OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2) Read online

  The Merworld Water Wars

  OVERFALLS

  (Wave Two)

  By

  Sutton Shields

  Copyright © 2013 Sutton Shields

  All Rights Reserved

  Further Information: http://suttonshields.blogspot.com/

  http://twitter.com/SuttonShields

  Cover Art by The Incomparable Claudia McKinney at phatpuppyart.com

  Cover Design by The Phenomenal Ashley at bookish-brunette.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons—living, dead, merperson, or non-merperson—business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanned, recording, or otherwise, without written permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author’s rights. Please only purchase authorized editions.

  Kindle Edition.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return this to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For my papaw, who is undoubtedly entertaining all of heaven with big band jams and cheering for his LSU Tigers…and probably enjoying the bakery section of the puffy white clouds.

  Table of Contents:

  Chapter One: The Root of Beer

  Chapter Two: Sanity-Not-So-Much Savior

  Chapter Three: Imperia by Night

  Chapter Four: Escape Hatch

  Chapter Five: Hear Me Out

  Chapter Six: The Importance of Being Un

  Chapter Seven: Mer-Nor Games

  Chapter Eight: The Wish Ceremony

  Chapter Nine: Train Wrecked

  Chapter Ten: Opening Wars

  Chapter Eleven: Tharnossa, Tharnossa, Tharnossa

  Chapter Twelve: Fins v. Feet

  Chapter Thirteen: The Crying Doll Face

  Chapter Fourteen: Threading Needles

  Chapter Fifteen: Sinfully Thankful

  Chapter Sixteen: Prince in a Pear Tree

  Chapter Seventeen: Buried Under

  Chapter Eighteen: My Very Bloody Valentine

  Chapter Nineteen: Stormy Weather Fair

  Chapter Twenty: Fire, Ice, & Broken Things

  Chapter Twenty-One: Promenade

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Warped Graduation

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Smells Like Death

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Destructed

  Chapter One

  The Root of Beer

  July: A new kind of freedom

  Monthly Life Caption: A New Kind of Stupid

  Mood: Rejuvenated

  Eating: Not spinach…yet

  Music: Whatever inspires me to kick major fin

  If getting it on with a merman was anything like awakening as the Siren Savior, then I’m in for one hell of a ride someday. Nothing compared to my inner Savior bursting free beneath my skin—not the sparkly Fourth of July fireworks, not the bubbly joy of having Troy back, alive…not even my boyfriend’s very large, very sneaky hand traveling towards my right bum cheek could measure up.

  As one final Savior-surge trickled through my veins, I released a sigh and followed up with a very satisfied, “Ooh.”

  “Damn. I’m good. I didn’t even completely grab the rear I love to view. I’m trying to ease from gentleman back to Neanderthal. Guess I’m ahead of schedule,” said Troy, looking exceedingly proud.

  “Oh, that wasn’t you. It was me. I mean, I did it to myself,” I said, feeling seriously energized.

  “Really? When? And…how?” he asked, staring strangely at my body.

  “Huh?”

  “Never mind. It’s just, uh, well…what are you talking about?”

  “Troy…I’m awake.”

  “Uh-huh. Open eyes, talking, and sitting upright generally define being awake.”

  “You don’t get it, and I sure as hell can’t explain it. But, I do know what we need.”

  “Whatever you have in mind, you won’t hear me complain,” he said, smirking sexily.

  “Manakel,” I said.

  “What?!”

  I jumped up off the sand and started shouting for the snarky, horny, maybe-ally angel. “Manakel! Manakel!”

  “You have got to be kidding me! Need I remind you what happened the last time you shouted for the winged wonder?”

  “You’re not going to go all demon on me tonight, Troy. Besides, even if you did, I have a feeling I could kick your fin from here to Florida before you could say gutter-brain,” I said, winking. I continued calling for the angel who was clearly ignoring me. “Hey, sorta-angel, get your feathered butt down here!”

