The Mermaids Madness

edge of the moat. The tower would allow Lirea to hide away from the world, but her scent would still wash out to the rest of her tribe. The wind was stronger here, raising whitecapped waves along the moat and chilling Danielle’s skin.
    “Air spirits,” Snow said.
    “Can they see us?” asked Danielle.
    “I’m not sure.” Snow turned to look along the shore.
    “They’re racing up and down the edge of the land. I can feel others farther back.”
    “The air spirits guard the land while the kelpies guard the sea,” said Talia.
    They crossed the moat to shallower water. Danielle guessed this to have been a garden of some sort. Green algae covered a submerged statue of a winged horse, giving it a monstrous appearance. Broken fountains formed the boundaries of a path.
    Danielle studied the tower. Rock and rubble lay piled around the base, blocking any entrance. The only way in was through the windows. Lirea could take human form and climb the wall, but no other undine would be able to follow her. Nor could any human approach by land or sea without being spotted. “This is the one place she can feel safe.”
    Snow was still staring into the sky. “The spirits share an empathic bond with Lirea. They have no specific orders, but they share her fear. I should be able to ease that fear long enough for us to get inside.”
    Talia shook her head. “I’ve broken into a lot of places, but I’m not about to sneak into this thing naked.”
    Snow had already crawled onto the shallow rocks. She pulled her tail to her chest, eyes squeezed shut as her body began to change. Skin enveloped scales, and her fins pressed flat against her legs and feet. She doubled over, coughing water from her lungs.
    Her voice hoarse, she said, “Make sure to exhale all of the water before I remove the spell.” To Talia, she added, “If you’d prefer to wait behind while Danielle and I go after Lirea, that’s fine.”
    She might as well have spat in Talia’s face. Talia followed her onto the rocks. “Just cast the damn spell.”
    Danielle looked up at the tower, then down at her pale skin. This was not going to be fun.

CHAPTER 9

    T ALIA MOVED AROUND THE BASE of the tower ahead of the others on the pretense of scouting the terrain. She hurried until she reached the ankle-deep water in the back. Here, unseen by undine or her fellow humans, she collapsed against the wall and fought to regain control.
    The pain wasn’t a problem. Returning to human form might feel like being skinned alive, but at least the pain had helped to distract her from whatever potion Lirea had spread through the water. And now that she was human, the scent and taste of the water no longer seemed to affect her.
    Her own mind was another problem. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Snow bobbing in the waves, her hair slicked back, water dripping down her body ... Deliberately, Talia turned to study the mountains in the distance, little more than a serrated shadow cutting across the sky.
    It wasn’t as though this was the first time she had seen Snow naked. Several of their previous missions for the queen had required them to switch disguises in a hurry, but on those occasions Talia had been able to control her body’s reactions. Not this time, thanks to Lirea pushing her to the edge.
    Her skin tingled when she heard Snow and Danielle approaching. Snow was fully human now, wearing nothing but Morveren’s harness, which accentuated—
    “ In’a’een ya mavas, ” she swore, digging her nails into her wrists.
    “I should have brought shoes,” Snow was saying. “The rocks are murder on my feet.”
    Talia tried not to look at either of them. “We can climb here. The undine shouldn’t see us, and as long as Snow keeps the spirits busy, we should be able to sneak in.”
    Danielle stepped closer. “What’s wrong, Talia?”
    Talia didn’t answer. Snow’s poor powers of observation had always made it easy for Talia to keep her feelings hidden. Danielle, on the other hand, actually paid attention to such things. Damn her.
    “Nothing’s wrong,” Talia whispered. “Aside from the two of you making enough noise to reach the Phillipa .”
    “Ignore her,” Snow said. “She always gets uppity before a kidnapping.”
    Talia started to respond, but the words caught in her throat. What was wrong with her? Beatrice could be dying, and all she could think about was kissing Snow’s lips, running her fingers through that sleek black hair.
    A gentle touch to the