Chapter 15
Fifteen
Angie lay on dry ground when her eyes fluttered open. The hazy sun glared back at her, and she squinted. She was on the edge of a small island on the rocky shoal before it transitioned into the actual beach a few yards away, but how?
Pushing up on her arms, she slumped forward and coughed out a lung full of seawater, searing her throat.
Where was she? Where were the mermen or mermaids that nearly drowned her? Surely, they hadn’t just let her go so easily.
Glassy, calm waters surrounded her on all sides. Across from her, a mountain range shrouded in fog. Behind her, a thick forest of spruce trees loomed over her head, imposing and mysterious.
Nothing looked familiar. No land masses, no landmarks that she could place.
The hair on her nape and arms rose as she imagined the worst-case scenario. That the mer didn’t kill her because they chose to leave her alone here, isolated, to die slowly.
She patted her pants and jacket pockets. Her phone was gone too. Nobody would find her here, and her chest ached at the thought.
As she continued scanning the area, she froze.
“What the f—”
Kaden’s upper body bobbed up and down in the water, amber eyes wide like orbs. He didn’t swim closer.
Just stared.
Angie scooted backward. As soon as she moved, nausea and dizziness hit, and she dry-heaved. Tears blurring her vision, she rubbed her eyes.
Finally, he paddled forward and rested his arms on the island’s edge. The ends of his tailfin peeked out from the waves. “Are you alright?”
“Wh-what happened?” Angie rubbed at her temples and folded her legs, settling into a more comfortable position. “Why in the eighteen levels of hell were you just floating there, staring at me? It’s creepy.”
His biceps twitched, and he bit his lower lip, failing to keep one side from pointing upward. “Apologies, I did not want to be practically on top of you when you awoke, and scare you.”
She blinked, processing what she just heard. “Why would you be on top of me?”
“To ensure you were still breathing?” He stated it as if it were an obvious fact, and his smile grew into a full-blown one that reached his annoyingly breathtaking eyes.
She didn’t find that notion funny at all, and didn’t return his smile. “So, I would have been forced to see your giant face when I opened my eyes because you were, and I quote, ‘on top of me?’”
“Well, yes, I’m a decent being who didn’t wish to see you drown.” Kaden’s eyes rounded, and for a moment, he looked as innocent as he sounded.
“I suppose I’ll try and be flattered,” she said, sotto voce.
“You can feel however you wish. That mer who was slowly cutting off your air supply? I distracted him and then grabbed you when he wasn’t looking.”
“You didn’t have to save me, again. I mean, I almost killed you, and almost turned you into shark dinner after shooting you.” She searched his features, trying to pinpoint what it was he could possibly want from her in return for the rescue.
“You nearly put a bullet between my eyes. Then you shot me anyway the next time.” His tail swished from side to side, creating drag. “But you saved me. So, consider the favor repaid.”
“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” Angie grumbled.
“Shit. My dad is going to wonder what happened to me.” Bàba was going to be worried sick that they hadn’t come back on time.
Hopefully Abigail’s radio message had gone through.
Were there people searching for them? How much time had passed since the waves swallowed their boat, and Abigail and Elise?
Thoughts of the two women sent a wave of sadness crashing over her head.
Without her phone or another way of telling time, she had no idea. She also had no idea how to get off this island, and a sudden and overwhelming sense of dread cloaked her.
She couldn’t get Elise and Abigail out of her mind. Maybe they were still alive, somewhere, somehow. “Did you see what happened to those women I was with?”
Kaden’s voice took on a melancholy timbre. “The two mermaids likely drowned them.”
Angie’s throat tightened and she wove her fingers together. “How did you know where I was?”
“I heard three royal sentinels say humans were approaching on a small boat.” Kaden shifted his weight.
“But how? We were so far from the usual places.” Angie’s voice dropped to a frightened whisper. “That area was specifically picked because humans and mer hadn’t encountered each other. And the boats were quiet.”
“We hear vibrations rippling when watercraft approach, even if they sound quiet to humans. There were more patrols sent out and in a wider swath, to watch for divers and boaters. I followed them, not believing humans would come this distance. They never do.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple rising and falling.
“I sensed something was wrong, and then I saw you on the boat.”
“Thank you.” Angie faced him, and he gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “Where are we?”
“About one seamile from where we found you.” His eyes shifted away from her for a beat. “Angie, you asked me earlier, why I saved you again. I know you were not responsible for killing any of my people. I would like to work with you, convince our leaders for a ceasefire.”
Angie thought about Elise and Abigail, and her lower lip quivered. Earlier today, she was on a boat with them, about to bring fish home. She also thought of Luke. He was going to be a marine biologist because of her.
