Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

MONROE

I laid at the bottom of my pool feeling like I'd been hit by a bus.

No, not a bus . . . a whale .

My entire lower body ached and throbbed. Moving was going to be impossible. The surface of the pool rippled with the breeze. Or maybe Torren had turned into a dinosaur and that was why the water moved. Part of me thought I saw her shift into a teal frog that Nash put in his pocket, but the other part of me worried I had a concussion to go with the other injuries Torren caused. Granted, Chip was more to blame. If she hadn't swept my legs out from under me with her tail, I wouldn't have crashed into Torren and sent her into one of her panicked spirals of chaos. Normally I got a good laugh by Torren's fallout, she never meant to hurt anyone and genuinely made herself sick when she happened to, but being on the receiving end altered that reaction.

If I was being honest with myself, I would acknowledge that this was entirely my fault. I was the one who decided that moment was the moment to reveal to Chip that I was a siren. I hadn't used my siren song magic in over a decade because I hated it, so I wasn't sure what had come over me when I used it to force her into shifting. Luckily for me, I wasn't being honest with myself just yet, so I was going to continue blaming Chip for it all.

She must've known it, too, because despite being in siren form, she hadn't attempted to come down and check on me. I glared at her through half a pool's worth of water. Good. Stay, bad dog. She was watching me carefully though, and I knew she hadn't meant for me to get hurt. I also knew she actually managed to catch me from hitting the pool wall with the back of my head before Torren went full-Torren.

I sighed and bubbles of water floated out of my mouth.

Pickles, Dawson, and Holden also peered down at me, and in that moment, I did not want to even try to get to the surface. Nash, with his vampire powers, was able to be underwater with me without any kind of scuba gear. He held my arm up, examining the deep furrows from Torren's claws.

A little teal frog poked its head out of Nash's front shirt pocket. " Oh nooo. "

I let out a little chuckle, but it hurt so I snapped my mouth shut.

Nash arched one eyebrow at me. "Are we laughing, Monroe?"

"I thought I'd hallucinated the teal frog." I smirked and looked down to Torren sitting in her boyfriend's pocket. "Wait, that is Torren, right?"

Nash chuckled and looked down at his pocket. "Yes, that's Torren. She has a hard time turning back into a human in times like these, so she's gonna chill for a second. Right, love?"

Her little frog hands covered her frog eyes. She groaned. It was quite comical to watch.

"He's all right, Torren." Nash gave me a reassuring smile, then turned his attention back to the wounds in my arm. "Minimal damage."

The blood was minimal because I was under water, but as a siren, when I breached the surface, it would bleed even more.I was lucky that Nash was there when it happened. Then again, something told me he followed Torren in public places often, just in case.

Something moved in my peripheral vision. When I looked toward it, I realized it was just Reese joining her sisters and Dawson at the edge of the pool. My stomach tightened into knots. It'd been years since I let my siren nature come out, and being under the water looking up at the others made me feel like a fish in a tank being watched. I hated it. Every second of it.

"Hey, Dawson?" Reese tapped on my cousin's shoulder. When he looked up to her, she pointed to the patio behind them. "Any chance you're capable of pushing all this water back into the pool? Like, with your wand?"

Dawson opened his mouth, then shut it. "Shit. Yeah, I can try that." He pulled his wand out of his Cruise ship captain's blazer and did a little swish and flick.

At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the surface of the pool rippled with a new current. For some reason, my gaze shot over to Chip. Her cheeks flushed. She grimaced, then bit her bottom lip.

I looked back to Nash. "So, Doc, what now?"

"Once the pool is filled again, I'm going to bring you up so I can bandage your wounds." He went around behind me, then slid his hands under my arms. "Okay, in three . . . two . . . one?—"

He lifted me up, pushing off with his feet on the bottom of the pool. Sharp pain shot through my tail. I clenched my teeth and groaned to stop myself from screaming. We drifted up to the surface. By the time he pulled me to the edge of the pool, my body was trembling from the pain. I breathed in short breaths like I was about to deliver a baby.

Torren leapt out of Nash's pocket and landed right beside him on the pool deck. "Monroe, I'm so sorry." Her hands fluttered over me like she wanted to try to help but had no idea where to start.

"It's okay." I wanted to reassure her I was okay, but everything in my body just hurt. My words even sounded halfhearted. I'd never known pain like this.

"I figured you'd need this, Doc." Holden dropped Nash's bag next to him. I must've made a face because he shrugged. "I'm used to shifter accidents."

