Page 53 of Chasing Tail
Chapter 28
It was time. We spent the day chatting, and I learned a lot from Salem and Adamo. They taught us a few more recipes from home for lunch and dinner. Taron’s speech was getting so much better, but I knew we would always talk in our own way sometimes. I learned a good bit about mermaids on land, and Salem really opened my eyes about sea witches.
If we had never met the Sins, Taron and I probably always would have thought Talora helped us because she was fond of Seira and wanted revenge as much as I did. Sea witches were the keepers of balance just as much as the druids were. Talora knew full well what would happen to Taron and me if we left, but she also knew many people would die if we didn’t at least try to stop it.
Taron and I weren’t even mad she sacrificed us for that. I think she knew we wouldn’t be if we ever found out. Talora knew more about mermaids and sharks fleeing to land than she told us. She told us what the price was, but she left out many of the details that might have talked me out of going, like the excruciating pain that came with changing.
Talora knew me. She knew I’d deal with it until I either finished what I came to land to do or died in the process. Everything in the ocean was a test for survival. If you were weak when it came to anything, you died. If you couldn’t fight your way through extreme pain to fight your way out or get to an antidote for the many poisonous things in the ocean, you were going to die a horrible death.
I believed the same thing Adamo and Salem did. The pain was just another test to see if you could stick it out on land. We could do this. Mermaids believed in omens, and sometimes, that could just be a bad feeling. All three Sins had one, so something was definitely going to go wrong. We just needed to be mentally prepared for that. I already knew Taron would be, and the Sins had done this before.
I only got to see a little of this kingdom before the brothers crashed into us. When they took us to Beck’s love nest, they didn’t take us down a route with lighting. Instead, they called some sort of light to their hands and snuck us down dark streets that frankly smelled a little funny.
I was sure this was a beautiful kingdom, but we seemed to be taking that same route again. We were slipping between buildings with just the moon and stars lighting our way. I wasdyingto ask what that smell was, but I knew better than to open my mouth and risk drawing attention to us. Taron smelled it, too, because his nose was wrinkled up.
The air got much fresher when we got closer to the ocean and the trees and away from the street. I felt the call of the ocean tugging at me when my feet hit the sand. I wanted to rip my clothes off and jump in the water, even if I knew the pain was going to be awful. Taron slipped his hand in mine and squeezed. He was feeling it too. We’d come way too far just to abandon everything now. Plus, if something went wrong, we needed to help Salem, Tristan, and Adamo.
Tristan cocked his head towards a cave, and we all followed. I didn’t know it was there until Adamo moved some moss out of the way. Then, when we were further enough in that no one could hear us, the Sins risked talking.
“If something goes wrong, the two of you need to run straight to the passage and out to the beach. Get in the water immediately. Guards will be everywhere if they think there is an intruder in the castle. It won’t be long before they search the beach. They can’t get to you in the water, and there will be more of them than there are of us. I know neither of you has ever run from a fight, but unless you want to die, you’ll run from this one.”
“What about the three of you?” I asked.
“We’re immortal, and we heal. We’ll figure something out. If we don’t, our brothers will figure out something went wrong and come make a mess. We try to avoid it, but sometimes, it can be fun,” Adamo said.
“We’re pretty adaptable on the fly, though,” Salem said. “If something goes wrong, there’s still a chance to pull this off, but not if we are worrying about the two of you getting caught.”
“I will carry her to water,” Taron said.
I scowled at Taron because I knew he’d do that. If he thought I was in danger, he’d carry me all the way to be beach and throw me in the water, so I didn’t have a single chance of running back in there and helping. It was in every instinct in my body not to leave someone behind to die. Apparently, these three sins couldn’t die, so no matter how much I wanted to be there when the druid king died, I also wasn’t stupid. I’d do exactly what they said and flee to the water with Taron.
The scene was already in place. While Adamo and Salem were teaching us how to cook, Tristan snuck off and slipped the potion in the wine while the king and his wife were pretending everything was okay.
That was part of why the plan was so beautiful. No one reallylikedthe druid king, but they thought he kept them safe. From what everyone said, the people loved Beck, Callum, and Forrest’s mother. However, they didn’t particularly care for his second wife. She was cruel to servants and never had a kind word for anyone.
The only people in the entire kingdom who knew she was sick were the royal family and physicians threatened with death if they told anyone. She never stayed away and rested like she probably should have. She was constantly in public, but it was getting harder to hide. No one would dare ask because apparently, she was wholly unpleasant, but people were starting to whisper about her health. They might not like her, but they could all agree the druid king doted on her way more than the mother of his children.
It wasn’t past my attention that I was sneaking through secret tunnels in the walls to murder two people I’d never met. I didn’t even know what they looked like. I didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about it. One of them was murdering people, and I’d heard enough about the wicked stepmother. They were a lot alike. He would have told her what he was doing to save her, and she clearly didn’t try to talk him out of it.
The tunnels didn’t smell as bad as the streets, but this smell kept tickling my nose. I knew what dust was because Forrest explained it to us when he told Beck he needed to clean the wardrobe some of our clothes were in. It was everywhere in these tunnels, and it kept invading my nose. It tickled and made me want to sneeze.
I was trying to hold it in because the Sins started to whisper we were close. We stood in the tunnel, but something was wrong. The druid king and his wife should have been passed out. It was forbidden long before I was born, but if a sea witch wanted to craft a potion to deal with incessant mermen who couldn’t take no for an answer, it was going to knock them out. Even if Salem was the one who made it, everyone in that room should have been asleep.
I could hear the muffled sounds of someone crying beyond the wall. Those were cries of pain, and it sounded like they were coming from something small. Most everyone in the ocean found it offensive to hurt the young, but some went after them because it was easy.
If Taron and I found out about it, we went hunting to deliver some payback, no matter how big they were. I knew I said I’d follow the Sins plan, but that was before I heard someone crying behind the wall. I wasn’t familiar with all the different species on land. Some of them could be dangerous to mermaids. But, I still didn’t think their young should be hurt.
Taron heard it too and stepped towards the wall. We were both ready to charge in there. I trusted the Sins and was willing to follow their plan. I’d run if they needed me to. They’d better not send us to the ocean with a hatchling in trouble. Salem, Tristan, and Adamo stepped in front of us. Taron growled, and I bared my teeth at them.
“Stop. Do you trust us?”
“Yes, but the next words out of your mouth better be about saving that hatchling. Why didn’t you rescue it when you were putting the potion in the wine?”
“That’s a wolf pup. Listen to the whine in the cry. There wasn’t anyone in the room before. He’s changed tactics since the mermaids crashed his ship. Druids do a lot of magic with the moon cycles. Wolves have a deep tie to the moon. Their entire magic that gives them the ability to shift was gifted from the moon. Back when ritual sacrifice was still an active thing, some of the eviler druids were trying to figure out a way to steal magic from other species gifted with moon magic.
“It’s not possible. Countless species have tried to figure out how to steal magic to get stronger. Vampires used to think it could be done with blood. The wolves thought it could be done with the moon. He’s done terrible things that have long been proven not to work. This is just the next phase of it,” Salem said.
I put my hands on my hips and glared at Salem. Taron and I both appreciated him taking the time to explain so much to us, but those cries were piercing right into my soul.
