Everblue (28 page)

54

ASH

I walked inside, sad and happy all at once. Fin was home. My heart was whole. Though we didn’t have time to talk, I knew he’d answer my questions eventually.

“There’s my girl,” Dad called out once he saw me. “Come join us.”

The family had retired to the living room to play cards.

“That was quick,” Lucy said flippantly.

“Lucy,” Mom said with a glare. “Mind your own business.”

“What I meant to say was, you went from Callahan to Fin so quickly. He’s cute and all, but does he know you still have a boyfriend?”

If hissing wasn’t socially unacceptable—especially since I’d gain my parents favor, I would have. What happened to my nice sister? Though she was right, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. We were practically broken-up anyway. Since his visit on Wednesday where I’d confessed my secrets and freaked them all out, I’d ignored his calls and texts. It would just be a matter of time before he stopped trying.

“I don’t anymore,” I muttered, shifting my weight in the entryway. “Callahan and I aren’t really together anymore, so—”

She raised her eyebrows and blew out a quick gust of air right before she laid down her cards. “Whatever.”

“Anyone who can pull my girl from her slump is all right in my book,” Dad said, ignoring Lucy completely.

I wrapped my arms around Dad’s neck and kissed him on the top of the head. His hair smelt of the firehouse: cigar smoke and old leather. “Thanks Dad. I really like him.”

Gran and Mom’s eyes twinkled watching me. The general consensus (except for Lucy) was thankfulness. I could have brought home a tatted up guy with a lip piercing and they’d be happy at this point. Anything to get me out of Gran’s room and back into the world of the living.

The faint ringing of my cell phone formed a knot in my stomach. Now was a good a time as any to tell Callahan. Better than at school.

“I think I’m going to move back into my room. My leg feels a lot better today.”

“Good—oh. Gin!” Gran said and the rest of the group moaned.

I smiled. Things were back to normal, as if my accident had never happened. Well, as normal as they could be, considering I was in love with the merman who lived next door.

 I shook my head and left to collect my things out of Gran’s room. On top of the basket of clean clothes, I piled up my sympathy cards and toiletries. My cellphone on the nightstand beeped with a message.

The walk of shame up the stairs with the basket weighted my feet. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Callahan. The phone started ringing again in my pocket and I sprinted the rest of the way.

To my shock, my room was cleaned: vacuumed and everything in its place. I plopped the basket on the floor and fumbled in my pocket to get the call. Caller ID said it was Tatchi.

Anxious to talk to her, my heart began to pound. "Hello?"

"What happened to my happy girl?"

"Fin?" My mind scrambled a second, not expecting to hear his voice. "How'd you get my number?"

He laughed, a fresh breezy sound that made me collapse on my bed in a wonderful heap. "You'll never guess."

"Did Tatchi give it to you? Is she there?"

"No." Fin said with sadness briefly in his voice. "But she did put it on speed dial."

"She's not there?"

"She decided to stay in Nat—our world."

"Oh." My chest constricted with disappointment. In our whirlwind of a day, I didn't even think to ask about her.

"It's a long story. I plan to go back and get her. Our family had to leave the colony."

"Fin, you're going to have to start from the beginning because none of this makes any sense to me."

That was when I learned all about the mer's of Natatoria: where and how they lived, why human relationships where frowned upon, how sunlight allowed them to stay in human form, and how water was necessary for survival—his call placed while he lounged in the bathtub. I wanted to share my totally off base alcoholic theory, but didn't want to insult Fin's dad in the process. His warm voice, coupled with my snuggly blankets, kept me comfortable and entertained until morning. The "crazy" label I'd placed on myself peeled away like magic.

"So, you heard me scream?" I asked.

"That day, Ash—" he let out a huge sigh. "When you fell into the water, I nearly lost it. I didn't think you'd survive. And I didn't want to kiss you without your permission."

I snickered under my breath. "I highly doubt mouth-to-mouth can be considered kissing. But if it makes you feel any better, you have my permission."

"It's not funny." The seriousness in his voice was adorable, though, I had a feeling he was withholding something.

"Sorry. Thank you for being such a gentlemen," I said and tried not to giggle again.

"Kissing in my world is a very serious thing, Ash."

