How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(29)

That felt like a lifetime ago.

“So you’re going to keep her here?” Finn demanded.

“She has proof that we exist,” Oceanus groused. “You know what happens when humans suspect us to be real.”

Oceanus gestured to Finn, and at first, I didn’t know what he was referring to. Then I realized that he was talking about the scars. What had happened there? I felt sick thinking about it.

The muscles in Finn’s jaw worked as he addressed his father. “That wasn’t her fault.”

“It was her species’ fault,” Oceanus rumbled, “and it’s her species’ fault that we have to work so hard to keep our way of life. She is a merwalker—proof that creatures like us exist. If we let her go, we’d be at her mercy. A war with Levi would be the least of our worries.”

I tried thinking about it from Oceanus’s point. If I could show researchers and fishermen my gills and my swimming prowess, there was a possibility that they’d invaded Thalassa to learn more. Mermaids snatched from the depths, ready to be experiments on land. I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t be the reason for it.

“Your Highness,” I said, my voice coming out like a squeak. “I would never betray your world to the surface. Besides, if Nereia changes me back to a human, no one would ever believe me.”

At my words, Oceanus regarded me with suspicion. “True. I know that you humans have trouble believing in anything that you can’t see.” He stroked his beard. “I’ll consider it. Until then, you are banished to the lower dungeons.”

Lower dungeons sounded terrifying, yet I didn’t have a choice. It was better than being thrown into a prison for the rest of my life, right? I still held onto the hope that he would let me go once Nereia turned me back.

I’m sorry Christine. I’m sorry that I disappeared again tonight. I thought briefly about asking if there was any way I could tell them that I was okay. I thought about escaping and heading back to land and leaving it all behind me. I’d stay a merwalker, sure, but at least I would be out of prison.

Then what? I’d be stuck somewhere between both worlds. I’d never be able to set foot in the ocean again, because I’m sure King Oceanus would do everything to bring me back to prison. The very idea of it was terrifying.

No, I had to stay to sort this out. I had made a promise to Kai that I would help him, and the best way to do that was here. With tomorrow’s deadline, I didn’t have time to go back as a human and find a way to release him.

“Okay,” I said. “Show me where I’ll stay.”





CHAPTER 8


“You’re not the one who’s a prisoner,” I told Ponce as I swam into the small, windowless room. It definitely felt like a prison. “You don’t have to stay.”

“What else am I going to do?” Ponce said, exploring the room himself by going in long, wide swirls.

I laughed. “I’d still be searching the ocean if it wasn’t for you,” I told him truthfully.

Actually, I’d been shocked when Ponce offered to keep me company in my cell. After everything, I would have thought he would have split at the earliest possible moment.

“Thank you for staying,” I told him.

“Don’t mention it.”

Curiosity got the better of me. “You said you were here before? Why?”

The fish gave his best shrug, which consisted of his fins gesturing up and down. “Finn saved me from a human’s fishing net once,” he said. “I came here to formally thank him and his father. Oceanus is...uh, Oceanus.” Yes, I could take the hidden meaning in that statement. “ Finn is great though.”

“Yeah. Yeah he is.” I rubbed a hand against the hard coral walls. “You were caught in a net? I’m... I’m sorry.” I know I wasn’t the one behind the net, yet I still felt responsible.

Ponce considered this for a moment before speaking. “Both of our species have bad examples. There are good ones too. I don’t hold it against you.”

“Thank you.”

I swear, the fish blushed at my gratitude. I smiled at him, glad that I had found a friend like him in the wide ocean. He was great company and helpful when I needed him the most.

As if my quietness was an off-switch, Ponce started swimming in wide loops, back to his usual self. Now was the time to get settled in here for the night. I hoped Nereia would come back soon.

I truly was a prisoner. The space was only about 12 by 12 feet with low ceilings and rough, sandy walls. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t have been a problem for my height, except that, by swimming in three dimensions, I could easily bump my head on it. It was a windowless cell with a single, solid door that kept us tightly within it, like a clam holding onto a pearl. When we first arrived here, the shark guard that had led us down here had pushed the door closed so hard, the entire room shook, unsettling some sand and debris that filled the space. The guard was now stationed outside the door in case I tried to leave.

I felt suffocated, like all of my energy was being drained from my soul down here. I shivered and rubbed my arms, although it wasn’t cold here. Just depressing.

My legs were itching too, which concerned me. I had never worn my mermaid tail this long before, and I was starting to worry that a rash might flare up due to the silicon or saltwater being trapped between my skin and the tail.