Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (24 page)

Rownan lifted his bleeding cut toward Yara's face. "Last chance."

I wanted to rip his arm out of its socket. She buried her face against my chest.

"Get out of the way," I ordered, flashing a warning glare at Jack.

He stepped aside and the rest of the selkies cleared a path. Just as I reached the iron gate, Rownan put his hand on my shoulder. "Wait, Treygan."

"Rownan, I swear to—"

"Stop and listen, dickhead. She's sick. She needs blood. If it has to be mer blood, then so be it." His claws shot out, ready to strike my skin, but I jumped back.

"Have you lost your beastly mind? I turn living things to stone! Who knows what would happen if she drank my blood?"

His shocked expression proved he really was a clueless idiot. "Oh," Moron uttered, pulling his claws back.

Yara moaned again. I shook my head in disgust and walked through the gate, hoping Rownan felt as guilty and barbaric as he looked.

W
e reached the ocean and I swam to a secluded, private pier. Yara's shivering calmed down once we were in the water, but I knew the worst was still to come.

"How long ago did it start?" I asked.

Her eyes stayed closed and her head bobbed forward. Judging by her weakness, I would have guessed twelve hours, but she had only been missing for four.

"Almost an hour," she murmured.

That didn't make sense. Her symptoms should have been milder if she had only been craving for an hour. I thought her reaction might be weaker because she didn't drink directly from a selkie, but instead her symptoms were progressing faster than normal.

There were no signs of humans nearby, but I wanted to be safe. This would take a while, and we couldn't risk someone seeing us. I stayed in human form, but Yara's yellow tail glistening under the surface would be easily visible. I paddled us over to the shallow, sloped area under the pier where it was darkest. Plowing my feet into the sand to anchor us, I sat down and pulled her onto my lap, trying to keep everything but her head submerged.

Her eyes fluttered open. Her voice was weak. "Did you know him too?"

"Who?"

"My father."

"I knew
of
him."

Her eyelids drifted closed again. "Is it over?"

"Is what over?"

"The cravings."

"I don't think so. Usually there's a period where it feels like an electric current is roaring through your veins."

"I already felt that." Her hand floated up and rested limply on my chest.

"You did?" She nodded—barely. "How long did it last?"

"A second."

I leaned her head against my chest so she couldn't see the worry on my face. In a perfect world she would never have to feel the electrical burning, in a fair world the second of pain she felt would be the only one she would have to endure. But we didn't live in a perfect or fair world.

She needed to hear part of her story before the real wave of electric shocks hit. Mainly because she deserved to know, but also because she thought I had abandoned her. I needed to regain her trust, but now wasn't the time to explain why I had to stay away from her.

"Would you like to hear a story about your parents?"

Her chin glided against my chest as she nodded.

"Your father, Vyron, was a highly respected selkie. Five years before you were born, he fell in love with your mother. Here comes another fact people have kept hidden from you." I looked down at the top of her head and took a breath. "Your mother was a siren."

She slowly pulled back and stared up at me with quivering eyes.

"For years they lived as a taboo couple. Your father wanted her as his mate and he wanted children, but sirens can't reproduce. Only one sea monster had ever successfully become human, but it was proof it could be done. Your mother went to Stheno and Euryale, the original gorgon sisters, and begged for her and your father to be turned human so they could have children."

"And they agreed," Yara muttered.

"They made a deal. Vyron and Cleo's first born—you—had to be given to the gorgon sisters. Then your parents were free to have as many other children as they wished."

"But … why did they want me? I don't understand."

I caressed her face, hating that I had to be the one to tell her all of this. "Medusa was the only mortal sister. When she was murdered, the sisters lost a lot of their power because they no longer had a third in their trinity. Stheno and Euryale wanted that power back, but Medusa's replacement needed to have human and monster blood like she did. You fit the requirement, and you would be too young to put up a fight."

"They wanted me to be a gorgon?"

"Yes, part of the cursed trinity. Meaning you would take Medusa's place and never be able to leave the sunless grotto."

She shuddered. "That's why we moved away."

A snowy white heron landed in the water practically on top of Yara. I splashed it away. The bird's S-curved neck extended toward me. It squawked in my face before flying up onto the pier.