"Thanks, Holden." Nash hopped out of the water and sat on the edge, pulling me closer to him. He opened his bag and pulled out a roll of bandage. Except it wasn't normal human bandages. This looked more like a thick blue gel with glitter in it."I didn't used to carry this on me, but with Chip and Pickles bringing all these sirens on land, I figured I needed to start having it at the ready."

"What is it?" I watched as he began to unroll it.

"This will stick to your skin and scales, even when you're in the water. It will help heal the gashes on your forearm and hip."

"Oh no! I really am so sorry." Torren put her face in her hands and sucked in a hard breath. "Oh my God, I did violence . . . They're going to deport me."

"No one is going to deport you." Reese motioned toward me. "This was an accident. That doesn't count."

"But . . . but how do you know?" She looked completely miserable.

The most difficult part about it was I couldn't even muster up the feelings to be angry at her because it truly was an accident. Nash made quick work of wrapping my arm with the gel bandage and then he smoothed a large piece of it over my sides where more deep scratches marred my skin and gouged into my scales.

"You didn't intend to hurt me, Torren. I crashed into you." I gave her a weak smile. "And really, I'll be fine as soon as I get out of this pool."

Chip didn't say anything. She just watched with wide eyes, like for the first time in forever she didn't know what to say. We both looked in a completely wretched state. Her in her ski instructor jacket and gloves that were almost the same color as the shimmering purple scales on her tail, which was quite the comical combination, then there was me in my safari tour guide costume that was ripped across my arm and my torso. The pants and boots were lying at the bottom of the pool, torn to shreds from when I shifted. My very blue tail.

Nash dropped back into the water next to me. "Hold on to the side please, and let me know if anything hurts."

He ran his hands over my tail, and I flinched from the probing touch. Pain shot from my tail, up my hips, and right into my back. I sucked in a hissing breath and tried to blow it out. But every time he touched me, I wanted to flinch away and hold my breath longer. Nash moved to my side, then hopped out of the pool to sit on the edge. When he said nothing, we all stared at him.

"He's okay, right?" Chip sat up and let her tail hang into the pool. She actually looked worried about me.

Nash grimaced. "Yes, and yet no at the same time."

It was astounding how much water could flood a yard, but one whale incident and here we were with a backyard filled with puddles and grass that looked more like a swamp. Sure, Dawson had sent most of the water back into the pool, but the swamp effect remained.

Pickles glanced between me, Chip, and Torren. "What exactly happened out here just now?"

Torren groaned and raised her hand. "I happened."

"This wasn't your fault." I glared at Chip.

Chip sighed. "You were just collateral damage in a war Monroe and I have been having for weeks.Clearly we both need to start behaving like adults. I'm sorry, Torren."

"Well, I won't hold my breath waiting for you two to apologize to each other." Reese just shook her head like a disapproving, disappointed mother.

Dawson bent down low next to me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

He placed his hand on my arm and waited until I looked up at him. His face fell into a mask of concern. It'd been too long since he'd seen my tail, and he knew exactly why. Part of me wanted to shy away from his worry, but the other part of me wanted to acknowledge how awful this all felt.

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Really, I'm all right. Just minor injuries. Once I get out of this pool, I'll be even better."

"Let's get you out then." Dawson bent down and wrapped his hands around my upper arms, looking like he was about to help me out, when Nash placed his hand over Dawson's.

"Hold up, Dawson." Nash shook his head and forced Dawson's hands off me. "You can't move him."

"What?" My head snapped toward Nash. " Why ?"

"I know you just want to pretend like it's all normal and you'll be fine, but you can't risk shifting back, Monroe."

Pickles knelt down between Dawson and Nash. "It won't be that bad. I promise. We'll make sure you have everything you need here to heal up. Won't we, Chip?"

Chip glared at her sister. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Right, because Monroe was innocent in all this." Reese crossed her arms over her chest and glared at both of her sisters.

They looked like they were about to get into an argument, and I really didn't want to hear it. I held my uninjured hand up, stopping all the conversations. Then I turned back to Nash. "What do you mean I can't shift back?"

Nash cleared his throat. "You can't shift back until you're healed. You can, of course, stay in your own pool and take your time to heal, or you can go to the ocean and heal more quickly."

My brow furrowed. "How much more quickly?"

"The bones in your tail are broken. In the pool, it'll take a few weeks. But in the ocean, perhaps a week, maybe less if you behave." He spoke so matter-of-factly, like this wasn't the worst thing to happen to me in a long time.

My stomach rolled. "And if I shift back?"

"You'll only break your bones more, and rather than taking weeks to heal, it'll take months." Nash shook his head. "I don't recommend even trying the human bones route, my friend."

