Drowning Beneath The Waves

Chapter 19

I heard a heartbreaking wail shatter the silence, but I couldn't tell where it came from. My heart had fractured into a million pieces when the news had broken, never to be whole again. That had been Kailani's plan all along, I realized distantly.

To break me—thoroughly and irrevocably. She'd tried to once before, with Jonah, but had failed. So she'd set her sights on my dear friend, figuring if she couldn't get directly to me, she might as well target the people whom I loved.

I was shaking as I heard yet another wail. This time, I think somewhere deep inside of me, I registered that I was the one who'd cried out. Tears blurred my vision so much that I only saw shapes rushing toward me. I couldn't speak. I could hear perfectly, though, and I heard snippets of conversations as multiple voices talked over one another.

"Faye? Are you hurt? What happened, honey?" "Faye? Honey, can you hear me?" "I think she's in shock. Let's get her inside." I didn't realize it then, but I had indeed gone into shock, which was evident by the violent shivers wracking my body.

My body may have been at the palace, but my mind and heart were still trapped in that awful moment near The Bronze Mermaid. Waverly's agonized face was frozen in my mind, as was her mother's as they clutched each other. When I felt hands on me, I thrashed, desperately trying to free myself. Why had I left them? Why had I swum away?

"I—I have to go back. T—they need me." My pleas, however, were feeble as I succumbed to the fatigue steadily creeping up on me. I was all but limp as someone carried me to my suite.

I was distantly aware of being pressed against a warm body, of solid arms encircling me. When the soft voice whispered in my ear, I didn't even flinch. The shivers had long since subsided, leaving me with a hollowness I hadn't felt in recent memory. "Okay. After you rest. It's okay to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

Jonah's voice was soft, worried. My eyes closed before I could protest. Fatigue and grief weighed on me so heavily that I immediately fell into a dreamless sleep. Some hours later, I jolted awake, disoriented.

For a moment, I couldn't remember what had happened. My body felt heavy and weary, like I'd swum a great distance. I lifted my head from where it rested on Jonah's chest, taking a deep breath. He met my gaze, eyes filled with worry and concern. "How are you feeling?"

In a blinding rush, it all came back to me. The sound of singing, leaving the hospital and somehow ending up near The Bronze Mermaid. Seeing Kailani and a dozen other mermaids, the former wearing her trademark smug smile as she inclined her head. Following the movement and seeing Mica, the two mermaids beside her.

The tears glittering in Waverly and her mother's eyes. The agony on the latter's face as she looked at me. My words filled with weariness. Kailani's response, her own bitter and vicious. Catching Waverly as she faltered, her heartbreaking sobs filling the horrible silence that followed Kailani's answer.

Jonah reached up and brushed a stray hair off my forehead. It was only then that I realized we were alone. I was back in my suite. I looked at Jonah, my eyes widening. Before I even had the chance to open my mouth, he spoke, recognizing the questions in my eyes. "I'm feeling much better. The hospital discharged me this morning with strict orders to rest and recover."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Where are my parents and Drew?" I vaguely remembered snatches of conversation when I'd reached the palace, multiple voices talking over one another.

"Checking on Waverly and her mother. Last I heard, your parents had given them a suite near yours. Waverly wanted to see you immediately, but your parents, Drew, and I all agreed that the three of you needed all the rest you could get." Grief was etched on his face, in his eyes, and he took a breath when he finished speaking.