"And as a human, I'm very serious about my kissing, too."

"You're impossible."

I laughed. "Okay—I'll stop teasing. Next question. How did you manage to slip me past the Ranger?"

"Oh that." He paused again like he'd been doing after every question that required a lengthy answer. "Well—" he chuckled nervously. "I carry breakaway board shorts with Velcro seams, so when I phase into legs I have something to wear. So you could imagine what the Ranger thought when he saw me in nothing but your girl’s swim team jacket—which was way too small—and board shorts, dripping wet."

"The Ranger never mentioned this?” I curled up my lip at the visual. “You put on my jacket? Why?"

"I was trying to dry it for you with my internal heater. Anyway, yeah, he freaked out. Especially after he saw the blood."

"Oh." My hand went to my mouth, the visual a little more grim. Why would the Ranger completely lie about this?

"And since mermen can erase minds, I told him, in my language, to forget what he saw."

I gasped. "Mermen can erase minds? Oh wow. That’s . . . useful, I guess."

"Well . . ."

He got quiet and I heard the water swishing around in the tub. I assumed he wanted to confess something without me getting angry.

I bit my lip. "Did you erase my memories too?"

"After we were pr—touched lips, from mouth-to-mouth, I couldn't any longer, but since you were unconscious, it really didn't matter. And actually, Blanchard tried to mind-wipe you after you saw us in the water, remember?"

"Oh," I said in awe, remembering his musical words. "I thought he was going to punch my lights out or something.”

"Mermen, typically aren’t violent against humans. And mermaids—" he took a huge breath. “That’s a story for another day.”

I imagined him reclined backward with his fin hanging over the edge, like the mermaid did in the movie
Splash
. I yawned, noticing the clock read 4:00 AM.

"I should let you sleep for at least a few hours," he said in concern.

"I'm good."

“Good? You keep yawning,” he said.

“Don’t you need to sleep too?”

“I don’t really sleep, more like rest. A few hours will work for me.”

“That’s nice.” I would have liked to get away with less sleep too.

“I can come over in a few hours, if you like. How’s nine sound?”

“Too long,” I whined.

“You’re adorable.” I heard a smile in his voice.

I swooned. “Fine. I guess I can wait that long.”

“Okay then. You hang up first.”

“No, you.” I laughed.

“You.”

“You.” I countered.

 “How about we do it together. On the count of three. Ready? One. Two. Three.”

I listened for the click that never came.

He laughed. “Hang up already.”

“I said you first.”

“Fine, since you won’t do it and you need your sleep, I’ll do it.”

“Okay,” I said with a lilting voice.

He paused for a moment. “Ash, you mean the world to me, I hope you know that.”

Goosebumps covered my skin. “And you mean the same to me, Fin.”

“If anything had happened to you today, I would have gone crazy. Please promise you won’t pull any more stunts like that.”

“I promise.”

“Goodnight, my beautiful angel,” he said.

I sighed after I heard him hang-up.

55

FIN

The sun rose and I caved at about 8:30, unable to wait any longer. Uncle Al and Colin had left a pile of dirty dishes in the sink and a rotting lemon, a loaf of stale bread, and a jug of expired milk in the fridge. My stomach clenched for some type of nourishment.

My parents weren’t on the ground floor or in the pool, and I wasn’t about to go looking for them upstairs. I understood the bond too well and being with Ash was all I could think about.

I was at her door in minutes, hoping she’d be just as anxious. Her figure, once she opened the door, took my breath away. I fought the urge to take her in my arms and kiss her right there.

“I’m early,” I said and flashed the Jeep keys in front of her. “Wanna go get some breakfast?”

Her face lit up. “Yeah,” she said and grabbed her coat off the wall. “Bye, Mom.”

I took her hand in mine and squeezed as we walked back to my place for the Jeep. Her sweet honeysuckle perfume hit me in the enclosed cab. Desires to nuzzle my nose in her neck distracted me from driving and I missed the turn.

“Don’t you mean to—?” She asked sweetly with a casual point of her finger.

“You make it impossible to concentrate,” I confessed and enjoyed the color of her cheeks changing to a rosy red that matched her curls.

