Blueisland (Watermagic Series, #4) (18 page)

The freshmen triplets laughed.
They were off to the side, picking branches off one of the limbs we carried over.

I sighed without saying anything and looked past the bonfire at the ocean. I was getting way overheated. That was probably why I spaced out. I steadied myself against Savannah’s shoulder.

“Damn,” she said. “We have to cool you off. “I told you to wear wet clothes, but you didn’t listen.”

I nodded unsteadily not acknowledging the girls. At that point, I didn’t care if they saw me in the water. I didn’t have a choice. I had to regulate.

***

Once we cooled off in the ocean, Savannah and I headed into the jungle. I could never get used to how thick and dense the greenery was there. So many plants. I marveled at the beautiful orchids and the thick, woody vines of varying lengths and shapes. We stopped at some pink, yellow, and green
leafy looking flowers and drank from the rainwater that had collected in the bowl shaped centers of their waxy leaves. “Damn, these things hold a lot of liquid,” Savannah said as she lapped up the contents.

“Be careful not to eat those tadpoles swimming around in that one.” I pointed to a big leafy bowl holding probably four gallons of water in it.

She laughed, her eyes widening. “I want those tadpoles,” she said, rushing over. Without hesitation she sucked the dark creatures into her mouth along with the water.

Now I was laughing hard. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but when I first turned, I went into the forest, buried my body in mud so only my head was sticking out, and ate all the insects buzzing at my face.”

She looked up at me, her eyes even wider as she wiped her pretty lips with the back of her hand and we fell into hysterical fits of laughter. It was great, like old times before my mother’s boyfriend came into the picture and before Jake Stevenson raped me.

“Come on,” she said, our laughter waning even though we still had big smiles on our faces. “Y
ou need to dress up for the get-together.”

I scoffed, still chuckling a little. “How am I supposed to do that?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

“We’re going to the French mers’ tree house. Sabine, Marine, and Brigitte have loads of clothes. All sorts of designer shit. They are expecting us.”

My stomach clenched as I thought about seeing Marcel there. “Why can’t I just wear this bathing suit?” I looked down at the strappy teal colored one piece Marcel had given me. I had a strip of cloth tied over my hips that covered my upper legs.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s like wearing shorts and a tank top to meet the president of the United States at the White House.” Her lyrical voice was sarcastic. “Please.”

“Okay,” I responded shaking my head and chuckling under my breath.

Chapter Eleven

When we got to the tree house we joined the French mers
and our new school: Logan, Andrew, Steve and Jane in the beautiful shell pool. Back at the beach, Savannah had introduced me to Steve and Jane. They were pretty nice. I got the feeling they were interested in each other. Jane’s face flushed whenever she looked at Steve and Steve kept putting his hand on her shoulder.

Steve
was handsome and had long strawberry blond hair with a strong face. I think he was a new history teacher at Sunshine High. I wasn’t so good at guessing ages of older people, but if I had to, I would say he was in his thirties. And Jane was probably around the same age. I heard she was a sewing teacher at our high school. She was beautiful with long chestnut hair and a vibrant glow to her tan face.

We all sat fairly close in the pool while
snacking on live sea snails that Laurent brought from the coves with lemon juice and rock salt to add extra zest. Their slippery bodies were surprisingly delicious. At the edge of the pool while their feet dangled in the water, Sabine and Pascal played classical Greek instruments, a double flute and a lyre. The music was fun and rhythmic and when they sang along, it became enchanting, but I was surprised and admittedly disappointed that Marcel wasn’t there. It didn’t seem right for me to ask where he was, so I kept my mouth shut in that regard.

I followed Marine int
o a bamboo bedroom with another pool. This one was made of a gigantic clam shell. It was so impressive it looked like something out of a fairytale. Sophisticated evening dresses and stylish clothing, French in style, lined the bamboo walls. I felt like I was in a charming Parisian boutique. Candles hung from the ceilings in interwoven metal holders adding to the quaint ambiance.

