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Chapter 5

FIVE

Merrick

The rest of the males arrived within hours, which meant they’d already been on their way, leaving before my father had agreed to let them come. That meant the other clans and their elders had assumed he’d say yes. If my father noticed this, he said nothing.

Overnight, our village, cut into the deep rock at the bottom of the ocean, had gone from housing fifty members of my clan to nearly two hundred. And there were more to come.

“Mer-ick! Up!”

I flinched away from the little mer, muttering an apology. Where had he come from? His tiny tail fluttered behind him, irritated I wasn’t paying him any attention. I didn’t blame him; normally I loved it when other clans visited with their young.

And there are so few young these days.

“I am sorry, but I’m busy today,” I said .

He sniffed and swam away, likely looking for someone more fun, and less antsy and irritated by everyone around him.

Sighing, I followed the edge of the valley up toward the surface, letting the red algae graze my belly and tail on the way up. The water up here was still quite warm from the hot day on the surface.

I coughed and hacked up seawater as my head burst the surface, the transition from gills to human lungs was always the worst part of going above water. It was night, making my ascent easier as I slipped into the inlet I had first met the siren born in.

She was not there.

That wasn’t surprising. Few humans were on the water at night, since it was more dangerous for them and prime hunting time for predators. The moon shone overhead, its beams shining off the water much weaker than the sun, but still with its own beauty. The muffled shine was more familiar to me; it was how the sun filtered down through the water and mimicked the dull glow of sea glass.

I swam toward the cluster of three houses on the edge, frowning at how dark they all were. Was the female not there either?

The female.

I had a choice to make.

I could sit here and pout and wait for one of the other males to discover her. Or I could go on land, put on the garments, and … attempt to find her. Barrett had given me a human garment and footwear a long time ago, which I carried in the pouch I wore around my chest in case of a surface emergency.

Indecision twisted my gut. I would not breed her and leave, I vowed. She deserved better than what our tradition dictated.

Sudden worry flared in my chest. What if one of the other males had already gotten to her? What if that was the reason she wasn’t here ?

Red flashed in my vision, fear seizing my chest in a vice grip and not letting go. That decided it for me. I swam to the edge of the shoreline under her dock, and lifted myself on top of it. I strained to pull my heavy tail up after me, but I managed just fine, scooting back until my fin no longer touched the water.

The moment my body felt open air, my scales and fins disappeared, leaving behind only smooth, tanned human skin. The slight webbing between my fingers faded away, and my tail split in half, reforming into legs.

I’d never really practiced with them before. Sitting here in the dark on this crumbling deck, that seemed like a glaring oversight.

I tugged the wet garment Barrett had given me out of my bag, along with the strange footwear. Humans had feet and apparently they were born with a deficiency that forced them to cover them with small shields at all times. Looking at the soft, smooth skin on my new appendages, I could see why. It wouldn’t take much to wound them. Why were humans born wounded? The poor things.

Though, it would be interesting to take a few of these materials under the water and see what I could do with them. Surely Barrett wouldn’t miss an extra pair of jeans, would he? The material seemed very strong.

I lined the holes in the “shorts” up with my new legs, just like Barrett had explained. It was an awkward shimmy, but I got them up around my waist. Humans did not enjoy displaying their private parts to each other, for some reason. Though they were just as sensitive and exposed as human feet, so I understood the need to cover them for that reason.

Human anatomy made no sense.

I rolled onto my hands and new knees, getting a feel for my balance on all four limbs like a land animal. Slowly, I shifted my weight back onto my legs, balancing on my knees the way I’d seen other humans do. I swayed back and forth wildly.

This gravity thing was going to be a problem.

My two legs had large muscles in them, but they didn’t look large enough to support my upper body. My tail was much bigger! Nevertheless, I steeled myself and tried to stand.

I fell over immediately, hitting the deck with my elbow first. A jolt of hot pain raced up my arm, and I grit my teeth in agony as the wood bit into my delicate human skin.

Slow. Go slow.

Again.

I carefully put my legs under me, and slowly raised my body inch by inch, letting myself adjust to gravity’s pull on me. They taught us about gravity in guppy school. I hated it.

I wobbled and wiggled, but didn’t fall. I kept my arms thrown out to the side like Barrett had suggested. I don’t know if it helped or not, but I stayed upright.

Now to take a step.

I slid my brand new foot across the wood. This was a poor decision as small, stinging pains immediately assaulted me. I stopped and hissed in annoyance. It felt like being grazed by a jellyfish. I sat back down and saw bits of wood sticking out of my new flesh.

