How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(16)

The tight feeling in my chest loosened a bit and I let out a breath.

“So you aren’t angry?”

“No.”

“And Neptune’s not angry?”

The corners of her lips quirked up. “He’s...curious. Grumpy. But that’s how he always is, you know that.”

That muscle in my chest got a little looser still. “I won’t get fired?”

She chuckled and shut her laptop. “Of course not. Everyone wants to meet the mermaid who can swim like, well, a mermaid.” She tapped the lid of the computer. “I’ve been answering emails from three local newspapers, some blogs, and more. You’re famous, Tara.”

I crossed my arms in a self-conscious gesture, not wanting to be famous for being a freak. “I didn’t know I could swim like that,” I said. Ain’t that the truth.

“Well, that was certainly a surprise. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” She frowned. “You seemed upset earlier.”

“I was,” I admitted, though I didn’t want to expand upon that. “Where are Jordyn and Alaina?”

“They went back to the hotel.” Christine yawned. “We’re all a bit tired. Especially since we were so worried about you last night.” I cast my eyes down, feeling guilty. “Good thing we only have tomorrow’s performance, and then we fly to Portland.” She smiled warmly up at me, trying to cheer me up.

I inwardly recoiled in horror. I’d entirely forgotten about that. The idea of it seemed so final.

“Oh,” was all I could say. “That came up quick,” I added lamely, realizing that the silence had stretched longer than I’d thought.

Christine scrutinized my expression, looking at me as if she could read my face like the gossip magazines. “Look, I know you’re young, but this thing you have…”

“What?”

“The boy you spent the night with last night.” She looked regretful, like she was sorry for what she was about to say. “Surely you knew that it wouldn’t work...”

“No,” I said. “It’s not that. There’s....”

She took my tongue-tiedness as admission of my hot night and stood up, taking her laptop with her. She had immediately clammed up at my lack of a reaction. “I know, I shouldn’t prod.” She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. “I’m going to let Neptune know that you’re okay. Come find me if you need me.”

She left me alone, and I really didn’t want to be alone. I wanted someone I could talk to, someone I could ask what was happening, and most of all why it was happening to me. My hand timidly moved to the space under my jaw. Sure enough, the slits were still there, painful reminders that something was indeed very wrong.

I only had one more night to figure out what the hell was going on from Nereia and Finn before I flew across the country. Then, I’d have no way of getting back into contact with them. I’d be lost forever, with a set of gills. Or maybe even worse.

“Oh, Christine isn’t going to like this,” I muttered aloud to myself, realizing what I was going to have to do. What choice did I have though?

I let out a steadying breath. I was going to have to find Finn or Nereia and have them reverse whatever was happening to me.

Then again, the ocean was immense, and I had no idea where they’d be. They must be close by if everything happened last night, however I had no idea which direction to go. I could literally spend hundreds of years exploring the sea and never find them, and I only had tonight to do it.

Unless... I clenched my fists at the thought.

Finn knew Kai and had been trying to rescue him last night, right? Maybe the merman would try again tonight.

Yet I could also ask Kai where they’d be and see if I could help the poor dolphin out in the process. It was worth a shot.

Mind made up, I grabbed my mermaid tail out of its garment bag. If I was going to have to dive in the water again, I wanted everything I had that could help me.

I rushed out of the room, heading down the now-familiar hallway to the dolphin tank. After last night, I was mindful about the security cameras that were recording my every move. Just act casual, I thought to myself, although I had no idea how casual aquarium volunteers acted, especially carrying a mermaid tail that was as big as they were.

Thankfully, the few people I passed didn’t take any interest in me. Tim, the aquarist, had kept his word. I felt bad that I was going to have to betray that trust by doing the exact same thing again. Hopefully I’d be back before anything happened tomorrow.

For now, I needed to have a chat with Kai.

I stepped out to the dolphin pools. The other dolphins were clicking, busily talking to each other and calling out to Kai, who still looked depressed in his isolation tank. It struck me that I understood all of them, not just Kai this time. While I couldn’t recognize which dolphin the voices came from because they all talked in quick succession, they all had their distinct personalities.

“Hey, Prince, you need to eat somethin’!”

“You need to keep your strength up.”

“The trainers feed you fish. Fish.”

“It’s not working.”

“Well, of course he’s depressed.”

“I miss my mama.”

That last one had been Kai, sounding like he was pleading for the other dolphins’ help. My heart broke for the little guy.