“Okay.” I’m getting pretty damn tired of all the Wendy comparisons, but there’s not much I can do about it, I suppose. “Thanks for that.”
“You’re certain we can’t eat her?” she asks Quenith.
“Marinda!” The other one turns to her. “We shouldn’t. Peter would get angry.”
“What care I for Peter’s anger?” Marinda bares her teeth.
“Hey, whoa!” I try to push myself away from them, but they easily stay the same distance away no matter how much I try to swim back. “You can’t save me from the pirates just to eat me.”
“I can do whatever I want, mainlander.” Marinda moves behind me.
“No.” Quenith’s voice is a bit stronger now, the sound still so beautiful. “This is me making amends.”
“Once you have her on land, then your obligation is fulfilled?” Marinda asks.
“Yes.” Quenith sucks on her tooth. “I suppose that’s right.”
“So, if the little mainlander gets into the water again?—”
“Then you could eat her,” Quenith finishes for her. “Though it would make Peter quite angry.”
“Wait, what? Quenith, come on.” I don’t like the sound of any of that. “Please don’t eat me.”
She shrugs, the water shining off her green scales in the moonlight. “I won’t. But Marinda might.”
I spin in the water and face Marinda. “Okay, so Marinda, please don’t eat me, okay?”
Marinda grins, her shark teeth terrifyingly bright. “Let’s get you to shore, little lamb.” She takes my arm, and once again I’m pulled beneath the water.
Holding my breath, I keep my eyes shut tightly as Quenith takes my other arm and we speed through the water. I only hope I have enough air, because I’ve discovered that mermaids have absolutely no idea how long a human can go without taking a breath.
When we finally stop again, I gasp in air and cough up water. They lift me and drop me onto solid ground. I lay there for a moment, just gulping in air and telling my lungs that I’m going to survive. After a while, I can finally breathe without panic, so I sit up.
They float just ahead of me and whisper to each other like a melody.
“Thanks.” I go to stand, but when I do, I realize I’m not actually on the shore. “Wait. Hey, wait. Quenith?”
“Yes, Moira?” She bobs higher in the water, her perky breasts coated with a faint layer of scales.
“Um, I seem to be on a rock. I need to be over there.” I point to the beach that’s about a hundred yards away.
“Oh, yes, I know.” She nods. “You’re on Marooner’s Rock.”
Marooner’s Rock. That was in the stories Wendy passed down. Hook brought Tiger Lily here and chained her to the rock so she’d drown when the tide came in.Holy shit.
“Quenith?” I try to keep the hysteria from my tone, but I can’t. I look around, and I could swear the water is already rising, covering the barnacles attached to the edges of the dark gray rock that’s no bigger than Rose’s headboard fromTitanic.
“Hmm?” She’s still bobbing as Marinda stares at me, her eyelids unblinking.
“Can you please take me to the beach?”
“No. She did right by you, mainlander. You’re safe on Marooner’s Rock,” Marinda says.
“Sure. For now. But if the tide comes i?—”
“When.” Marinda rises from the water, her dark skin coated with a sheen of silvery scales. “When the tide comes in.” She looks up. “It’s almost here. The moon is getting so high.” Her eyes return to me. “Good. Because I’m starving.”
“Quenith, please.” I appeal to her. I have to. Marinda’s mind is made up. “Please take me to the beach. I think that’s only fair, right? And Peter will be so mad if you eat me. He’ll come after you. He and all the Lost Boys. You won’t be safe.”
