Deep Blue (The Mermaid Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

             
Finn's eyes narrowed further than Adam had ever seen before. "Leave now, Mr. Carson." It was an order impossible to refuse and Adam left stymied.

             
Finn crawled back into bed, but he couldn't sleep. He kept seeing the demons that haunted him. Finn had been in charge once. He had done the worst he could have. He couldn't be responsible. He couldn't handle it. He didn't want any more blood on his hands.

             
It was 4:45. Alice was already up.

             
"Alice, don't," David said from his doorway. He couldn't do anything about it. She looked at him.

             
"Don't worry, Dave." She took his hand and squeezed it. "I won't." Her eyes were filled with sadness, the weight of her decision on her shoulders. She walked into the lightening world outside, knife clutched close to her chest. She didn't even bother to stop him when she knew David was following. He kept his distance. He knew she had to face this alone. Alice wanted to cry but she wouldn't. She could smell the ocean, then let it surrounded her.

             
Ashley was waiting for her on the cold sands of the private beach, smiling. Alice walked straight up to her and dropped the knife on the sand at her feet. "You win, witch," she said. She turned to walk away when she heard Ashley's maniacal laugh from behind her.

             
"You think that's enough? You think I'll just let you go?"

             
"I submitted to you! You won! What else do you want?"

             
"You challenged me." Ashley said simply. "You challenged me in every sense of the word. You don't get to just walk away." Alice stared, horrified, as Ashley picked up the other knife. Now she was armed with both of them. "You've been a thorn in my side since you came to town. You aren't walking away from this."

Ashley lunged. A bright red stripe appeared across Alice's arm before she could dodge. She was on the ground, scrambling to her feet to avoid the crazed maid.

             
This was insane! Alice dodged blow after blow, but she knew she couldn't keep it up forever. She knew the laws now. One of the folk had filled her in on what she needed to know. The challenge had been made and, by some weird logic, Alice couldn't get away from it. The only person who could truly interfere would be the clan leader, Finn. Finn, king of dispassion
and apathy. She looked up at David. He was far away. He looked like he was going to run and interfere, but Zita came
out of nowhere and held him with her strong arms.

             
He struggled but he couldn't get away. No, this was Alice's fight. It wasn't much of a fight. Ashley was armed with both weapons and all Alice could do was dodge blow after blow. She was doing remarkably well so far, but she knew she couldn't keep it up forever. Ashley was already pushing her toward the ocean. They both knew that Ashley had the upper hand there. The only thing Alice had going for her was those long-ago self-defense lessons. Dodge, block, dodge, block, another red stripe and a cry of pain. This couldn’t go on forever.

             
"Why don't we open up that scar again? See if we can't get it just a little deeper," Ashley smiled, staring at the scar on Alice’s side. It was hopeless. She wished Adam was there, but at the same time she didn't want him there, didn't want to him to see her fall.

             
Finn was watching with disinterest as Alice avoided the crazy girl.

             
"You could stop this." Tommy said, coming downstairs.

             
"There's no way to stop a maid like that. She will continue till her challenger is dead." Finn responded. “That maid is insane.”

             
They were in the surf now, almost waist deep, Ashley gradually moving Alice toward the open sea.

             
"I can see a way."

             
"Is it a chess game to you?" Finn said.

             
Tommy looked up at his brother. "It's always a chess game with women. Ashley's not just challenging Alice; she's challenging your authority. She knows you won't stop it. She wouldn't listen if you tried. She's a beautiful woman."

             
"Ashley?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

             
"Alice."

Finn looked back at his brother, and Tommy stared right back at him with that smirk of his. Tommy knew. Tommy had engineered the entire thing, and that wasn't what Finn was thinking about. Finn remembered the current that ran through him when Brassila had been holding both his hand and Alice’s. The way Brassila smiled at him. That knowing smile, with just a hint of sarcasm; the same sarcasm that ran in Tommy’s blood in excess. In the next moment, in his mind’s eye, he was holding Alice in his arms, his knife pressed to her throat and his eyes widened.

             
"Your past makes you blind, Finn."

             
Finn looked back at the fight. Ashley had her. If Alice fell, she would turn. If Alice fell, Ashley would kill her. There was only one way he could stop it; he saw it just as Tommy already had. Ashley's back was to him, but he knew the kill lust in her eyes. He did not want to get between a crazed maid and her target. “You knew all along,”

“Saw it from the very start.” Tommy smiled at the fight.

Finn looked at Tommy. "I hate you, Tom."

             
"Back at you, Finn."

             
Finn burst from the door. He was a shot across the beach, stripping off his shirt as he ran. No time for the pants; he would just have to let them rip when his tail appeared.

             
Impact! Finn hit Alice full force. He felt a stripe of pain open across his back as Ashley's blow hit him instead of her intended target. His arms were around Alice, his lips pressed against hers as they fell into the deep.

             
Alice was awash with a sensation she had never felt before. It wasn't something she could describe. It was electricity, it was chemical. But she knew and he knew and it just didn't make sense. Her tail was around him before she could even process what was happening; her cuts burned in the saltwater but she didn't feel them. She just felt him; felt the warmth from his kiss. Like nothing on earth.

             
Then, so many images flashed through her brain at lightning speed that she could hardly separate one from the other. She knew him; she knew everything about him; she knew his soul because it was the other half of hers. She saw things she couldn't understand and things she could: they were his memories, his experiences. 