I knew he was right. I felt it in my tail. I was truly injured and shifting would make it worse. I likely wouldn't be able to walk. Even now I could barely swim. "So, if I go to the ocean, I'll heal faster?"

"Yes, for sure. I'm not sure how to explain it, but for a siren the ocean is healing and rejuvenating."

Pickles nodded. "It is and you can stay in the castle with our father. Chip will make sure you get there okay."

"Chip?" My brow furrowed. "Why Chip?"

I didn't want her. She was the reason I was in this mess. I couldn't trust her to make sure I'd get to the castle safely. She'd let me drown, if I could drown. Okay, that was definitely too harsh. She had, in fact, just saved me from cracking my skull open on the pool wall. I also knew she never meant for that mess to happen. I'd sprung my siren song on her and—if I were being honest, embarrassed her in front of a whole house full of people—so she retaliated. This was par for the course with us. But that was more reason to not have her be my escort to King Tirian. We couldn't seem to behave ourselves with each other.

Chip narrowed her eyes on Pickles. "Yeah, why Chip?"

Reese moved next to Pickles and crossed her arms over her chest. "Two reasons. One, you're already in siren form. Two, and call me crazy, but I think you might have something to do with this incident."

Chip sighed. "One, he started it tonight by forcing me to shift out here in front of everyone. Let's not pretend he's innocent here. Two, I didn't intend him to get hurt. I just didn't see Torren walk up until it was too late. And three, most importantly, I have a meeting with Lexington Prescott and the Vaunteros tonight?—"

"Dawson and I can handle that." Pickles moved in closer to Reese and the two of them looked like a wall in front of her."Dawson has the experience working with both of them. And after all, you and Monroe both said we were better suited to handle all the professional conversations."

Chip's jaw dropped. "What if I don't want you to handle it? I wanted to go to that meeting that I got for us" Chip raised her chin, looking as indignant as ever, which was hilarious considering she was on the ground soaking wet with her tail sticking out and they both towered over her.

Pickles shook her head. "I don't think you have a choice here, does she, Reese?"

"No, I don't think she does." She motioned toward me. "Monroe shouldn't swim. You'll have to get him down to Father in the castle."

I raised my hand. "What if I don't want her to take me?"

"Stay out of it," Reese and Pickles snapped toward me at the same time.

Nash cleared his throat. "In all fairness, you can't swim. If I could put your tail in a cast, I would, but it honestly doesn't make sense. You have to try to keep it still to let it heal. If you swim, you'll delay your healing."

Chip crossed her arms with a huff. "Fine, I'll take him."

Annoyance fired through my chest. Things were just happening to me, and I had no control over it. It reminded me of a time when I was little and had no control, and now I felt that again. I didn't want to go to the sea, I didn't want to go with her , and I had no idea how I was to spend weeks underwater when I hadn't been there since I was a child.

"And I have no say in this?"

Torren stepped forward. "I could try to hel?—"

"NO!" everyone yelled at the same time.

She hung her head. "That's fair."

Nash reached up and tucked her teal hair behind her ear. "It's okay, love."

Holden shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "I have my truck. We can get them to the shoreline that way."

Dawson pulled his wand from his pocket and wagged it. "I can get them into the truck."

"Excellent." I groaned and rolled my eyes. Everything was a mess, and it was happening too quickly.

Dawson flicked his wand, and I lifted out of the pool and floated in the air. "Whoa, hey."

Chip drifted weightlessly beside me, all the while giving me a killing glare. Drops of water trickled off our bodies and dripped onto the ground. Pickles and Reese raced ahead of us with wet towels and blankets in hand. But they had their necklaces on and wouldn't change unless they wanted to. Dawson walked behind us with his wand in hand. Streams of light drifted from it and wrapped around us. Chip's arms pinwheeled as if she were trying to keep her balance, but there was nothing either of us could do.

Reese and Pickles slapped the blankets into the bed of the truck, and Dawson gently laid us down next to each other. Chip scooted to the side, pressing herself to the edge of the truck and as far away from me as possible. She let out a huff and growled in the back of her throat. I would have slid over to piss her off if I could have, but moving my tail outside of the water was too painful to even try.

Pickles laid a damp towel over my tail. "Just to make sure you don't get dry on the ride over."

I sighed. "Thanks."

She placed her hand on the arm without the gel bandages. "It'll be okay. I'll let my father know you're coming."

I patted her hand and sighed. "Hopefully I won't be too much of an inconvenience."

"Yeah, right," Chip grumbled.

Pickles threw a wet towel at her, and it smacked into her chest and face. "Be nice."

"Impossible."

"No."

