02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (48 page)

I looked at Ethan as he stood there regarding
me with a strange look on his face.

“Can you carry her out to the water?” I asked
him.

He looked at her uncertainly, “Are you sure?”
he asked me.

“If she doesn’t go home she’ll die,” I said
flatly, meeting his eyes, “I’m taking them back in now.”

He approached us and gingerly picked up the
frail girl. She looked to me for reassurance and I patted her arm,
leading the way out of the room with Lorelei latched onto me. I
paused in the hallway, waiting for Ethan to come out, Lorelei
clamped onto me even more tightly when she saw the other men.

“Can you show us the way?” I asked Ethan, “I
have no idea where we are.”

I followed him out to the parking garage. He
led us down a hallway that opened out onto the driveway, and we
stepped out into the cool night air. I followed him down a steep
path that led into a thicket of tall pampas grass, white plumes
waving gently and glowing in the pale moonlight. We could hear the
waves crashing on the beach as we passed through a gate that led to
a wooden staircase. I looked down at a sandy length of coastline,
and my heart lifted.

I looked back, and then up, to see an
enormous mansion looming over us, and I wondered again whose house
it really was.

Lorelei’s pace quickened when she saw the
water, and I had to hold her arm tightly to keep her from tumbling
down the stairs in her haste. I could see Nerissa crane her neck to
better see the moonlight dancing in a broken line across the water.
The fresh briny air smelled like freedom itself after the dank
concrete room.

I felt like I was coming home too, suddenly
eager to get into the comforting black water, to be enveloped in
its soothing life-giving pulse, baptized and liberated at the same
time. I quickly stripped off the dress, tossing it aside with
revulsion. I put on my wetsuit quickly and struggled to zip it up,
surprised when Evie materialized beside me. She must have followed
us out.

“Let me help,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said automatically, my voice
hollow.

“Do you really think it’s wise for you to go
with them?” Evie asked me gently.

“Nerissa’s in bad shape,” I said, “I need to
make sure she can get through this.”

“But…”

I turned to face her, struggling for control,
glad I was unable to see her eyes in the shadows, “It’s my fault. I
need to finish it.”

“Please be careful,” she said, kissing my
cheek. I wanted to curl up into a ball and dissolve in tears but I
couldn’t afford that luxury. There was one more thing I had to
do.

Lorelei was already wading in, eager to
immerse herself, “
Sisters! Hurry!
” she called.

Ethan carried Nerissa down to the waterline
where she reached out her arms to me like a child. He waded in a
little ways before he handed her off to me.

“Hurry back,” he pleaded, his voice
tense.

“I will.”

I staggered a little, holding Nerissa upright
and walking her into the water. She sighed with relief as we moved
past the breaking waves into deeper water to join Lorelei. We held
hands as they slipped under and began to breathe again. Their heads
broke through the surface several times as they thrashed in pain. A
few shrieks pierced the air and I wondered how it sounded to Ethan,
who stood watching from the water’s edge.

They let go of my hands and I tread water,
looking around for them to return. After a few long minutes they
both surfaced. The change was dramatic. Their skin glowed in the
dark water and their eyes were bright as they clamored around me,
voices chiming together in a chorus of bells.

“
Come with us! Come swim with us!
”
they called in unison, circling around me in joyful relief. Their
glorious shiny scales reflected the moonlight and their powerful
tails churned the water all around us into into white froth. I
wondered what had become of the baby during the transformation.

“
I have to go back
.”

“
Why do you want to grow old?
” asked
Nerissa. I was struck by the difference in her. Her eyes glowed
jade green and the blackness of her hair contrasted starkly with
her phosphorescent skin. She was stunning– as beautiful as anything
I’d ever seen.

“
Why do you want to be cold?
” asked
Lorelei.

I looked at Ethan, standing anxiously in the
surf, and knew.

I took each one by the hand, “
Promise me
you’ll be careful... and stay away from people. You have to warn
all the other sisters! Tell them they must never allow themselves
to be caught!
”

Nerissa nodded vehemently.

