02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (49 page)

He tipped my chin up to kiss me, “I was so
afraid... I thought I lost you for good this time.” He pulled me
close to him, and hugged me tightly, “I’d have given anything for
just one more day with you, just to see you again...” his voice
cracked, “I love you.” He dove for my mouth again.

We kissed with a new intensity, our hands
running over each other’s bodies.

“I love you too,” My eyes filled with tears
and spilled over, raining down on his shirt.

“What?” he asked, his cobalt eyes clouded
with worry.

I buried my face in his chest and voiced my
fears, “It’s never going to be over... now nobody’s safe... they’ll
never leave me alone.”

“I’ll never leave you alone,” he told me.

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder,
exhausted. We sat there silently for a few minutes while I worried
about what I should do.

“I suppose I should go say something to Abby
and Cruz now,” I said, trying to figure out what was the least
dangerous thing for them to know.

“Fine, but I’m staying with you tonight.”

I just kissed him again, for all of my
ability to resist was gone, drained out of me along with all of the
anger. I said a little prayer and resigned myself to whatever fate
had to offer.

CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN

Resolve

I arrived home tucked under Ethan’s arm,
barefoot and swimming in his too big clothes. I stepped into a
whirlwind of hugs and kisses, questions and answers, followed by
more hugs and kisses. It was getting late, but Shayla and Megan had
come by to greet me after Cruz let them know I’d been found. I was
exhausted, but I answered their questions as best I could, cautious
not to reveal the whole truth.

When I became tongue-tied and overwhelmed
Ethan took over for me, glossing over the worst details and making
it out to be the work of a wealthy over-zealous paranormal
researcher hunting for an exclusive interview. I insisted that
involving the police would just make even more reporters show up to
harass me; Shayla was confused but easily swayed. It was becoming
evident to me that this was much more than just a case of me
wanting to keep a few secrets. My mere presence here was putting
everyone I loved in danger.

After I went missing Evie had convinced Abby
not to involve the police, insisting that she stood a better chance
of getting information without the authorities getting in the way.
Dutch and Abby didn’t like it, but knowing about my mother, they
went along with Evie. Abby held off calling my father on her own,
not wanting to alarm him when they weren’t really sure what had
happened. Thankfully Dad was one less person I’d need to explain
everything to. He had enough trouble of his own without worrying
about me.

“When I saw those ginormous dudes with the
coolers I totally knew they got you!” cried Shayla, hugging me,
“You gotta stop surfing alone!”

“Thanks for helping them find me,” I said,
patting her back and looking up at Ethan.

It was a relief that Shayla accepted our
story without question. Everyone else looked a little suspicious,
except for Dutch, who thought I walked on water and would believe
anything I said without question.

“She was doing alright on her own,” Ethan
told everyone, proudly explaining how I had tied up the two big
guards while I squirmed inside their curious stares. We both left
out any mention of the mermaids. Cruz and Megan’s eyes met mine,
and I knew they’d try and ferret out more details when they got me
alone. I wasn’t sure how safe it was for them to know everything,
for now I was aware that there were people who would stop at
nothing, evil people who knew all about me.

It was past midnight, and we were all tired
when I finally begged off to go shower and change, saying goodnight
to everyone with more hugs and kisses.

“Come out and get me,” Ethan whispered in my
ear.

We were both exhausted after the long ordeal,
and fell into bed with relief, arms and legs twined together
tightly. We spent the rest of the night sleeping soundly, waking
only to cling together more closely.

I opened my eyes in the first light of dawn
to see Ethan’s head on the pillow next to mine, his tousled hair a
dozen shades of honey. I tried to memorize his face, store it away
forever in my heart. A little voice in the back of my head was
telling me that if I really loved everyone here I would go. The
thought made my eyes burn, and a fat tear rolled down my nose,
falling with a tiny thump on the pillow.

I thought about what Peter had said about my
living a liminal existence, and was forced to admit that he had a
point. It described the state of being in-between, and I was
certainly caught between the human and mermaid realms… a hybrid.
But it also described being on the margins– existing in the space
between two distinct things.

