I just smile and keep driving.
I make it to the beach without stalling out once. This is definitely an improvement, although I did lurch through a few intersections along the way.
When we get there, everyone is waiting for us. Well, everyone but Quince’s mom—we’re still trying to figure out how to tell her about the mer world. I pull into a parking spot at the far end of the lot.
Quince starts to climb out of the car, but I put my hand on his arm to stop him. I want this moment to be about us.
“So, after the council meeting, Daddy gave me some good news.”
“What’s that?” he asks. “Something about your interkingdom commission?”
“No,” I say, smiling. “It’s about you.”
“Oh yeah?” He sounds equal parts intrigued and concerned. “Not another test?”
I twist around to face out the driver’s window, pulling my hair to one side to reveal my neck.
“You know there are two parts to a mer mark,” I say, picturing the green design at the base of my neck.
I feel the heat of Quince’s fingertips an instant before he begins tracing the design. “The waves on the outside,” he says, drawing a circle on my neck, “and the flower in the middle.”
“Exactly.” I let my hair fall back into place as I turn to face him. “The waves represent aqua respire. The ability to breathe water.”
I reach up behind Quince’s neck and touch the spot where I know he has his own circle of waves, marked in black on his tan skin.
Quince covers my hand with his.
“The flower,” I say, knowing that tears—happy ones—are right on the verge of filling my eyes, “represents aqua vide.”
“Aqua vide,” Quince repeats. “What’s that?”
“It literally means water life,” I say. “It’s what allows a merperson to transfigure between mer and terraped form. It’s what grants them the magical powers of our people.”
“Lily,” Quince says, taking his hand off mine and laying it against my cheek, “what’s this all about?”
I nod at the spot halfway down the beach where our small crowd is gathered.
“When we walk over there, Daddy is going to finish your mark,” I say. The tears spill over as I look into Quince’s Caribbean-blue eyes. “You’re going to be a merman.”
He blinks several times, and I can’t decide if he’s stunned or freaked or just confused. For the millionth time, I wish we still had the connection of the bond to answer these things for me. Then again, it’s probably better if I have to learn how to figure these things out for myself.
“Only if you want to, of course,” I say, not wanting him to feel pressured into doing this if he’s freaked. “I won’t be hurt or anything, if you don’t—”
He throws open the door and jumps out. He’s halfway across the beach by the time I climb to my feet. He turns back and, gesturing me to hurry, shouts, “Come on! I want a tailfin.”
I laugh and follow him across the sand. I hope the mer world is ready for a Quince with a tailfin. As I slip my hand into his, I know that I am. It’s about time.
About the Author
TERA LYNN CHILDS always dreamed of being a mermaid but never got closer than a career as a competitive swimmer and countless hours in the nearest body of water. She still hopes that one day her legs will magically turn into fins. When stuck on land, Tera can be found writing in coffee shops across the country, prowling for cool mermaid gear on Etsy, and spending way too much time online. Find excerpts, extras, and cool contests at www.teralynnchilds.com.
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Other Works
Don’t miss all the fin-flicking romance:
FORGIVE MY FINS
FINS ARE FOREVER
Credits
Cover photo © 2012 by Leslie Ann O’Dell
Cover design by Heidi North
Copyright
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Just for Fins
Copyright © 2012 by Tera Lynn Childs
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
www.epicreads.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Childs, Tera Lynn.
p. cm.
Summary: “As the mermaid Crown Princess of Thalassinia, Lily must dive deep into finding a solution when she discovers the ocean’s warming is causing big waves for both mermaids and humans”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-219215-8 (hardback)
Epub Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 9780062192097
[1. Mermaids—Fiction. 2. Princesses—Fiction. 3. Global warming—Fiction. 4. Environmental disasters—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C44185 Jus 2012
[Fic]—dc23
2011052404
CIP
AC
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12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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