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Heath looked up eagerly, and sure enough, there it was.
Green trees, white sand, ruins of stone just peeking out from the jungle. His heart lurched with a bewildering mixture of emotions, and his arms stilled, letting the tide draw him toward it.
Vazula.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Heath’s heart was in his throat as he rowed the boat clumsily toward the beach. He couldn’t stop his eyes from scanning the sparkling sand, but at the same time he was terrified of what he might see. The waves had been unusually high on that stormy day, a few months ago. If, as he’d first thought, Merletta hadn’t survived, the tide since then might not have reached far enough up the beach to reclaim her body into the ocean. What would she look like after all this time? He didn’t want to think about it.
But the place where he finally pulled his boat ashore, panting with the effort, was definitely the same beach where the nightmare had unfolded, and there was no sign of Merletta’s body. That was one relief, at least.
He looked back out to sea as he scrambled out onto the sand and pulled the boat out of reach of the waves. He could see no sign of the ship, although he knew it wasn’t far away. Apparently he couldn’t see through the magic barrier, so presumably they couldn’t see him. He hoped Brody and Bianca would succeed in keeping the ship waiting.
Heath stepped back from the boat, glancing toward the jungle, and the ruins poking out. His eyes were caught by something, and he stilled in place. Merletta’s spear, standing point down in the sand, near the start of the rocks.
Did that mean she was here? He took a hasty step toward it, then stopped, thinking it over. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. Perhaps it had been there this whole time, untouched. He had no recollection of what, if anything, Merletta had done with her weapon on that terrible day.
He began walking toward the spear, more slowly now. He’d almost reached it when he heard a rustling from the foliage ahead, and a form began to emerge from the jungle. Heath gasped, reaching instinctively for the bow still slung across his back. He’d never seen anyone but Merletta and Reka on Vazula, and the presence of someone else here now seemed ominous. Friend or foe? It was impossible to guess.
But he’d barely gotten hold of his bow when the person cleared the tree line and moved onto the rocks with careful steps. Heath’s mouth fell open, and his bow dropped from his suddenly numb hand, barely making a sound as it hit the sand below him. Not all his wildest hopes or fears had prepared him for what he’d actually find on Vazula.
It was Merletta.
It was Merletta, and she was walking. Merletta had legs.
Heath opened his mouth to call out, but no sound would come. The intense emotions chasing through his mind seemed to have paralyzed him, and he could only stare as she made her slow way toward him, still oblivious to his presence. Even if he wasn’t so completely floored, it would have been hard not to stare. She was so…complete. He wasn’t talking to her torso, while she bobbed in the water. She was completely present, and he could see every inch of her.
He could also see a lot more skin than he’d ever seen on any other girl. That wasn’t exactly new—although it had thrown him at first, he’d become used to the fact that Merletta wore only the large shells that were apparently the sole coverings used by mermaids. But now, instead of a tail, she had a very shapely pair of legs, and her skirt—which seemed to be made of scales—only went to about her knees.
Heath’s eyes flew back to Merletta’s face. Her hair was pulled back from her eyes in the braid she’d adopted since becoming a trainee, and her hands were balled into fists in her concentration. Her eyes were fixed firmly on her feet—dragon’s flame, she had feet!—but he could still see her look of determination. It was such a familiar, such an utterly characteristic expression that his heart swelled painfully. He couldn’t even begin to wrap his mind around the implications of what he was seeing, but one fact drowned out all other thoughts. She was alive! And not barely clinging to life, but from all appearances, thriving.
His words still wouldn’t come, but his limbs suddenly unstuck, and he took a convulsive step forward. The movement at last brought him to Merletta’s attention, and her head snapped up. The wary look that had sprung into her eyes vanished instantly, and she also froze on the spot.
“Heath,” she whispered, her familiar voice carrying across the quiet beach. “You’re alive. You’re here.”
She wobbled slightly in her shock, and when she tried to take a shaky step toward him, she teetered wildly. Heath closed the distance between them in a few strides, and she fell forward against him, gladly, he thought.
Without conscious thought, his arms closed around her, and she leaned into him, burying her face in his shirt as she took great, steadying breaths. Heath’s mind was swimming, and it was hard to form any coherent thought—there really was an awful lot of skin.
He didn’t try too hard to master the emotions swirling through him. He just focused on the sensation of resting his chin on the top of Merletta’s head. It was something he’d never even imagined doing before, and he noted with an inconsequential thrill that he was taller than her in this form.
Merletta’s breaths gradually began to slow, but she didn’t immediately pull back, and Heath made no move to release her. His mind was still in a strange state, racing frantically in response to all the sensations washing over him, but sluggish and unresponsive when he tried to form sensible words.
“You’re so warm,” he said abruptly, one hand splaying across Merletta’s mostly bare back. “Your skin was always so cold before, even in the sunshine.”
Merletta pulled back at that, letting out a snort. She swayed unsteadily, and Heath gripped her arm until she seemed stable, then let his hand drop.
“My skin is warm now? That’s the difference you’re focusing on? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Heath, but I have legs.” She stretched one out to prove her point, wobbling slightly, but waving Heath’s offered hand away. Clearly she’d been practicing, and wanted to show off her skills.
Heath laughed, his heart lighter than it had been in a very long time. “I did notice, actually. And I…” He shook his head. “I have so many questions that honestly, I don’t even know where to start.”
“I doubt I can answer your questions,” said Merletta ruefully. “It’s all as much a mystery to me as it is to you.”
“Start with telling me what happened that day,” Heath said, a slight shudder passing over him. Merletta was still standing very close, and he reached a tentative hand toward her, then let it fall. “How did you survive? I thought for sure you were dying. I thought you were moments from drying out.”
“I was,” said Merletta wryly. “I did dry out. And I discovered that drying out doesn’t have quite the effect I’d been led to believe.”
Heath stared at her. “You mean…all you had to do to grow legs was—”
