03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (37 page)

“Yeah.”

“I want you to come live here with me…now. I
want to keep renting this place for the two of us.”

I shook my head reproachfully, ticking off
all the reasons that it wasn’t a good idea, “You shouldn’t give up
the free dorm room. What about saving up for our house? My dad gets
back soon…”

He shook his head, “I don’t care about the
money– I can go to school
and
work. I want you here with me.
We can be together all the time… every day. We can drive to school
together every morning.”

It sounded like he’d been giving it some
thought. Once again, he’d been planning, mapping out his vision of
a perfect future that might not be entirely realistic. I
sighed.

“You can have my dad’s old room for your art
studio…” he said enticingly.

“I have a studio,” I said defensively.

“I don’t like the idea of you being there
alone… If you’re here with me I can watch out for you.” He leaned
over to kiss my ear, “Anyone who’s after you is going to have to go
through me.”

“Abby will never go for it,” I said. “Neither
will my dad.”

“We don’t have to tell them. You can keep
your room at her house and sneak over. You could say that you’re
staying at Evie’s…”

I was surprised at him, for lying was going
completely against his nature. I felt a little guilty for tempting
him to compromise his principles, wondering if it was the whole
muse thing at play again.

“We only have to wait a few more months,” I
said soothingly, “By January things will–”

“NO!” he cried harshly, pressing his face
onto my shoulder, “Don’t you understand? I really thought you were
gone this time! I can’t wait anymore. I wanna be with you… For
however long we have! I don’t care what anyone else thinks!”

“We’ll see,” I said to placate him. I patted
his back soothingly, standing up. “I’ll do the dishes, and then you
can take me to go get changed.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat, and he sat
watching me with a strange look on his face. I busied myself at the
sink, lost in thought, jumping when he came up behind me suddenly.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and dropped his head to my
shoulder.

“Please Marina… Promise me you’ll think about
it. I only want to keep you fr–” he stopped himself.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said for the
millionth time, shrugging him off and washing the dishes a little
too aggressively.

“Can you take me to my studio first?” I asked
him after we climbed into the trunk.

“What for?” he frowned.

“I have some clothes there,” I gestured to
myself, “And I don’t really want to try and explain this outfit to
Abby.”

He drove out towards the studio, stopping at
a hardware store on the way.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, locking the
doors before he jumped out. He returned in a few minutes with a
bag, and I looked at him quizzically.

“I might as well fix the door while we’re
there,” he said.

We parked in the little alley behind the
coffee shop, and Ethan reached behind the seat to pull out a
toolbox. He started working on the broken lock while I changed
clothes and swept the rest of the shattered lamp from the floor. I
perched on the edge of the couch, watching as he finished replacing
the lock with an impressive looking deadbolt. He came over and
handed me a set of keys.

“It won’t be so easy to kick in,” he said,
“Until you can get your stuff out of here.”

“Thanks,” I said uneasily. I had no intention
of giving up my studio, but I didn’t want to argue the point. I had
other things on my mind.

He leaned on the couch next to me, “What do
you want to do today?” he asked.

“Could you take me home… to Abby’s?”

He put his arm around me, “We still have
plenty of daylight,” he said with a smile, “How about we go
surfing?”

I sighed, “I just want to go home.”

He looked surprised, and tried again, “Do you
want to go for a hike or something?”

I shook my head, “No thanks.”

I could feel him eyes darting over to me the
whole drive home. We pulled up at Abby’s and I thanked him, giving
him a quick kiss on the cheek and telling him I’d call him soon. He
waited, expecting me to invite him in, but I didn’t. I needed to be
alone, and I knew he wouldn’t understand if I said it out loud. I
jumped out and hurried into the house.

It felt strange, like the tables were being
turned, for Ethan had always been the one who wanted to follow the
rules, and now I was pulling back, unwilling to change our plans. I
needed some time to adjust to everything that had happened so far,
and I felt a little like I was being pushed.