On a table inside the door of the diner, an abandoned
Tahoe Daily Tribune’s
headlines said, “Explosion in Lake Tahoe Causes Tsunami.” I swallowed hard. This was an unforgivable crime in the King’s eyes. Worse yet, we’d made a fool out of him during the attempted promising ceremony by challenging his word and escaping. Returning would be a death sentence. How could we ever rescue Tatch?

Ash and I snuggled in on the same side of the booth and pressed our bodies against one another. After ordering, Ash laid her head against my chest as I put my arm over her shoulder. I still wanted to get closer.

“So, if you’ve managed to upset the—” She looked up with thoughtful eyes and paused for a moment. “—the King, won’t he come back and arrest you or something?”

“It’s a little difficult to come back with the gate destroyed,” I whispered. “He’d have to get across the state somehow from the Pacific Ocean to Tahoe during sunlit hours and he just ruined his only West Coast connection—my dad. And his insistence that mers avoid human contact is now going to work against him.”

“So I’ve made you a wanted man?” she asked with a coy smile.

I kissed the top of her head. “Ever since you stole my heart, yes.”

She giggled before becoming serious again. “Do you think you’re safe here?”

“Dad seems to think it’s okay for now and that’s a good thing. I can’t imagine leaving you.”

She hummed and drew her finger over my knuckles, tickling my skin and driving me crazy. In her presence, I’d lost my appetite and wondered why we even ordered food. A secluded place to curl under a blanket sounded so much more appealing than a restaurant. Our bond made my desire to let my hands wander increase a hundred-fold.

In the early morning, I’d decided to do the right thing and make an honest woman of her first. Her parents seemed to like me and I wanted to keep it that way. Would they approve of her marrying at such a young age? I’m sure they wouldn’t if they knew my secret.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, breaking my moment of life planning with her sweet voice.

“What to do next,” I said and hugged her tighter.

“As long as I’m with you, I’m up for anything,” she purred in my ear, nibbling my earlobe gently.

I curled my toes to restrain my hands. Luckily the waitress showed up with our food before I could return the favor.

We hurried up and ate, then headed for the park. The ground was still wet from the melted snow, which meant we’d have to sit on a bench. We found a spot with the lake in view and snuggled under a blanket.

“So,” she said hesitantly and I knew the question before she asked it. “How’d you become a merman actually?”

“I was born this way.”

“Born? Hmmm. I bet you were the cutest little merboy in Natatoria.”

“We call our babies merlings. But I don’t know. You’ll have to ask my mom.”

“Aw, that’s cute.” She giggled but tensed next to me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d said that made her uncomfortable. Was she afraid if we had kids, we’d end up with merlings? I actually didn’t know what kind of kids we’d have, her being human. But that was definitely something we could discuss in the future. I didn’t plan to force her into a lifestyle she’d rather not be a part of, or even tell her it was an option.

To be safe, I changed the subject. “I didn’t spend tons of time in Natatoria growing up. My parents liked living on land more than under the sea.”

“Do you like it there?”

“It’s a very beautiful city. The mers before us created a pipeline of mirrors that reflect sunlight in from all over the world. The entire place is covered in gems, gold, silver, and platinum. With the sunlight bouncing all over, it’s like being inside a huge crystal ball. The only frustrating thing is you have to remain a mer the entire time. Only in a retrofitted oxygenated room can you change to legs.”

“There are rooms underwater?”

“That’s why I carry around my board shorts. Nakedness isn’t accepted in our colony, unlike the pictures you see.” I maneuvered two strands of her hair to create makeshift legs walking on her arm.

She giggled again, her voice high and cheery. “I’d love to see it.”

I frowned, completely confused. She wanted to see Natatoria, but didn’t want merlings? Then I cringed. Could she have guessed there was a way to be changed into a mermaid? She had no idea the sacrifice, the uncertainty now that we were fugitives, separated from our kind. I wasn’t going to let her know there was an option, at least not yet.

“We won’t be going back for a long while, that’s for sure.”

“But you said Tatchi is there.”

My gut tightened. “Yes, she is. It’s complicated.”

“Is that why she didn’t want to go to college with me? I guess being a mermaid and all would make that pretty difficult.”

