Using both hands, he dusted off the rest of the sand and pushed himself up from his reclining position, the quills on the spine of his tail flared. Again, his exotic beauty overwhelmed me, and I could find no words.
Not helping the situation, he scraped the rest of the sand off his torso with his hands, causing his muscles to flex and swell. With a final shudder of his tail, the remaining sand flew from his body. Suspended a foot or so off the seabed, he glistened in the sunlight that reached this deep. Truly a mythical creature—part magic, part Greek god. It took all my willpower to not reach out and touch him.
I was fairly certain he could see my renewed erection, but he kindly gave no indication he took offense. Sadly, he didn’t seem interested in it either. Maybe he didn’t realize what it meant, as I hadn’t quite figured out mer sexuality and how their bodies functioned. I bet things weren’t that different.
“Fine. I get it. You’re good to go.”
He nodded.
To my horror, he reached out and grasped my arm and then lowered his forehead until it rested on the back of my hand. As much as it might make me uncomfortable, I had a man who was vowing his life to protect mine. I was afraid to contemplate how that might turn out for either of us.
Twenty-Four
BRETT WRIGHT
We leftthe next day. I forced myself not to grumble. After all, they weren’t dragging me off on a dangerous mission without any warning, again—just changing locations. Saving the rainforest, the elephants, the whales, something.
Not surprisingly, the mers were extremely efficient. Within ten minutes of beginning, we were underway. Of course, there wasn’t really anything to do. We sliced through the binding of the huts, and thanks to a stronger than typical current, the kelp spread back out, instantly blending in with the rest of the forest.
It seemed, judging by what the mers were carrying, everyone’s hut had been as empty as mine. The only things I saw being transported were blades and spears, both the ones used for hunting and those for cutting vegetation. Other than that, there was nothing.
It was strange to think about. On land, we have so many possessions. I wouldn’t have been able to pack a suitcase for a vacation in ten minutes, let alone packing to move. In some ways, the minimalist concept seemed rather freeing. Nothing tying you down, nothing to worry about, no hassle. Really, that was pretty perfect. Every once in a while, I would do that anyway. I’d start to feel like I’d gathered too much stuff and begin to feel trapped, too closed in. Sonia had gotten used to it and would give me a hard time when she saw me lugging trash bags out to the garbage or loading them up to take to Goodwill. After a few times, however, she started adding some of her own stuff to the exodus.
This was a bit extreme, even for me. The only thing I’d never been able to get rid of, even though I didn’t have many, were photographs. I only had a couple of my grandparents and me. Grandpa hated having his picture taken. Most of the framed photos I had were of Sonia and me. There’d been a couple of pictures of my mother, Jessica, as a beautiful young child. I’d kept one in a drawer, unwilling to look at the mother I’d never met but incapable of getting rid of it. What had happened to it after the vampire attack on Sonia, after I disappeared? To all of my stuff?
As freeing as a lack of possessions seemed, it was a little sad as well. For a species that was immortal, or at least had the potential to be immortal, it seemed like the mers were a dying species. They could be killed as easily as any human, and more than one baby in a century was a big deal? Seemed like a design flaw somewhere. Especially true when considering what I knew about demons, who were truly immortal and were about as prolific as rats. Good plan. Let’s make the evil guys impossible to kill and give them an above average sperm count while we’re at it. Mers, on the other hand, let’s give the mere promise of immortality to the earth-loving members of the supernatural species, make them easy to kill, and make it hard for them to reproduce. Brilliant. And with no personal possessions and photographs, the ones that actually did make it to an immortalish age wouldn’t have any way to remember all the ones they had lost over the centuries.
No wonder some of the angels had rebelled and left God, if those are the kind of fucked-up plans he devised. Of course, maybe that was just the demon in me talking.
Seeing the entire tribe swim together was a much more overwhelming experience than viewing them gathered around eating every night. Regardless of the variance of their personal physical attractiveness and attributes, as a species they were stunning. Only the sparkling jewel tones of their tails minimized the mother-of-pearl sheen of their skin glistening in the morning sunlight. A few who had different hues highlighted the sea of mainly blue and green scales. Even the wondrous visage of Wrell and his lionfish quills and coloring was dwarfed by the sheer magnitude of beauty of the rest of the tribe.