I understood now why the footwear was so crucial.

I picked the few slivers of wood out, bleeding lightly. I put the flimsy rubber coverings over the bottom of my feet, not seeing how it would help all that much. I stood again, slinging my pouch over my bare chest.

Now I was a proper-looking human. At least, according to Barrett.

I would have brought him along to help me, but I couldn’t risk him scenting my female. I wouldn’t risk her for anyone.

So here I was, trying not to die as I took my first few steps. I kept them small, with my arms out to balance. I took three, then five. Then ten, and then more, until I made it off the dock and onto dry land.

With a jolt, I realized this was the first time I’d ever been on dry land.

Well, no turning back now.

I carefully walked toward the darkened house, keeping to the edges since I didn’t want to scare her if she was inside. Dark was the word I used, but I found over the years that nothing above the surface was truly ever dark unless one surfaced far, far away from land. The humans used fake lighting that was much harsher than our bioluminescence. They should stick to the light of their moon and fire, though my father could go on for ages about the fire.

Maybe just the moon, then.

Either way, nothing up here was ever as truly black as the deep sea.

I shivered unconsciously.

The house had a myriad of shining windows that reflected many things, but I didn’t see another door besides the one facing the ocean, and that one was enclosed.

The female’s scent hung heavy here, but not recently. She hadn’t been here since this morning. I was unsure where to go, so I simply followed the scent where I could.

My footwear did not seem appropriate for this, since small rocks and twigs easily got stuck in between my foot and the rubber. The rock path in front of me was clearly a road, so I followed it, since her scent went that way as well.

At least I’d get plenty of practice walking.

Perhaps too much. The rubber foot protection rubbed painfully against my skin. Was it supposed to hurt?

The rock path led out to a much harder, firm road that was black and painted with yellow and white lines. A pair of eyes came at me from a distance, rapidly getting closer. It was a loud beast and very large! It—

FWOOSH.

It zoomed past me and continued on down the road as I yelped, falling backward onto my bottom. Weakly, I realized it wasn’t an animal at all. It was a machine and the two eyes were lights. Just like the lights the larger boats had so the humans could see at night. It was a land boat, of sorts.

Embarrassed, I picked myself off the ground, managing to stand in half the time it took the first time.

I kept walking in the opposite direction that the land boat went, following the scent of my female. My goal tonight would be to get her name and give her mine.

Cars! That’s what they called the land boats.

Several more of the car machines passed me, as well as a man on a contraption with pedals. He didn’t go as fast as the cars, but he was certainly faster than me. And that machine was quiet and unassuming.

He raised a hand as he passed me, and I raised mine in reflex. He pedaled on.

I kept walking.

The machines didn’t seem that safe. Maybe if—

“Need a lift?”

A car snuck up behind me, much smaller than the other ones, its insides open to the air and not contained by glass and metal. A man waved at me, a female next to him and a younger male sitting in the back on padded seats. It was much, much quieter than the larger machines, which made me feel better about not hearing it come up behind me.

“I assume you’re heading into town. That’s where we’re going, and we’ve got one more seat. It’s an awful long walk by yourself.”

I looked to where he pointed, at the back of the car next to the young male. A small, padded space was indeed available, and perhaps it would be wise to go with them. I did not know how far I would have to walk and didn’t want to waste time. And my feet hurt in my foot garments. And I wasn’t that great at walking yet.

“Yes, thank you,” I said cautiously, taking care to walk extra carefully. I paused at the back of the vehicle, wondering how to arrange my feet to get in.

“What? Got a bad leg or something?” The young male eyed me dubiously as he reached forward with his hand, and I grasped it in thanks.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Lift your leg.”

I wobbled as I placed one foot on the contraption, then leaned on the young male as I brought the other one up next to it.

“Woah, easy man, you’re double my size!”

He practically pushed me down onto the floppy seat, and my hands automatically went around the metal poles by my head. Without warning, the machine took off, and I was glad I was holding on. Otherwise, I might have fallen off when it jerked forward so unexpectedly.

The man in control of this contraption talked the entire journey, his mate joining in now and then. The younger male paid no attention to me. I didn’t understand half of what they talked about. The surrounding lights enthralled me, as well as the smells and new noises as we reached what was clearly the center of all human civilization!

