11. Chapter 11
An immediate hush fell over the boat, but for the lap of the waves against the hull. White Stripe had frozen, his arms still raised, a look of mild confusion on his face.
Every set of eyes stared at the dust as it washed back and forth with each wave, coagulating into a grey clump that sank beneath the water. I watched it disappear into the depths, and an ungodly chill wracked my body. The force-field had only given the illusion of breaching, and that reckless idiot had suffered the ultimate consequence.
My sense returned to me as if someone had whacked me over the head with an oar, and I looked up at the athamé still in White Stripe’s hand. We had to get away from this thing and the thugs who had brought us here.
In my seated position, I lifted my legs up into the air and manifested my tail. Grabbing onto the side of the boat, I swung my tail around and whacked White Stripe across the back. He flailed, but not even his friends could stop him from toppling into the ocean.
“Bail!” I cried.
Kira grabbed Bronwyn and Allison around their waists and launched into the air. Bronwyn cried out as she reached for the amulet she had sworn to protect. But as Kira flew her away, the amulet juddered in place and then shot off the barrier back toward Bronwyn. She caught it in one hand and looped it back around her neck as she clung to Kira for dear life with the other.
I grabbed Ben and rolled off the edge of the boat, plunging us both into the ocean. With a flick of my tail, I propelled us underneath the boat and popped up on the other side. I reached up and grabbed Adrian’s coat and yanked him into the water backwards. Despite our high-stakes situation, I took a sliver of pleasure in dunking him.
Hooking an arm around each of their torsos, I sped off through the water toward the shore. The boat would have to wait. Even if it would have been nice to teach those assholes a lesson by whacking them all into the ocean and taking off in the boat, they would most likely have drowned. They could have the stupid boat, for now.
When we reached the nearest beach, I flopped onto my back to catch my breath. Was there such a thing as mermaid cardio? If so, I didn’t have it.
“Everyone okay?” Ben asked, pushing up onto his elbows as he lay next to me.
“Okay?” Adrian turned his head to spit out a little sea water. “We nearly got murdered!”
“Murdered is a bit of a stretch,” I said, whacking my tail against the water as a wave rushed up to meet us.
“How?” Adrian stood and pointed a finger toward where the boat was, just a speck in the distance. “They had athamés and they would have used them if we’d given them a reason.”
Ben and I exchanged mildly exasperated looks. Maybe we had experienced too many near-deaths recently. We were getting accustomed to this kind of adrenaline rush.
“I think what you’re trying to say is, thank you, Maeve,” Ben said.
“You’re both very welcome.” I inhaled a salty breath through my nose and shimmied up onto my elbows.
I looked toward the tiny boat in the distance, the faint shouts of the thugs reaching us across the water. No matter how bad they were, nobody should have to see their friend disintegrate like that.
“What do you think happened?” I asked. “It looked like we had a way out, but...”
“The phoenix means business.” Ben leaned his head back, looking at the purple-tinged sky. “It’ll let us think we can escape when, really...”
“There’s no hope.” I finished his sentence with the reality, but it settled in my stomach like mud in a stagnant pond.
Ben nudged his arm against mine, and I revelled in the feeling of his skin against mine, the water droplets still clinging to him. He tilted his head forward and our gazes met.
“It’s just... another way it doesn’t work,” he said. “One of many.”
The question was, would we find one that did before it was too late?
“Are you guys okay?” Kira landed nearby, rolling her shoulders back once she had released Bronwyn and Allison.
“Still alive,” I said. “How about you guys?”
“Traumatised.” Allison shuddered as she flopped down onto the sand. “I did not see that coming.”
“That was a neat little illusion,” Kira said. “But that’s what it must have been.”
“It wasn’t.” Bronwyn clenched the amulet in her hand. “The amulet worked, but the phoenix’s curse must have had some... caveats?”
“Either way, it didn’t work.” Adrian folded his arms. “Again.”
“All right.” Ben sighed and got up, offering his hand to me, but I didn’t take it. “What? Are you going to stay as a mermaid all day?”
“Well, I’m not changing with him watching,” I said, jerking my chin at Adrian.
My shorts and underwear had torn right off when I transitioned, and while my dress was just long enough to cover all the important bits, I didn’t want to risk Adrian, of all people, catching sight of anything when I got up.
Ben waved a hand at Adrian, and his brother turned around with a huff. I transitioned back into my human form, and Ben helped me stand. I dusted clumps of sand off my dress as his arm came around my waist.
“Is it safe yet?” Adrian asked.
Ben and I ignored him and walked past him to the girls.
“It was a good idea, guys,” I said.
Kira kicked the sand. “Was it? Look what nearly happened! That could have been one of us turning into mulch.”
Allison heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, as if she was preparing to fall asleep on the beach.
Kira had a point. We would have tested the gateway through the barrier, probably with the same enthusiasm as Cracked Tooth had. Even if they had held us at knife-point, I couldn’t pretend I was happy to have seen someone die that way. But I bore a selfish gratitude that none of us had lost our lives to our plan.
“I really thought it would work,” Allison said. “It looked like...”
Bronwyn sat down next to her and patted her shoulder.
“How many more times are we going to try getting out of here?” Adrian asked. “Feels like a waste of-.“
“Okay, just stop,” I snapped at him over my shoulder. “We all feel like we’re trying to break through a brick wall with a toothpick here, but can you just not-?”
“Ali.” Kira’s concerned tone interrupted my rant, and I whipped around.
Kira had knelt down next to Allison and rolled down her sleeve. I grabbed Ben’s arm and squeezed as dread inked its way through my limbs. An angry purple hue spread from Allison’s wrist down to her elbow, following the path of her veins.