Chapter 20

Rikki's POV

"Zane, are you awake?" I asked him.

"I am now," he said.

"What should I do?"

"About what?"

"Should I keep my promise, or listen to the girls and keep them safe?"

"I think that you should do what you think is right."

"I think we should save Emma, but I don't want the girls to get hurt."

"The only person who can answer the question is you."

"Thanks for the help babe."

I looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning.

"We should get up Zane."

We got out of bed and the door opened. Ash walked in.

He looked at me and said, "Oh shit! I am so sorry!"

I looked down. I didn't put on clothes yet. This is awkward.

"Ash, get out!" Zane screamed as he ran in front of me. He had put boxers on by then.

"I think I should get changed," I said when Ash left.

"You okay?" Zane asked me.

"Yeah, that was embarrassing." I laughed, but not a real laugh.

I went into my closet and got changed into jean shorts and a tank top. On top of the tank top, I put a button up, short sleeved shirt, but didn't button it.

I was getting my socks when someone put their arms around me.

"Maybe we should lock the door at night," Zane said.

I turned around, but he was still hugging me.

"Yeah, we should. I don't want a repeat of before."

"I can talk to Ash if you want."

"No, I'm fine, really."

We walked out of our room and headed downstairs. Cleo and Bella were sitting in the chairs in the dining room.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them.

"Ash let us in. We need to talk. Me and Bella talked it over and we don't think that we should go to their base on Mako Island. We think that it's too dangerous," Cleo said.

"What? Emma has been our best friend for years. How can you just leave her there?" I asked Cleo.

"It's too dangerous. I don't want to get hurt and Bella shouldn't risk her life to save someone she doesn't know."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Get out!" I screamed.

"What?" Bella asked me.

"You heard me. Both of you, out!" I walked into the kitchen and put some toast in the toaster. I heard the door shut and Zane walked into the kitchen.

"Rikki?"

"What?" I asked him with tears in my eyes.

He ran over to me and hugged me. "I just don't see how they can just leave her there, especially Cleo. She was friends with her before I was."

"Shh. It's okay. I'll go back with you."

"You would do that for me?" He let go of me so he could look me in the eye.

"I would do anything for you. How do you not know that? I keep telling you that." I laughed.

"I really do love you. I'm going for a walk."

"Be careful!" he told me as I walked out the door. I looked back and saw that he wasn't looking through the window.

I ran to the beach and jumped into the water. I'm going to save Emma, I don't care who gets in my cause there dead.

Zane's POV

It's been an hour since Rikki left for her walk. I took out my phone and dialed her number.

Voicemail.

I know that she had her phone, it was in her pocket when she walked out. I saw it. Okay, yes I was looking at her butt. It's adorable. Her phone was in her back pocket.

"Ash!" I screamed.

He came downstairs and asked, "What?"

"Rikki's gone."

"What?" he repeated.

"She went for a walk and hasn't come back yet. She left an hour ago. She wouldn't take that long and she would've kept her phone on." Then it hit me. "Damn it Rikki!"

"What happened?"

"She jumped into the water and went after Denmen. Bella and Cleo came her and told her that they weren't going to help save Emma."

"Why wouldn't they help save Emma?" he asked me.

"Cleo thought it was dangerous and I will explain the rest later. We have to go find Rikki." I grabbed my jacket and he grabbed his. We ran to my zodiac and I started her up.

Rikki, you better be okay.

Rikki's POV

It felt so nice to swim in the ocean again. I loved the feel of the salt water around me and I loved my tail. I didn't think it was possible, but my tail got even prettier.

I swam to the moon pool, but before I went in, I checked for traps. I refuse to get trapped in my special place again.

When I saw that there were no traps, I swam in and got out of the pool. I dried myself off and got up. I could walk out of the cave from above ground, thanks to Denmen trapping us the first time.

When I got out of the cave, I walked to the base. Denmen was going to pay.

I found an entrance and walked inside. I had to be careful. I looked around. There were windows on every door. I looked through each window and saw nobody. Not even one person. I searched the whole building and realized that nobody was going to be here. They moved their base and took Emma with them. I sat on the ground and cried.

I didn't know how long I had been there, but I felt someone put their arm around me. I looked up and got my hand ready to attack.

It was Zane.

"She's not here. They moved their base and took her. Where the hell is she?" I said.

"Come on, let's get out of here. This isn't helping her or you." He helped me up and bought me to his zodiac.

"I want to swim Zane. I promise that I will go straight to the beach near our house."

"Okay, but I want to you to up to the surface to check in with me every now and then."

I walked into the water and watched as my tail appeared. I waited to swim until Zane started his zodiac. Ashe got in after Zane. I started to swim and came up for air and waved to Zane. I did that three other times before we reached the beach. Ash went back to the house. I crawled onto the beach and lied there, air-drying.

Zane walked over to me and asked, "Why aren't you using your power to dry yourself off?"

"I feel like looking at my tail. I miss swimming in the ocean whenever I want. I miss swimming with my friends and I just can't believe what's happened. I wish it would be like it used to be. Midnight swims and swimming with dolphins. I miss my friends."

"It's okay. We'll figure this out. I promise.