Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Eventually, she pulled him deeper still, until he could reach out with one finger and brush his hand across the sand at the ocean floor.
Before he knew it, she was leading him through a whalebone gate, then toward a towering castle with coral spires and glowing towers.
They swam down the halls of the palace, sat on the coral throne, and slipped into her childhood bedroom.
“Iris?” a voice called, making them both turn.
Then there was another mermaid in front of them, looking like a younger version of Iris, but with a slight bit of blue in her blonde hair and a deep navy tail.
“Shelly!”
Iris flew at her sister, dragging him along with her with their joined hands. It had him as a one-armed part of a three-way hug as the sisters bounced up and down and twirled in a circle before finally breaking apart.
“And you must be Finn!” Shelly threw both her arms around him, squeezing him like they were old friends. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
“You too,” he said, testing his underwater voice. It had much more of an echo than his land voice, but he didn’t choke on the water or anything.
“Finn took me out on a boat today. And I convinced him to give this a try.”
“It didn’t take much convincing,” Finn said.
“I just got the invitation to your wedding yesterday. Mother and Juna are so excited.”
“They’re coming to the surface?” The shock and hope in her voice had Finn squeezing her hand tighter.
“Of course they are, silly. Arden said he would be by to measure us this week for gowns.”
“Has Mother ever been to the surface?”
“That’s the same question I had. She didn’t want to answer. But Aunt Molly said that when she was a young mer, she would sneak to the surface all the time, drinking and partying with the surface folks. She was constantly in trouble with her parents about it. It only makes me all the more annoyed that she never wanted me to go up.”
The bemused look on Iris’s face made Finn believe that the queen must be a very serious woman, and Iris was finding it hard to reconcile the woman she knew with the girl she’d been.
“Anyway, I’m so glad you came. I can’t wait to come up for the wedding. Please tell me our gowns won’t be hideous.”
“Have you met Arden? He doesn’t do hideous.”
“That’s true.”
“I have to admit that I’ve loved every idea he’s had, even when I wasn’t happy about the arrangement.” She squeezed Finn’s hand to soften the blow of her words. “Is Mother here? We should probably say hello.”
“She’s not. She had to go tour that new school.”
“And Juna?”
“She and Osiren have taken off on a little holiday.”
“Juna. On a holiday?”
“I know. She’s really softened since her engagement. You seem happier too.”
“Things have been good,” Iris agreed. She leaned closer to Finn. “You should come visit.”
“I have a lot of responsibilities here.”
“You?”
“I know,” Shelly said with a little eye roll. “Things have changed for all of us so quickly. But for the better, I have to believe.”
“Princess?” someone called, making Shelly’s posture stiffen.
“Sorry. I have a meeting. If you want to stay, I can tell the staff to prepare more for dinner.”
“I wish we could, but I don’t know if we could figure out how to get back to shore in the dark.”
Finn was thankful he didn’t have to be the one to admit that.
“Well, it was nice seeing you,” Shelly said. She pulled her sister in for another long hug. Then wrapped an arm around Finn. “And to meet you.”
Once Shelly was off on official business, Iris led Finn around the rest of the palace, before she declared that Finn’s lips were starting to turn blue.
“Humans aren’t meant to stay down here so long,” she explained as they moved past the spires, the gates, the coral reefs, the shipwrecks, and past all the beautiful fish, turtles, whales, and stingrays.
When they surfaced, the bubble that had been providing him breath burst.
“What is it?” Iris asked from the swim platform. He hadn’t realized he’d been staring. But he also wasn’t surprised.
She reached for a towel, quickly drying her tail, and he watched as her skin split and transformed into her long, shapely legs.
Finn hauled himself up, dropping down, and looking out at the water.
“How can I ask you to give all of that up?”
She lifted her hand, pressing her palm to his cheek. “You’re not asking. I’m choosing.”
“But—”
“And I’m not giving anything up.” Her hand slid to the back of his neck. “I can have both. You wouldn’t keep me from the sea.”
“No. I want to buy us a house on the beach, so we can head over anytime we want to escape.”
“Your backstroke could use some work,” she agreed, leaning in to press her forehead to his.