“My demonstrations?”
This time her look left no doubt that she was finding me intentionally dense.“Both your use of fire to hunt the White Spirit and save Wrell’s life.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’d not really known that it could do either of those things. This whole fire thing is relatively new.”I nearly stopped there and probably should have, but maybe showing some vulnerability of my own would earn some of her trust.“Honestly, it’s been pretty awful. I had no idea what was happening to me, and nothing good has come from it.”
“Wrell would probably have a different perspective on that, and I can think of many things for which control of fire would be most useful.”
“Well, I guess so. And it did save my life when I was being attacked.”I’d almost mentioned the vampire but refrained. It didn’t seem wise to bring up the subject when we were already discussing demons. Why push it?
“I can see how such a power would be an easy self-defense.”She looked away, as if considering what she wanted to say, then directed her thoughts to me, once more casting her blue gaze over.“I confess to wondering about other possibilities outside of your control of fire.”
Although it struck me that it might be dangerous to have Syleen think too much about my demonic nature, I chose to take some comfort that I’d been on her mind in other ways than considering her options of casting me out of the tribe.“Other possibilities?”
“Yes.”She gave a curt nod.
“Like what?”
“Your bloodline is a combination of fire demon and mer. Two more opposite beings I cannot fathom. Fire and water, in essence.”
Finn’s voice played in my memory, when we’d been swimming in the ocean, telling me how the powers of fire and water never mixed. I’d proven him wrong about so many things. At Syleen’s words, I realized instantly where her questioning was going.“You’re wondering if I’d have control over water like I do with fire.”
She nodded.
“I’ve never considered it. Maybe.”In the back of my mind, an image of the boy on the beach replayed its never-ending loop. His blistered skin. The gallons of water he vomited over the sand after our kiss.
Syleen broke into my thoughts.“To my astonishment, your power has shown itself to have productive qualities that are beneficial to others outside of yourself. I confess amazement at such an attribute being credited to the offspring of a demon.”She paused once more, shaking off the backhanded accolade, then continued.“Another aspect I’ve given great consideration to, actually. I must assume the more prevalent ratio of mer blood as compared to your demonic heritage has positively affected both the nature of your power and you personally. I believe it also stands to reason that if such benefits have already made themselves known when this is a power in the youth of its duration, that there indeed may be many more altruistic possibilities to uncover.”
Her eyebrow arched in an invitation to either agree or to raise opposition.
“Give me a moment to think through what you’ve said, Syleen. These are new thoughts to me.”
She smiled her approval at my response.“Of course. Wisdom comes with reflection, not haste.”
I suppose I could have told her it wasn’t reflection I needed but a dictionary or Biblical concordance of some sort. I’d been wrong. The mer verbiage wasn’t like the King James Version of the Bible. Even that old bigot would have been overwhelmed by the verboseness of these fish. It was disconcerting having to weed through all her words to get to the meaning she’d intended.
If I understood her, I was pretty sure she may have just answered one of the biggest questions I’d had since learning I was a demon. Or at least one of the biggest questions Finn’s family had raised. Being only one generation removed from a pure demon, by their accounts I should be a homicidal maniac, as should my great-great grandchildren. The fact that I wasn’t was one of the biggest reasons we’d been so reluctant to fully accept the theory of my demonic patronage. Although, when I thought about the boy on the beach, my demon heritage seemed closer than ever.
Outside of that incident, I couldn’t think of anything else truly demonic about me. I suppose I’m more moody than most, but I wouldn’t equate that quality to a murderous streak making me want to burn up every person I saw. Finn and Sonia might have had a different take on that than me, however. Hell, even Lelas might be less inclined to see it the same way I did at the moment. I wished I could speak to Wendell and Paulette about what Syleen had said. Once I’d convinced them that mermaids weren’t truly mythical like everyone thought, surely they’d be able to weed through the truth of the mer blood effect on my demonic nature theory. As it was, this was the first hypothesis that made any sense at all. As much as I didn’t want to be thankful for two bloodlines that hinted at immortality, if I was going to live forever inside this crazy head of mine, thank God some of those genetics counteracted any murderous tendencies.
I returned my attention to Syleen. Again I was hesitant to ask questionsthings were going too well between us right nowbut this was too big to consider on my own. Paulette and Wendell weren’t here, I wasn’t exactly speaking to Therin, and as much as I loved Lelas, she wouldn’t have the centuries of knowledge that Syleen might be privy to.“Why do you think that mer blood might have altered my demonic nature?”
Her face fell.“Ah. You were considering your own heritage, not how your nature may be used to help those around you.”
A touch of shame mingled with my irritation. It wasn’t my fault she spoke in such a way that I needed a translator to make sense of it. Neither was she entirely wrong that I was thinking of myself first.
She continued, letting the judgment pass.“I am only making a guess. I know little of demons, and not enough to be confident in that knowledge. It is my understanding they are evil by nature and there are never exceptions to that rule.”
“I don’t know much about it either. I’m willing to bet you know tons more than me. From what I’ve learned since I found out about demons, that is the general consensus as well. It seemed to surprise everybody that I wasn’t trying to kill everyone I met.”
“So I have been led to understand.”She quit talking as Zef swam over to us.
“Is everything all right, Syleen?”
For the briefest moment, I thought I detected a coolness or irritation in her tone toward him, but it was gone so quickly I decided it must be my own at being interrupted.“All is well, Zef. Why would it be otherwise?”
Zef’s eyes darted my way before flicking back to Syleen. Long enough to see that I was aware of their conversation and give me an acknowledging nod.“Such an extended conversation between the two of you seems atypical, so I thought you may require my presence.”His eyes flicked to me once more.“Both of you.”
I wondered why they were continuing to speak in a way that allowed me to hear them. Maybe some mer Emily Post rule, not that it had stopped them before.
