Chapter 30
Thirty
Three—or was it four?—days passed since Angie was with Kaden last, and still, her heart fluttered when she thought of him.
The way he touched and kissed her made her feel like she could walk on water.
A flush of heat emanated beneath her belly and dissipated over her thighs when the handsome, sturdy mer-prince made his way into her thoughts.
The perfect lover. And a mer, the enemy of her people. A fact she couldn’t forget, much as she tried to tonight.
Cyrus’s face flashed in her mind. The way he had nearly killed her, and her panic as she desperately searched for air bubbles. Her only hope at the time of staying alive thousands of feet under the sea. She shivered at the memory.
Beside her, Mia and Stefan laughed while setting up a long table full of plastic cups and napkins.
Behind her, Bàba, their village physician Imani, and Jenny and Dave from their village prepared drinks.
Kodiak Coffee—Bàba’s favorite—dessert wines and Mamie Taylors flowed with abundance and soda, water, and hot chocolate topped off the rest of the table.
Angie had invited Celia, but the young woman declined.
Other villagers and dock workers milled around the patio, chatting and laughing.
All that was missing was the food.
Nick was also missing from tonight’s festivities. Apparently, he was still at the docks, according to Bàba. Angie couldn’t fight the feeling that he was up to something.
“So, Nick was the one who set up this whole celebration, and he’s nowhere to be found?” she sniped to no one in particular. “Would be nice to actually feed everyone here.”
“Last I heard, he was on his way. Promised good news,” Ken, Stefan’s husband, said, passing by and standing next to her.
Angie jolted. She hadn’t seen Ken coming, and Nick promising good news made her stomach clench with unease.
An upwards of forty some people were in their sprawling backyard, including Jenny and Dave and a group of fishermen among them.
It came alive beneath early August’s midnight sun, like their summer family gatherings when Māma was still alive.
Even Lulu came out for a peek, a tiny thing standing in the corner and staring at the new people with wonder in her round eyes.
Rosie tugged on Angie’s shorts. She pointed to Angie’s wrist. “Angie āyí, where did you get your bracelet from? It looks like mine, but nicer.”
“Oh, uh.” Angie looked down to Kaden’s gift snug around her wrist. “It was a gift. But, tell you what. After I get out of school and I have a little more money, I’ll get you an even nicer one.”
Rosie’s curious expression brightened, and her eyes sparkled with her smile. “Okay! And, um, I wanted to ask, but have you seen more mermaids?”
Angie acknowledged Rosie. She couldn’t tell her about Kaden and Adrielle and Cyrus.
Adrielle was the type of gorgeous mermaid that Rosie dreamed of seeing. Angie knew, because she had once dreamed that too. She hated lying to her family, but she couldn’t take the likely chance she would run off and tell her parents.
“Not recently sweetie, no.”
“Aw.” Rosie pouted. “But will you tell me when you do?”
“Of course I will. Did you have anything to drink yet?” Rosie shook her head. “Well then!” Angie stepped aside and handed her a cup. “Go get your māma so she can get something to drink in that cute little belly of yours until your dad comes.”
“Okay!” Rosie seemed to have forgotten about mermaids as she ran to Mia, waving the cup at her.
Angie followed behind her to grab a Mamie Taylor for herself, bumping into Stefan when she reached for the ginger beer. She had been drinking more liquids lately, hoping to fill the void in her stomach.
Even though she tried not to look, she caught him leaning over to whisper something in Ken’s ear, and they laughed.
Each time she saw them, they had the energy of two new boyfriends with the familiarity and comfort of a long-married happy couple.
She’d find it a blessing if she and her future partner were still so loved up after over two decades of being together.
Meanwhile, she couldn’t figure out what she felt for Kaden.
“Ugh, where the hell is Nick? I’m starving,” Jenny said from Angie’s other side, putting a hand over her swollen belly.
“How far along?” Angie asked.
Jenny kept her gaze on her midsection, a forlorn smile tugging at her lips. “Sixteen weeks.”
“I’d kill for some protein right now.” Dave joined her, kissing the top of her head. He squeezed Jenny’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “I’ve been giving her most of the food we get. I’ll gladly starve if it means my wife and kids will live.”
Angie exchanged a sad look with Mia who had joined their group with Rosie and Peter, Jenny and Dave’s son. Dave did look skinnier than the last time she saw him, his T-shirt hung loosely on his upper body.
An urge struck to tell them that she’d seen the fish. That they weren’t all gone. The fish were safe, and if they agreed to talk to the mer, maybe they would get them back.