I swam back to shore, the mermaids escorting
me until I could get my footing. I embraced each vibrant glowing
mermaid wearily, satisfied my task was complete.

With each step closer to Ethan I released a
fragment of the scaffolding of anger that was holding me up, barely
keeping me from collapse. I couldn’t see his face but his shoulders
dropped with relief as I staggered towards him. Using the last of
my strength I made it into the shelter of his arms and
surrendered.

“Oh Ethan...”

I liked to think of myself as strong, as
someone who did not cry easily, but now I found myself sobbing
uncontrollably in his arms for the second time in a row. He walked
me out of the water onto the beach and stopped. He brushed the hair
back from my face and laid his cheek alongside mine.

“It’s alright now,” he said. I clutched onto
him, trying without success to gather myself and steady my
breathing.

“I’m s– sorry,” I choked out, “I don’t know
wh– why I can’t stop.”

“Just let it out,” he told me, stroking my
hair until I settled down.

“I want to go home.” I felt a hand on my
back.

“Marina... will you be alright?” I looked up
to see Evie standing there holding the dress I had discarded.

“Yes,” I said, wiping my eyes, “I’m just
really tired.”

“You need to change out of your suit,” Ethan
said.

“I’m
NOT
putting that dress back on,”
I hiccupped, shuddering at the thought and turning my face into
Ethan’s chest.

“I have some clothes in my truck,” he
said.

“Why don’t you take her home,” Evie said to
Ethan. “We need to get the situation here settled. We’ll talk
tomorrow... Could you see to it that she gets something to
eat?”

Ethan led me back up the stairs, arms around
me protectively. We passed Boris at the gate as he stood waiting
for Evie, keeping guard as usual.

He smiled broadly at me, all white teeth in
the dim light, “Marina! Did you know you take out two Estonian
military? Very tough guys... good vork kiddo!”

I smiled weakly up at him, “Thanks
Boris.”

Behind him the big house loomed over us in
the dark. I looked up to see lights glowing on the upper floors,
and a plume of smoke rising from one of the many chimneys. The dark
scene in the trophy room flashed into my mind. The symbolism of my
being brought there wasn’t lost on me.

I stumbled alongside Ethan, his arm around my
waist urging me forward. He looked down to see me picking my way
across the gravel on my bare feet and paused to scoop me up in his
arms. I laid my head on his shoulder, starting to believe the worst
was over.

“Thanks,” I said when he set me down at his
truck. There were two big militaristic looking vehicles in the
driveway alongside it. Ethan reached into the cab and rummaged
around until he pulled out a t-shirt and sweats, turning me around
and helping me with the zipper.

“I wore them a few days ago,” he said
apologetically, “I hope they’re not too bad.”

I peeled off the suit and quickly dressed.
Enveloped in Ethan’s scent I was starting to feel a descending
calm. I turned around for a hug, wrapping myself around him. I
wanted to go back in time and erase everything I had just seen and
heard. Pretend it never happened.

I could feel his wet shoes with my bare
feet.

“You got soaked,” I said, looking down.

He helped me into the truck, strapping on my
seat-belt and closing the door. He climbed in, reaching over to pat
my knee reassuringly.

“Let’s get outta here,” he said.

“Wait!” I cried, reaching down to grab the
wetsuit and toss it out the window.

Ethan looked at me like I’d gone mad.

“It has a bug planted in it... that’s how
they found me... us,” I said.

We drove out a narrow private road until we
came to the freeway. I realized we were just a dozen miles up the
coast from the harbor, not too far from where Lorelei had taken me
surfing many times.

“Where was that place?” I asked him, “How did
you find it?”

He explained how Cruz had told him about my
vision, and they had searched the beach, finding my bag and waiting
helplessly overnight. Dutch and Ethan got the surveillance tapes
from the harbor lot, spotting the two big coolers being loaded onto
a van. They had Shayla take a look at the footage and she
identified the men who had mistakenly tried to kidnap her.