Marine pulled the strings to her mauve colored bikini and dropped it to the floor beside me. My eyes narrowed as I looked away, embarrassed that she was naked beside me, but in no time she wrapped in a
silky pale pink mermaid robe that overlapped and crossed over in the front with a jeweled belt at her hips. It was stunning, especially the way it tied in sashes at her ankles hinting at a mermaid tail. The fabric was of some silky alluring texture I had never seen. My guess was that it was made for the ocean and would flow in a beautiful manner.

“I know just what I want to dress you in,” she sang, her voice liquid like water. “It goes remarkably with that stunning crystal necklace you are donning.”
Running her pretty hands over the row of dresses, Marine picked out an elegant fitted gown for me made out of royal blue stretch fabric with embroidered sharks, jelly fish, and whales on it of many colors. The material was so soft and luxurious and there was an impressive train in the back with layers reminding me of scales. I had never seen such fine stitching and fabric. The gown was breathtaking. I couldn’t believe I was going to wear such an attractive dress.

She held it up before me.
“Step in,” she said with a soft smile on her porcelain face.

“Do I have to take off my bathing suit?” I asked, feeling embarrassed.

She nodded with the hint of a grin, covering her eyes with her hand as she handed me the dress and said, “Underwater, you have that ancient mer look in this giving the illusion of a tail of the greats, but between you and me. I think our kind is more beautiful than the Ancients.” I don’t think she could help but talk like that.

“Oh,” was all I could think to say
, heat rising to my cheeks, as I stepped into the dress, grateful she wasn’t watching me in my birthday suit. The gown had a built in undergarment which was a relief. I didn’t want anyone seeing up my dress as I swam, but the way it fit so snuggly, I didn’t think I had to worry about that anyway. “You can open your eyes now,” I said awkwardly.

Her hand fell away from her blue eyes.
“You have to see this in the mirror,” Marine said tossing her long blonde locks.

My body tensed. This would be the first time I would see my appearance since I was converted into a mer.
I felt a trickle of perspiration on my forehead as she walked me over to the full length swivel mirror, while holding her hand over my eyes. My body was still stressed. “Ready?” she asked.

I nodded without saying anything. She took her hand away and I gazed into the mirror. “Holy moly!” I took in a sharp breath.

My face was so different. Wow. I looked so grown up with tan, smooth skin, a big contrast to the pale, blood drawn face I was used to seeing. My eyes were bluer and reminded me of the sky on a cold, bright day. They had certain sparkles that hinted at clouds and sunshine, but so blue all the same. Even though I had absolutely no makeup on, my eyes were naturally lined. My eyelashes were thicker and darker. My eyebrows were arched perfectly like a model’s in a magazine. My body was shapely and strong. The dress clung to all my curves incredibly and the sea embroidery was as lovely as an underwater landscape mural from Greek art.

I just couldn’t believe it.
Could this image in the mirror really be me? Without even trying, I had a sultry look that I didn’t think I could ever get used to. Maybe that was for luring men from their ships as depicted in ancient folklore. And my shaggy mess of brown hair was long, sleek and smooth like that of an exotic princess. Damn—this was too bizarre, especially for a tomboy named Raz.

“Okay,” I exhaled. “I’m ready to go.”

Marine giggled. “You look stunning. The Ancients will be pleased.
Diamond City here we come.”

Just the mention of the Ancients made me cringe
, but I was intrigued by the name of their city. I wondered what it looked like. And even if I didn’t want to meet the Ancients and learn of all their horrible laws, I did want to see Marcel there. Even though it shouldn’t have, it was bothering me that I couldn’t figure out where he was. I was also worried and confused about Donny; I wanted to get answers.

The music started. It was a splendorous song like an enchanting chorus that resonated deep within my body. I didn’t even have to ask what it was. I just knew. The Ancients were calling us now from the depths of the ocean. I understood the song was resonating on a frequency that only mers could hear.
It was music of overwhelming beauty.

