Everblue (31 page)

Authors: Brenda Pandos

BOOK: Everblue

11.05Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

FIN

“What does Badge mean ‘they’re coming’?” I yelled in the basement.

“Badger called from Scotland and apparently Alaster helped Azor and his buddy’s get vehicles in Sacramento. They’re hiding in the river tonight and going to drive here at dawn. We’ve only got about two hours to get away from the lake before they arrive.”

“No,” I roared. “I’m not leaving without Ash. It’s not fair to her or me. I’ll hide and stay in Fallen Leaf Lake instead. Leave the Jeep and I’ll catch up with you in Florida in a few months.”

“Impossible, Fin,” Dad countered. “I know how much you love Ash, but they aren’t leaving Tahoe once they get here. They’re going to try to reopen the gate.”

“What?” I plunged myself backwards into the water and let the air escape from my lips as I sunk to the bottom. Then I yelled and pounded my fists on the pool bottom, wishing it was Azor’s face.

“Fin,” Dad said underwater. “It’s only for a few months. Maybe Ash can come to Florida early for the summer. For a trip?”

“But how are we going to travel across the country? We’re fish.”

“I got an RV today. We’ll use the GPS and find rivers and lakes along the way. We’ll make due until we reach Florida.”

I closed my eyes and didn’t move off the pool floor. “I can’t, Dad. I can’t leave her.”

“This time we don’t have a choice. There’s too much of a risk of them spotting you if you stuck around.”

My heart felt like it was going through a meat grinder. Ash would never understand. This was going to break her. “Then make me human. Anything to stay.”

“Fin,” Mom said, sitting on the pool floor next to me. She took my hand. “Have you considered where you’ll live? Once you become human, you’ll be subjected to the elements, to the cold. You need to stay a mer, at least for now—Tatiana still needs your help to free her. And the promise will be broken. Ash’s feelings could change.”

I rolled over and hid my face. As selfish as it was, I didn’t want my promising feelings for Ash to go away, for either of us.

“You have to be strong, for her,” Mom said.

I didn’t want to be strong. I wanted to break things. “I have to tell her good-bye in the morning?”

“We’ll be leaving as soon as we can.” Mom’s shoulders slunk down. “I’m so sorry.”

I darted over to a corner in the pool and sulked the rest of the night. I wanted to call Ash and listen to her sweet voice. If only Ash could tell me this was a joke, but I wouldn’t be able to withhold my disappointment. This was something I had to tell her in person.

I tried to visualize a ray of sunlight so I’d phase into legs. I’d do anything to have one last night together, to curl up in each other’s arms and hope the morning never came. How could we survive this? Being apart for a few hours was hard enough, but months?

I groaned and put my face in my hands, the impending doom rocketing through my body. The night ticked by slowly but eventually the sun rose and rays peeked through the basement windows.

Without a word, I left the pool and ran to my girl.

ASH

“What are you doing out here?”

My eyes opened to the morning sunlight dancing around Fin’s silhouette.

“Waiting for you?” I choked out, my throat sore from the chilly evening.

“What am I going to do with you? You can’t be doing insane things like this. You’re going to drive me mad.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat upright, anger suddenly burning in my veins. “Drive you mad? If my being outside, hoping you’d come here last night to calm my frazzled mind is going to drive you mad, then maybe you shouldn’t leave me hanging like you did.”

Fin exhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. “Please, promise me you won’t do anything like this again.”

My tense shoulders dropped as I curled my lips down into a frown. “Promise me you won’t let urgent calls interrupt us and then hang up abruptly. You have to be honest with me. That’s what relationships are all about.”

He squatted down, piercing his baby blues into my balloon of frustration, deflating it instantly. “I’m sorry. We got some bad news.”

“I figured.” He opened his arms and I collapsed into his chest. “What happened?”

He waited forever, rocking me gently, sniffing my hair and kissing the top of my head. I hummed and relaxed, but didn’t like the way he ignored my question. Fear prickled down my spine.

“We—we aren’t safe any longer,” he barely said, almost as if our reality would break if he talked louder.

“Who isn’t safe?”

I felt him tremor as his eyes grew glassy, grief swirling within the dark pools of blue. Why did I ask the question when I knew the answer? The mermen from his world were coming for them, pure and simple. The denial this day wouldn’t happen blew up in our faces. But why now? Why so soon? His dad was so confident everything would be fine. I willed him to tell me something else. Anything else.

“My family isn’t safe. Mermen from Natatoria are coming today to reclaim the house and reopen the gate. We have to leave.”

The air whooshed from my mouth and I grabbed his arm. “NO!”

He pulled me into a tight embrace and hugged me hard, like I was going to vanish before his eyes. I felt him convulse—just once—as my own tears fell down my cheeks. I couldn’t handle this. I had to go with him.

