"You're a lot stronger than I thought you were the day I helped your mother rescue you," she admits.
As flattering as that statement is, there are still questions and disappointment burning through my mind.
"What did you stand to gain from helping my mates?" I all but demand from her.
This time, there's no mistaking the despair in her voice. "The people of the sea weren't the only ones who lost something in the curse. They also aren't the only ones with the hope of finding happiness once all of this is over."
All of a sudden, she jumps from her seat, startling me so badly that I almost tip back in my own chair. The table rattles with our movement then groans as she leans across it to grab my wrist. "It's coming, child. We've only a few mere moments left here, and I don't know when I'll be able to find you again after this. Whatever you do, you and the princes must find a way to break this curse without letting the darkness get to you. Warn them. Make them listen. Once the curse is broken, find the others from the prophecy. Otherwise we're all doomed."
I open my mouth to ask the avalanche of questions that now brings crashing down on my head, but I don't get the chance to. The corners of the room where the dark has been hiding go pitch black, and the blackness starts to creep across the room. In a panic, the witch urges, "Go now, child. I can hold it off, but not for long. Heed our words here today. Now, go!"
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.