“No,” I said quickly. “She did want to go. Originally, she kept trying to get me to leave our way of life, too, but I wanted to be loyal to our people which ended up being a major mistake. It’s different for the men than the women in Natatoria. She tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen.”

“Oh.” She crinkled up her nose.

My heart thumped harder, knowing where this conversation was headed. Was it time to tell her about the promising? Why a kiss with a mer is so powerful and revered?

 “I’m sure you’ve heard the fables about mermaids luring men into the sea to their deaths.” She watched me with wide-eyes. “It’s true. Whoever a mermaid kisses, their soul will bond with hers and her absence will drive them mad.”

“Honestly?”

I raised my right eyebrow. “You tell me.”

She watched me with curiosity and touched her lips. Recognition sparked behind her eyes. “Is that the same for mermen too?”

I nodded my head. “Our weddings are called promisings. All it takes is one kiss to bond with someone for life.  Then you’ll need them almost more than—”

“—life itself.” She reached up and trailed her fingers down my stubbly cheek. “That’s what you meant when you said a kiss is very serious. It all makes sense now. I thought I was going insane this past week. I kept dreaming and thinking about you all the time, hoping you’d come back. But it was only mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That’s hardly a kiss.”

I looked down. “It still counts.”

“Oh,” she said and her face brightened. “Is that why my lips tingle all the time?”

I marveled at her innocence and then frowned. “I wouldn’t have done it without giving you full disclosure on me, on us. But, under the circumstances—”

“Are you trying to apologize again for saving me?”

“Well . . . it was way more than saving. I’ve high-jacked your life.”

“Hardly,” she laughed and squeezed my hand. “I’ve actually got a confession of my own. Of all the guys I know, you’d be the only one I’d pick to be promised to. I’ve had a crush on you ever since the sixth grade.”

Her confession gave me the chills. “Really?”

“Totally. I don’t know how you couldn’t tell. I’m always a complete bumbling mess around you. I mean, you’ve always been flirtatious, but I didn’t think it meant anything. And once we got older, you stopped hanging out with us.”

“Oh,” I said, thinking back to my actions on the beach. “I wanted to take things further, but tried not to give it a second thought because you were off limits. Our way of life is—well, you know. Complicated.”

“But you couldn’t resist me,” she said, her lip curling up.

“You were sort of dying.” I’m sure my smile gave away the truth, that she was right.

“I think it would have been super awesome if you’d just shown me. Like when we swam to Fannette Island.”

“You would have freaked out.”
Which you did once.

“Never.” She cocked her head.

I chuckled, biting my tongue.

Her eyes sparkled. “I’ve always known you were special.”

“Or genetically mutated.”

“In the most adorable way.” She mussed up my hair and planted a kiss on my nose.

“But what about
that
guy?”

She pursed her lips. “What guy?”

“I saw you k—” It hurt to form the word let alone say it. Everything inside me wanted to punch his lights out. “—with him on your porch. You were all dressed up.”

She sat back, her eyes darting back and forth as if trying to remember. “Was that you?” She gasped. “It was you!” She busted into peals of laughter. “Oh, my gosh. You were spying on me!”

“Was not.”

“Then what were you doing in the water?”

I shifted in my seat. “I was just visiting. I couldn’t stand being trapped underwater for so long. And then I saw you with
him
and he had his hands all over you.”

“You’re jealous.” She crawled into my lap with a huge smile and I melted. “There’s no
him
, so don’t worry. I’m all yours now, apparently until death. So don’t get all green merman on me.”

“Good. One less guy I have to—” I caught myself before saying
kill
“—take out.”

“So dramatic. Are you purposely trying to avoid telling me about what happened to Tatchi?”

“No,” I said and hugged her tight. “After they took us back, she ended up getting forced into a promising and—” I cringed “—that really left her no choice. She had to stay. We don’t know what we’re going to do now. We can’t force her to come home. She’ll suffer without him.”

“Who’s she promised to?” she asked.

“The King’s son. He’s the reason she didn’t want to go to Natatoria in the first place. He’s had a crush on her forever. The day I came to the beach to get Tatchi, it was for a family meeting with him. She knew we wouldn’t return. I didn’t listen.”

“I don’t think it’s your fault, Fin. From what you said, the King manipulated the situation.”