He took my hands into his and pulled me to my feet, taking one moment to wipe his cheek with the back of his hand. “Listen to me. We’re going to Florida and I’m going to contact you every day. I’m not going to let distance drive us crazy. We’ll be together, just get to Florida as soon as you possibly can.”

I started breathing faster and faster, my head dizzy, my body shaking. My voice pitched, hoping he’d listen to reason. “But I don’t want to be alone. I can’t be alone. I—I’ll never survive. I’ll go mad without you. Please… can’t you stay?”

He paused with a pained expression. Then he shook his head. “We have to survive. We can do it. It’s only for a few short months,” he said somberly.

I pressed my eyes closed and felt myself sinking down. He had no idea the pain I felt without him, the torture. I practically went mad.

He took my shoulders, stopping my descent. “Ash, open your eyes.”

I sucked in a quick gust and felt myself unravel inside. “No. If I do, you’ll leave.”

“Ash, open your eyes. Please.”

His voice stirred something deep within my soul. Desperation? Hope? I couldn’t be sure. Unable to fight him, I opened them slowly.

He removed something small from his pocket. At first I couldn’t tell what it was until the stone reflected shards of crimson light as he held a ring towards me.

I stared at the ring, then into his inquiring eyes. My pulse hammered as he lowered himself to one knee.

“Ashlyn, will you marry me?” Excitement and fear danced across his glorious face.

My mouth went dry. Was this really happening? The worst and best moment of my life?

I peered down at him, then at the ring again. Married? Goosebumps covered my skin. I’d be Mrs. Helton. Visions of a minister asking us to repeat vows and our family and friends in the audience filtered in my mind. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else—ever.

“Yes,” I choked out. “Of course. Yes!”

He slid the ring onto my finger and it fit perfectly. I studied my shaking hand through blurred vision.

“A red stone for my ginger girl.”

I glanced back up. Tears trailed down his cheek. He scooped me into another tight embrace and I squeezed back with all my might. If I held on, he couldn’t leave, he wouldn’t go.

“We’ll be together soon,” he whispered in my ear. “Please be strong for me.”

I fought back the sob stuck in my throat. “It’s going to kill me.”

He took my cheeks within his hands. “Me, too, but it’ll be worth it. I promise. I’ll call you every day.”

“You’d better,” I said and his lips came crashing into mine.

We devoured each other, our gasps for air few and far between. Our hands hungrily explored each other, tugging and pulling to fill the ache of the inevitable. If we stopped, then our bliss would be over and the longest wait of our lives would start. His hands grasped at my cheeks, at my neck, sliding across the tears staining my skin. Though I didn’t want to stop, our kiss wasn’t going to prevent the mermen from coming. I had to make a decision. Either I’d let this consume me and cause madness, or I’d decide to endure. I already knew what the madness felt like. This time, I needed to be stronger. And he was worth every second I had to wait.

We pulled back, both of us holding each other’s cheeks. We studied each other’s eyes, both red, swirling with anxiety.

“I love you,” he said again.

“I love you, too,” I said.

And inside, I let go.

Acknowledgements

I thank God for turning around a dark time in my life to show me a new passion and for his mighty blessings in healing my son. Second, I thank my ever-patient husband, Mike. If it weren’t for his care of our home while I entertained my imaginary friends, we all would have starved, been buried in dust bunnies, and worn smelly clothes. Your encouragement helps me continue to see the big picture when I want to fall apart over the small stuff. To Savannah, my über babysitter, for your help day after day. I’m so glad my kids love you as much as I do. To the fab duo of Lisa Langdale and author Lisa Sanchez, for being the best bomb beta’s ever and encouraging me to continue on when I felt like quitting. To author Kristie Cook, I give you a million bazillion hugs for being honest and patiently helping me make my manuscript something others will love too and for being a sounding board in this crazy experiment—may the KM dream press on. To my mom and dad for loving me and cheering me onward towards my dreams. For my siblings, for enduring yet another book. For my friends and girls in MOPS, for your support and friendship while I balance life, motherhood, and writing. To Donna Wright, for finding
most
(smile) of my mistakes. To Rhonda Helton (my #1 fan) and Tracy Lanski, letting me use your last names.

To Eleni from LaFemmeReaders, for hosting my book tour and being such an encouragement. To Yara from Once Upon a Twilight, Jen from Extreme Readers, Jessica from Bookaholics, Jaime from Two Chicks, and all the other book bloggers: my work wouldn’t see the light of day without your endless enthusiasm and promotion as fabulous wordsmithers, booklovers and networkers.

And to you, my dear readers, for your emails and letters of praise that always seem to come at the right time. Really, I write for you! I hope you enjoy Everblue as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

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http://brendapandos.blogspot.com

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