Lapidary

For a moment, I feared Neron was going to ignore my call, but then he appeared. He jumped out of the water and made landfall with his bum and his tail half in the water, half out. He offered me a smile. This was the first time I had seen his long, slimy tail, and for a moment I just stared at him. He was beautiful, and I reminded myself that mermaids used to draw humans closer with their beauty, before stealing them away to Arameer.

“I didn’t think you’d ever call me,” he said.

“I owe you a coffee.” I took responsibility for bumping into him by handing him the cup.

He accepted the coffee with a laugh, and I assumed that there was no more bad blood between us. He sipped the steaming, take-away cup before asking, “What can I do for you?”

“I want to know what is in the safe,” I said.

“Very well,” he said. “The safe is in Arameer. We will have to travel to it.”

“Can’t you bring it to the surface?”

“Now, where would the fun in that be?”

I sighed. “How am I supposed to make it down there?”

“I’ll put a bubble around you, don’t worry. But first you have to get into the water.”

I got in, clothes and all, and was pleasantly surprised to find the water warm. Neron finished his coffee and tossed the cup into the nearest trashcan before he fell into the water with a splash. It was too deep for me to stand, and Neron motioned for me to dive down.

I swam downward and was engulfed in a ginormous air bubble. I could breathe, as if I were above the water. I descended, but I was slow. Neron grabbed my hand and pulled me. Gradually, the temperature dropped, and it became darker and darker.

And then I saw light.

Arameer boasted twirling towers and was incredibly beautiful. Sea plants grew on the walls and fish swam everywhere. Countless mermaids were about, and several of them looked my way as Neron pulled me into the cold castle. In the center of the structure was a glowing ball, and a strange energy shimmered from it. The voices in my mind went ballistic.

He led me to the treasury, where we passed a guard holding a triton. The treasury didn’t have any merfolk inside, but there were countless treasure chests. Neron let go of my hand and swam toward a brown chest which has ‘RYKER’ carved into it. A lock on the chest required a pass code.

I drifted toward it. “What is the pass code?”

“I was hoping you’d know,” Neron said. “Ryker never told me.”

“Did you never check to see what was in it?” I asked.

“No,” he responded, “but I have a good idea.”

I knelt down and punched in Ryker’s birthday, but it didn’t work. I tried his name and surname, and then I tried mine. It didn’t work. I thought about the ring on my finger and tried Natka Featherswallow. My name combined with his last name was the correct password, and the safe clicked open.

Neron swam closer as I opened the chest and found it brimming with diamonds of all shapes and sizes. This only confirmed that Ryker, the merfolk, and the humans were smuggling them. I touched the shiny stones as if I couldn’t believe they were real. I scratched through the chest to double check that the White Crystal, which was white, round, and as big as my fist, wasn’t between the diamonds. When I didn’t find it, I closed the chest.

“Wow,” I said.

“It is yours,” Neron told me. “You don’t look happy, although it is worth a fortune.”

“I never dated Ryker for his money.” I met Neron’s eyes. “Why did he do this? Why did he smuggle diamonds? He had so much money already.”

“No, Bellevue has a lot of money,” Neron said.

“Yes, and she was funding him. She paid for his apartment and all of his things. She even gave him a monthly allowance.”

Neron raised an eyebrow. “Bellevue told him she wasn’t going to fund him if he continued to date you. Ryker refused to break up with you, so she cut him off financially. That’s when he came to me and became my business partner.”

I shook. Bellevue had threatened him, and he had chosen me over her, over her money. “Why’d he not listen to her?”

“He loved you so much, Nat,” Neron said.

My heart tightened. There was no way Ryker could have jumped. If he had loved me enough to give up his money, he wouldn’t have killed himself. I couldn’t help but feel guilty, as if it was my fault that he started smuggling diamonds in the first place.

“Why involve the humans?” I wondered. “What could they possibly contribute?”

“There are several rifts in Bareband, close to the spot where the veil is thin, that make it easy to move the diamonds,” Neron said. “We needed their island, so we involved them.”

I would go to Bareband to see where these rifts led, but first I had to get out of here. There was nothing stopping Neron from keeping me in Arameer. My air bubble was gradually getting smaller, which reminded me how Lakelyn had forced me underwater and almost drowned me.

“I’m ready to go,” I told Neron.

“Shall I keep the safe for you?” he asked, clearly unaware of my fears.

I kept my face placid, as if there was no reason to be scared. I nodded. “Yes.”

Neron took my hand and led me out of the city. He was not planning to keep me there, after all. He dragged me most of the way since my limbs were tired from swimming. Once we reached the surface, Neron lifted me onto the land, where I drew a deep breath.

“Thank you,” I told him.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled. “I can see why Ryker fell in love with you.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“You’re strong and have a powerful will to survive, despite living in such a dangerous world that hates humans.”

I offered him a smile in return, because I didn’t know what to say. Devton had also told me I wanted to live. Maybe I had never wanted to die, not even when I had slit my wrists; I had just wanted the pain inside my heart to stop.

“One more thing before I go,” Neron said. “Be careful of Volgrun showing up at Devton’s clubs and casinos. He is convinced that Devton wants to take his place as leader of The Risen. He is feeling threatened, and I expect he will act soon.”

Just hearing Volgrun’s name chilled me. What should I do if he tried to possess me again? I couldn’t help but think of Istrag and his blood staining the floor black. If it came down between my life or someone else’s, I’d choose mine every time.

“I’ll be careful,” I responded. “Neron, what was the glowing thing in the middle of Arameer?”

“That is The Accumulation – it is the magic which was used to repair and clean the city after The Shaking. A lot of magic was used, especially to heal the wounded and clean the daimon blood. We took all of that magic and waste and put it into this ball. It can be used to draw magic from, but we rarely do it as it is filled with different kinds of magic – like daimon magic, fae magic and so on.”

“It’s impressive,” I said. “Thank you for your help.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Neron said before he sank away.

I walked through the city, dripping wet, and ignored everyone who stared at me. I wanted to know where the half-rifts in Bareband went, so I caught a taxi to the island and hopped off on the northern side. I approached the half-rifts, which I struggled to see with my human sight, and wondered if magical beings saw them better. There weren’t nearly as many half-rifts as there were on Swordfish Chain, but something told me these half-rifts would take me far away.

I stepped into the rift closest to me, and when I emerged on the other side, I instantly recognized my surroundings. I stood on the balcony of the apartment Ryker and I had shared in New Peace.