“That’s the idea, yeah.”
She thought for a moment, then straightened her spine. At least that’s what it appeared she tried to do. “I think that risk has mostly come and gone, don’t you?”
“Yes, I think so. There’s no way to be sure, but I think if he was going to come here, he would have already. Unless he hasn’t been able to find you and will continue to try.”
She shrugged. “That’s doubtful. San Diego’s not that large, and what I’ve seen from all you supernatural folks leads me to believe that if he wanted to find me, he would have.”
“Yes, probably.” I was glad to give her at least the semblance of good news.
“Well then, my dear Finn, I will expect not to feel your presence from here on out.”
I blanched. “What? No, I’ll come and make sure you’re safe.”
She shook her head, and her voice was firm. “No. You shouldn’t come back here again, not like this.”
My jaw went slack, and the hurt that sliced through my heart surprised me. I thought it was too numb to feel any additional pain.
Beverly’s tone softened, and she leaned forward. “You are welcome in my home anytime. In fact, I will sorely miss feeling your presence. It was so lonely without you here last night. However, it is time for you to live again.”
“I still love him. I’m not trying to…”
She waved me off once more. “I’m not saying that. This has nothing to do with your love for Brett. Nothing would make me happier than to see you boys stroll up the walk hand in hand. This is about us. You cannot spend every night on an old lady’s front porch. I can’t tell you what you should do instead, that’s up to you, but I can tell you that this is no longer the place you should be.”
A flare of panic ignited in my chest. “I can come every other night or a couple of times a week, just to make sure you’re okay.”
Her voice grew firm again. “No. Not at all. Our porch nights are over. I want to see you again. I want you to call and tell me how you are, let me know what’s going on in your life. In some ways, I almost feel like you are my grandson as well. Maybe that’s why I have to insist. Like my desires for Brett, I want you to really live, Finn. I want you to live.”
Four
BRETT WRIGHT
Inky,thick smoke broiled in the water, dispersing to blacken the already dark horizon. Between that and the fire raging so brightly, everything else was obliterated from view.
I swam back several yards, then turned to take in the entire scene. I gave a nod of approval. I was getting this. The ship wreckage would only last a couple more minutes before the parts that were left would be small enough to drift away on the currents. I’d managed to get the fire hot enough that it was like the ship had combusted, while maintaining my focus so I didn’t destroy everything else around it. Not that there was anything else around it. We had to travel for several days to get here. Every other wreck we’d come across had either been too close to kelp forests, or colonies of sea life were living near the ship. That, or too many creatures had been living in the remains to make it practical for destruction. The few sea creatures making a home in this ship had been easy enough to evacuate without too much disruption. I’d done pretty good at that as well. Finally.
The mammals—seals, dolphins, and such—had been mostly easy to learn how to direct. They’d followed my desires quickly. Of course, that had been true since I was a kid. It was always like they could read my mind, turning this way and that as I swam through the water, like I was just another member of their pod. There weren’t any of those this deep, though. Trying to get sea slugs, urchins, and clams to do what I wanted was one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve ever had. Not to mention annoying. We can eat them, but God forbid we burn them up in a ship fire. Therin would lose his shit. I have no idea what the difference was, but I guess it’s bad etiquette or some such nonsense. Therin says it disrespects life. I’d just call them toasted.
I felt him before I saw him, as always. I guess it wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t. I’d gotten my fire under enough control that I don’t think feeling his long fingers curl around my shoulder would have caused us to go up in flames. I looked over, and his ice-blue gaze met mine. A slight nod. That was all I was going to get in terms of approval. I’d waited my whole life to meet my dad, and I got the equivalent to Ward Cleaver, only with less enthusiasm. But with a tail. Hey, hadn’t expected that one.
My gaze traveled down his sleek body, watching as his long tail flicked ever so slightly to keep his body in a stable position. At times, I felt a little strange about how much I stared at him, him being my father and all. But still, even with the ick factor, I didn’t get tired of looking at him. His tail was like magic. He assured me that it wasn’t, that it was just a tail, no different from that of an angelfish, eel, or shark, but that’s not how it seemed. Side by side, his body was roughly the same height as me, a little shorter, actually. However, his tail went past me for at least another couple of feet, which would have made him over eight feet tall… long? I can’t seem to figure out terms that fit under the water.
Each of his scales was a bright, metallic gold in the center, fading to a warm orangish hue on the outer circumference. At times like this, in the dark and in the deep, the color was muted, only a suggestion of gold under the gray overtones, but in the light, when the sun hit it, it was brighter than any gold I’d ever seen on the top of a capitol building or mosque. His tail fins probably fascinated me the most, however. The same gold flared out to form a fanning fin that had long striations every so often that speared out past the webbing between. I was assuming they were bones, but I’d never asked, or touched—even I can’t bring myself to ask my dad that. The closest thing I’d seen to it before were the fins of Siamese fighting fish. Just like them, he could clamp it into a tight bundle, only to burst it out like a peacock’s tail once more. Above his tail fins, where I imagined his ankles would be if he had legs, there were two smaller fins, one on each side. They were identical to the larger one, only half a foot or so in length. I figured they were to keep his balance, where the large one was for propulsion, but again, I hadn’t asked. Not gonna. So, yeah, I’d checked out my dad’s tail, a lot. If I were allowed to be around the other mers again, I wouldn’t have to resort to such disturbing behavior. I could inspect a nonrelative. You take what you get.
The fire was out, and the smoke had dispersed enough to be harmless. With less than a full flick of his tail, Therin darted forward, his long white-blond hair streaming behind him. With a twinge of jealousy, I followed. I’d always been a great swimmer, having to kick or stroke my arms one time to the other swimmer’s twenty, but compared to Therin, I felt like I’d never been in the water before. Watching him, it was clear how he’d been able to follow me so closely in the ocean for so long without me catching a glimpse of him, or setting him on fire for that matter.
By the time I reached the burn site, he had already given a couple of wide thrusts of his tail and scattered the burnt sand so there was no longer any evidence the shipwreck had ever landed at the bottom of the crevasse. Again, I marveled that my eyes could see in what should have been pitch darkness. My vision couldn’t compare to Therin’s, but if I had known I could go so deep, maybe some of my questions could have been answered years ago. Maybe not. No matter how deep I could go, or if I’d discovered I never needed to go up for air, I still wouldn’t have landed on being half merman as the explanation.
“I think you are ready.”His slow voice wafted into my thoughts.
“Really?”This had been the hardest part, even harder than trying to direct my will on sea life. This telepathy thing the mers used was baffling. Even now, if I thought at all about what I was doing, I’d open my mouth and exude nothing more than a belch full of bubbles.“They’ll let me back into the village?”
Therin let one of his rare smiles escape.“I did not say that. Just that you are ready.”
“How long do I have to wait? It was an accident, for crying out loud.”
Miracle of miracles, two smiles in one day!“Just because you are ready does not mean they are.”
“Still, you’ll talk to them, tell them that I’m safe?”
