Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy Page 44

  Beyond the bedroom door, distant voices reached my ears. Liana must have been having breakfast with her family. Wondering if she’d left any for us, I glanced to her nightstand to find three new apples and granola bars placed neatly in a row. Just behind that sat the hat and sunglasses Liana had given me the day before to use as a discreet disguise.

  I only let the thought cross my mind for a moment before I sprang into action. I didn’t bother changing into clean clothes. It’s not like I could do that at the moment, not when Liana’s family was still in the house and I didn’t have privacy in her bedroom—even though the two men lying on the floor under their blankets were still asleep. Still dressed in my black t-shirt and dark jeans, I slipped on the cap and sunglasses, tucking my hair under it. I stepped over a sleeping Noah and crossed over to the window. Noah shifted slightly, causing my heart to race. I quickly relaxed when I realized I hadn’t actually woken him. Slowly, I slid the window open and checked the area before climbing outside. I turned back to the window and pulled it down, leaving just barely an inch so I could draw it back open when I returned.

  Turning toward the ocean, I was suddenly overcome with a sense of comfort. In the light, salty air with the sound of waves whispering into my ears, I could almost forget all of this had happened. I could pretend I was still the same old Bree, that I was still planning to move into the college dorms with Liana in a couple of days and that I still had hopes for finding love in one of my classes. It wasn’t like I was going to meet anyone new, but at least college would have given me a chance to get to know some people better.

  After inhaling a long breath, I took my first step toward the ocean. When my bare feet hit sand, another wave of excitement overcame me. I didn’t think I’d ever gone a day without digging my feet into the sand since the day I could walk. It was amazing how quickly I seemed to forget how amazing it felt. I’d taken so much for granted my entire life. Now all I wanted to do was sit there in silence and soak it all in.

  Before making it to the edge of the waves, I paused and rolled up the bottom of my dark jeans. I walked forward until the cold water reached the end of my toes. I let out an involuntary moan, letting my shoulders drop in relaxation. I took another step forward and then another until the incoming waves licked my skin mid-calf.

  Voices coming my way caught my attention, pulling me out of my blissful trance. I glanced to my left to see it was only a couple walking down the beach in the direction of the public swimming area. Pulling my cap low on my head, I gazed back out toward the water, listening to them as they passed. They continued their conversation and didn’t seem to notice me.

  Inhaling another deep breath, I focused on the feeling of the waves hitting my legs. I bent to scoop up a small amount of water. In my hands, it swirled, filling me with a sense of pride. The smile forming across my face faded quickly when an unexpected hand settled on my shoulder. I whirled around instantly, my heart racing, and pulled a fist back before I could process what was happening. The water in my hands splashed down the front of my pants.

  “Noah.” I punched him in the shoulder lightly. “You almost scared me half to death!”

  He wore his cap and sunglasses from yesterday, too, but it couldn’t hide the serious expression on his face. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he said lightly before stepping forward so the water rushed over his exposed feet.

  I narrowed my eyes in his direction, but with the sunglasses on, he didn’t notice. “You didn’t come out here to scold me,” I accused. “You came out here because you felt the same thing I did, didn’t you?”

  Noah nodded so lightly that I wasn’t even sure it was a nod.

  “The water’s so tempting, isn’t it?”

  He nodded again but kept his gaze locked on the horizon. I didn’t have to see into his eyes to know what kind of look had settled over them. His silence said it all. Noah was soaking it all in, enjoying finally being home. He remained quiet for so long that I thought he could have stayed like that forever, but finally, he spoke.

  “I don’t know why I ever left,” he admitted, turning his gaze toward me.

  I shrugged like I thought I should give him an answer I didn’t have. “It makes sense…”

  “I didn’t realize how much I was missing out on, not until last night when I got it all back.”

  I couldn’t even pretend to know how he felt. I’d only lost my magic for a couple of days. I couldn’t imagine what a year away from it would feel like. He must have felt like a completely different person. Noah swallowed deeply and bent to scoop up a handful of water like I had just moments before he approached. He stared at it intensely for several long seconds until it began to swirl in his hands.

  “You still have your magic touch,” I said with a smile.

  He nodded, but his expression didn’t shift. He remained focused on the water. Slowly, it began to form an upwards funnel, defying gravity as he manipulated it. The funnel widened at the top to form into the shape of a rose. Noah held his creation in my direction.

  I reached out to take it from him, but when our fingers touched, my focus crumbled, and the rose melted in our hands, dripping off them into the shallow water beneath us.

  “Hey,” Noah joked. “I worked hard on that.”

  “Sorry,” I told him honestly. “I—I didn’t mean.”

  “Bree, it’s fine. I was only kidding. I’ll get the hang of all this again.”

  I shot him a shy smile. It was strange hearing my name roll off his tongue. I was surprised to find it somewhat satisfying. “It looks like you remember it pretty well.”

  His smile widened. “It’s like riding a bike.”

  “Only, like, a million times more amazing.”

  He nodded in agreement and then glanced back toward Liana’s house. “We really should get back. We don’t want anyone catching us out here. We’re harboring a prisoner, after all. That doesn’t reflect well on either of us. Besides, we should talk to Tristan and Liana about our next move.”