The lights were of all colors, advertising food and other wares. Competing smells of humans and food both fascinated and disgusted me. Rhythmic sounds pounded all around me, and I assumed it to be music of some kind. Humans talked, yelled, and sang. It was all so loud I could barely hear the pounding of the ocean only a quarter mile away. The cacophony of noise was overwhelming And the people. They were everywhere: walking, dancing, laughing, and even doing the human motion of running . My mouth went dry at the sheer amount of females who walked by, either with a large group of other females, or with a male, scantily clad.

Now I understood why my brothers preferred to hunt as a pack. There was no being alone here as a human!

“Is this where you want off? We’re going to Sharkey’s over there.” The man pointed at one of hundreds of little buildings, all reeking of burned flesh, and whatever else must pass as food for them.

I took a sniff of the air, still able to trace my female, but barely. With the ocean right here, I figured she must be nearby.

“Yes, this is fine. Thank you.”

I clumsily but successfully de-boarded the vessel. They all raised their hands in salute, and I raised mine as well before they zoomed off.

I strained for that sweet scent I knew my female carried, with spicy undertones and the promise of sunshine and light. It was much harder to place here among the cacophony of food scents and all the other humans, but I wouldn’t give up. I followed the path toward the ocean, thankful to leave the hustle and bustle of humans behind. My shoulders relaxed as the noise and amount of humans decreased, and the road gave way to sand.

Finally.

I walked another half mile along the coast until I came upon a massive dock that was much, much larger than the one my female had at her home. Massive ships sat calmly at port out in the water, with smaller ones bobbing up and down gently in the mild surf and along the dock. Giant rocks surrounded the beach, making it difficult to access from the sand.

Her scent was fresh here. More recent. I would simply have to climb the rocks and the dock to reach it.

It took some trial and error, as well as a few wounds along my hands and knees. Human skin was so frustratingly fragile—those rocks would not have harmed my scales at all! The loss seemed minimal, though, so I kept climbing. These stupid human foot coverings were next to useless for such an activity. They were what most of the other humans wore, however.

Then I heard her.

My female.

She was crying .

Untapped strength flooded my unfamiliar leg muscles as I practically vaulted over the last rock and rolled onto the large dock. I looked around wildly, finally spying her at the end of the wooden slants, out at the very end of the dock furthest out to sea. A large boat moored there, and a large man was yelling at her. At my female!

The audacity!

My first urge was to rush to her and take her in my arms. Whoever made her feel this way would be destroyed. I’d use the might of my clan to—

No. No, you wouldn’t. You were a human now. You were pretending.

I strode forward with determination, not pushing myself only because I did not trust these new legs. It wouldn’t look good to trip over the side of the dock and back into the water. I focused on my female: she looked so sad, standing there with her head bowed, shoulders small and drooping.

Another smaller male was trying to speak up for her, but the large man yelled at him, too.

I growled in my chest. I was not afraid of this large male covered in facial hair. As I approached, I wished desperately I was more adept at being a human like Barrett. He would know what to do. He would know what to say.

I stepped up to them, my eyes immediately finding her gaze and holding it. Her jaw dropped, shocked. The smaller male blinked at me, his eyes bulging at the sight of me.

Hopefully I hadn’t touched water somewhere. Were my scales showing?

I ignored them both in favor of the large man.

“I must speak with her.” I pointed at my female.

The large man grumbled and coughed. “Excuse me, but can I help you? We are docked for the evening. The next tickets are available—”

“You are yelling at her and I wish you to stop,” I spoke over him forcefully and with feeling so that my intent was clear. They all stared at me, and I puffed out my chest.

No one contradicted me. It appeared I was winning this odd battle.

“You know this asshole?” The large man jerked his thumb at me, but his face was turned toward my female. I didn’t know what asshole meant. I assumed it meant a strong warrior.

The smaller male behind her sputtered.

“Jesse, please introduce me,” he begged her.

Jesse? Jesse ? That was my female’s name! I would ingrain it into my brain, carve the letters on the grandest shell I could find, and—

“I don’t know him. I just met him the other night!” Jesse wrung her hands helplessly at me, but this answer had the smaller male wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ooh? Do go on!”

“Shut it!” the older man sneered. He pointed at Jesse. “I know shit’s been tough, kid, but you can’t act like that in front of customers. It doesn’t matter if they are a bunch ‘o high and mighty dicks and dickesses. Those kinds of people have money, which I need to survive. I’m going to fire you to save face. The university gives me a ton of business.”

