How to be a Mermaid (The Cotton Candy Quintet #1)(42)

Mr. Stevens glared at Neptune, his bulging unnaturally. “You saw what she did!”

“What did she do?” Neptune asked, quirking an eyebrow. “All I saw was a young girl feed a treat to an unhappy wild dolphin.”

I remained quiet, hearing my heartbeat pounding desperately. Fear rooted me to the spot, so even if I wanted to run, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to.

Luckily, Neptune was coming to my rescue, though I could tell that Christine, Jordyn, and Alaina were all angry and unhappy with me.

“Yes,” Mr. Stevens said coldly, “she fed the dolphin unregulated and unknown food, which is dangerous to the animal. Right, Tim?” he demanded, turning back to the aquarist.

Tim swallowed hard. He didn’t look in my direction as he nodded.

Neptune crossed his arms, giving Tim a hard look. The aquarist withered under his gaze.

“And you think that little treat was enough to make a dolphin jump like that?”

Mr. Stevens frowned, hostility ebbing off him in waves.

“You saw for yourself, Michael,” Neptune said, grinning at Mr. Stevens. “Nothing could have made that dolphin baby jump like that. It was a freak accident. Things like that don’t happen naturally.”

“Whatever that...that witch fed it, it made him do that!” Mr. Stevens cried. I saw Jordyn’s face fall into horror at his choice of words, and I couldn’t figure out why.

“So, what are you saying, Michael?” Neptune said calmly. “That magic made that baby dolphin jump over thirty feet and into the ocean below?”

“For all we know, he could have fallen to his death!”

Neptune glanced behind his shoulder. “From what I can tell, that dolphin is far happier back in the ocean.”

I turned back to the ocean, and to my relief, I saw Kai, Nadia, and Levi all surface at the same time, blowing water skyward as they danced along the top of the water. They were letting me know that everything was all right. There was no war shadowing our lives any more. Their son was with them and that was all that mattered. They were happy.

The others on the landing saw that as well. Christine, Jordyn, and Alaina ran to the fence overlooking the ocean and gasped with delight. They had no idea how close they were to having their lives destroyed by an aquatic-induced war.

“It’s like he’s back with his family!” Alaina cried. “Look at them!”

Tim looked shaken as he glanced back at me. I could guess what he was thinking, How the hell did she do that?

“Face it, Michael,” Neptune went on. “You can’t arrest her for stealing your dolphin, because she didn’t. Nothing you say could hold up in court, and you know that.”

Mr. Stevens turned the color of a fire engine, fuming. That couldn’t be good for his blood pressure.

“I’ll still have her arrested,” the man snarled menacingly. “She’s trespassing where she’s not allowed.”

Christine gasped, remaining rooted to her spot while the security guards grappled me. I gulped nervously. Even though I’d been expecting this outcome for me, now that I knew I was going to be arrested for sure, I was frightened.

“If you and your mermaids aren’t out of this aquarium in ten minutes,” Mr. Stevens threatened, “I’ll have you all arrested for trespassing.”

Neptune gave him a hard look, then nodded. “Fine, we’ll leave. Hang on, Tara,” he added, looking directly at me. “We’ll take care of you.”

I hoped so.





CHAPTER 11


Sitting in a holding cell like this was the exact opposite thing to being in the water. In the ocean, there was freedom, there was space, and there was happiness.

In jail, you were on concrete, too close to the other cellmates, and you were imprisoned.

I was suffocating the entire time, fearing what was going to happen to me. I’d never been arrested before. Well, on land that is. I guess I was kind of arrested at the palace. On the surface, though, I was a model citizen. Heck, I never even went to detention in high school. Now, I felt like a caged animal. I even had to resist the urge to pace, so I forced myself to stand in the corner and cross my arms.

I hadn’t changed from my makeshift fashioned skirt or bikini bra, but I actually didn’t look that out of place compared to the other women in the cell. One lady was only wearing a bra and a pair of jeans from the 80s, and a few others were in various states of dress. They eyed me warily, so I had to avoid their scrutinizing gazes.

For all I knew, I was going to go to prison and have my life ruined. I knew that Mr. Stevens would stop at nothing to punish me for setting Kai free. I’d have a criminal record, and I’d have trouble getting a job. And my mother. Oh, Mom would be furious with me.

For the billionth time, I wondered if I should have jumped.

I sighed. What was Finn doing at this very moment? Was he with Kai?

At least there wasn’t going to be a huge war between the sea creatures and humans. Some nerdy part of me wanted to see the mythical sea creatures that Levi had mentioned. Another part of me was immensely glad that everything was going to be all right, especially for Kai.

Time seemed like it was standing still. Being antsy wasn’t helping either.

Finally, an officer came to the jail cell. “Tara Porter?” he said gruffly.

I pushed off the wall and made my way towards him. “That’s me,” I said anxiously.