“Well she never talks about you now.” Arenn shrugged, clearly unphased by her confession. “Not that she does much talking these days.” He stared out to the horizon. “It’s difficult to find things to talk about when you’re locked in abedchamber.”
Something inside me ached at his words. Despite what she’d done at the faery palace – how she’d tortured Lukas to hurt Ikelos. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness for her. Just like she’d said, we were both victims of King Ikelos’s cruel actions. Only now I was free to move on with my life, but she…
I swallowed, not wanting to think about how awful being locked away in the faery kingdom would be.
“You should bring her home.” Adriana’s tail fizzled out into two legs as she pushed up to stand. “I know she had her problems with King Ikelos, but that’s resolved now. She should come back to us. To her sisters.”
“Shehasher sisters.” Arenn scowled. “As difficult as I may find her, the twins have had no issues with keeping her company. Besides, I doubt my mother would let her leave anytime soon. My parents are convinced that somewhere, deep down inside her, she’s still their innocent baby girl. Clearly not.” He folded his arms. “If you ask me, she’s gone mad.”
“She isnotmad.”
“Please stop.” Raising my palms, I stepped between them. “There’s no time for arguing. Please I…” Desperate, I turned to the scowling mermaid. “I need your help with Queen Cora’s son, Raphael. He’s been cursed, and we’re certain it was the merfolk.”
“A merfolk curse?” Adriana’s anger faded to confusion. “That’s unlikely. There’s so few of us with enough power to actually curse a human, and my mother’s been behaving herself for years.”
“But what if she hasn’t?” I argued. “Or what if there was another powerful merfolk out there somewhere. How do wefix it?”
Please. Please, give me something.
“Well, that depends entirely on the curse.” She tapped her chin, far too calm for my liking. “And sometimes they’re unbreakable too – otherwise what would be the point of going to all that trouble to cast the damned thing?”
“But there has to be a way to fix him!” I clenched my fists. “He’s just a child. Please, Adriana.”
The mermaid chewed her lower lip in thought, until finally she purred, “There is one thing you could try.”
The three of us blinked at her expectantly.
“It’s quite far, and dangerous too,” she added, curling her damp hair around her fingers. “And this will only help him if it’s a weaker curse. Like I said, some are truly unbreakable.”
“We only have tonight,” I told her. “Can we return by dawn?”
Adriana wrinkled her nose. “It’s possible.”
“Then let’s go,” I decided.
“Naria…” Arenn grabbed my arm and spun me to face him. For once, there was genuine fear in his eyes. “Are you certain about this? She said it’s dangerous.”
“Then don’t come with me,” I said plainly before I turned to Raena, squeezing her hands. “You too. Stay here if you’d like. I won’t hold it against you.”
She glanced around hesitantly, but then her gaze hardened. “No,” she said in a firm voice. “I’ll come with you. Prince Raphael is a good friend of my brothers and I’d never forgive myself if you didn’t make it back from this because I was too much of a coward.”
“It wouldn’t be cowardly for you to stay.” I placed ahand on her shoulder. “Only come if you really want to.”
“I do.” She gave me a small smile. “It’ll be just like old times, remember?”
“Just like old times,” I laughed before pulling away and facing Adriana again. “Please take us there.”
“If you’re certain?” She drew closer. When I nodded, she took my hands. “Well, you know how this goes.”
Before I could speak again, she pressed her lips against mine and dragged me below the surface.
CHAPTER 27
Tears bubbled in my eyes. I’d never seen so much colour before. Huge coral trees whizzed past us with every powerful kick of Sweetie’s tail fin. It was like swimming through a dream. Red and orange starfish clung to the trunks of coral trees, while dozens of different blue and yellow fish darted between the branches. Even with the waves blocking the moonlight, the glow of the corals illuminated any dark spots. If I hadn’t been so focused on clinging to Sweetie’s side, I’d be sighing in awe.
“Why can’t he just swim above the trees?” Arenn complained, clearly feeling nowhere near as enchanted.
“Predators,” Adriana replied gruffly. There’d beentension after she kissed me on the beach. While Raena and I had accepted her mermaid blessing somewhat willingly, Arenn dug his heels into the sand and insisted there must be another way for him to breathe below the waves. ‘Any other way’ he’d screeched every time she’d tried to pin him down and kiss him.
