Page 15

LUKE

Blue. The fish tail was…very blue. A bright and shimmery color Luke couldn’t quite wrap his mind around, especially in contrast to the dull, tan stripes of his spare comforter.

Neither could Luke fathom the whole picture he was being presented—was there really a half man, half fish on his guest bed?—so he found himself focusing on small details, his gaze darting every which way over his inhuman houseguest.

Syrus’s ears had changed; that was one thing. They were long and pointed and feathered around the edges, and the same blue as his tail. The color blended in with his more ordinary skin tone toward the bottom, just like the scales on his tail faded into his abdomen.

There was a scar there too, on Syrus’s lower belly. Luke somehow hadn’t noticed it before. It cut into the top of the tail, marring the perfect brightness there. But the scar on his belly was nothing compared to the ends of his tail, right where it forked into a v shape. The flesh there was jagged, cut open, and scarred, just as Syrus’s feet had been. The whole mess was a dulled blue compared to the shimmery brightness of the rest of the tail, as if the wounds took away from Syrus’s glow.

It was all too much, and far too confusing. Luke’s gaze traveled upward again. There, on the backs of Syrus’s forearms were…Luke didn’t know the word for them. Maybe fins? They didn’t look like they were for swimming though. They were blue and curved and solid, and they looked sharp. Deadly, even.

Was this what Syrus had first looked like out on the beach? Had that tail been hiding under the water? How the hell had Luke missed it?

But there’d been the sun, that bright, blinding glare, and Syrus had been mostly submerged in the waves. Close to drowning, Luke had thought.

How ridiculous that worry seemed now.

Luke was vaguely aware of a low murmuring, like Syrus was saying something to him. Luke couldn’t hear it clearly, or parse out the meaning of the words, but he could feel it, at the edges of his senses, like Syrus’s voice was fighting to soothe him. Like it had a mind and power of its own.

I’ve lost it. I’ve really fucking lost it.

There was a hysterical edge to the thought, a panic that was threatening to take Luke over.

But no. Luke couldn’t lose it. He was a father, goddamn it, and he had Colby to think of, and he needed to get it together right this second, no matter how absurd it all seemed.

Luke shook his head, trying to dislodge the annoying ringing. He shut his eyes and opened them again. Breathed deep and let it out.

Syrus looked even bigger like this, as difficult as it was to fathom. Bigger and…shimmery almost, like there was a sheen to even the human part of his skin. It almost hurt to look at him, he was so fantastical, but Luke made himself do it.

Syrus had stopped speaking at some point. He was watching Luke calmly, if warily. His eyes had changed too. They were a brighter blue now, swirled with the amber flecks Luke had seen before. It had an eerie effect, beautiful but disconcerting. Luke worried he might get lost in them if he stared too long.

“Luke,” Syrus said eventually, and Luke heard it clearly this time, his name emerging from those lips. Blue-tinged lips, he noticed. There was a whole color scheme happening, and maybe if Luke hadn’t felt like he was two steps away from the edge of insanity, he might even have been able to appreciate it.

“What are you?” Luke asked. The question came out hoarse, as if Luke had been silently screaming this whole time.

“I’m Syrus.”

Luke glowered. He wasn’t in the mood for wordplay. “That’s not⁠—”

“You’re looking very pale,” Syrus interrupted. “Handsome too—I do like to see your face uncovered like this—but pale. Perhaps you should sit.”

He was probably right, but the only place to sit was the bed on which an enormous fucking fish tail lay, and Luke couldn’t make himself get that close. Not yet. Not until this situation started making any kind of sense.

Syrus pursed his lips as Luke failed to move. “I won’t harm you.”

“You’re a—” Luke choked. He couldn’t finish the sentence. It was too absurd to say out loud.

Syrus shot him a sly smile. “Oh, there are many words. Merman. Siren. Sea-devil.”

It turned out it wasn’t any less absurd having Syrus say it instead. Luke gaped at him. “Why are you here?”

“Because you helped me.”

Right. Because Luke had dragged this creature out of the ocean, shoved him in his car, and offered to take him home. Stupid. So very, very stupid.

“Was that a…trick? The rescue?”

Syrus flicked the marred ends of his tail, and Luke didn’t miss the slight clench of his jaw as he did so. “Does it look like a trick?”