We spoke at the same time, and she shot me a sour look.

"I'll be by to check on you later tonight, Monroe," Nash said with a thumbs-up.

I nodded to him. The truck rumbled to life, vibrating the bed beneath us, which sent little jolts of pain through my tail. Dawson jumped into the front seat with Holden. Reece, Nash, Pickles, and Torren waved to us as we started to drive away.

"This is all your fault."

"How is this my fault?" Her voice rose with annoyance. "You're the one who siren sang me into shifting."

"You deserved it." She'd been awful and annoying and just wanted to test the limits on how much a person could take. In other words, she was being typical Chip.

"The same could be said for you." She crossed her arms. "Who the hell hides the fact they're a siren?"

"I wasn't hiding anything."

"Well, now you're just a lying liar who lies." She grabbed the edge of the wet towel and swatted me with it. "I thought you were a mage."

I grabbed the towel and yanked it from her. "Because me being a siren would make you act any differently toward me?"

"Absolutely not. You're still an ass." She huffed. "But as a siren, you should know not to force a shift on anyone. You should respect your fellow siren more."

"Don't play all innocent with me." I ground my teeth. "You've made my life a living hell since the moment we met, and for what? To prove a point? You act all high and mighty, Princess, but you're no angel."

"I never pretended to be, and if you didn't act like you owned the Seven Seas, then maybe we would've gotten along better."

"No one can get along with you." I sucked in a deep breath. "Because you are impossible. And everyone knows it."

I was being an asshole, and even I knew it. She wasn't the demon I'd thought she was when we first met, but all this anger inside of me mixed with the pain had me lashing out at her.

"Right, like you know me so well." She swatted my arm, and those ski gloves slipped over my damp skin. "You know what they say when you assume things. It makes an ass out of you and me."

"You know, I'm the one who's going to potentially miss the rest of the season. Spooky season is my absolute favorite of the year, and you've managed to ruin every moment of it from the second you stole my pocket watch." I was so angry I wanted to yell, yet I forced my voice to be low and seething. "I'm going to miss sardines night, my favorite game, the haunted house, and pumpkin carving all because of YOU."

"Grow the hell up and accept your responsibility in this situation. It's not like you were oozing politeness or even just being remotely nice to me. You saw a siren and automatically you didn't like me. Might I remind you that you drove your boat to follow me to the cove, then chewed me out without giving me a chance." She sniffed the air. "What's that I smell? A bit of self-loathing?"

My brow furrowed. "What kind of bullshit are you talking about?"

"You didn't like me because I'm a siren, and all this time you kept it a secret that you were in fact a siren as well. So, tell me, do you hate yourself or just all sirens in general?" The truck ran over a bump and the smell of the sea filled the air.

"That's crap. I don't hate sirens or myself. That privilege is reserved for you." The moment the words left my mouth, I froze.

I hadn't meant that. The unnerving truth of how much I didn't hate Chip hit me the moment I said those words. But I didn't know how to take them back. I was too angry to think that rationally. The pain in my tail and in my heart were too much. There was a very specific reason I hadn't shifted and had stayed out of the ocean for nearly fifteen years and every second we got closer to the shore, the trauma was unraveling me.

Her eyes were wide and round, and her jaw dropped.

Dawson cleared his throat from inside the truck and turned to talk to us through the open window in the back. "Are you two finished?"

"Yeah, we're done," Chip said softly and turned her face away from me.

"Because we're almost there," Holden added.

Chip turned around and shoved the window shut between us and them. I opened my mouth to say something, but when she didn't look at me, I just ground my teeth together. The silence was heavy between us, and for some reason I didn't like it. I'd wanted her to stop talking, but at the same time, I also didn't. It was an odd sensation. After so many things had happened and now my injuries, I suddenly felt overwhelmed and exhausted.

When the truck rolled to a stop, we remained sitting there in silence.

Dawson moved to my side of the truck bed and leaned in closer. "It won't be for that long."

"I really hope not." I lowered my voice and glanced over my shoulder at her for a second before turning back to him. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Brave face, Cousin." He stepped back and pulled his wand out.

A moment later, we were both hovering in the air over the sandy beach. I could already feel the cool air, smell the salt in the water, and feel the misty drops on my skin. He lowered us into the water, and I floated there for a moment, letting myself adjust to weightlessness. Instantly the pain in my tail eased, and I sucked in a deep breath. Chip swished the water around me as she moved through the water with a graceful glide. She still didn't speak to me, and I knew my words had affected her, but I couldn't take them back now.

Suddenly, the water rippled and parted.King Tirian rose from the water.