After e
veryone finished dressing in their jaw dropping gowns and suits adorned in jewels and shells, we swam as a group to Diamond City. The gowns looked incredibly elegant in the water, dreamy and beautiful. And the mermen looked sexy, debonair, and powerful in their suits that fitted ever so right.

We entered through a rocky underwater tunnel that stretched onward for nearly a mile.
Sabine insisted that no mers use their hands to light up the ocean because she didn’t want to attract attention to sea predators along the way. It was so spooky swimming in complete darkness with nothing around us but solid rocks, but it felt so good to feel the cool water rush over my legs, the fabric of my gown tickling me at such speeds.

Laurent instructed me to use my sonar abilities in addition to my night vision. I so appreciated his advice, but I wasn’t very good with the sonar thing. After a few tries I learned to make sounds that would bounce off the walls allowing me to judge the distance to keep from bumping into the hard edges, but it was easier to watch the colorful dresses of the girls ahead of me and stay at their tails so to speak.

Finally, I saw light ahead at the end of the tunnel. And in no time we broke through the brightness to the other side. Holy moly!  We swam out onto a field of round, glowing, bulbous flowers—white and beautiful. In the distance and above some domed buildings dotting the mountains were millions of tiny diamonds like a brilliant sky filled with more stars than you could imagine. They twinkled and sparkled like nothing I had ever seen. Diamond City. Wow!

“Do you hear that?” Pascal asked us
as he brought us to a halt. It was a sort of pulsing sound that was coming from far in the distance.

“Yes, I hear it,” Savannah said, her eyes filled with panic. “What the hell is that?”

Brigitte and Marine laughed, their hair billowing around them.

“It’s the call of a blue whale,” Brigitte said softly.

“It’s calling its mate,” Laurent added. “Rhythmic and throbbing.”

“It sounds almost like a drumbeat,” I whispered.

Pascal waved us onward and we swam across the glowing field and over the tops of the buildings that dotted the mountains. I looked up and marveled at the magnificent array of sparkling diamonds overhead. Through the sparkling jewels, I saw a big white light source. Amazing! It looked like an underwater full moon! Once we were in the valley, I was stunned. It was a city bathed in shadows and misty light. It twinkled from the moonlight casting through the diamond prisms.

Because it was night, there was a spooky darkness all around. It looked like most of the domed buildings were white or cream color reminding me of Middle Eastern mosques and temples I had seen in movies. The city smelled of lavender and flowers. But then, I heard laughter and saw two tiny mermaids sliding from a long twisting slide out of the window of one of the domed structures. They were so adorable with their tiny mer tails and pigtailed hair
, having so much fun in the night.

“Get back inside right now!” I heard a feminine, musical voice call out, presumably their mother’s. A tall stone clock in the center of town struck nine times. It must be nine at night. Bedtime for the cuties.

A school of bright tropical fish swam through the valley below us and over the heads of Ancient mers with their beautiful tails of varying colors lounging across gold antique chaise lounges chatting and snacking on delicacies of colorful sea salads, lobsters, crab cakes, and bottles filled with liquid and roses that they drank from with straws. Romantic piano music sounded ever so faintly almost like a dream.

We swam onward over fields of ocean flowers and sea lavender. Now I knew why the city was scented with such a lovely aroma. It was picture perfect. I wanted to get lost in those misty fields at night and bask in the perfumes and beauty.
But, even seeing all that, I was nervous to meet the Trident Court.

“We are almost at the Trident House,”
Sabine, Brigitte, Marine, Pascal, and Laurent called out in unison, almost like they were of one mind. It must be that telepathic thing. Savannah in her elegant green gown with embroidered starfish on the fine fabric winked and smiled at me. I guess she was reading my mind and letting me know I was correct about the French mers. I wondered what it would be like once my mind reading abilities kicked in. Would Savannah, Logan, Steve, Andrew, Jane, and I all be so interconnected like the French mers were?