I knew that I loved him, and I knew that I
wanted– no, I desperately needed– to be with him. Unfortunately,
living with Ethan would make it impossible for me to keep any
secrets. As much as I would love to be with him every day and every
night, I knew that it would force me to either give up my trips out
to see Lorelei, or constantly defend them. I wasn’t ready to do
either.

I supposed I was guilty of the same kind of
wishful thinking as Ethan. I hoped everything would work out
magically once I turned eighteen, and we could finally be together.
I was beginning to realize that my troubles were going to follow me
wherever I went.

“Hi sweetie!” I walked in to find Abby
sitting on the couch, sorting through a stack of baby clothes. She
held up a tiny pink jumper with a warm smile, “I remember you in
this one.”

I sat down by her side, looking through the
clothes and listening to the stories that each garment had to tell.
Abby got increasingly emotional, every little outfit bringing back
memories of me and Cruz as infants. The tiny clothes reminded me of
Nixie, and I wondered what she would have been like had she been
born on land.

Abby sniffed and wiped her eyes, “It’s lucky
that I saved all this stuff, huh?”

I nodded my agreement, but I knew that luck
had nothing to do with it. Abby was sentimental about her friends
and family, always giving over her entire heart– even when it might
not be the best idea. The baby she carried was one lucky kid;
already loved unconditionally and without reservation.

I remembered Barbara’s threat to do Abby harm
with a spasm of anger. Hurting someone as good and kind as Abby
would be doubly evil, like killing a unicorn. I was glad Barbara
was dead, and then I felt bad for not feeling bad.

I patted Abby’s hand, “Do you want a cup of
tea?” I asked as I got up.

We sat and talked awhile, sipping mint tea,
folding baby clothes and catching up with each other. She was
excited about Shayla and Megan’s success, and I told her a little
bit about my trip to Hawaii. Abby beamed when she talked about
Cruz, delighted that he had finally found his place in the world
and seemed increasingly happy. She told me how much she liked Brad,
and I changed the subject abruptly, not quite ready to think about
having my enemy’s son in such close proximity to my family.

“Wow!” she said, looking at my hand, “Is that
ring new?”

Dutch came bursting through the door, sparing
me from that conversation. He had a bag of groceries in one arm,
with a bouquet of flowers sticking out of the top. Abby loved
flowers more than anyone I knew, and I smiled. Dutch certainly had
her number.

Abby’s face lit up when she laid eyes on him,
and she stood to receive a one armed hug and a kiss. I was touched
by the way they greeted each other with such tenderness, and when
Dutch looked at Abby it reminded me of the expression on Ethan’s
face in the morning. I hastily excused myself and retreated to my
room, leaving them to their intimacy.

I flopped down on the bed, thinking about
Ethan. I looked at my ring, and sighed. As much as I loved him, I
was starting to wonder if we were the ideal match. He was insecure
and sensitive, and I was secretive, always trying to avoid
conflict. He wanted to control everything, but I prized my
independence. We were about to enter into a marriage at an age
where most people were only thinking about their plans for the next
weekend.

I was starting to fear we might be headed for
a monumental train wreck.

My relationship troubles were the least of my
worries. I had to find Lorelei, Nerissa, and Nixie. I had to warn
them about the mermaid hunters that were certain to come for them,
but I wasn’t sure that they’d even understand why they were in
danger. I could only hope that Nerissa would remember enough of her
past experience to believe me.

My phone rang, and I reached for it, seeing
it was Evie. I bit my lip and answered.

“Oh Marina, my darling! Are you alright? I’m
so sorry!” she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“You heard,” I said, wondering how much she
knew.

“Yes! Cruz and Boris are right here with me…
I had no idea! My God– how did you know about Olivia? Wh-why
couldn’t I see it?” her breath caught a little in her throat, and I
felt terrible for her. Betrayal was one of the most painful things
I could imagine.

“What happened? Where is she?” I asked in
alarm.

