How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(28)

I crossed my arms and let out a breath, trying to ignore the fact that my gills flared instead of the air passing through my mouth. Maybe I was getting used to this.

“I’m honestly more concerned about an impending war against humans. Is that really what Kai’s parents are going to do if he’s not returned tomorrow?”

He hesitated before he nodded. “Levi doesn’t make idle threats.”

“What could Levi and Nadia do?” I asked, not meaning to belittle their positions or authority. They were dolphins, even if Levi was the biggest one I’d ever seen, while humans had weapons and armies—enough to obliterate the planet if we wanted. I had trouble picturing what the king and queen could do against an army like that.

“Everything,” Finn said under his breath. “They would do anything and everything to get Kai back.”

“How?”

“Do you know Levi’s full name means?” he asked quietly.

“No?”

“’Levi’ is short for ‘Leviathan’. As in, he’s the sea monster of myth. Neptune may control the conventional sea creatures, but King Leviathan has control over the more...primal elements of the sea. He could create an earthquake that would break off Kai’s prison and send it into the ocean. He could create hurricanes that would pummel the coasts of every shoreline on Earth. He could call up the deep, dark creatures that you never want to face.”

A shiver went down my spine. I hadn’t known that creatures like Finn existed until now. I certainly never imagined the deep, dark ones that he had mentioned. Visions of the kraken waging war against submarines danced through my head. We had to rescue Kai. The sooner, the better.

I wrapped my arms around my chest, feeling hopeless.

“We’re going to save Kai before that happens,” Finn assured me. It was as if he could read my thoughts. Was that because of the potion or because we were becoming more of a team?

“Why do we only have until tomorrow?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Because he’s been gone for two weeks already.” His eyes flicked to the doorway that Levi and Nadia left through. “They’re worried for their child.”

“Is there any way to convince them to hold off? There are so many things I could do...”

“No.” He shook his head. “First of all, Levi doesn’t go back on his word. He considers it a sign of weakness. Second, you have nothing to do with it. It’s my job to get him back, and I’ll get him back.”

If I hadn’t been there to distract Finn, if I hadn’t fallen over the side, if I hadn’t needed to be rescued, Kai would be safely home now. Angry tears wanted to fall, but I held them back. If Kai was staying strong, so could I.

“I want to help,” I said.

Finn grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I know. Don’t worry, Nereia will come through and we’ll save Kai by tomorrow night.”

“Like she came through for me?” The sarcastic response popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Finn smirked. “You’re allowed to feel that way. I don’t blame you. She did do something drastic to you. But while my aunt may do a lot of weird things, she always knows what’s important. Saving Kai is the most important thing right now. And...” He faltered, casting his eyes away from me, “…and changing you back is a priority as well.”

“I promised Kai I would help him,” I said. “I’ll do anything I can.”

He looked back at me with those sea green eyes, and our gazes locked. Despite the fact that I now breathed through gills, I still held my breath, waiting for his response. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, he nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Tara.”

“Finn.” We both turned at Oceanus’s voice. The king was an imposing figure, using his size and his presence to intimidate us. It was working on me. “You can see what your failure has caused, Son.”

Finn nodded slowly. “I know.”

No, it’s not your fault, Finn!

“We’ll have to scramble tomorrow in order to avoid war,” Oceanus said.

“I know.” Finn stood stoically in front of his father. “I’ll do everything I can to succeed.”

The king grinned, satisfied. “Good.” He turned his gaze on me. “And you, merwalker,” he added, indicating me. My knees would have been knocking together if they weren’t inside my mermaid tail. “You stay here,” he commanded.

“What, as in the palace?” Finn cut in, alarmed. “I was going to take her to Nereia’s place to wait for her, or she can go back to the surface. There’s no reason for her to stay.”

“There’s every reason for her to stay,” Oceanus said, as if it was the only obvious solution. “We can’t have her going to the surface and blabbing about Thalassa and all of this.” He spread his arms wide. “Our very livelihood is at stake if she talks to the humans.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I blurted.

“That would make her a prisoner,” Finn objected. “When she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“She has,” Oceanus snarled, “by becoming a merwalker.”

As if I had any choice in that. Not that I really knew where I’d go if I didn’t stay at the palace. My thoughts went back to Christine and Neptune and the others who would be worried about me. Guilt twisted inside me. I had promised I wouldn’t take off without letting Christine know where I was.