Page 39 of Sunken Empire

I wake to three familiar faces hovering close, worry and anxiety creating lines that weren't always noticeable before.

"Little siren?" Zephyr questions as soon as my eyes are open.

Trying to force out any kind of reply is practically impossible given that my tongue seems to be glued to the roof of my mouth. Even the attempt to swallow leaves me feeling like I just consumed a fist-full of sand. Thankfully, Zale is there with a cold glass of water that I take and drink greedily. Reaching a hand out while I'm still drinking, I try to wipe away the worry from his expression as well as telling him thanks without using actual words. His face turns into the cup of my palm as his eyes seal shut.

"Thank you," I manage to croak when I get to the bottom of the glass.

He smiles into my palm, but it's Zanthus who speaks next as he stops pacing at the foot of the bed and touches my foot. "You can't do things like that to us, love. Scared us out of our minds. What happened?"

I try to explain my version of events leading us to where we are now in the best way I know. All three of them stay silent. However, they do bristle when I mention meeting with the witch again. Even more so when I relay her words to them. I totally expect to see three different states of devastation to the amount of those I felt. What I'm not prepared for is the lack of emotion, other than relief. When I ask, Zale is the one to respond.

"All of that is important, but none of it is more so than you, damselfish," he tells me. "You have no idea what it was like to have you go limp and unresponsive in my arms the way you did. If I hadn't been in my right mind to check, I would've thought you'd died right then and there."

"I'd have died a happy woman then," I reply cheekily and am rewarded with a huff of breath against my palm. Continuing, I add, "I'm sorry our time got ruined like that. I didn't know something would happen the way it did."

His head is shaking, but I simply grasp his chin between my fingers and force his gaze to mine. "I'll make it up to you. Promise. "

"If you don't take her up on that offer, brother, I'd gladly step in for you instead," Zephyr jests from my other side.

Giving him my other hand, I shoot him a soft smile before turning back to his brother and asking what happened after I blacked out.

"Like I said, you just fell limp in my arms," Zale answers. "I panicked for a moment before my brain caught up and I checked your pulse. Once I realized you didn't die, I rushed out to the pool while calling for Zanthus and Zeph. The water healed you just as quickly as last time, but the marks were new. I'm glad you knew about those. because I was really not looking forward to telling you about them."

Sitting up in the bed, I don't care that I'm still fully naked and exposing myself to the room when I throw my arms around his neck. "You did nothing wrong. It was all a part of the magic linked to the talismans. Plus my own yearning for answers if the witch can be believed. Thank you for taking such good care of me."

"For as long as I'm breathing, damselfish," he says against my lips now pressing on his. I kiss him like we're the only two people in the room, like I didn't just mentally travel to gods only know where to meet a witch, like I didn't just drop the biggest bomb of them all right in their laps about not breaking the curse. Which reminds me.

"Where do we go from here?" I ask them. "If what she says is right, then we may never find a way to break this stupid curse."

Zanthus huffs, "There's always a way, love."

"Besides," Zephyr adds, "most of those old bats talk in nothing but riddles anyway, so I wouldn't take every single word to heart. We've just got to read between the lines to see if we can figure out what she was really talking about."

It sounded pretty straight-forward to me, but who am I to argue when I know next to nothing about witches and magic?

After kissing my other two mates so as to not leave them out, I pull on a dress from my closet and let them lead us downstairs to the pool.

"What are we doing here?" I ask, assuming they'd want to hit the study as soon as possible and tell Merrick everything. Between the five of us, we should be able to figure out at least one part of the riddle the witch left us with. Numbers. Numbers are important. Not just any of them, but the number four. It's been bouncing around my skull from the moment I told the Zs what the witch said. There are three princes, but I make four. Could it be that the four of us together could break the curse? Or maybe four centuries that it lasts?

All of those thoughts are crossing my mind before Zephyr finally answers my question. "Well, you did say once that you wondered if you'd have a tail, right?"

At my cautious yet excited nod, he adds, "You're now mated to three of the strongest mer princes in five kingdoms. If there were ever a time for you to grow fancy beautiful fins, now would be it."

My breath stills in my chest. The possibility of being a freaking mermaid is almost too much to process. Both Zale and Zanthus wait at the water's edge for the two of us to make our way over to them from where I've come to a dead stop in the sand. Pride lights their faces bright enough to bring water to my eyes.

Letting the dress's straps slip down my shoulders, the rest of it drops easily to the sand before I stride easily over to my two mates, Zeph right on my heels. They both kiss a cheek as the first tiny wave of salty water teases my toes. Without further hesitation, I take a few steps and then some more. The water laps at my upper thighs and then my waist as I wade out even further. A tingle begins at the tips of my toes, slowly working its way up my legs. It's not necessarily uncomfortable. More like the feeling of my legs falling asleep after sitting on them for too long. There's a sharp tug right behind my belly button, and I give in, allowing my body to sink beneath the surface of the water completely.

As opposed to the first time we came in here, when I open my eyes now, I can see through the water as though it's crystal clear. Even to the point of being able to see where the barrier cuts through all the way down into the sand. Right on the other side is a sharp-looking drop-off that probably leads down into a dark abyss. I'm in no rush to find that out for sure, though.

My newly found magic races through my veins, begging for a release. Closing my eyes, I let it push out in a rush, giving it the freedom to consume me completely. That small tingle I had started to feel as I stepped into the water minutes ago now turns into a squeezing sensation around my legs. When I feel them meld together, I suck in a sharp breath, sparing half a moment to revel in my ability to do such a thing underwater. Then my eyes pop back open to a sight that leaves my tears mingling with the salt water already surrounding me. My tail is absolutely beautiful. Starting at my hip bones, the same as my mates, it flows all the way down to end in a double fan. The scales are a deep purple color that could almost be mistaken with black depending on the shadows in the water.

Giving it an experimental flick sends me propelling backwards. My girly giggle is lost here in the depths. Both are going to take some getting used to for sure. A flash of gold is all the warning I have before Zeph is in my face. His smile is almost blinding but drops immediately as a look of confusion settles into his lowered brows. Zale and Zanthus pull up on either side of us and Zeph looks to the former before turning back to me.

Opening my mouth to ask what's wrong, I forget that I can't actually speak underwater, so I point to the surface instead. It takes me several tries to get a feel for movement with my new appendage, but I finally manage to go in the direction I'd pointed the Zs. I break the surface, tossing my hair back with a laugh. It's cut short by the somber expressions my mates wear.

"What is it?" I ask. "Am I deformed or something?"

"Absolutely not," Zeph says, swimming over to sweep me up into his arms and spin us around in a circle. "You're perfectly stunning, little siren. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful mate."

---