"Your parents loved you, Yara. The sea monster-turned-human I told you about, he helped your father put a binding spell on you. No sea creature could turn you until you were eighteen. Your dad figured by that age you could decide for yourself if you wanted that life or power, and you would be able to fight if you didn't want that dark existence. He took you away from here in case the sisters figured out a way to break the spell."

"I'm eighteen now. Will they come for me?" Her trembling became steadier. I needed to tell her the rest before she became too weak, or in too much pain to comprehend it.

"No. When your parents fled, the gorgons were furious and sealed the gate. On the Triple Eighteen—your true eighteenth birthday, which in the sea creature world means eighteen years and eighteen days, we have one chance to offer the sisters a replacement for Medusa. If by the end of the eighteenth hour—sunset—no one has offered themselves, then the gate will be locked eternally."

Her pupils were huge, black suns. "
I'm
the reason the gate closed?"

"Not you, your parents."

Her body jerked and she let out a whimper. "The electric thing is back." Diamond tears ran down her cheeks. "That's why you stayed away from me. You knew I would be a gorgon soon."

"That's not why." Her hair was a disheveled mess. I started removing the hairpins Pango had twisted it up with, letting her long locks fall into the water.

She cried harder, shaking violently. "I'll do it. Everyone can go home."

"No. Your mother arranged for you to be turned into a mermaid to protect you. You're a monster of the sun now. Your soul wouldn't survive in their cold, dark grotto."

She gripped my arm tightly as another shock surged through her. "It hurts!"

Her skin stretched taut over her tensed muscles. Soon the pain wouldn't be waves, it would be steady and unbearable. She continued crying, trying to catch her breath. "Why did you turn me?"

"I vowed to your mother that I would."

"But I could've opened the gate."

"We figured out another way." I dipped her head back into the water and ran my fingers through her wet hair. "Someone else meets the requirements. They volunteered to take your place."

The heron landed near us again. Yara's face twisted in pain. Her teeth chattered so hard I thought they would break. She started mumbling broken sentences about her mother.

"The cravings will be excruciating soon," I said. "We're going away for a while. I don't know how long I can last, but we'll relive some of my memories. You'll be conscious through my soul, so you shouldn't feel your own physical pain."

"Will that w-w-work?"

Gods, I hoped so. "We're about to find out. Don't think about anything here. I'm going to try and keep us in a different time until the cravings stop."

She let out a gut-wrenching scream as her skin rippled with pain. I hoped no humans were nearby to hear her. I placed my hand on her cheek. "Open your eyes, Yara. Let me take you someplace safe."

Her teary eyes met mine. I made certain to keep my emotions under control as we spiraled away to another time and place. I silently prayed I could keep us gone long enough—preferably forever.

T
reygan was right. The pain and cravings stopped seconds after the teal and silver clouds blew across his eyes.

There were too many wonderful memories to keep track of. I must have stayed in his mind for hours until a gentle push forced me out of Treygan's soul and into a bright fog.

I had returned to my own mind and body.

The first thing I saw was Treygan's sunlit face. His cobalt eyes looked exhausted. His blue-black hair was dry and spiked up in different directions. Yesterday I thought I had cut it too short, but he looked stunning. The sun was shining in the sky high above the water. It must have been nearing noon.

"Hi," I said, gazing into his tired eyes.

"Welcome back."

He had me cradled against him, but when I began to move he let go and scooted back. I floated in the water, losing physical contact with him, and I hated how it felt.

"It worked." I ran my fingers along the sandy floor beneath me. I felt strong and healthy. No shivering, no nausea, no overwhelming thirst for blood, no electrical shocks. "I don't remember feeling anything after the soul sharing thingy started—except what you were feeling. Which were mostly happy memories."

"Good." He wiggled his feet free from the sand and swam past me into deeper water.

"You must have kept me there for hours."

"I wanted to make sure all your cravings had passed."

Before Treygan took me away, every minute of sickness felt like forever. The pain was worse than anything I had ever felt. I kept seeing and hearing my mother. I thought for sure I was dying.

Cringing at the thought of how awful the night had been, I swam after Treygan. How much suffering had he saved me from by sharing his soul with me for so long? Did it hurt him or make him sick? "You're quiet. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We need to go back to Solis. Everyone will be worried about us."

