“And that doesn’t bother you?”
Her doe-eyed expression never wavered.“Should it?”
“Well, aren’t you afraid, since I am part demon?”
Again her hair did that lovely little floating thing as she shook her head once more.“I sense no ill will in you, and for what purpose would you harm me?”
“None. I won’t hurt you.”
A small nod, followed by a serene smile.“I know.”
We fell into another silence. Strangely, I was beginning to feel at ease, the silence surprisingly comfortable.
Following her example, I slipped my hand into the seaweed and twisted it around until the kelp formed a sort of anchor, allowing me to settle onto the ocean floor and sit cross-legged. It had been so many weeks since I had sat like a human. The small, simple motion made me feel a little more like myself. Except that I was sitting stark naked in front of a young girl, the feel of the sand on my balls highlighting my nudity once more. Still, the girl didn’t seem affected by the sight in the slightest, so why try to adjust?
Another thought shot through my mind. Gay or not, this could be really gross and wrong.“How old are you?”
She must have been lost in thought, as she flinched a bit at my abruptness, but her voice remained serene.“I have not been in existence very long. Only sixty-four years. Why? How many years do you have?”
Sixty-four? She looked seventeen, if a day.“Sixty-four? Really?”
She nodded.“Yes. And you?”
“Almost twenty-four.”
Her bright laughter sounded in my head.“I knew it! I thought we were close to the same age.”
Same age? What the fuck?
“You look perplexed. Did you think I was much older than you?”
“No. Not exactly.”For a moment, my synapses attempting to fire like the Fourth of July, I thought I might have an aneurism. Then I looked at the girl in front of me. Really looked at her. She was a mermaid. Long, glistening tail, striated fins, stuff of legend. I was in a hut constructed by mermen. I was part mer and part demon. I’d been raped and partially devoured by a vampire and fallen in love with a warlock. That was all the norm, and the part my brain couldn’t accept was that this beautiful, young mermaid was sixty-something?“Okay, you’re sixty-four. All right, then. And by your estimation, that makes us about the same age?”
“Yes. Is my logic faulty?”
Something was sure as fuck faulty somewhere.“Well, maybe I’m just not clear on something. How long is your lifespan?”
“My lifespan?”
God, somebody buy these people a dictionary.“Yeah, how long do mers live?”
“Oh.”She smiled as comprehension dawned.“We live forever.”
My heart plummeted.“Forever?”
She shrugged and then ran her hand across her tail, her clear nail tracing one of the jewel-like scales.“We can live forever. Few of us do. There are accidents and such that can take our lives from us, but with no ill fate, we will continue on.”
“So, you and I are the same age because…?”
“Because we are both so new to life. Your confusion would imply that you have a different expectation of how long you will live. Is that accurate? How many centuries do humans live?”
Forgetting myself, I burst out with a laugh, bubbles escaping from my mouth. Focusing intently on her, I was able to regain my voice.“People live to be about seventy or eighty, if they’re lucky—some a little more, some a lot less.”
Horror was written across her face.“Years?”
“Yes. Years.”
Letting her hand fall away from its anchor, she swam toward me, arm outstretched. Her fingers traced my cheek.“You are so brief. Like foam on the surface, there and then gone.”Her caress paused.“You are part mer! Your fate may be different than you once perceived.”
