark.

             
On her way out of what was well known as Finn's territory, a pair of eyes watched her and turned dark.

             
“Ashley,” the mer spun to face the red-head.

             
“You,” she narrowed her eyes, “how dare you return here?” Ashley pulled her knife from its place in a scabbard at her side.

             
“Ashley, please. I just came to talk.”

             
“That’s what you say. That’s what they all say.”

             
“I don’t want Finn!”

             
Ashley moved close to the young mer who refused to draw her blade. “You follow the transform now.”

             
“I don’t follow anyone…” Ashley moved like a viper and there was blood in the water, Kari’s hand flew up to stem the flow from her cheek. She stared at Ashley with wide eyes. One thing Kari had never expected was that Ashley would kill her, but the look in her eyes brooked no argument: the intent was there, the intent to kill. Kari fumbled to draw her blade as the other mer came at her.

             
David crashed into Ashley at that exact moment. His blade was against the mer’s throat, and Ashley’s back was against the wall of her little cave. She had nowhere to go. She smiled evilly at the boy.

             
“She’s not worth it,” David slowly withdrew his knife and Ashley swam away, toward shore.

             
“Thank you,” Kari said softly.

             
David turned and looked intently at the red-head, straight into her deep blue eyes.

             
Finn relaxed. He was back on his rock and the sun shone bright above and reflected off his scales, but Finn was lost in a world as gray as the one Alice knew so well. Finn was a leader now, a position he had never wanted. He knew he couldn't be single much longer, and yet he couldn't stand the company of anyone. He stared at the sword by the tree, in the spot where Alice had been sitting only moments ago. Brassila had known instinctively how to lead. Finn knew nothing but his own world, and the fact that he did not want to lead. He couldn't stand the thought of being in charge.

             
"You're an idiot, Finn." Finn turned suddenly. Tommy had surfaced not too far away.