Mermaids And The Vampires Who Love Them

22. SELF-PITY IS A LIFESTYLE

"Someone's here!" says the oily-voiced man.

"What the ...?" Sharkweather burbles.

I don't hear the rest because Pierce and I are flying across the room in a blur. I guess he's hopped-up on mermaid blood, and it's making him even faster than usual. Hopefully, even if they see us, they won't know who or what we are.

Everything is going great until we get to the exit, and I realize that my hair has been sparking. I couldn't see it when we were invisible, but now it will give us away. Shelly is blocking the door, but Pierce doesn't slow down. At the last second, Shelly leaps out of the way, and we blast past her, but I know she saw my hair go off. She will totally know I was there.

Pierce flies us up the stairs and out onto the deck. In seconds, we're in the sky flying away from the yacht over the dark water. My pulse throbs in my neck, and my hair is sparking dark purple, red, and gold. I've never even seen this combination! Now that we're off the yacht and out of danger, my rage with Pierce escalates. I really can't be with Pierce right now. He was hired to watch me? This whole thing has been a job for him? I am beyond hurt. A giant lump forms in my throat, and I can barely speak. Finally, I manage to say, "Pierce. Let go of me!"

"Never."

"I don't care if my dad gets mad at you for abandoning your post. I was nothing but a job for you this entire time?"

"Waverly, it's not like that."

"So, you aren't working for my dad?"

He looks so guilty. The truth is there on his face. He was pretending to like me this whole time. I hold back a sob. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. "Let me go!"

"No!"

"I warned you!" I shove him. It takes more strength than hurtling great whites, but I am pretty strong, so after a few tries, I push him into the mist while I throw myself into the ocean. Thank Poseidon, I wore a flouncy skirt tonight because my legs transform into a tail in mere seconds, though my underwear is shredded and my shoes float to the surface. The smart mermaid always wears skirts or dresses whenever she is going near the ocean. I cannot tell you how good it feels to be back in the water. Even though it seems that the toxins don't affect me, I have been avoiding the bay. But now, I can feel how much my body yearned to be here. The only problem is, I'm crying magical mermaid tears, and I cannot stop. I look down and see a palm tree sprouting from the bottom of the bay.

Why didn't Pierce tell me that my dad hired him? I really thought he loved me. And this entire time ... I try to choke back a sob. This entire time he was being paid to be with me! And I kissed him! I gave him my blood!

I cry even harder and start to hiccup. A shiver of great white sharks swims toward me. "Get away!" I telepathically say to them in Mermish. Poseidon's nails, I wish I had paid better attention in my Conversational Shark class at Pacifica. At the time, I thought I'd have no use for the language.

They swim faster, their great maws open, showing rows of pointy teeth with pink remnants of previous meals.

"Please, you guys! You really don't want to come near me when I'm crying."

But it's too late. One by one, each shark transforms into a seagull. Now I have to freaking rescue six seagulls! I'm really not in any state to rescue anyone else when I can't even rescue myself, but the newly made seagulls are pathetic, flapping their wings and trying to figure out how to breathe underwater. Ugh! I grab them, one at a time—yes, while being scratched and bloodied by the claws at the ends of their flailing webbed feet—and throw them up out of the water and into the sky. Once all six of them are safely airborne, and my arms and face are bleeding, I jet into turboswim. I have to get out of the water before I mess up the entire ecosystem.