How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(36)

“You got the fire flower right?” he asked, changing the subject. “So it’s just a matter of making the potion again and me...”

She raised up a finger and tut-tutted him. “I want to discuss this with you and your father,” she chided. “And speaking of, we should get a move on, because I still need to make the potion before tonight,” she decided in an ominous tone.

Not waiting for any more questions, she jetted towards Oceanus’s palace with one, powerful flick of her tail.

“Hey, wait up!” Ponce cried, shooting off behind her, leaving Finn and me alone, which felt all too awkward.

“I...I guess we should go,” I said to Finn, the words tumbling out quickly once I recovered enough.

“Are you okay?” he asked, picking up on my mood.

“Yeah,” I said unconvincingly. “Just had a long night.”

“I wouldn’t mind another kiss,” he offered with a smile.

I don’t know if I had ovaries at the moment, probably not, because they would have exploded at his words and his smile. Despite myself and my worries, I smiled.

His lips touched mine then, and I swooned into his kiss, relishing it. How could someone who didn’t know what a kiss was only a few hours ago be so good at it?

Now that I found out that I was half-merwalker, there really was no big reason as to why I couldn’t stay here if everything worked out. Was there a future for us? Could I allow myself to hope that this wasn’t just some sort of fling?

I’d have to figure it out after we saved Kai. If we saved Kai.

“Did you know?” I asked breathlessly.

“Know what?”

“That I was half-merwalker?”

He searched my face for a long time before shaking his head. “No,” he admitted. “But it makes sense now that Nereia changed you.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “So that means…”

Rather than complete his statement, he kissed me again.

“We should get going,” I told him sadly. I could get lost in those kisses, but we did have a deadline.

I dolphin-kicked my own tail, following after Nereia and the snapper. A second after I did so, Finn was beside me, swimming at his top speed. I did take a little pleasure in that while I was in a flustered state, I could swim faster than him.

Nereia was already inside when we arrived at Oceanus’s throne room. The guards were waiting idly, grinning like predators at us as we approached. I guess they got the memo from their friends guarding my cell that they should try scaring me.

Well, it wasn’t going to work. Even if I did gulp a little louder than normal.

As I passed through the doors, I was shocked to see King Levi—Leviathan, as I now knew him—and Queen Nadia presiding over everything next to Oceanus. If I could stumble and fall flat on my face, I would have. Thankfully, I was swimming.

After learning about his power over the ocean, Levi intimidated me even more than Oceanus did. Which was good, because Oceanus was not happy to see me.

“I see you’ve changed,” he scoffed under his breath. “But you can’t take any old grain of sand and call her a pearl.”

“I’m not trying to be a pearl,” I objected.

“My son thinks you’re one,” he said pointedly, looking at Finn who frowned stoically.

I looked at the merking, shocked. Did he know that we kissed last night? I felt my stomach sink at the thought.

“She is a good person,” Finn said, his tone dangerous.

Meanwhile, Levi and Nadia weren’t paying attention to our conversation, fully devoted to whatever Nereia was going to say about Kai. Oceanus shot me another glare before he turned back to them.

“Do you have it?” Levi demanded of Nereia. “Do you have the fire flower?”

Nereia loved the attention. She held the room like a performer, a magician, and I was starting to see why they called her a sea witch. “Yes. And I wanted to share my news with everyone at the same time.”

“And she must be here for this?” Oceanus demanded, pointing to me.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Childish. And he was the king of the merfolk?

“Oh yes, dear brother,” Nereia intoned, her expression very serious. “She’s vital to the entire plan.”

“She is?” Finn asked, alarmed.

Oh, Finn. Here was the part that he wasn’t going to like.

Nereia sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. “Finn,” she said slowly, “I know that you’re used to saving the creatures of the sea, but this time, we’re going to try something different. I’ve already gotten Tara’s permission, of course.”

Every eye in the room turned back to me, even Oceanus’s. I fidgeted under their gazes, wanting to melt into the walls. “She did,” I confirmed, my voice stronger than I felt. I couldn’t even look at Finn’s shocked expression.

“You can’t be serious,” Finn hissed. “Tara, it’s dangerous.”

“Less so for me than it is for you,” I answered back.

Nereia beamed at my words. When she spoke next, she addressed the two dolphins again.

“As you know, your majesties, the fire flower is found deep within Mariana’s Trench. A flower that grows in the most impossible of conditions. And because of that impossibility, it’s perfect for my potion.”