No. She had to stay quiet. Couldn’t betray Kaden’s trust.
“We’re so happy you all are here.” Mia leaned back in her chair.
The sun had set, the skies lit with scintillating stars, and Angie zipped her jacket all the way up.
Then, Mia, Ken, and Dave looked up, and pushed their chairs back to rush toward two men who had just arrived, each holding one side of a one-hundred-and-fifty-quart cooler.
It was Nick and a red-bearded fisherman, the one Angie had helped when she first realized that fish were missing.
Angie trailed at Dave’s heels.
“What you got in there, Nick?” He towered over the cooler when Nick and the fisherman set it on the grass.
A triumphant grin spread over Nick’s face when he threw open the cooler top.
Chills trailed down Angie’s spine.
Fish filled the cooler. Sea bass, salmon, arctic char, all the fish that hadn’t been seen in months. Two lobsters and three crabs were tucked into the corners.
“Nick! Holy shit, where’d you get that from? You two are heroes!” Ken clapped them on the back, and Angie stayed back as more partygoers joined, including Rosie, Bàba, and Stefan.
“Where did you get these from?” Stefan asked. “Angie, come with me to throw these on the grill?” He handed her a cold, dead salmon. Numb, Angie held out a limp hand to receive it.
She didn’t move, and felt as if roots had grown under feet and anchored her into the ground.
“Well.” Nick pulled out a lobster in each hand and handed them to the red-bearded fisherman, and two crabs to Ken. “Help me unshell these, boys?”
“You got it, man,” Ken said, following the fisherman toward the long plastic table next to the grill.
Beside Angie, Mia, Bàba, Dave, and Stefan fixed their gazes on Nick who seemed to relish the attention, with his chest puffed and a smug smile plastered on his face.
“We found where the mer were keeping them. Somehow those scaly bastards managed to keep all the fish in one place. Our cameras sensed movement, we were able to follow a trail straight to the site. I can’t believe it.
” Nick paused for dramatic effect, turning his gaze to Angie and holding it.
“Took us a little while to pinpoint exactly where it was and then get enough fish for us, but we did it.”
How did this happen? How did he find–
Realization stung her face. The flashing red light she saw when they left the sanctuary.
Her palms grew sweaty, and her head spun.
It was a camera, and damn her for not stopping to investigate. If she had, she would have seen it, could have gotten rid of the memory card before divers retrieved the footage.
Nick held her gaze for a moment longer, his expression impassive.
She waited for him to say something, to out her in front of everyone in typical gloating Nick fashion.
He said nothing to her and returned to his conversation with the group gathered before him.
An hour passed, and lowering her head, Angie turned away from him and nudged Mia, handing her salmon to Bàba. The fresh air around her had become stifling, and she needed to be anywhere but here. “Let’s get another drink, and then go for a walk?”
Mia nodded and waved to Nick, who blew her a kiss in return, and Angie led her to the house and pushed the door open.
Once inside, Angie washed her hands and reached for a pair of wine glasses, and poured two glasses of demi-sec champagne and offered one to Mia.
“No thanks, Angie. I’ll stick to this.” Mia pointed to her can of black cherry-flavored seltzer, which she’d retrieved from the fridge. “I’m pregnant. Found out a week ago. Came as a surprise to Nick and I.”
Angie’s grip loosened on the champagne bottle, stopping short of dropping it.
All thoughts of Nick finding the fish fled her mind as a deluge of emotion burst in her: worry for Mia’s stress and health and fear about bringing in a new baby during a time when they warred with a race they once deemed mythical.
But excitement for a new niece or nephew to dote on overshadowed all.
“Congratulations! Guess I’m having two tonight.” Angie clasped her hands together as they strolled outside. “When did you find out?”
Mia put a hand over her belly. “Last week. I’m almost two months along. I’ll tell Bàba when he’s not so stressed.”
“Or you could help him de-stress by telling him.” Angie took a sip of her champagne, the sweet, cold bubbles racing down her throat.
“True.” Mia grinned. “I’ll tell him tomorrow morning. He’s not working, right?”
“No, I think he actually took a day off. Or at least the morning. I had to talk him into it before he practically killed himself from the stress and lack of sleep.”
They kept walking, away from the party and onto a wide swath of open land facing the single rough road bisecting the region. In the distance and out of sight, the roar of the shore drifted to them.
“Still sticking with the Titanic theme for the new kid?” She smirked.