  “What is all the noise? I do have a head, and it does ache from time to time…like now.” Manakel swooped down from the clouds, landing right in front of me. Though his auburn hair was a tangled mess, the ridiculously handsome Aussie angel oozed sex from every invisible pore on his chiseled face. “Bleeding fireworks. Mortals ooh and ahh over the sparkly little pretties, but those bloody things are louder than thunder to us…and they singe feathers.”

  “Look, I’m sorry to shake you from your cloud, but something’s happened and—”

  “You’ve awakened,” he said, staring into my eyes, smiling.

  “Full force,” I said.

  “What the hell am I missing?” asked Troy, agitated.

  “You really want me to answer that one, mate?” asked Manakel.

  “I know a group of hammerheads that would kill for some flambéed angel. Interested?” said Troy, standing up.

  “Ooh, little fish prince is pulling out the fancy vocabulary. Very masculine. I’m trembling with fear,” said Manakel, faking a quiver.

  “Lord Almighty. There’s no time for a testosterone-filled war of snark,” I said. “Manakel, I need you to find Doctor Tenly. Tell him to bring everybody—my mom, Meikle, Airi, Bobby, Mr. Gibbs, Benji, and Treeva—to Hambury House immediately. And I need you to find Trey and Ophelia. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yeah, all right, but only because I don’t want to anger the Savior and her new set of skills,” said Manakel.

  “Aw, hell. You’ve awakened as the Savior! Damn, I’m slow today,” said Troy, shaking his head.

  “And the brain finally shows up to the conversation,” Manakel quipped.

  “I think almost dying gives me a get-out-of-dumb-free card,” muttered Troy, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking a little sand.

  “Of course it does, babe,” I said, stroking his arm, and probably his ego. “Manakel, I need you to break-neck it, okay? We’re talking fast.”

  “Will do. Meet you both at Hambury?”

  “We’ll be there, and thank you,” I said.

  “Eh, that’s what angels are for…or so I hear,” he said before flying out of sight.

  I flipped around to face Troy. “Wanna race to Hambury?”

  “Not thinking that’s a good idea.”

  “Why? Oh, duh. You’re still recovering and shouldn’t overexert yourself.”

  “Nah, I’m good to go. Might be a little slower than usual, but I’d still whip you.”

  “Oh, really? Well, ten bucks says differently.”

  “You’re aw
ake, I get that. Your powers have been activated. Thing is, you’ll need to learn how to implement those powers. It’s not like flipping a switch, Marina. Pretty sure it’s not as easy as you think.”

  “Bull crap. Watch.” I tied back my unruly red hair and started sprinting down the beach…only my sprint was certainly nothing super. The fact that Troy was already waiting for me confirmed my lack of super speed, as did my seriously embarrassing case of wheezes. Crouched over with my hands on my knees, I looked up at him. “So, we’ll take your truck, then?”

  “Truck it is,” he said, working very hard not to laugh.

  We hurried to his driveway, hopped in his truck, and headed for Hambury House. After stumping King Zale with my ability to create a weird golden shield from the palms of my hands, Saxet Shores resembled a ghost town. Everything was far too quiet and far too foreboding.

  “There are no lights on…anywhere,” I said as we drove by dark house after dark house. “That can’t be good.”

  “Marina, you single-handedly saved Airi, Tree, Benji, and me. No matter how scared you were, you talked to them like a Savior…the Savior. I have no doubt Zale called for some emergency Ravenflame meeting,” said Troy. “Knowing Doctor Tenly is helping us only adds to his wrath.”

  “Not to mention your dad returning to rescue you from the skinning.”

  “Zale has a lot to concern himself with. He knows you will be formidable. Hell, you already are,” he said.

  “Oh, yeah, my not-so-super sprint screams threat.”

  “Those powers will come in time, trust me. We’ll rain check on that race. I’m kinda curious to see if I can beat the one and only Savior.”