Now, the fish were gone. Elise and Abigail and Luke were also gone.
His devastated parents would be the most difficult to persuade, but if Kaden hadn’t come on time, she would have died, just like them.
She set her jaw and clenched her fists tighter, her fingertips digging hard between the bones in her hand.
“Okay. I can get on board with that.” Her voice surged with renewed fervor.
“But I need to get home, somehow. I should have been back; I don’t know how long ago.
And I need to figure out how to explain why I’m still alive, and the others aren’t.
I’ll think of something,” she added, mostly to herself, a chill running through her bones. “I have to talk to my dad. Feed Lulu.”
“Who’s Lulu?” Kaden perked up.
Angie took a string of deep breaths to re-orient herself before answering him. “My cat.”
“What’s your cat like? I am unfamiliar with them. Except hearing about them from the mer that encountered them. Described them as little terrors with cute faces, sharp claws and sharper teeth who strike fear into the hearts of my people.”
Angie brightened when she pictured Lulu’s sweet, mischievous face.
“They’re curious, they want to see what glowy and shiny things are, like mer tails.
Lulu’s loved shiny things since she was a kitten.
Used to steal my jewelry and hoard them next to her bed.
I think she was a barracuda in a past life. Or a literal cat burglar.”
“Intriguing. I’d like to see this mysterious creature myself,” Kaden mused aloud.
“I adopted her as a kitten. Her previous guardian hoarded cats, so she was neglected. For the first few months, she’d only come out to use the litter box,” Angie continued.
“The poor creature.” Kaden thinned his lips. “She must have trusted you eventually?”
“Yeah, after a lot of patience. I had to wait and feed her under the bed every day. Now she’s my spoiled girl.”
Another cough wedged out of her throat, and she lost her balance, throwing one arm out to keep from falling to her side.
He caught her, long fingers curled around her upper arm, and pushed her back into an upright position. Jolts of electricity fired through her nerves, originating from where his fingertips met her skin.
Angie put a hand on him to steady herself.
His skin was warm to the touch, the high body heat likely an adaptation to living in arctic waters.
He felt firm and lean. The sunlight winked off his broad shoulders, strong chest, and back.
His stomach was flat, and his waist seamlessly transitioned into the transparent fins hugging the start of his tail.
He was a beautiful, ethereal merman, and it was hard to take her eyes off him.
Kaden seemed to have noticed the twitch in her bicep causing her to pull her hand back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She glanced away, cupping her hand on the back of her neck and snapping out of whatever trance she was in. “Clumsy me. Can’t even keep myself upright with a stupid cough.”
Kaden lifted a single thick eyebrow and cocked his head, blinking.
Collecting herself, Angie looked around her once more.
After a stretch of silence, Kaden spoke again. “If you are feeling better, I will take you back to the main island.” He reached out as if to touch her arm, but stopped before it made contact.
“Thanks. So much for not seeing each other again, huh?” She forced a small smile.
“I wasn’t planning on it until this happened.
But, come. You can jump on my back. I’ll make sure you stay afloat.
” He slid into the water, face-first, and she followed, trembling when the water rose to her mid-shin.
She straddled his lower back, keeping her knees tight against his narrow waist, sitting upright and keeping her hands between his shoulder blades like a kickstand.
Angie didn’t want to get closer to him than she already had, and especially not as intimate as pressing her chest to his back.
Creston Harbor came into view within fifteen minutes, and Kaden picked up his speed, staying level beneath the surface, his back and side muscles contracting into her legs. His body heat kept her warm for most of the trip. Angie focused on the landmass ahead.
Once her feet met the sand, she shivered. Kaden surfaced again, facing her, his breathing shallow, face flushed, and he clutched the sandy ground as if it were a life preserver.
Angie quirked one eyebrow. “You good?”
“I will live,” Kaden replied with an audible inhale. “If you would like, I’d meet you again. And perhaps devise a plan. The usual spot? Three tidesdays from today?” His brilliant eyes shone even brighter at his request.
“Sure, okay.”
Kaden gave her a nod before making an abrupt turn and disappearing under the sea.
Angie made her way back to the docks, walking as fast as her feet were willing to move.
The cold of the sea stung at her when a breeze swept by.
Goosebumps covered her arms and legs. She quickened her pace while clearing her raspy throat.
Once she arrived, she headed straight to the locker rooms and changed into spare clothes before any dock workers spotted her.
She would see Kaden again in three days and anticipation simmered, a small burst of heat emanating beneath her skin.
Was her heart, once hardened like a stone in winter at the thought of seeing a mer, slowly thawing?
She frowned, perishing the doltish notion. Whatever warmth fluttered in her stomach was only her body recovering from shock and regaining her senses after a near-drowning.
That had to be it.