Chapter 124 Free
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"I can't believe you're real," he said. "We all thought…"
"I'm dead?" she sucked in a shaky breath. "So I heard."
I noticed Ember was still holding Aria's hand, staring at her siblings with a glassy expression. "You guys, as badly as I want us all to stay here and exchange how happy we are to be able to be together again, the gas Rake released in here isn't going to last long. They will wake up soon."
"Exactly," Rake seconded. "We need to be long gone before they do."
"But they know where to find us," I glanced at him. "We can't go back to our homes."
Kayn stepped away from Aria and reached for my hand again. "I agree. It's too dangerous."
"Actually," Rake's gaze bounced between us. "We have some powerful guests at Ember's house. That, and then I have this to hand over to authorities." He lifted a file and some kind of disk, wiggling it in the air. "They won't. Trust me on this."
"Yeah, I don't think I will take your word on that. You—" Kayn started, but Hector interrupted.
"You can trust him," Hector said without a blink. "He's the reason we found you in the first place. With his efforts, Carly's human and merfolk mother's efforts, they don't stand a chance."
A groan sounded from somewhere behind Hector and Rake.
Kayn cursed. "Let's get out of here. Sounds like they're waking up."
"What's in that file and on the disk?" I asked Rake without looking at him as we moved out of the building. Both Belinda and me gasped as we discovered where we were; a tiny, even smaller than the island we lived on, surrounded by ocean, without any land in view.
"How are we supposed to get off here?" I peered at a helicopter stationed on a landing pad. "Unless any of you know how to fly that."
"We swim," Kayn shrugged, seeming unstirred by our predicament. Crazy, how I keep forgetting that I was able to swim faster and longer distances now. Not that I ever had the opportunity to do so.
I noticed Belinda turning to peer at Rake with a questioning look, and I wondered how far that teleporting ability stretched.
"What? Are you suddenly worried about me?" he eyed Belinda, then glanced at me. "You know I have my own means of travel. You just get out of here now. I can hear them from hear. Their waking up. As for your question about these," he held up the file and disk again. "I'll explain when we get back." He turned his attention on Kayn. "Get your family out of here."
Kayn nodded slowly, his gaze steady and filled with respect toward the fairy that I've never seen before.
"Thank you," I mouthed to Rake, who nodded and smiled. The smile got replaced with a look of shock when Ember suddenly threw her arms around him and whispered something to him that none of us could hear.
Hector clicked off his flashlight. "Let's go take a swim, then."
Thankfully I was spared embarrassment and it was too dark to see each other when we had to get into the water. I refused to think of how we were getting out on the other side, but that's the least of our problems.
We were free, for now, and I was just glad to get away from this place.
***
Both my moms were waiting for us with blankets and towels when we arrived back on shore. The trip was exhilarating. It didn't feel any different than swimming, except, you're much, much faster and could breathe underwater.
What made it so great was that sense of freedom after we believed there wasn't any hope left. I thought we would die in that place.
Mom, the human one, wrapped a blanket around me the moment I got out of the water and helped me dry up. As I finally stood, I noticed Kayn and Hector peering dumbstruck past the moms.
I stretched my neck to find a tall man standing there, with a bigger beard than Hector and even whiter hair. He observed us with keen interests, but never once uttered a single word.
I leaned toward my human mom, asking her, "Who's that?"
She smiled like she was the happiest person on earth. "The king."
I stiffened, peering uncomfortably at the man. Mom placed a hand on my shoulder, still smiling. "Don't worry about him. While you've been gone a lot happened."
Rake appeared behind the king, his eyes slowly sliding over us until he found Ember. He walked over to her, took her hand, and lead her toward the house.
Kayn hissed under his breath. "I swear if you make any move on my sister."
I buried an elbow in his side, shaking my head.
Ember blushed, peering back at us just as Adriane also showed up. Her eyes found Aria, and she fell into a fit of sobs. "Oh, my baby."
"Mom," Aria offered a shaky smile and slowly walked toward her mom until they collided and wrapped arms around each other.
No one said another word as they cried together, saying how much they missed and loved each other. I was still staring quietly when Kayn took my hand and urged me toward the house.
"Come, get dressed. You can borrow some clothes from Ember."
"Okay." I threw a final hesitant glance toward the king, and Kayn eyed him with reluctance as we headed for the house.
By the time we got there, Ember was already dressed and sitting by the kitchen table with Rake, waiting, while the kettle was on the boil. "I'm making us some hot chocolate," she said, her eyes finding me. "I've put some clothes out for you and Aria on my bed. Help yourself to anything you need."
I nodded, offering her a slight smile. "Thank you."
I followed Kayn up the steps, and when I turned for Ember's room, he tugged me back toward him and wrapped his arms around me, sighing. "You have no idea how worried I was about you."
"I know," I breathed, indulging in the warmth of his arms. "I worried about you too."
"I didn't care if I had to die, but if I did…"
"I'd die too," I finished his sentence. "I wanted to starve myself or probably would have done something to get myself killed just to get away…But you. I couldn't."
"I'm glad you didn't. And not for my sake, but for you," his breath stirred my hair. "You're everything to me. You should know that."
"I've figured that out by now," I smiled against him.
"I love you, Carly."
I closed my eyes, sighing. Without any doubt clouding my mind, and without wasting another heartbeat of time, I said, "I love you too."
Kayn held me a moment longer, then stepped away and allowed me to go to get dressed in Ember's room.
When I stepped out, to my surprise, he was already waiting by the door for me, fully dressed. He reached for my hand and he led me back downstairs where everyone was already waiting, sitting around the kitchen table.
"Good thing we have a big kitchen," Kayn murmured, pulling out a chair for me beside Aria, while he took one beside me.
The king was sitting across us, his eyes focused on me. "This is the girl?" he asked, suddenly turning to the queen sitting beside him. She smiled, way too calmly, nodding.
"Yes, this is her."
My heartbeat picked up, and all I could think of was, what now?