  I didn’t like the word prisoner. Is that what Tristan was? It had to be. Otherwise, why had they locked him down there in the basement of City Hall? Did they think he was dangerous? Were they going to do experiments on him? How much did they know about the merpeople left out there?

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “We better get back.”

  Noah and I walked casually back to Liana’s window as not to draw attention from the people down the beach. Glancing around one last time to make sure no eyes were on us, I pulled the window back up and crawled through. Once Noah had crawled inside, I stuck my sandy feet back out the window for only a moment to dust them off. Noah followed my lead and then closed the window and pulled the curtains shut when he was done.

  Tristan stirred from his spot on the floor, and he drew his eyes open slowly.

  “You up, sleepyhead?” I asked, plopping onto Liana’s bed and tossing my hat and glasses aside on the nightstand. Turning to Noah, I asked, “You hungry?” He nodded, and I tossed one of the apples in his direction.

  “What’s that?” Tristan asked in a deep, groggy voice.

  “An apple?” I said it like it was a question. “You’ve never had one before?”

  He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “This is my first time ashore. I’ve heard of them but never…” He trailed off when I shoved the third red apple in his face. Slowly, he raised his hand and took it from me, examining it with caution.

  “Try it,” I said with a mouthful of apple. “It’s good.”

  He raised a brow questioningly but seemed to accept that it was safe. Tristan took a cautious bite, and almost immediately a look of disgust crossed his face.

  “You don’t like it?” Noah asked in a quiet voice from across the room.

  Tristan continued to chew, but the look of disgust remained. “It’s awful. It’s like the stuff they fed me in that room.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “So, what do you eat back home?”

  The look of disgust faded, and a blank expression
replaced it. “Seafood.”

  Right. I could have figured that one out on my own.

  “So, what were they feeding you in the room?” I asked.

  Tristan shrugged. “They called the first one ‘pancakes.’ That wasn’t so bad, but they served me some land animal later, and...” His nose curled up again.

  “Pancakes?” Noah asked in surprise. “Sounds like you were eating pretty good.”

  Tristan shrugged. “I guess. I didn’t starve, if that’s what you mean.”

  I shook my head in thought. No, they wouldn’t have starved him, but why keep him locked up, then? A thought crossed my mind. To get his secrets. Tristan seemed to know more about us than we did, and he wasn’t bound by the spell to keep the secrets. What were they trying to get out of him? I eyed him up and down. Like I’d said before, he didn’t look like he’d been tortured. A few days ago, I wouldn’t have put torture past the council, but with what I knew now, I wasn’t so sure they were as bad as I initially thought. That didn’t keep me from still being angry at them, but now at least I knew why they wouldn’t—couldn’t—explain to me what was happening.

  No, I told myself. They don’t get redemption just yet. I couldn’t offer them that before I had all the answers. The only problem was that I didn’t know what to ask.

  Noah spoke next, pulling me from my thoughts. “For a guy who hasn’t been on land before, you’re doing pretty well on two legs.” He bit into another big chunk of his apple, looking amused.

  Tristan raised a brow from where he sat on the floor. By now he had managed to swallow the bite of apple he’d taken, but he still held it in his hand like he didn’t know what to do with it. “Wouldn’t you find it easy to swim around if you had a tail? These legs are written into my DNA.”

  Well, he had a point there. But we didn’t have fins written into ours. A sudden pang of jealousy hit me. I couldn’t say why. I’d never felt jealous of merpeople before. Maybe that was because I didn’t know they still existed until recently.

  “Sure,” Tristan said. “It was a little disorienting at first, but I had plenty of time to practice when I was cooped up in that room.”

  “How much longer do you have until it’s permanent?” I asked.

  Tristan threw his head back and laughed, his long blond hair falling over his shoulder.

  “Shh,” Noah warned, glancing toward the door.

  “Sorry,” Tristan said in a whisper.

  We all went silent in that moment, listening for an indication that someone overheard us. Luckily, the doorbell rang just then, which I prayed distracted Liana’s family.

  Tristan continued in a quiet voice. “It’s not permanent. As soon as I go back into the water, I’ll get my tail back. Why would you think it was permanent?”

  I tossed my apple core into the small trash can next to Liana’s bed, stalling to think. “It’s just, that’s the way our stories go. Our ancestors stayed on land so long that they lost the ability to return to the sea, at least in the form they came out of it.”

  Tristan shook his head. “Parts of your stories must have been lost in translation. Your people couldn’t return because they remained on land for generations, and they started crossbreeding with humans. The original ones born at sea wouldn’t have lost their ability to return.”

  “Oh,” I said flatly. “That’s not how I interpreted the stories.” I looked to Noah as if hoping he’d agree with me, but he was finishing up the last of his apple and didn’t seem to care to weigh in.

  Tristan pressed his lips together in thought, but whatever he was about to say was cut off when Liana swung the door open. All three of us tensed and looked at her. She rushed inside and closed the door securely behind her. When she turned toward us, the first thing I noticed was the fear in her eyes.

  “You can’t stay.”