  “Honestly, I don’t think I can possibly win against Troy, the Trifecta—prince, merman, demon,” I said playfully.

  Troy’s smile faded suddenly, and the steering wheel was in serious danger of snapping in two. “Don’t talk about my demon side like it’s some noble thing. It’s not. It’s evil. It does evil. I do evil.”

  “That’s in the past now. It forced you to do evil, yes, but—”

  “But nothing. I’m dangerous.”

  “Damn it, listen to me. The demon is not your soul, Troy. Everything in my gut tells me that the demon inside you can be used for good. I can’t explain it…but I feel it.”

  Troy loosened his hold on the wheel. “You don’t know how much I want to believe that could be true.”

  “I’ll prove it to you someday. You’ll see.”

  He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Hope so.”

  “Not digging the doubtful edge in your voice. I mean, you got around Benji’s stalking blocker to try and save me. That wasn’t the demon working against you, Troy. That was you making it work for you.”

  “It wasn’t the best stalking blocker I’ve ever seen. Benji’s good, but he ain’t that good,” he said, winking.

  “For once I hit on a really insightful example and you have to pull the macho merman mentality. Is it really so hard for you to see that there are moments where you and the demon are a force for good?”

  “Marina, I couldn’t see those moments if the sun, moon, stars, a billion flashlights, and Rudolph’s nose teamed up to shine the way.”

  “So that’s an overly dramatic ‘yes,’ then. You make my job tough, merman.”

  “It’s not your job, Rubylocks,” he said, kissing my hand.

  “You’re right, it’s not. It’s my duty to show the man I love just how good he is.”

  “Not to alarm you, but the word ‘love’ just escaped your lips during regular conversation, minus the gag.”

  “How do you like that? I’m totally maturing,” I said.

  “Here’s one place in Saxet Shores that isn’t dark,” said Troy, pulling up to Hambury House.

  Every light in the peach-colored manor was on, glowing like beacons of warmth and hope. “Kind of ironic,” I said.

  “It really is. I don’t know about you, but I like the symbolism,” he said, climbing out of his truck. Ever the gentleman—despite his protests to the contrary—Troy zipped over to open the door for me. Hmm. Either he was truly being a gentleman or he was totally showing off his speed skills—doubt it, though…that was just my bruised ego talking.

  I smiled and took his hand as we headed into Doctor Tenly’s mansion. The hall was quiet, yet oddly inviting. The bright glow of chandeliers seemed to smile as we passed beneath them, almost as if they were guiding us to the kindness waiting behind the first door on the left. With barely a turn of the study’s golden doorknob, we found ourselves pulled into a swarm of open arms and smiling faces.

  “Hey, Squiggle.”

  “Trey! Oh, God, I’m so glad you’re safe.” It felt so good to feel his hug again. “You look good. Sporting some bigger guns, there,” I said, squeezing his arms. “Whoa, what is up with your hair?” His once caramel brown hair now had a single white streak, right near his forehead.

  “Uh, yeah, I dunno,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “As soon as Ophelia and I got back on land, it just kind of appeared.”

  “It’s actually pretty hot, very superhero.” Trey’s smile went from meek to cocky in under a second. “Here,” I said, removing his lucky owl pendant from my neck. “Think this belongs to you.”

  “Thanks for taking care of it for me,” he said, securing it around his neck.

  “Think it protected me as much as I did it,” I said. “Now…what the hell was that God-awful clue you left for me?”

  “You figured it out, didn’t you?” said Trey.

  “It’s amazing. An intuitionist-slash-truth decipherer who can’t craft a clue to save his life…or, more precisely, to save mine, Meikle’s, or Polly’s,” I said, playfully punching his arms.

  “Ha, ha, very funny,” said Trey, before being shoved sideways by an enthusiastic Airianna.

  “Marina! Guess what?” said Airianna, grabbing my hands. “I got Katrina’s bracelet! We now have TWO Prehendo Animus stones! I’ve evened the score! Me!”

