Everblue

Chapter 33 - Fin

FIN

 

A groan coming from behind the door startled me from my sleep. Somehow, I'd fallen over and the crabs were jockeying for position under my back. As I sat up, they scattered to the holes in the walls. I shivered and moved away from the floor.

"Stupid crabs."

"Hold your breath."

I swiveled around and went to the bars at Tatch's telepathic voice. As the outer door began to slowly open, black ink spilt into the water.

"Don't breathe!" she said with a forced whisper.

On the floor behind her, Blanchard lay knocked out cold from octopus ink.

"What did you do?" I asked silently as she rushed to the cage.

"I have to get you out of here before you pass out." Her hands shook as she flipped through the ring of keys, inserting one in after the other. Finally she found the right one and popped the lock open.

"Come on!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall to the interior of Azor's house. Through the thick clouds, I could make out a few other mermen laying in the same sprawled-out way as blackness tainted the water above their heads. I couldn't see Azor anywhere, though.

I knew Tatchi was smart, but to use octopus ink to incapacitate all the mermen so she could help me escape was brilliant. Mermaids for some reason were immune to its effects. Unable to hold my breath any longer, I let a small sip of water through my gills and felt my thoughts grow fuzzy. Tatch responded with a gasp and pulled me harder.

Once we exited out the front doors, I sucked in a huge breath to clear my head. "What did you do?"

Tatiana exhaled, but continued to pull my arm so we moved farther away from Azor's compound. "I'll explain everything after we get out of here."

I allowed her to drag me along since the tiny bit of ink I did inhale affected my ability to reason and swim. But once we turned away from the direction of our house and towards the far rock wall where the Tahoe gate loomed, I flared out my fins to stop.

"No!" she screamed, continuing to pull. "We have to leave! Now!"

I yanked my hand back. "I just got in royal trouble for leaving unchaperoned and I'm not about to drag you into this with me. If we escape to Tahoe, we aren't ever coming back."

"I know that. And if we don't leave now, we may never get another chance."

I pushed my hands into my temples to force away the headache from the ink. "But what about Mom?"

Tatch fidgeted and avoided eye contact. "She wants to stay and wait for Dad."

I clenched my jaw. "We can't just leave her. We promised Dad we'd watch out for her."

Tatch's face pressed into a scowl as she pointed her finger in my face. "Look. You know as well as I do they aren't going to give you a slap on the wrist and say 'never do it again.' You'll be forced to stay here. Forced to serve the elder mers for who knows how long. Forced to choose someone here to promise. Do you want that?"

Ashlyn's sweet water-drenched face shimmered in my mind. My soul was trying to claw its way out of my chest to take ahold of my fin and make me leave Natatoria now. But without Mom coming with us, it didn't feel right.

"Fine," Tatiana said after I didn't respond and my eyes met hers. "You can go back and lock yourself up if you want. I'll just leave without you."

"Wait." I grabbed her wrist.

"I'm done with this place, Fin. Don't you see I can't stay? First with all the crap at the palace and then with you getting locked up. Now Uncle Alaster is saying he had to mind-wipe a whole bunch of people, stop divers who were getting too close to the gate, and deal with the press. I guess there was a news story about the waves you caused and people are frantic for answers. It's very serious. The King may just banish you and take your fins for all the trouble you've caused. Then where will you be?"

I scrubbed my hand over my head and wished for a crystal ball to see the future. Was this the way to bolt? The ink would be evaporating soon and the guards would wake up. I needed to make a decision

"Where will you go?" I finally asked.

"To Fannette Island tonight. Then tomorrow, I'll take the Jeep and head towards the Pacific. There I can start searching for Dad. Something's wrong. I can sense it."

I should have been livid she was thinking of taking my Jeep but the thought of her trying to find Dad alone didn't sit right. Helping her sounded better than going back to my cell. Plus Dad would fight for us and stand up against our injustices. Besides, I needed to see Ash.

"Do you have the spare key?"

Tatch's lips widened into a huge grin as she nodded her head.

"I know I'm going to regret this, but let's go."

"Yes!" Tatiana swam ahead of me.

Inside the meeting room between Natatoria and Lake Tahoe, we pressed the button and waited for Uncle Alaster or Colin to bust us. Tatch held a small vial of octopus ink ready to throw if they happened to come through the mouth of the cave—but no one came.

We looked at one another with growing grins and swam through the gate to the other side. Once we figured the waters were safe, we hightailed it for Fannette Island.

"Yes!" Tatch squealed as she swam in circles and blew bubbles with her arms spread wide.

"Careful," I said playfully. "You might create waves."

"Ha-ha. Very funny big brother. And anyway, why did you have to swim so fast you absently made waves on your rock collecting trip?"

Too mentally exhausted to share and afraid of her reaction, I stayed tight-lipped. She'd flip once she knew her friendship with Ash was forever changed. Telling the full story after we'd both had a decent night's sleep, far away from things she could throw at me, would be better.

"That good?" she asked after I didn't answer.

"I'll tell you everything tomorrow. I just want to get to the island before we get caught."

She giggled. "Sure thing."

We surfaced the water together, but Tatch flipped her head back, making a huge arch of water with her hair. She laughed as the droplets rained down on her face.

"I'm finally home," she squealed and I couldn't agree with her more.