“Good,” Daniel said. “That’s a good start. Now, what do you need to do to live?”
“Get along with Penn, and find the scroll.” She’d stopped crying, so she straightened up and wiped at her eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to blubber like that.”
“No need to apologize. No blubbering occurred,” he assured her with a smile. “I can help you keep Penn happy, at least for a little while. The scroll is the thing Lydia told you guys about yesterday?” Gemma nodded. “Harper told me you didn’t know where it was.”
“I don’t,” she admitted. “I want to check their house, and I need to talk to Thea and see what she knows.”
“Okay. So do that,” Daniel said. “Like, immediately.”
“They’re at home right now,” Gemma said. “I think it’d be better if I checked their house when they’re not there, and I want to do that before I talk to Thea. She said she’d do everything to help me just short of getting herself killed, and if I find the scroll and break the curse, it might kill her. So she would hide it from me.”
Gemma realized what she’d said and swallowed hard. Over the past few weeks she and Thea had become closer, and Gemma even considered her a friend. But to save herself—to break this curse—it could mean that Gemma would have to kill her, or at the very least Thea might otherwise have to die.
“So you think you could get into the house tomorrow?” Daniel asked.
“Maybe. Thea has play rehearsal, and if I skipped it, I could get into the house, assuming that Penn and Lexi aren’t there,” Gemma said.
“Okay, how about this: You go scope out the house. If Penn and Lexi are home, I’ll come up with some kind of distraction,” Daniel said. “I don’t know what yet, but I can come up with some reason to get Penn out, and Lexi tends to follow her around like a puppy. Then you get in and do your search.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Gemma smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Daniel smiled back. “It’s no problem.”
She started to walk back toward her house, then realized he wasn’t following. “Aren’t you coming over?”
“Nah, I don’t think I should,” Daniel said. “You should go swimming with Harper, and if I come over, she’ll want to hang out with me.”
“Are you sure? I could always go swimming another night.” That was what she said, but she didn’t really mean it.
“No, you go. Have fun. Spend time with your sister. I’ll talk to her later,” Daniel said, taking a step back away from Gemma. “Tell her I say hi, though. And don’t forget to call me if you need me tomorrow.”
Gemma knew she should try harder to stop him—he’d walked her all the way here—but she didn’t. Once he was out of sight, she turned and jogged back to the house, already thinking of arguments to convince Harper to go swimming with her.
THIRTEEN
Vacillation
After Gemma got home from play rehearsal, she all but insisted Harper swim with her. Harper had refused as much as she could, but she knew that Gemma would go without her.
Because of the transformation that happened whenever she hit salt water, Gemma preferred swimming at night when there were fewer witnesses around, and Harper couldn’t fault her for that. So she put on her swimsuit and took Gemma out to the bay.
They went out past the beach, where the soft sand became jagged rocks lining the shore. The paved parking lots for the crowds were replaced by a forest of bald cypress trees. Harper parked on a dirt road as close to the water as she could drive.
Gemma led the way, walking delicately from one rock to another, and Harper was careful to copy her footing so she didn’t stumble or cut her foot on a sharp rock. When they reached the water, Gemma waded out first, and within seconds Harper saw the moonlight glinting off her tail.
She was much faster than Harper, but she waited for her, literally swimming circles around her. Harper never felt as uncoordinated as she did when she swam with Gemma. Her normally elegant strokes seemed more like clumsy dog-paddling compared to the way Gemma glided through the water.
She almost hated to admit it, but there was something awesome about swimming with Gemma when she was a mermaid. The grace and beauty Gemma had was truly stunning.
“Harper, hang on,” Gemma commanded, floating in front of her in the water.
“What?” Harper treaded water next to her.
“Grab my shoulders,” Gemma said, and when Harper hesitated, she goaded her on. “Come. Trust me. Just hang on to my shoulders.”
Gemma turned with her back to Harper, and tentatively Harper gripped her sister’s wet shoulders.
“Now what?” Harper asked.
“Now hold your breath,” Gemma said with a laugh, and then she plunged into the water, dragging Harper down with her as she swam quickly.