CHAPTER TWELVE

 

Gabriel slumped down at the side of the vessel. His legs dangled over the edge, several feet above the calm water. The full moon glistened against the sea’s surface, and little ripples of water lapped against the ship’s hull.

He didn’t know how it was possible, but somehow he’d been on Solaria. Like—another freaking planet, Solaria. A planet with three suns! And red soil. And lizard-like people with creepy faces who were looking for water and immunities. Gabriel groaned and pressed his fingers into his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

If he’d really been on Solaria, it also meant the empress had spoken to him for real. He had made contact with her by using the emblem. He gripped the chain around his neck. That was some seriously freaky stuff. But, there was no way he could go along with the empress’s plan to blow up the stinking planet. Not with her and the princess still there. Not to mention that would mean killing all of the inhabitants. The Solarians couldn’t all be bad … could they? But then, who was he to question the empress? If she wanted him to do something so drastic, she must know something he didn’t. Still, it didn’t feel right in his gut.

Something splashed in the water below, followed by the sound of a girl giggling. He glanced behind him, assuming Piper was messing with him, but then another spray of water hit him in the face. Peering over the side, he saw a girl with long blond hair watching him from the ocean, giggling.

“Wanna swim?” she asked, her lips curving into a mischievous grin.

Gabriel swiped his arm across his face before looking back at her. “Who are you?”

“Marigold,” she said, grinning again, then she flipped backward. When she did, a large peach-colored tail shot into the air. It pounded against the surface of the sea with a loud splash. Water sprayed into Gabriel’s face.

He pounced to his feet and shook his head, sending water flicking through the air. The girl was a mermaid. A real life, in the flesh, freaking mermaid!

Marigold spun back around, laughing again. Gabriel blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Are—are you what I think you are?”

“I am,” she said, batting her long dark lashes at him. “Are you really Gabriel Stone?” She giggled, spun in a circle, and splashed water at him. Again. Luckily, he was quick on his feet and the wave of ocean water hit the boat.

“How do you know my name?” he asked, sitting back down. Marigold swam closer, her brown eyes glinting under the moonlight. Gabriel lifted a hand in the air. “And please stop splashing me.”

The mermaid rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Your reputation precedes you, you know.” She pursed her lips and tossed her long hair over one shoulder. “Everyone who has any clue knows about you. About how cute you are ... and that you’re a hero.” She gave him a dazzling movie-star smile, and placed her palms flat against the hull of the ship, staring up at him.

Gabriel’s throat grew dry and for a whole minute, he couldn’t speak. He wasn’t sure why he sat there looking down at her like a mute loser. Maybe it was because he’d never seen a mermaid before. Or maybe it was the way she talked to him. No girl had ever called him cute before—well except for his mom, and that totally didn’t count. Marigold was definitely pretty, but she had a tail … and looked to be about fifteen. And as cute as she was, fifteen was way too old for him.

“Well, um, thanks,” he said when he finally found his voice. He felt the blush rising on his cheeks.

“You here to help the prince?” she asked, lifting a brow.

“How do you know about that?”

“I know a lot of things. I know you saved Valta before. I know there’s something seriously wrong going on here now, too. And I also know we have a plague—and that our monarchy has caused nothing but problems.”

Marigold paused, tilted her head, and smiled again. Gabriel couldn’t help but think she looked angelic with her pale, clear skin and big, blue eyes.

Blue? Weren’t they brown a minute ago?

“I mean, the empress almost got us all killed,” she said. “That is, until you showed up and saved the day.” She lowered her lashes, then peeked back up at him with a smirk. “You’re not only super cute, but you’re smart too, you know.”

Smart and cute. Huh. Maybe this girly-fish isn’t so bad after all.

“Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without my friends and help from others here in Valta—including the empress.”

Marigold waved her hand through the air. “Empress sempress,” she dismissed. “I hear she’s kidnapped—gone. And with only a young prince left to figure it all out—or, of course, the empress’s brother.”

Gabriel stiffened at the thought of Duke Malgor.

“Oh relax. I’m not a duke fan either,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Gabriel could’ve sworn Marigold’s blue eyes flashed green, then shifted back to brown—or were they black? Either way, he was drawn into them like a spider to a web. He leaned over the hull to get closer to her. “What else do you know?” Mesmerizing—she was mesmerizing.

Marigold wiggled her tail until she rose several feet out of the water. Her long hair hung down covering the front of her body to her waist. She reached her arms up and wrapped her fingers around Gabriel’s ankles. Her touch was surprisingly warm and soothing.

“I know lots,” she said with a soft giggle. Her laughter reminded Gabriel of the wind chimes at his grandmother’s cottage. Even her voice was as soft as a blanket. “I know the lizard man and Duke Malgor have been friends for a long time. Lizard Man wants payback for the help he gave the duke.” She tapped her pouting lip in thought while glancing away, then snapped her hazel-eyed gaze back on Gabriel with a sideways grin. “I also know they hate humans, but Lizard Man needs you guys for something, too.” She smirked. “Awkward dilemma to be in, wouldn’t you say?”