  Thirty

  “What do you mean we can’t stay?” I hissed.

  Liana’s face twitched, a clear indication of her high emotions. “I mean that Jarod guy from the council just stopped by asking about you. Sure, he made it sound all casual and everything, made it sound like the council was checking in on how I was adjusting to you leaving since I’m your best friend and all, but it was more than that. They’re looking for you.”

  My stomach dropped. That meant they’d be questioning my family and Christina, too. We literally had nowhere else to turn.

  I swallowed hard. “But if you got him to leave, then maybe they won’t come back.”

  “I wouldn’t be sure about that,” she said with uncertainty. “I’m not sure I was entirely convincing.”

  My mouth dropped. “But you’re so good at acting! You did so well at Dr. Sloan’s.”

  “Yeah,” she practically snapped. “Because I was prepared for that. This was completely unexpected.” Her expression was so serious that I couldn’t argue.

  Noah stood from the rocking chair. “What do you suggest we do?”

  We all glanced at each other cluelessly.

  “Well, I’m not leaving without my magic,” I complained.

  It was then I noticed that now Noah and I had restored our magic, we couldn’t leave without getting Dr. Sloan’s help, and he’d only turn us over to the council. I still didn’t want to know what they’d do to us once they found us. My heart pattered against my rib cage in anger, and I cursed myself for being so stupid. Now I didn’t even have the choice to leave. What were we going to do?

  “I know,” Liana told me. “But in the meantime, we need an alternative. You guys can’t stay here. You’re bound to get caught by my family sooner or later anyway. We need something more secret, more private.”

  We all glanced around again as if waiting for someone to shout out an answer.

  Noah shrugged. “I’ve got nothing. I gave up everything when I left.”

  Clearly Tristan didn’t have any ideas. He wasn’t familiar with Sea Haven the way we were.

  “All I have is my parents’,” I pointed out, “and we can’t go there. We’d get discovered, and my dad would turn us in.” Just like he did the night I found Tristan. I still hated him for that.

  “Wait.” Liana’s eyes filled with excitement as if she just had a magnificent idea. She turned to me with a smile. “The clubhouse!”

  “The clubhouse?” I asked.

  The mention of it tickled a memory in the back of my mind. When we were in elementary school, Liana and I had found a small shack in the back of her grandparents’ property hidden way back in the trees. I wasn’t sure what it was for, if it was once some sort of hunting shack or guest house, but it’d been run down throughout the years. We’d played in it for a summer before finally losing interest. But it was one of our best-kept secrets. No one would find us there. I just wasn’t sure it was a reliable shelter.

  “That thing is practically collapsed as it is,” I pointed out.

  Liana’s lips turned down. “It’s not that bad. We can clean it up a little bit. I’ll bring you some food and other essentials, and you can lay low there until we figure this all out, okay?”

  “We haven’t been there in, what, ten years? It’s gotta be in rough shape,” I countered.

  “You haven’t been there in ten years. I’ve gone back a couple of times, and it’s still in decent shape.”

  “If it’s our only option,” Noah said, taking a step toward me, “then I think we should take it.”

  I glanced between all three of them. Even Tristan looked like he agreed with them. I sighed heavily, giving in. Compared to that tiny shack, sleeping on Liana’s floor was like staying in a five-star hotel.

  “Fine. What will we need?”

  We loaded up the car with our backpacks, sleeping bags, and the bits of food we could find that Liana’s family wouldn’t notice was missing. Liana let me take a quick shower before leaving since I knew it might be a while before I got another one. Before opening the garage door, Liana had us all crouch down so no one would see us in case anyone on the council was watching her house. Tristan
bent down in the front seat, but he was so tall and muscular that I wasn’t sure how hidden he truly was. Noah and I squeezed into the back, our heads nearly touching as we both leaned in toward the middle to stay low.

  I could tell when we escaped the residential part of town because the houses flashing by the window were replaced with clear blue skies. Liana’s grandparents lived on a generous plot of land in a big house, but I guess it was still close enough to town that it didn’t hit the boundary line to the spell. It had to be getting awfully close, though.

  “My grandparents are very social creatures,” she said. “It’s unlikely that they’ll be home during the day, but I’m going to check just in case. I don’t want them seeing any of you.”

  I hated this for so many reasons, but I really didn’t want to get Liana’s grandparents involved. They were too sweet to deserve trouble. Still, this seemed like our best option. I didn’t think anyone would suspect Liana’s grandparents, and unless they knew where the shack was, they wouldn’t find it. For as many times as I’d walked there as a kid, I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to find it.

  Liana parked the car and stepped out. It wasn’t even a minute later when the door popped open again. Noah tensed from beside me at the sound.

  Liana slid into the passenger seat. “I was right. They aren’t home. I’m going to drive in a ways to get off the road a little. I can’t get all the way back there with the car, so we’re going to have to walk a little and carry things with us. Everyone doing okay so far?”

  “Yes,” we all answered in unison.

  The car bounced across the rough terrain of Liana’s grandparents’ property, nearly knocking mine and Noah’s heads together.

  “Can we come out of hiding yet?” I asked in a tone of complaint.