             
Finn disentangled himself from Alice. He didn’t need to continue the kiss. He knew so much about her already, and had for a while. He just hadn’t wanted to see it, didn’t want to be a part of it. He knew exactly what Tommy had already seen.

             
Ashley looked down at the water. She couldn't contain her anger. The water was too disturbed: she couldn't see anything. She wouldn't go down, not with Finn down there. Finn was born a folk; he knew the arts even better than she. She knew, like all the true folk knew, that Finn's knife had been stained with blood before.

             
Finn had a blade, though not the short-sword left on his island. He pushed Alice away and down. He was shooting at top speed towards the surface, toward the blurry figure above the water. He was out and Ashley knew the look in his eyes.

             
"No," she breathed. Finn’s knife made one slice and the slash appeared across her neck, blood poured into the water. Ashley reached up, sputtering, as Finn came down, as Ashley fell. He was already dragging Alice out of the water as Ashley faded into the surf. Alice was watching in horror from Finn's lap, his strong arms wrapped around her. It was so warm, yet she didn't dare look at him. Her tail flopped in the surf.

             
"Alice!" David was running toward his sister. In her horror,
Zita had released him. Zita was
now running toward the water and disappearing into it. Alice was just so confused; her head was swimming with all she had seen, with all she knew.

             
Finn lifted Alice up to her brother, who dragged her further up the beach. Tommy was calmly walking toward Finn, helping him out of the water as well. "Good job, Finn," Tommy said, as if what had just happened were nothing.

             
"I hate you," Finn spat.

             
"It's only because I was right."

             
Finn looked down at Alice. Alice was not looking at him, but David was. He looked terrified, and Finn didn't blame him. David had seen the way Finn dispatched Ashley; it was a heck of a way to meet Finn, from David’s point of view. Finn had never even bothered to introduce himself to the new transform.

             
David didn't know what had just happened. Suddenly Finn knew his sister better than he did; just as Alice knew Finn better than anyone on the planet. Alice had seen that moment, as if it was her own memory, when Finn had first spilled blood. She knew how much it had destroyed him.

             
He couldn't have been more than eleven when his mother died, but it wasn't a boating accident.  One of the doctors who knew the secret had gone rogue. Most would sell an arm or leg to study the folk: this man had sold his soul. He had drugged Finn's mother, followed her out to sea, and then tried to capture her, alive. His mother had known and she struggled for all she was worth. The doctor ended up accidentally stabbing her with her own blade. She had died. There had been so much water in the boat that she had dissolved right there. She had melted in the horrible man's arms, and he had flicked the remains away like they were something disgusting.

             
Finn had seen the entire thing. He knew the doctor wouldn't stop, and the man knew the woman had family. Tommy had been only three at the time. He would have been easy prey, along with Finn's father, who had gone completely insane when his mate had died. So Finn did what he had to do, but he did more than that. Finn had butchered the man, tortured him. The man had to pay for destroying his mother, for destroying his family.

             
She heard the man's laugh in her head, just as Finn had heard it then. She knew, just as Finn had realized at the time, that he had become the monster he hated. Finn never would let himself be in charge of anything after that. Tommy knew what had happened, but he didn't know what Finn had done, beyond eliminating the threat. Finn didn't hate the world; he hated that he saw that evil in himself.

             
She wouldn't, couldn't look at him. Not then. She needed air.

             
"Come on, Finn, let's get you to the good doctor. That cut looks bad," Tommy said as Finn's tail disappeared. Tommy handed his brother a pair of drawstring shorts, and Finn winced as he slipped them on. Finn didn't stop looking at Alice as Tommy led him away. Alice avoided his eyes the entire time.

             
"Alice, are you okay?" David asked.

             
Alice looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but they weren't hers. They were tears for Finn. "Please," she said, "Don't ask. Just let me go."

             
David released her and she clambered toward the ocean; the ocean, the only thing that made any sense right now. She disappeared beneath the waves and let herself go. David stepped forward.

             
“I wouldn’t,” Tommy said gently. Finn leaned heavily on his shoulder, paying attention only to the disappearing tail.

             
David turned to Tommy, watched the blood from Finn’s back gradually crawl down to fall in the sand. Tommy seemed the only person aware of what was going on.

             
“She needs me.”

             
“I’m pretty sure she needs quiet. She seems the type. However, I could use your help with this dead weight.” Tommy motioned toward his brother. It was all Finn could do to remain on his unsteady legs.

             
David turned back toward the ocean. She could be anywhere by now, somehow, though, he knew he could find her.

             
“If you’re good I might even explain some of what happened,” Tommy smiled.

             
David sighed and turned his back on the water. He moved underneath Finn’s other shoulder. Finn stared at David, as if just realizing the two of them existed. With David’s help they were going to make much better time. Perhaps they might even make it to Adam’s before anyone noticed the party.

             
“You told me,” David grunted.

             
“Your sister and my brother are one and the same now.” Tommy smiled at David smugly. The expression made David want to punch him in the face; with Finn’s eyes fluttering it was impossible to do so. David knew by the expression and the smile that lit Tommy’s eyes: all of this had been his plan from the beginning. Maybe they were destined for each other it—wasn’t  something David could begin to understand—but the fight and the dramatic rescue by Finn was all engineered and executed all by Finn’s younger brother.

             
“You planned this,” David said, gritting his teeth instead of punching him.

             
“Of course.”