Blueisland (Watermagic Series, #4) by Brighton Hill

stronger fire going with more smoke if we break down that palm tree over there,” Savannah said to me as she crossed the beach.
    My eyes widened. “You think we could pull an entire tree down with our bare hands?” The idea seemed absurd.
    She nodded, unfazed. “If we pull it down together, I think we can.”
    I bit my lip as I shaded my eyes with my hand and looked over at the palm tree. “This is just too crazy.” My voice was laced with sarcasm.
    “Come on,” she said, pulling me by the arm toward it. “The dry palm leaves up top will create a lot of smoke. “Just what we need to be spotted on this island.”
    Once we got to the tree, I looked up at it with wonder in my eyes. “The trunk is pretty thick.” I pushed against it.
    “Here,” she encouraged me. “Grab onto it and we can pull it out by its roots.”
    That just made me laugh.
    She smiled. “I’m serious.”
    “All right.” I figured why not give it a try just to shut her up.
    We both grabbed onto the trunk together and pulled with all our strength. To my surprise the thing actually started lifting from the ground, but before anything remarkable happened the trunk cracked and we were able to break it in half. I couldn’t believe it. The top half came falling to the ground. From across the beach I could see Emily and Jake jump down from the boulder they were sitting. They looked shocked by what we had done.
    “Hurry,” Savannah encouraged. “Let’s break this up and get it to the fire.”
    It amazed me how strong we were. We were able to break the trunk up into three parts. Our hands weren’t even damaged. It was as if our skin was so much thicker and more durable. When I examined my palms more carefully, I noticed that the skin had an extra strength and barely noticeable shine and texture almost like the substance of fingernails. It felt amazing to be that tough and pliable.
    As we were carrying the palm tree down the beach to the fire that we had built, I heard screaming in the water. It sounded like it was Lisa’s voice. Then Jessica started yelling too. There was crying. They sounded terrified. Something was horribly wrong.
    My heart started pounding way too fast. What was happening? At once, I dropped the parts of the tree I carried and ran for the ocean. Once I got to the edge, I saw Lisa’s body being pulled under the water. Her face was red from fear and she was reaching up with her arms. She kept choking and then screaming only to be jerked under the water’s surface again and again. It was like a shark was attacking her. Images of the film, Jaws, flashed in my mind.
    Trying to lug her overweight body, Jessica was swimming away and yelling for help at the top of her lungs, her voice breaking into a hoarse quality from the strain. “They’ve got her…They’ve got her,” she screamed.
    I dove under, swimming out to help Lisa. Holy crap! To my surprise, I could see perfectly under the bright blue water. Everything was crystal clear. And what I saw caused my body to coil back. There were fish people under the surface. Their upper bodies were human and their lower bodies were shimmery fish tails. These creatures were like the legends we had all heard about in mythology—mermaids and mermen! They were stunning with long, flowing hair and faces even more beautiful than the way I described Savannah’s, Andrew’s, and Logan’s. These beings looked too enchanting for this world. I had never seen such beauty. Light exuded from their bodies like celestial entities. But a group of them were pulling Lisa under and tearing her body apart in frenzy while the others swam around through the coral reefs teasing each other in some sort of game of chase. It was a terrible nightmare. If only it wasn’t true.
    My nostrils flared as I grabbed hold of a boulder. Unexpected feelings rushed through my body; I wasn’t comfortable with my thoughts. The scent caused my body to shiver. Oh, this wasn’t right. I tried to hide behind the rock. I was