Jesse’s lower lip trembled, a fresh wave of tears brimming in her eyes. The smaller male tried to help. “Mike, come on. You know the circumstances.”

‘Mike’ pinched his brow. “And you know I’ll never hear the end of it if any of them come back and see her still working!” He pointed aggressively at Jesse and I growled.

They all stared at me.

“What work is this? Can I help? What will make it better?” I asked. I’d do anything to make this better for my female. If she had to complete work for this large man, then perhaps I could simply do it for her instead. It was understandable she would be upset if she was unable to complete an assigned task. I would help with this, and it would make her happy and stop the large man from yelling. She would see that I was a good protector and would make a good mate.

Mike arched an eyebrow. “You want her job?”

I blinked, not fully understanding. “If you need help, I can help.”

Mike’s demeanor shifted at that, and he eyed me with interest. I wanted to be clear about my intentions, however.

“Jesse stays with me,” I clarified. “And you will not yell at her again.”

Jesse made a choked sound, somewhere between a laugh and a cry of dismay. The smaller male stuffed his fist in his mouth to muffle his giggles.

Was I still winning? This was an odd game.

The larger man was considering my proposal.

“Well … I need some muscle to help around the ship, to get it going and monitor things. It would let me interact with the customers more. And Christ knows I’m getting old. ”

He snorted at Jesse and ran a hand through his hair. I wasn’t sure why; there wasn’t much left on his shiny head.

“I suppose you’ll only come on board if she gets her job back?” he asked me.

Again, he jerked his thumb, but this time at Jesse. He needed to stop that. I felt it was not a polite gesture.

The three of them were looking at me as if waiting for something.

“Jesse stays with me. And I will help you with these tasks,” I repeated, happy to ensure everyone understood my terms.

Mike grunted. “Fine. Be here at five tomorrow.” He harrumphed at Jesse and disappeared back onto a medium-sized boat.

I grinned broadly. It appeared I had won the game after all.

The smaller male rushed forward, practically pushing Jesse out of the way to stand in front of me. I glanced down at him, confused.

“Jesse, tell me everything,” he demanded, still staring at me.

My female blushed red. “There isn’t much to tell. I met him the other night when I was out kayaking.”

I bristled at the sheer lack of information and felt compelled to elaborate. Somehow, I knew this male wasn’t in competition with me for Jesse, but I wished to brag of my prowess to him, anyway.

“I threw her against her dock and kissed her several times. She very much enjoyed it,” I proudly stated.

His mouth went wide in an O shape. Jesse sputtered incoherently.

Humans were odd.

“JESSE!” screeched the smaller male, whacking her on the shoulder. He offered his hand to me.

“Javi. Pleasure to meet you.” The way he was looking at me was odd, but not threatening or giving me any sign he wished to battle for this female.

I eyed his hand warily. It contained no weapons or poison.

“Come on. I don’t bite.” He waved his hand in front of me, and I took a guess at what I was supposed to do. I matched my hand to his, and he snatched my fingers, moving the entire hand up and down. Then he dropped it.

I pulled my hand back to my chest, eyes narrowing.

He sighed. “This is the part where you tell us your name.”

Ah! How rude of me! I stood up tall, my chin lifting in the air. “I am Merrick, son of—”

I cut myself off, realizing that I couldn’t use any of my titles or affiliations. It would give me away. It would give my people away. My shoulders drooped.

“I am Merrick,” I tried again, somewhat lamely.

“Well, hello Merrick,” the one called Javi said. My Jesse punched him in the shoulder, and he stepped away with a cry.

My Jesse was strong. This pleased me.

She ran her hands through her hair, which was damp with perspiration and curling slightly at the edges. “Look, I appreciate the help. Really, I do. But it wasn’t necessary. And now—”

“We are ecstatic to have you with us,” Javi cut in, moving ahead of her and smiling at me.

I wasn’t sure how to handle this. There were clearly social cues and hidden meanings being tossed around that I was not privy to.

“I’m just gonna skedaddle and leave you two birds alone. Assuming that’s OK?” Javi sent another one of those meaningful looks to Jesse, who sighed and waved him away.

I couldn’t figure him out. He doted on her, but I smelled that he had no interest in mating with her. It was confusing.

“He’s harmless. Mostly,” Jesse responded, glaring at me. What had I done?

“All right. See you tomorrow.” Javi whistled and walked down the dock toward the noisy city behind us. “Do absolutely everything I would do!”

Jesse gave a frustrated cry.

I turned back to her, eager. We were finally alone.

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