The waves crashing on the beach were the
perfect example of two environments clashing, a transitional zone
in a constant state of change. When I surfed I existed right on the
edge, and I seemed to need to be there. I also needed Ethan. I
thought about Lou Khang’s talk of earth spirits and water spirits.
Could I have them both? Could I continue on like this until my time
as a shape-shifter was up?

I watched Ethan sleep, listening to his
regular breathing and trying to forget the troubles that were
waiting for me with the new day. I had to get up and face reality;
I needed to speak to Evie.

I wouldn’t have to wait very long.

“Marina?” I could hear Abby’s voice through
the door and I bolted upright, startling Ethan awake. I pressed my
finger to my lips.

“Uhm, I’m just getting dressed, I’ll be out
in a minute,” I called, hoping she didn’t peek in.

“Honey, Evie’s here, she wants to talk to
you.”

“Ethan’s eyes opened wide and he sprang out
of bed agilely, standing behind the door. I got up and peeked out
at Abby.

“Can you tell her I’ll just be a minute?” I
asked.

“Alright... I made some coffee... I hope she
likes coffee,” she looked nervous, “Please hurry! She has that big
guy waiting out on the porch.”

I closed the door and my eyes met
Ethan’s.

“I need to tell her what happened,” I
whispered, dreading revisiting the whole ordeal again.

His eyes softened as he took me in his arms,
“Are you gonna be okay?”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat,
“Do you have to work today?”

“No,” he whispered in my ear, “I’m taking the
day off. I just got you back... I’m not letting you out of my
sight.”

I kissed his cheek, surprised at how relieved
I was, “OK.”

I chose some clothes to change into and
slipped out to the bathroom. Washed up, brushed up and changed, I
shuffled down the hall reluctantly. There was a huge shadow looming
through the stained glass panel by the front door; my heart skipped
a beat until I recognized the familiar outline of Boris’s bald
head. He was keeping guard as usual, reminding me of exactly what
it was he had been protecting us from all these years.

I rounded the corner to see Evie sitting at
the kitchen table, draped in a sable coat, enormous diamond
earrings sparkling in the morning light. It was an incongruous
sight in Abby’s humble little home. Dutch, Cruz and Abby were
watching her in rapt fascination as she spoke, spinning a fantastic
yarn about some adventure with a famous actor on an African safari.
I’d heard that one before.

“And after that the tribesmen wouldn’t come
near any of us,” she laughed, looking up to see me come in. She
took stock of me in a split second with an air of frank
appraisal.

“Marina darling!” she stood and held her arms
open. I dutifully went over for a hug, stepping back to say good
morning to the group at the table who couldn’t seem to take their
eyes off Evie.

I looked at Evie, “We need to talk,” I
said.

Abby jumped up, pouring me a cup of coffee
and pulling out a chair.

“Sit down honey, we’ll leave you two alone,”
she looked at Evie and gestured to the front door, “Is your friend
alright out there?”

Evie smiled placidly, “Don’t worry about
Boris dear, it’s in his nature to protect.” Of course it was, I
thought, being around Evie just stepped it up a notch… or
three.

“It was nice meeting you,” said Dutch, with a
nod to Evie. He looked at me with raised eyebrows as he walked out
with Cruz. I gathered she had made quite an impression; she always
did.

“All right,” she said, turning her crystal
gaze on me, “Tell me everything.”

So, for the second time in as many days I
poured out the whole sordid story, sparing no detail. It came out
far easier than it did when I told Ethan, as if it lost some of its
horribleness in the telling. Evie blanched and gasped audibly at a
few points and then fell silent. She closed her eyes, paler than
I’d ever seen her, and a renewed feeling of dread gripped my
heart.

“Evie! Are you alright?” I leaned forward to
take her hand, concerned.

“Oh Marina,” she sighed, “Just when you think
you’ve seen it all...” she looked at me with deep sorrow in her ice
blue eyes, “Man’s capacity for evil never ceases to surprise
me.”

I nodded in agreement, “I can’t see why
mermaids would ever want to leave the sea.”

