Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

LXVII: Something Wetter

The sun was setting as Granny's chosen Sentinels arrived at the edge of the lake once more. Despite the Sentinel's protests, Mara, Tai, and Dora were the only ones there. They'd been selected for their relatively pacific holes in the mermaid invasion—and, in Dora's case, the Baetatá's peace treaty with the mermaids. Granny was there too, walking a few steps behind the trio with her palms turned downward.

"We're close," Granny whispered.

Mara swallowed hard. Something felt wrong in the world; throughout the entire day, the fog hadn't dispersed, and it was now thicker than ever. It was close to five in the afternoon already, and the Brazilian winter was shoving the sun down the horizon line a little earlier than usual. As they walked, sinister swirls of white fog took form around their feet.

Dora was fully dressed this time, wearing jeans shorts and a baggy The Cure t-shirt, her skin ashen-white and free of fire. "Should I light a torch for us?" she asked, lifting a hand.

"Not if you want to reach the wooden deck in one piece," Granny said. "I have a feeling that this fog is seeping from the tunnels—and if I'm right, we might have a few of my cousins around. Let's be careful."

Cousins. Mara thought it better not to ask about it.

They walked past the baby blue Ford Escort, and a shiver climbed up Mara's spine. Lulu, Bernardo, and Falchi had arrived only a few hours earlier, but the car was already covered with a thick layer of dust, dead leaves, and rust.

"What the fuck," Mara muttered.

"They're here," Tai said.

Another shiver, a little more intense this time, shook Mara's shoulders. She was about to ask where and, more importantly, who when her foot caught on something on the ground. She stumbled forward, trying to find her balance.

When she straightened, Tai, Granny, and Dora had disappeared.

"Shit," she grumbled. The fog covered her skin like a blanket. It was so thick and so dense, it felt like a sheen of icy water sticking to her body. "Hello?" she called. "Anyone there?"

No one answered. Something—a presence—grew against her back, and once she turned around, a silhouette waited for her. Mara's eyebrows twitched. A breeze blew past her, making her hair dance and blowing away the cloudy-white curtains to show a heavy-set woman watching her.

Words failed her. Mara opened and closed her lips, dread and happiness and confusion swirling inside her and fighting for domination.

"Mom!" she shouted.

The woman smiled. Mom opened her arms wide and waited as Mara ran toward her and flung herself onto her arms...only to open her eyes again, even if she didn't remember closing them.

She was drenched, trembling from head to toe.

What the fuck.

Mara coughed when the water in her mouth threatened to drip into her lungs. She was about to ask what was happening when a voice rang in her ears.

"I told you!" Tai shouted. "We don't have anything to do with Jano or whatever he did with your father—now please, just let her go!"

"My Prince," came Dora's voice. "I understand your impasse, but I think you can see from my retinue that the flesh is not the only one to be affected if—"

"I've heard enough, Dora. We've all heard enough!"

More water tried to invade her throat so Mara stretched her neck up as much as she could, arms and legs kicking to keep above water. Her stomach dropped when she recognized her surroundings. She was deep into the freezing-cold waters of Saint Lucrécia Lake while a strong slimy, warm arm wrapped around her neck, and the other pressed tight around her middle. What the fuck.