“She got a phone call yesterday and had to
leave suddenly… I was so disappointed that you wouldn’t get a
chance to visit with her…” her voice trailed off.

“Where did she go?”

“She appears to be in hiding,” she said
grimly, “But I have people looking for her.”

“Do you know who Brad is?” I asked.

“Yes, dear, he’s right here with Cruz. The
boys told me everything… I’m still having a hard time believing
it.”

“They were going to kill Cruz,” I said, “If
it hadn’t been for that crazy Estonian, who knows what might have
happened!”

“Ahh yesss… Yuri. Marina, we need to discuss
this whole situation in person. Can you come to me right away?”

“No. There’s something I need to do right
now. How about tomorrow?”

“Alright, come early and we’ll have a little
meeting. We can do lunch afterwards– there’s a fabulous new
restaurant I’ve been wanting to try out.”

I almost laughed out loud, for even massive
trauma couldn’t stop Evie from enjoying life. She was probably
planning her wardrobe in her mind as we spoke, and it was like
comic relief to me. Despite the shock she’d just experienced, Evie
was already a few miles down the road to recovery.

I hung up the phone, freshly reminded of the
importance of my mission. I needed to see Nixie, and to warn
Nerissa and Lorelei about the danger in no uncertain terms. I only
hoped that they’d listen to me.

I gathered my things, checking my wetsuit
carefully for any kind of electronic devices before putting it into
my bag, and hurried past Dutch and Abby, telling them I was going
to meet a friend. I raced outside into the late afternoon sun with
a sense of urgency, completely focused on my mission. I had to do
it now, had to warn them to move, to get as far away as possible
before Edwards and Olivia had time to re-formulate their plans.

I sprinted down the street, ponytail flying
behind me. With dogged determination, I hustled down the steps as
fast as I could manage with my surfboard tucked under my arm. If I
hadn’t looked up when I did, I would have run smack into him.

“Ethan!” I gasped, looking down to see he had
his bag and board with him.

He stood there in silence for a moment,
finally speaking in a voice thick with emotion, “Marina… Please…
Take me with you.”

CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN

UNITE

We paddled out together, swimming towards the
setting sun.

“We have to get pretty far away from the
beach,” I told him, and he nodded, his long arms and even strokes
easily outpacing me, making him pause every so often to stay even
with my board. When I felt we were out far enough I stopped,
sitting up on my board. Ethan pulled up close to me and looked
around.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bowing my head and
focused on calling Lorelei to me, hoping she could sense the
urgency behind my summons. Within a few minutes I could hear her
thoughts in my mind, wondering, “Why is there more than one?” I
called her to me again, trying to reassure her. When I looked up
Ethan was watching me, long golden rays of sunlight reflecting in
his concerned eyes.

“
Marina!
” Lorelei burst forth,
startling both of us. She took one look at Ethan and slipped back
down below the surface.

“
Lorelei! Don’t go! It’s
important!
”

I could sense her hovering deep below us,
finally slowly swishing to surface on the far side of my board,
“
Why did you bring one of them?
” she asked me with huge,
frightened eyes, “
It is forbidden
.”

“
It’s alright,
” I reassured her,
“
He’s the one who helped us to get away from the bad people…
remember?
”

It was rule number one in the mermaid
playbook to avoid people, and with good cause, but I was neither
entirely mermaid nor human, so if anyone could bend the rules, I
figured it would be me.

She peeked over my board, and upon seeing
Ethan, her face broke into a delighted smile. She cocked her head
from side to side, inspecting him, “
It is the nice one! He’s
very pretty to look at
.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, and turned to see
Ethan watching us with a strange look on his face. I turned back to
focus on getting Lorelei’s attention, for now she was becoming
playful, flipping and twirling in the water with a sweet tinkle of
laughter.

“
Lorelei, we came to warn you that the bad
people are coming to try and catch you.
”

She thrust herself out of the water, turning
completely around to scan the horizon. I almost felt sorry for
Ethan, who was trying desperately not to stare at her breasts.