The thought had plagued the back of my mind the majority of the time I’d been with them, but it was all encompassing as I slowed and watched them gliding through the water. I looked down in disgust at my own legs, so long and rippling with muscles, which I’d always been proud of before. Two, pale, stumpy sticks of flesh. Even my cock, which I’d been even more proud of than my legs. I’d trade it all to truly be one of them.
In a flash, the realization hit me that I wasn’t going to leave. How fucked up is that? In my moment of self-loathing, the realization finally broke through that this wasn’t a temporary kind of thing. This was it. I was going to stay. This would be my family. I’d be here the rest of my days—whether the normal lifespan like I hoped or the endless millennium that I feared—this was where I was meant to be. I would need to find a way to return one more time to see Grandma and tell her good-bye. She deserved that. And I loved her. She would be the one thing I would miss.
My body had realized it before. Ever since I could remember, I was the most at peace when I was in the ocean. That had always been true. Maybe it was the drama of discovering there were mermaids and that I was related to them that had stopped me from fully accepting that I was meant to be here. Finally finding out who my dad actually was. Discovering that both sides of my family expected me to deny my sexuality in order to be accepted. Why choose a reason? It was all of those combined, and a thousand more I hadn’t begun to consider yet.
Since the hunt, during the hunt, things had changed. I hadn’t lied to Therin. I really had felt the limitless generations of my ancestors with me as I fought for my life. Maybe even fought for the will of Moheetla. Sure, I wished I had a tail, wished I could be how they wanted me to be. Or, even better, that they’d accept me the way I am. Regardless, even though the mers weren’t magic in the same way Finn and his family were, there was magic here. Power in the hunt, in the tribe. In the way my blood responded to it all. If I pushed all the imperfections aside, the truth of it was clear. This was home. The details would just have to get ironed out over time. I had enough of that, it seemed.
I couldn’t suppress the ridiculous grin that played at the corners of my mouth. Home.
I would miss Sonia as well, but I’d missed her before I left, when I had thought her dead. Even knowing she was alive, sort of, as a vampire, she still wasn’t Sonia. No way any part of her remained in that monster I’d seen devouring that suburban family.
Finn. I would miss Finn too, but that didn’t depend on where I was. I’d already walked away. As much as I loved him, it hadn’t felt like this. Part of me had wanted to feel it, but he wasn’t home. This was home.
I watched the mers as they swam farther away. Their magnificence was astounding. I was a part of them. I was one of them. At least I was moving in that direction. Lelas had been right. Things had been better with Syleen. Zef was cool with me being part of the tribe; he had been from day one. Greylin seemed okay with it as well. Hell, Wrell had sworn his life to protect mine, as much as the thought made me uncomfortable. A lot had changed since I left to hunt for the White Spirit.
A peace slid into me that I couldn’t remember experiencing since I was a little kid. When I’d felt completely safe when it was just Grandma and I alone in the house, making cookies or working on homework together. I knew I was where I was meant to be. Imperfect, yes. Without a doubt. Home, like what I’d always been longing for? Yes. Completely different than what I’d ever dreamed, but home nonetheless.
Well, shit.
Despite the absence of a pretty little tail, within a few kicks, I caught up to the rest of the tribe. The rest of the tribe. Huh. I really was feeling like a part of the tribe.
I scanned the mers, searching for Lelas’s lavender tail. Before I found her, a pair of ice-blue eyes met mine. Therin paused where he was, causing the mer behind him to swerve effortlessly around him. His brows rose in question. I raised my hand in a small wave. We’d caught each other’s eyes several times in the past few days since the hunt, but hadn’t spoken. I couldn’t read where he was. He didn’t seem to avoid me like he had before the hunt, but neither did he rush over to talkor boss me around, ratherlike he used to. At his expression, I nearly swam to him. He hadn’t told me we were getting ready to move. I guess no one else had either, save Lelas. Maybe I shouldn’t hold it against him, but combined with not telling me about the hunt, it was too much. Maybe no one else had told me, but he was my dad. He should have. Daddy issues. Yep, definitely home. Without another wave, I broke eye contact and continued to search for Lelas.
I finally spotted her near the front, her honey-blonde hair glowing as the sunlight caught the more golden streaks. Surprisingly, her shorter hair actually helped her stand out against the majority of long locks flowing in the current. Looking at her, my heart soared. Yep, I was home. I’d get to spend a lifetime, lifetimes, maybe, with her. Pretty awesome! Kinda like getting Sonia back. Kinda.
Happy. I was actually happy. That had been a while.
