Cam nodded. He knew, deep in the back of his mind, from the start that he was now a merman permanently. This only confirmed his suspicions.
"I'm terribly sorry, Cameron. I'm sure that Carly will understand after you tell her the truth. Now, why don't you go join the others out in the ocean, I trust that you haven't been able to take your new tail out for a spin yet." Rita suggested, trying her best to lift Cam's spirits.
Cam stood up, "Sorry, but I wouldn't like for word about my transformation to get out," then he quickly added, "Just yet."
"I understand. I'll keep this to myself for the time being." Rita assured him.
"Good, now I'd better be going. It's getting late and I'm sure my parents want to yell at me about being missing last night," Cam backed out of the grotto with David and Zac not far behind. Once they were gone Rita was able to take the smile off of her face and let her worry show.
Meanwhile, Ondina Mimmi and Sirena had been summoned by the mermaid council in the waters outside of Mako Island.
"There was a disturbance in our ceremony last night," Veridia said to the three mermaids. They looked at each other in confusion as Veridia continued, "I want you to gather the merman and his land girl companion. Bring them here, we're all going to have a little chat."
The three hurried off to shore, wondering what had happened the night before. As the sun fell below horizon the girls had rounded their way into Zac's cove. They located his dock, pulled themselves up and dried off making their way to the door of Zac's bungalow.
Without any hesitation Ondina burst through the door without bothering to knock. The sight wasn't very pretty, the two were both sprawled across the couch, Evie was straddled across Zac's lap, their lips locked together, Zac's shirt was off and Evie was left in her bra. "Ugh! Gross! Put some shirts on!" She exclaimed as she saw Zac and Evie hastily push away from each other. Mimmi and Sirena looked down at their shoes, embarrassed.
As Zac and Evie pulled their shirts over their heads, Ondina spoke again, "Ew, I really didn't need to see that."
"I didn't invite you in. Nor did you even bother to knock." Zac shot back.
"The mermaid council wants to speak with the two of you." Mimmi said before Ondina could get another word out.
"Us?" Evie asked in confusion, "What happened? Did we do something wrong?"
"We really don't know," Sirena admitted, "But you should come with us."
The five of them jogged toward the dock and, all at once, gracefully dove into the ocean. By the time they reached the pod darkness had fallen, the waxing moon shined overhead. They approached Veridia with caution.
Zac cleared his throat, "You wished to speak with us, Veridia."
She took her time answering them, taking a moment to look at each merperson before answering, "Yes, I did." She paused, "It seems that there was some sort of disturbance at Mako last night. A disturbance that we haven't felt since the night that you regained your powers, Zac."
Zac fidgeted in the water uncomfortably.
"Is there anything you know about this, Zac?"
"No," he replied unconvincingly.
Veridia grew more stern, her voice now tight with anger, "I'll ask you again, what happened on Mako last night?"
Evie spoke up for him, "Veridia, Zac didn't do anything on Mako, he was with me all last night."
"No, you've misunderstood, dear. I'm not saying that Zac was on Mako. A little fishy just told me that he might know something about the happenings on Mako last night," Veridia accused.
"What?! No! Of course not!" Zac stammered. "I'm on your side."
Veridia was livid. With no more evidence against Zac, she dismissed him and Evie.
"I want you girls to do some investigating for me. Everyone is a suspect, trust no one. Test everyone." Veridia addressed Mimmi, Ondina and Sirena. She handed each of them a crystalline blue necklace, the charm was the same stone that was inside of their moon rings. "These have been enchanted to glow whenever they're in the presence of a merperson."
"Like the trident stone?" Sirena wondered aloud.
Veridia nodded, "Yes, but on a much smaller scale and a lot less dangerous."
"If we're wearing them, won't they be glowing all the time since we're mermaids?" Mimmi asked.
"Like I said, they're enchanted. They'll choose to ignore the wearer's magic," Veridia explained. She glanced up at the moon, "Now go and get some rest. You three have a busy day ahead of you."
Sorry about the short chapter, I just wanted to get this out before the weekend!