I remembered how it felt to swim as a mermaid
with a small pang of regret. It would be much easier to simply run
away from all earthly problems, and if it weren’t for Ethan I’d be
swimming wild and free, living a life of blissful ignorance for all
eternity. There was nothing for mermaids to fear in the ocean, and
the power and beauty of the undersea world was undeniable. I
thought about what Peter had told me about shape shifters.

“Evie?”

“Yes, dear?”

“That guy... Peter. He told me... well, he
said… he said that those hybrids that can change always end up
choosing the sea... Is it true?” I searched her eyes
desperately.

She squeezed my hand, “I’ve heard stories to
that effect, but no one I know has ever encountered anyone with all
of your abilities.”

“Oh,” I said quietly.

She took my other hand and looked into my
eyes intensely, “Marina, you are unique! Absolutely one of a kind.
You can choose for yourself... and knowing that you’re every bit as
strong willed and stubborn as your father, believe me, you
will!”

I was relieved to hear that comparison, for I
couldn’t deny how bull-headed my father was. I had a sudden clear
image of him determinedly limping about Afghanistan on
crutches.

“Evie?” something else was bothering me,
“What do you think happened to the baby Nerissa was carrying?”

She thought for a moment, “Perhaps it simply
vanished... or maybe...”

“Maybe what?” I asked.

“It might be born as a new mermaid,” she
shook her head, “I guess we’ll never know.”

“I’ll have to ask,” I mused curiously,
wondering what a mermaid baby would look like.

She looked at me in alarm, “You’re not
thinking of–”

“Just to go surfing with Lorelei,” I said
defensively, not wanting to give up our time together, adding,
“Only if I’m absolutely certain I won’t be putting her in
danger.”

Evie looked about as happy as Ethan did when
I mentioned spending time with Lorelei.

“What will happen to Peter?” I asked, hoping
he was chained in a dungeon somewhere.

She drew a deep breath tinged with regret and
told me what she knew. His name was Peter Orlov and he was the only
child of a powerful hybrid that had passed away recently. Evie
pursed her lips and explained that he had been sent under armed
guard to a private island to face a special meeting of the council,
but she wasn’t really sure what they would see fit to do with him.
She said it would take a couple of weeks for key members to gather
and she could only guarantee he would be held until then.

“The council is made up of some very powerful
people, but you must understand they operate outside of the laws of
any nation... there really isn’t a protocol in place to deal with
this sort of... infraction.”

“You mean they might let him go?” I said in
horror.

“As it is, I’m breaking a few laws holding
him captive. I simply don’t see any other way.”

I was shocked, “Yeah but, taking into account
what he did…”

“It’s will be his word against ours,” she
said ominously, “A classic ‘he said– she said’.”

“Yeah but, everyone saw... Boris, and the
other men...”

“They work for me, and won’t be believed.
Marina, he’s claiming you were in on it with him.”

I gasped in shock, “Me?”

“It might help if you appear before the
council to argue your case and plead for a harsh punishment,” she
said with sympathetic eyes, “But it would necessarily confirm their
suspicions about you... and possibly expose you to more like
him.”

“More?” I said woodenly, a sick feeling in
the pit of my stomach.

“Unfortunately, those who know about our kind
will always seek to use us. It never occurred to me they’d try and
make their own hybrids,” she shook her head in revulsion.

I frowned, thinking about Nerissa.

“I’ve managed to tell the association as
little as possible. Unfortunately, Peter will confirm their
suspicions. I’m afraid that he’ll also tell them all about your
unusual language skills...” she curled her lips in disgust, “He’s
really a miserable human being... er– quarterblood.”

“Who put him up to it?” I asked, “Whose house
was that?”

She told me the home was one of many estates
that belonged to a wealthy real estate mogul who was rumored to be
involved in the arms trade. He came from the ultra-rich and
prominent Edwards family, who had recently lost a trusted adviser,
a woman who just happened to be Peter’s mother. She guessed that
Peter had probably stepped in and offered to procure a replacement
for her. The family was conveniently out of the country, and
disavowed any knowledge of Peter or his actions.