Page 33 of Anchored to the Storm

Hoping it would unite us a little more and keep him talking to me, I grabbed myself a beer. Opening it, I asked, “So, uh, what changed your mind?”

Styx eyed the beer, smirking. “Silly little rabbit is getting smarter.”

Acting as if clueless to his meaning, I took a swig, praying he wouldn’t shut down.

He didn’t. “What changed my mind, huh? That day on the john boat.”

Yes, tell me more. I waltzed over and plopped on the couch. My ass practically hit the floor because the couch was possibly a hundred years old, I paid it no mind and propped my feet on top of an upside-down bucket that once held mortar.

A willing victim of my trickery, he perched on a stool that had ripped, long ago, from how the material appeared. “As his blood dripped in the boat, and I learned the error of my ways, all I had left to do was beg. ‘I’ll do anything if you spare him. I’m sorry if I broke any rules having him, but he is special. Please don’t take him from me.’ Thankfully, he listened. Or better yet, he read me and seemed to know I was speaking the truth, knowing I would do anything for Lennox.”

Styx stared at me.

I couldn’t move a muscle, feeling I was on the cusp of a huge reveal. The only thing moving was my mind, thoughts racing…

Suddenly, I thought of Harmony’s book. The one she gave me. The one about… “River Styx.”

Styx seemed surprised at the mention. His head drew back. “Huh, didn’t see that coming.”

“I came across a book on Greek mythology.” Like a mouse in a lab trying to pass a course for a piece of cheese, my mind continued to search for connections. The book had read things like… Journey to the underworld… Price to be paid… “The river, the water, binding together souls with divine oaths—” I peered up at Styx on the stool. “Oh shit.”

One-percenter biker clubs are all about oaths and unbreakable brotherhoods.

My lungs threatened to seize. “The clubhouse on a peninsula. One way in. One way out.”

Appearing aged from the weight he’d carried for years, he sighed. “Except for swimming or a boat, but you will need a ladder, either way.” He shrugged, attempting humor. “Or a flying mermaid.”

I wanted to laugh because his ill timing was, indeed, becoming humorous, but what had been his vow? “How deep does your promise to that… merman… go?”

Styx looked and sounded sad when he said, “Until I die.”

East Five

Impossible… Possibilities

She is life. . . for me. . .

I held on to my beer bottle this time. Letting go of anything, including the grandpa I hated only hours ago, made my stomach turn violently. “This is how you are, Styx.”

He explained, “My mermaid, Lennox’s mother, her name was River. Well, that is the English version and much easier to pronounce. That’s what I learned that day on the boat. Also explained was that my son was to take her place, guarding the boundary between two different worlds.” He shook his head. “Lennox was just a child. What was I supposed to do? Let some sea creature take him from me? When all this was my fault?” He got up from the stool and began pacing. “Me having sex with River was how this all started anyway. So, I offered myself. Promising to help guard their boundary from above.” Styx faced me. “This was a first-of-its-kind offer. A human helping the underworld.”

“Why do I feel I’m missing the ‘catch’?” Waiting for a reply, I guzzled my beer. I needed that calmness again.

He watched me, agreeing, “Right,” then rushed to the fridge for two fresh bottles. Handing me one, he continued, “Well, I had over a decade before the ‘catch’ was to be cashed in. Lennox was to impregnate another mermaid.” He held up a hand to stop me. “Sounds creepy to guarantee your son’s future ‘prospects’, but it was that or he, a little boy, be dragged underwater to, well, I’m not sure, to be honest. I had to buy us time to figure a way out of this mess.”

Styx promised nothing was impossible, but his circumstances back then sounded to be just that. If I were ever to have a child, I hope he or she never has to… Realizing I was the product of such a union, and have been aching to be inside Saleeni, I took a sip of beer because this was far from a white and black situation.

He continued, “I did my best to research what I was up against, but the closest I could find on a powerful Greek merman was that he could be a water nymph or a damn sea fairy—none of which was anything like what I made a deal with.” He shook his head. “Not that any of that mattered. At a young age, Lennox fell in love with your mama. Absolutely refused when his time had come to ‘do the deed’.” Holding a beer, his arm hung at his side as if too heavy to lift. “That love, so pure and true, cost us dearly. It would start an avalanche of consequences.” After a big swig of beer, he started pacing again. “I had no idea of all that we would have to face.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Myths are like the bible. The tales and scriptures are open to lots of interpretations.” He tapped his temple. “Remember our talk about nothing being as it seems?” He carried on, “With my promise to the non-sea fairy, it was as if I verbally dipped my son in water—part of the myth—that carried a hefty price, except it wasn’t him with the weakness, per se. My son falling in love with a human was my Achilles heel. His happiness was all my heart wanted.” He stomped his boot. “Regretting ever having sex with River was such a double-edged sword. Had I not been with her, none of this would have happened. Yet,” he grimaced, “nor would I have Lennox.” He eyed me. “Or…”

He wouldn’t have me.

It was shocking, but at that very second, on top of my sympathy for Styx, I was suddenly realizing that not having me meant I would never have had… “Saleeni.”

“Now you are getting a grasp of how layered this all is.” He exhaled. “Another example? River Styx mythology says that if an Olympian god broke an oath, they would be forced to drink water that caused a coma, then they would be exiled for nine years. No, I wasn’t exiled, but your father was without his love for—” He waited for me to catch on.