“It sounds sorta like a love-hate thing,” Gabriel said, leaning farther toward her, thinking. “But what could Dacho possibly need us humans for?”

“That I don’t know.” Marigold dipped her head back, releasing a soft sigh, then gazed back at Gabriel. “I don’t know yet, anyway. I hear whisperings carried on the wind from all across the seas, but that answer is yet to be found. I know he’s desperate for something and that he’s hoping humans will help find it.” She shrugged. “If he didn’t, you’d all probably be dead by now. Personally … ” she said, pursing her lips, “I think he’s jealous of you gorgeous creatures.”

She giggled and ran her nails along Gabriel’s feet. Usually he was ticklish, but her touch only felt soft.

“But don’t you agree,” she continued, wiping the red soil from his feet, “that Valta hasn’t been a fun place under the empress’s rule? Look at all the trouble she’s caused you and your friends. And Duke Malgor only wants to hurt humans like you.”

As she spoke, her eyes sparkled, changing colors from blue, to green, to golden brown. Gabriel couldn’t stop staring into them. His head spun and his feet tingled where she touched them. He could only nod in agreement.

“I think it’s time for the water creatures to rule Valta,” Marigold said, nodding in encouragement. “And I think you should join me.” She squeezed his ankles. “You, Gabriel Stone. People look up to you, you know. You can help me convince the humans to anoint me as the new ruler of Valta.” She lifted one brow and smiled. “Then we can work on the other inhabitant’s approval. I can bring peace to the land once and for all. But you have to come with me. Join me in the sea … I promise to keep you safe, breathe the air into your lungs that you need. We could have so much fun, you and I … ”

Something inside Gabriel told him to tug his legs away, but he couldn’t resist her. Marigold rubbed his feet, the sound of her large tail swishing in the water to hold her up, soothing him. Her voice was as smooth as honey as she held her gaze on his. “You can be by my side, Gabriel. We’ll overtake the throne and control the army of winged-tigers.” She widened her eyes. “Just imagine. We can be the rulers of land, sky, and sea. You have many allies in Valta already, this I know.”

Her voice melted into his ears like butter, sliding through his veins and making his heart beat faster. “You can help me. But we need to go now. The sun will be up soon and its rays hurt my skin. I prefer to be under the sea during the day.” Her fingers crawled up his legs to his knees. “Come with me.”

Cotton seemed to fill Gabriel’s brain. Only one answer kept running through his mind.

Yes.

Yes to anything she wanted.

“Yes,” Gabriel said, nodding once, his whole body tingling.

Splashing suddenly burst from all sides of the boat. From the corner of his eyes, Gabriel saw dozens of mermaids springing up from the sea. Bursts of color filled the ocean in a rainbow of colored tails.

Gabriel got to his feet, his legs shaky at first. He stepped over the railing onto the narrow ledge of the ship. He was moving without thinking; it was as if he were a character in someone else’s video game. Marigold continued talking until her hypnotic voice flowed in perfect rhythm with the pounding of his heart. She needed him, and he wanted to help her. Nothing else mattered.

Gabriel faced her, his back pressed against the railing, the salty breeze shifting his hair back from his face.

It was perfect.

She was perfect.

They could fix everything together. Rule Valta.

With a smile, Gabriel spread his arms wide, ready to free-fall into the sea beside her.

“Stop!”

Piper’s scream jolted Gabriel alert. He swayed forward, almost losing his balance. He flung his arm back and grasped the edge of the bar just in time to catch himself from falling. He blinked, shook his head, and looked back at Piper. Her hands cupped her hips and she glared through narrowed eyes out over the sea.

Gabriel whipped his head around for another look at the beautiful mermaid. But now—now Marigold wasn’t so beautiful. Her eyes were blacker than any night sky he’d ever seen, and dark spider-like veins spread across every inch of her skin. Even scarier, long fangs hung from her mouth like a vampire.

“No!” Marigold shouted. She slammed her hands over her ears, lifted her lips back, and hissed.

Gabriel leapt back over the railing and onto the ship’s deck with super speed. “Holy crap!” He zipped up beside Piper and came to a skidding halt. “What are you doing to her?”

Piper kept her glare on the ocean, determination etching her face. “Saving your butt by using my brain blast.”

A loud squeal filled the air while a horrific symphony of vampire-mermaid screams rang in Gabriel’s ears. Brent bounded out onto the deck, hair rumpled from sleep. Finley hopped out behind him, eyes wide in alarm.

As the sun rose above the mountain, the vampire-mermaids hissed through daggered fangs while they sank deep below the sea.

But before Gabriel could chill for even a second, a loud buzz erupted. The sinking feeling in his gut told him what he already knew, but he dared to check anyway. He looked up into the sky.

A swarm of poisonous locusts swooped down like a cluster of storm clouds, obviously lured toward the ship from the piercing vampire-mermaids’ screams.