  “Doctor Tenly told me! I’m so proud of you, sweetie,” I said, hugging her.

  “Oh my Poseidon’s trident! I’m so sorry, Trey! I didn’t mean to shove you like that,” said Airianna, blushing quicker than a true angel on her wedding night.

  Trey’s crooked grin and wide eyes gawked at Airianna as though she were some fantasy pin-up girl come to life. “Um, oh, yeah, no problem at all…I mean, it’s good…it’s fine,” said Trey. “I’m Trey Campbell.”

  Airianna giggled. “Yes, I know.”

  “This just in—severe drool warning ahead. Take cover before you dorkify this conversation beyond repair,” I whispered in Trey’s ear.

  Trey growled at me before turning back to Airianna. “Right. You said my name before, so, you obviously know it. And your name is Airianna, just so you know,” said Trey, closing his eyes and grimacing at his severe lack of tact.

  “Yes, I know that one, too,” she said, swinging her shoulders a bit, her silky blond hair swaying from side to side.

  “Of course you do…because that’s your name…”

  “Oh Dear God, you need a bib for all that drool,” I muttered.

  “That’s it!” said Trey, laying a massive tickle attack on me.

  “STOP!” I said, fighting for breath between tickle-induced belly laughs.

  “Oh, dear. So many people. Excuse me, pardon me. Marina?” Ophelia Fountains had gorgeous espresso skin, violet eyes, and a smile that could literally light up the night.

  “Ophelia! I’m so glad Trey got you out of that cage,” I said.

  “I’m sorry it was me and not Polly,” she said, dropping her head.

  “No, Ophelia, don’t say that,” I said, taking her hands in mine. “I’m glad you’re safe. We’ll get Polly back, don’t worry.”

  She popped her head up to meet my eyes. “You’re not disappointed it was me?”

  “Not in the least.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad,” she said. “I kind of think Meikle would disagree.” I
followed Ophelia’s gaze to a back corner of the study.

  Leaning against the wall was our resident powerhouse Wiccan, Meikle Martinez. With her chestnut curls tied back in a messy bun, Meikle stroked her mysterious purple sequined bag and shifted her glowering, cat-like eyes from one person to the next. Preppy and persnickety Bobby Bubblestone stood nearby, keeping a rather intense eye on her.

  “Meeks is…slow to take to people. I promise she isn’t blaming you for anything. Give her time,” I said. Ophelia nodded, but still looked wary of Meikle.

  “Make way, mama with a bear hug coming through! Baby girl!” My mom’s hug was the biggest—and most crushing—of them all.

  “Mom! Are you okay?”

  “Well, considering I woke up days after that strange man—who turned out to be Principal Jeepers—knocked me out, altered my memory, reinstalled my memory, tried to convince me to leave my baby girl, and then decided we’d all come back here…I’m going to go with a big, fat ‘no’ to the ‘are you okay’ question,” said my mom. “And what’s with the gum-wad-covered wall?”

  “There’s a gum-wad-covered wall? As in chewed gum wads?” asked Ophelia.

  “Sadly, yes,” I said. “Right over there.”

  “That’s revolting. So many germs. Perhaps this doctor has some air spray, like the kind that kills 99.9 percent of germs. Or maybe he keeps a nice collection of emergency gas masks in his cabinets. He is a doctor, after all,” said Ophelia.

  “Ophelia raises an excellent point, albeit in a roundabout way. Marina, what is going on here?” Mom looked frazzled and possibly on the verge of being pissed.

  Before I could even try to figure out how to answer her, a loud, strange whistle filled the room.

  “Hello, all! Welcome to Hambury House! Some of you know me as the coolest principal in the universe; others know me as Doctor David Tenly.” Doctor Tenly stood in front of the room with Troy’s sister, Treeva Tombolo. “If everyone will just take a seat, we’ll get started.”

  “Get started doing what?” asked my mom.