"Wait." I grabbed his arm. "I want to know more about my parents. You said my mother was a siren. So at some point she lived like Nixie and her sisters?" He nodded. "Did they know her? Did
you
know her?"

"Yes and yes."

"She could fly? And lived in your realm?"

"Sirens prefer this realm. They thrive on taking human songs. Like her sisters, she spent the majority of her time here, with humans. And then with your father."

"Wait. So the sirens are—or were—my mother's sisters?"

"Mariza and Otabia were. Nixie took your mother's place in the trio after your mother turned human. There must always be three of them."

"What do you mean by take human songs?"

"One of the original purposes of a siren was to deliver human memories to the gorgon sisters. They can only experience life outside of the grotto through the sirens. The sirens have to take the memories entirely from a human's soul, otherwise it wouldn't hold up through two transfers—human to siren, siren to gorgon."

"Those poor people. Memories just get stolen from them?"

"Yes, but they don't remember them being taken. They never know they had them, so they don't miss them."

"What if someone brings up an event or conversation they had and the person doesn't remember it? Wouldn't they figure it out then?"

"Humans have terrible memories. They don't use a fraction of the brainpower they are given. They would dismiss the void and use their common line about getting old or shrug it off to forgetfulness."

"My mother stole memories from people," I repeated. "How awful."

"She had to. It's that nature thing I told you about. We can't fight the laws of creation. It would be like telling a human to never eat or drink anything. They wouldn't live a week without nourishment."

"Still, I'd be furious if someone took a memory from me."

His eyebrow arched. He looked everywhere except my face. Water lapped against his neck and shoulders. Such a peaceful sound, but I sensed something unspoken looming between us.

"Treygan, what aren't you telling me?"

"What did you say the other day? I plead the fifth?"

"Uh-uh. That's my line. You're hiding something from me. Start talking."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you remember Nixie taking you from the party?"

"No, but she said I was drunk."

"Mm-hmm. I might believe that, except you have a fresh bite mark on your lip."

I ran my fingers along the raised scab. "That's why it hurts."

"See, you don't remember her taking it from you."

"No, not at all."

"That one is gone forever, but it's probably for the best." He swam closer to me. "Don't be angry, but many of your memories were taken. The turning process, whether it be monster to human or vice versa, requires temporarily draining most of the life force out of a soul so it can be filled with whatever species they're becoming. For us that means our memories, for the selkies it's blood. The sirens require both. No one is ever completely drained of what and who they are originally. That would be fatal."

"But Delmar turned me, and I still have my human memories."

"Right now you have very few. Like I said, if Delmar drained you of all of them you would have died. Some of your strongest memories will return over time. Only a siren could completely take them from your soul."

I thought hard. I had memories of Uncle Lloyd. I only had a few of my mother, but she died when I was eight, so how much could I possibly remember? "No, I remember lots of stuff."

"Think about it. How many events or conversations of your human life can you remember? Considering you've been alive for eighteen years, shouldn't you have many more? It feels like a lot because you don't remember the ones you're missing, or know they existed."

"That's—no. I remember everything. I showed you that memory of the first time I met my uncle. I remember you showing up at my house in the storm, and the night you saved me from drowning."

"Delmar left your strongest memories, your earliest, and the most recent. He couldn't touch the last several weeks of your life. Otherwise you might wake up not remembering anyone, or why you care about them, where you live, who you are, the basics. Some memories your soul clings to for survival. He leaves those."

"How does he know which ones to leave?

"He said they're colored differently, like he sees them through a sepia-toned lens, so he passes over them."

"This is crazy. I know I remember everything. Maybe Delmar didn't erase much."

"I would love for that to be true, but if so, you wouldn't have survived the transformation. Changing from human to monster takes a toll on the soul and body. We can test your theory, though. Three years ago a hurricane hit near Eden's Hammock. Do you remember it?"

"What was its name?"

"Otabia called it
The Dryad
. Sirens name storms after legends or fairytales, but humans attach names to them that we don't pay attention to."

"I don't remember storms unless they were serious."

"Serious?" he huffed. "How's this for serious. You were helping Lloyd board up windows and you slipped off the porch roof. You broke your left arm and needed twelve stitches in your elbow." He lifted my hand out of the water and bent back my forearm so I could see a faded, white scar. "You and your uncle stayed at Mercy Hospital in Miami for two nights until the storm passed. Do you remember any of that?"