The license information was passed to Evie,
who used her connections to discover the mansion, tracing the van
to a business that belonged to the owner. She had Boris assemble a
team to secure the house by force, and Ethan followed them over,
refusing to stay behind and wait. They didn’t know I’d be there,
but came looking for the owner in hopes of interrogating him. Just
as they arrived the gunshots rang out and they raced in to find
me.

“Whose house was it?” I asked.

“She didn’t say,” he said, “But it looks like
someone with a lot of money.”

“Yeah... I know,” I said quietly, thinking
about the rooms I saw.

We neared the harbor exit and Ethan turned to
me, “Mind stopping by my place for a minute? I need to change my
shoes...”

“OK,” I said absently, worrying about what I
should tell everyone.

Ethan pulled up close to his apartment and
parked, “I’ll be right back.”

I panicked, clutching his arm, “No! I’ll go
with you.”

He came around to my side of the truck,
embracing me as I stepped out. We walked up to his place and he let
me in.

“Where’s your dad?” I asked.

“He’s with Abby. You should call them–
they’re all so scared... Cruz is blaming himself for not stopping
you.”

“Could you call them and tell them I’m okay?”
I asked pleadingly, “I need some time to think. I don’t know what
to say… I just can’t... can’t talk about it yet.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, sitting me down on
the couch and wrapping a throw blanket around me. He kissed my
cheeks, “I’ll be right back.”

I could hear him talking on the phone from
the other room, and he came back to sit close to me, encasing me in
his long arms and rubbing my back and shoulders. I started to feel
the tension ease and dissipate as I leaned into him. I remembered
that the first time I’d ever been in his arms was on the exact same
spot; I closed my eyes and remembered how I’d felt that day.

“Thank you,” I said with a sigh, burrowing my
face into his warm neck.

“Do you know how I thought to check the
harbor surveillance tapes?” he asked, reaching into his back
pocket.

I looked up and smiled, remembering my
desperate gamble, “My necklace?”

He looked surprised, “How did you know?”

“I didn’t.”

“You were gone and I didn’t know what to
do... I finally went home and when I stepped out of the truck there
it was...” he held out the sparkling aquamarine to me.

I looked at it, and up into his eyes, “I
dropped it from the cooler, hoping it would come back to me
again... I knew it was meant to be mine,” I said.

“Just like me,” he said, putting it back on
me and leaning down to kiss me softly.

We snuggled together on the couch quietly,
and I relaxed, finally warm and safe. I was just drifting off to
sleep when a knock on the door made me startle violently.

“It’s okay,” said Ethan, “I ordered some
pizza.”

He came back with the box and went to get
something to drink. I was starving, and we ate side by side in
silence, leaning back afterward to relax. Images from the past two
days kept flashing into my mind, refusing to leave me in peace. A
terrible truth was slowly bubbling up, forcing its way into my
consciousness.

“Tell me about it,” he finally said,
entwining my fingers in his.

I started to explain what happened, starting
with the frightening vision I’d had at school. The words came out
haltingly at first, and then cascaded out in angry bursts. I needed
to release it, to put the whole horrible ordeal into words so that
I could process it. I had to come to terms with the ugly reality,
and I held nothing back from him. I started from the moment they
caught us and told him everything up until Evie took the gun from
my hand.

“I was going to kill him,” I said, “I really
wanted to kill him... if you hadn’t come I’m pretty sure I would
have.”

“He deserved it,” Ethan said quietly, clearly
still shocked by the whole story.

“Yeah but I was so angry... doesn’t that make
me no better than him… a cold blooded murderer?

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, stroking my
hair and kissing me, “You were amazing. After everything you went
through all you wanted to do was make sure the mermaids were safe.
And taking out those huge dudes?” he ran his hands up and down my
arms with a smile.

“With help from Lorelei,” I said, “And pure
luck.”

“And getting your hands on the gun?” he
asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

“
That
was a surprise,” I looked down,
for clearly there were some other forces in play. The synchronicity
of events was undeniably more than mere coincidence. I thought
about how crazy I had made Peter... and Curly.