She looked at me like I was crazy.“No! We will be there soon enough, and it is gorgeous here. We will be there long enough to fully enjoy it. I am thrilled to get a chance to explore where we are.”It was easy to forget that Lelas wasn’t the young girl she appeared. Her enthusiasm never seemed to waver. Surely, over all her decades, the tribe had been through here several times, and still she was as excited as a child on Christmas morning.
“You’re ready to go now, aren’t you?”
“I can wait until you rest for a bit. I know how tiring a trip up to the surface and back can be.”
“You’re too sweet, little mermaid. Too sweet.”I smiled at her, forcing my bad mood away as much as I could.“Show me around!”
Beaming, she grasped my hands and began to pull me along after her.
No wonder Syleen had said I could have extra time to go to the surface. She’d probably been planning on taking the day off anyway. It was still a nice gesture, I supposed, but not as altruistic as I’d thought.
We’donly been exploring for a couple of hours when we ran across a pod of dolphins. The twins, Flain and Rulus, were already there, swimming and darting in and out of the group of sleek mammals. Lelas let out a cry that matched a dolphin call perfectly. Instantly, we were surrounded. We’d had dolphins join us several times over the past couple of weeks, and while the tribe was always glad to see them, we never really paused to play with them for more than a few minutes. For being part of an immortal species, Syleen seemed to always be in a hurry.
A quick count showed there were about fourteen dolphins. They were swimming so nimbly, I couldn’t get a definite head count. There was one calf in the pod, and she looked to be no more than a few days old. She was only a little longer than my arm. I’d never seen one so young before.
“Call to her.”
I looked over to see one of the twins. Without them side by side, there was no way to tell which one’s tail was longer.
She gave a smile and must have read my mind.“I am Rulus. Flain is over with Lelas.”She motioned toward the baby dolphin.“Call her. I can tell you want to.”
I nearly told her that I’d always been able to interact with dolphins, even before learning of my mer heritage. However, I realized this was a possible bonding opportunity with Rulus—outside of slaughtering sharks—so I played dumb.“I’m not sure l remember how.”
“It is no different than how we communicate. Just direct your desire toward her. However, use feelings more than words.”
I gave a sheepish grin.“I’m not that good at communicating with mers yet either.”
She turned her green eyes away from me and looked at the baby dolphin. Within a couple of seconds, the baby had swum over to her and was darting in and out of her reach. Rulus looked over at me again.“Try now.”
I focused on the dolphin, blocking out everything else around me, only zoning in on her. Trying to send her kind, soothing thoughts without forming words.
A slight bump on my side tore my attention away from her. Looking over, I saw a dark-gray beak at eye level. It was close enough, I flinched backward.
Rulus’s voice had a soothing tone, as if she were speaking to a child.“She is just trying to make sure you are safe. She is used to us but may have never been this close to a human before. She probably isn’t sure if you are to be trusted with her young.”
I held out my hand, like I would to a dog. The dolphin nudged at it with her beak. Again, I tried to send out friendly vibes, this time directed at the mother instead of the baby.
Another nudge and she took off and swam in a quick circle around me, then bumped me with her flipper as she darted by. It was firm enough that it knocked me back a few feet, enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to do any damage.
Again, Rulus talked me through it.“She is trying to play.”
I looked over at her, now stroking the calf’s pink belly. At my arched eyebrow, she nodded.
With a twist of my arms, I swirled in a spiral through the water. As I did, I saw the mother dolphin beside me, mimicking my motions. I couldn’t suppress a genuine smile as a thrill coursed through me, my black mood from earlier completely forgotten.
Pulling out of the spin, I kicked, propelling myself upward, my legs beating as hard as they could. As hard as I was swimming, the dolphin quickly shot past me and then pivoted, darted at me, then swerved out of my path at the last moment. She let out a string of whistles that I was fairly certain was laughter and looped a circle around me, then returned to Rulus and her baby.
Rulus smiled as I swam to a stop beside the threesome.“She likes you.”
I grinned back.“The feeling is mutual.”This time the baby calf swam over without me calling. I stroked her belly as I’d seen Rulus do, then caressed her face and beak. It was all I could do to force myself to not wrap my arms around the tiny baby and squeeze her like I would a dog.
Lelas laughed as she and Flain swam over to join us.“I knew you were not as stoic as you let on.”She stretched out her hand and ran her fingertips over the baby’s dorsal fin.“We need you around all the time, little one. Perhaps you are the cure to Brett’s sullen moods.”
I tried to give her a dirty look but couldn’t quite wipe the grin off my face.“Actually, not a bad idea. Sonia had a dog at her mom and dad’s house. I loved that little white rat. It’d be nice to have a pet.”I felt the darkness creeping over my mind again at the thought of Sonia and what Sapphire had looked like the last time I saw her—her body crushed, her white fur matted in blood.
Lelas knew little about Sonia, but enough to know what I might be feeling at the mention of her name.
I looked at the baby dolphin and then back up at Lelas. Without the typical guilt with such a motion, I shoved thoughts of Sonia aside and focused on those in front of me, in the here and now. Sonia was gone, but I was here, and so was Lelas, the tribe, and at the moment, a pod of dolphins with an adorable newborn squeaking at our touch. That was more than enough.