"No, but …." I couldn't believe it. How did I not know about the scar on my elbow? How could I forget staying at a hospital? "How do you know about all of that?"

"I'm your guardian, Yara. It's my job to keep you safe. Though there were times—like the arm-breaking incident—I did a pretty poor job." He looked away, but I reached for him, wanting to assure him he had done a great job. He raised his chin and our eyes met. "I've been your guardian for fourteen years."

"You—what? Fourteen years! You've been watching over me since I was four? And I never saw you?"

"You saw me on several occasions. Most of the time I had reporters check on you. I'm sure it's a bit unsettling, but over the next several years most of your memories should return."

"Years? I need to sit down." This was way too much for me to process while treading water. I swam to the beach. Treygan followed without argument.

We approached the shallow slope of sand and Treygan stood up. Tan shorts hung low off his hips. I glanced down at my gown and tail. Any other time I got out of the water, I crawled up a ladder, or lifted myself onto rocks or land where my legs had time to appear before standing. This beach thing had me stumped.

Treygan looked down at me. "You'll need your legs."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, but you haven't taught me how to change while I'm in the water."

"Right. Sorry. Concentrate on how your legs feel, imagine the space between them, the bones, bending your toes. They'll change."

He made it sound so simple. I pulled my skirt up and stared through the water at my tail lying beside me, trying to imagine the feel of everything human. All I felt was sand and my dress brushing against my scales with the ebb and flow of waves.

"Not working," I groaned.

He sat down beside me. "You're not focusing on what you want to feel."

"I am. It's just not working. Maybe that ability hasn't formed yet."

"It has. You must not want your legs badly enough."

"I do! I'm trying."

"First, sit more humanlike. You should have your legs in front of you, not to the side." As soon as I adjusted my tail he reached his hand through the water and rested it where my knees would've been. "Feel good?"

"I guess."

His eyes squinted because of the bright sunlight behind me. He leaned forward, either to get closer to me or to use me for shade I wasn't sure which. He pushed my dress up higher and lifted his hand so it hovered an inch from my hip and upper tail. "Skin is more sensitive. In five seconds I'm going to set my hand down. Do you want to feel my fingers on your scales, or the skin of your thigh?"

I couldn't answer. The raspiness in his voice combined with the thought of his hand on my thigh left me speechless. He kept his eyes locked with mine, waiting for my answer, but then my tail turned into legs and no words were needed. His warm fingers pressed against my skin.

I wanted him to kiss me so badly I thought I might explode. My toes curled when he rubbed my thigh. His hand moved firmly down to my knee then back up again. I swallowed the warm air between us and put my arms around his neck, wanting to pull him on top of me. Instead, he stayed solidly upright. He slid his hand up my hip and around my waist and hooked his other hand under my arm, rising out of the water effortlessly with me attached. My skirt dropped to my feet.

"There, see how easy that was?" he said gruffly.

I lifted my face to look at him. Why, oh why did I have to fall for the guy who could turn me to stone? I leaned in and pressed my lips against his neck. He tasted like saltwater taffy. For a second he tried to pull back, but I kept a firm grip and kissed him again. He let out a deep breath and pressed himself against me.

"Mmm, yes, so easy," I whispered, moving my kisses down his chest.

I started running my fingers through his hair but his hands closed over mine. He pulled back, pushing my hands to my sides.

"Enough," he said. "We can't do this. As incredible as that felt, it's wrong and unfair to you."

"How is it not fair to me? I want to be with you, Treygan. We can find ways around the kissing thing."

"It's not just that. We wouldn't even have two weeks together. The Triple Eighteen is days away. We shouldn't start something knowing how fast the end is approaching."

"The end? You said I didn't have to live with the gorgons. You said someone volunteered to take my place."

He clutched my hand to his chest. He stood so straight that his shoulders seemed to double in width. I could see my reflection in his eyes. "Yes. That someone was me."

"Y
ou?" She gawked. "No. Last night you said I wouldn't survive in the grotto because I was a mermaid. You're a merman."

"A merman with gorgon blood and genes," I explained, taking a seat on the beach.

Yara kicked up sand as she paced in front of me. "You said I was chosen because I was born human. Your mother was a mermaid, and your father a gorgon. There's nothing human about you. You don't meet the requirements."