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Your Majesty."

The siren had long silvery hair and a matching beard. He wore a simple golden crown and two gold matching cuffs. His golden eyes seemed calm and kind at the same time.

Chip swam over to him and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "Hi, Dad."

"Hello, darling." He gave her a warm grin. "And what kind of trouble have we gotten ourselves into today?"

I wanted to say he knew her so well, but I kept my lips pressed together. Chip didn't return his smile. "He's hurt. Needs a place to stay while he heals."

King Tirian turned toward me. "Of course. We're here to help all sirens."

"I appreciate that, sir."

"No thanks needed." He turned toward Chip. "And you will see to his care."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Me? Why me?"

"Now, now, your sisters told me all about what's been going on?—"

"Really? They're tattling on me now?" She looked toward the moon out over the water like she was going to take off. Her father held very still and silent. He didn't go after her or try to get her to engage. She gave a little frustrated growl but turned back to him.

"Fine, as you wish, Father. I'll play nursemaid until he's better." She turned to look me in the eye. "Then I never want to see him again."

"Fine."

"Fine."

My heart sank. I'd really done a number on this situation. "Fine."

King Tirian looked from me to her and then back. "Excellent, it's settled. We're all fine."

I nodded.

He waved his hand and the tide rippled around me, and I felt myself being pulled deeper under water. The water pulled and moved over my scales, and it felt oddly comforting. Chip swam beside me as we went deeper.

King Tirian moved effortlessly through the water on the other side of me. He motioned toward the direction we were going in. "I have some business to attend to. Chip, you've got him the rest of the way. My current will take you."

"Yeah," was all she said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty?—"

"You don't have to call me that, Monroe." He gave me a soft, sad smile that I did not like at all. "Last time you saw me you were a child. Manners are more a thing for the youngsters, for obvious reasons. As an adult, you can just call me Tirian."

A hot lump of emotion formed in my throat. He knew the last time I'd been in the water. And he knew that I knew that he knew. My heart sank. I nodded.

His smile warmed. He squeezed my shoulder. "Welcome home, son. The ocean missed you."

And then he was gone.

I swallowed roughly as I was left alone with Chip. I needed to say something to fix what I'd done. I'd crossed a line. Possibly more than one. I didn't hate her and maybe she was right, maybe I hated some lingering resentment toward other sirens. I could hear my grandfather's voice in my head telling me I needed to get therapy. Too bad I'd never listened.

More uncomfortable silence lingered between us, and I found myself wanting to say something to break it. Yet there were no words. Pain and fatigue riddled my body. Yet when we traveled over a small rise and the castle came into view, I sucked in a deep breath. The moonlight shined down through the water, bathing the castle in blue warmth. The ripples from the surface reflected down over the gleaming exterior. The castle was tall and made of gleaming sand and crushed iridescent shells that made it sparkle even at night. There were multiple floors and the windows were glassless. Turtles peacefully drifted in and out of the building and bubbles rose from the windows and drifted toward the surface. Two turrets stood at each side of the castle, their roofs looking like golden teardrops. At the center of the castle, the roof was domed with multicolored sea glass.

We drifted closer and I glided through one of those windows into a large room with tall ceilings. Seaweed hung like curtains, fluttering on each side of the windows. My body went into an oversized bed that was made from one huge seashell. More seaweed floated up from the floor and floated around the bed up to the ceiling. It was almost enclosed completely and felt comfortable and homey. I spread my arms and settled in.

"You good?" Her voice was nearly monotone as she spoke to me.

I sucked in a deep breath and the feel of water instead of oxygen filling my lungs made me flinch. I didn't know how I'd gone so long without being down here, but even now it was odd to me. "Yeah."

"Great." She turned for the window.

"Chip . . ." I didn't know why I called out after her.

She glanced back over her shoulder. "What?"

"What I said before . . . I didn't mean it." It was the closest I'd ever gotten to an apology, yet not quite.

It wasn't sufficient. I needed to make sure those words got out. I needed to say more. Being angry and hurt didn't give me the right to behave like a monster.

She turned back for the window. "Whatever, Monroe?—"

"I'm sorry."

She froze. She didn't turn around or even glance back at me. She just stopped moving.

I licked my lips and balled my hands into fists at my side. "I don't hate you. I just . . . I know you didn't mean for this to happen, and I know you blocked me from hitting my head. So, thank you."

Still she didn't move.

"I shouldn't have used my siren song on you. That crossed the line," I admitted softly. "As a siren, I knew better."

"I'm going to get you food so you can heal."

Without saying another word, she swam out the window, leaving me there tormented by my own thoughts.