How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(34)

Nereia simply blinked at me. “Back to human? But sweetie, you were never really fully a human to begin with. That’s why I turned you into a full merwalker, so that you can fully embrace your heritage.”

“Wait,” I said, trying to get on the same page as her. I couldn’t reconcile what she had just said with what I knew. “What do you mean?”

“You’re half merwalker,” she said gently. “I thought you knew.”

There was no way that what she was saying was true. Absolutely no way.

“You’re saying,” I said slowly, my heart pounding in my ears, “that I’m half merwalker. So you mean to tell me that one of my parents was a human and the other...?”

“A merwalker,” she said.

No, that wasn’t—couldn’t—be true. I’d spent my entire life on land. My mother certainly wasn’t a merwalker. She had hated my obsession with the sea my entire life. She wanted me to be a doctor and had pushed me against this life from the beginning.

But my father...

I looked down at the mermaid necklace and realized the truth. My dad had given it to me. It had been no fluke that the mermaid pendant was accurate, because my dad knew exactly what mermaids were like. Because he was one. Or a merwalker rather.

I wondered if my mother knew that she had been married to a merwalker—it would certainly be a big clue as to why she had vehemently opposed me becoming a professional mermaid.

I wished he was still alive so I could talk to him. Maybe this wouldn’t have been such a shock. Maybe he could have prepared me better.

“Dad,” I whispered, trying to feel some sort of connection with my parent who had passed away. I looked up at her. “My dad was a merwalker?”

Everything had been a lie up to this point. Tears welled up in my tear ducts, and this time, Nereia could tell that I was crying. My shoulders shook with the sobs and I felt like I was hyperventilating.

Ponce took this an entirely different way. “See, Tara? You’re not in a strange place. You’re home.”

Does this really make it my home? Maybe one of them. Maybe I was a child of both worlds.

“Did you know him?” I asked, sounding like I was strangled

“Not personally,” Nereia told me gently. “The ocean is far too wide of a place to know everyone, even if they are as rare as a merwalker. My guess is that he lived in the Pacific Ocean. And that he decided to live on land because he met your mother. And wanted to be there for you.”

“How did you know? How did you know that I was half-merwalker?”

Nereia offered me a comforting smile. “You might not be able to see it in yourself, but you have the eyes.”

“The eyes?”

“All merwalkers have the eyes. Turquoise eyes. And you, my dear, you have them. Just slightly though.”

Self-consciously, I rubbed at them. Strange how I had always noticed the turquoise flecks in my eyes, but I never knew that it was indicative of my heritage. They just always looked exotic to me.

I had no idea.

“And you confirmed it,” Nereia continued. “When you said that you could hear Kai calling out to you for help. Even though you’re half human, you still have enough merfolk in you to understand some sea creatures. I imagine it was because Kai’s emotions were so heightened, you could understand him without much help.”

Yes. I had understood Kai before I fell in the ocean and was changed.

Was it better to have lived my life not knowing all of this or to have found out right now? Deep down, I knew it was a good thing, even if the hole in my heart said otherwise.

I was from two worlds. I wrapped my arms around myself, considering everything. If I hadn’t heard Kai, I’m not sure I would have gone out to his pool again. And if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have fallen into this crazy world and became a mermaid myself. So, all in all, this entire adventure stemmed from being half merwalker all my life.

“Do you still want me to undo your gift?” Nereia asked.

I closed my eyes, weighing all of the conflicting emotions that battled deep inside me.

Maybe I didn’t need to have this undone. Maybe I finally was living how I should. I wasn’t a stranger in a strange land. I was home.

But I did know someone who was in a strange world to them.

Kai.

I still needed to save him. And save my mother and friends from impending war. Heck, I needed to save both of my worlds—my human life and this new mermaid one.

I brushed any further tears from my eyes. “No,” I whispered. My voice didn’t sound strong, but I knew they understood me. “I’ll stay as a merwalker for now.” In honor of my dad. I opened my eyes and looked between Nereia and Ponce, knowing what I had to do next. “But I do know someone who still needs help.”

“You mean Kai?” She frowned and nodded, crossing her arms over her breasts. “Yes, yes he does, poor baby.”

“You got the fire flower, right?”

She nodded. “Thankfully, it was much easier this time around to find it.”

I sighed, relieved. “So everything’s going to be fine.”

“Well, that depends on a lot of things.” She gestured vaguely in a distracted motion with her hands. I could tell that she didn’t get upset very much, but something was troubling her. “I can make the potion just fine, it’s the delivery that could be a problem.”