Chapter 7

SEVEN

Merrick

She felt like heaven wrapped against me. Soft, warm, and like salvation. What was I doing? I had sworn to protect her from the lusting males that would soon descend upon these shores, and here I was doing the one thing I swore I’d never do!

I should build a shrine to her beauty and strength, a shrine made out of coral and stone, not brittle seashells! What would I use to capture the vivid green of her eyes? Perhaps the sea grass that grew near the shallows—

Stop it. Focus!

I had to give her a chance to back away. I had to warn her.

“If I keep kissing you like this, I won’t ever let you go. You will be mine,” I pleaded, gasping against her. My instincts roared in my blood, refusing to be quenched. My body shook with the need to take her and claim her, so no other merman would get within a mile of her.

“Will I, now?” she growled, her eyes fierce with challenge. My hormones tumbled in a mess of confusion, a groan bursting from my lips. She was a true siren-born.

I couldn’t resist the fresh bolt of need that raced through me. Surely, there was nothing wrong with just kissing, right? A kiss was not mating. A kiss wouldn’t put a child in her belly and force us apart.

So, a kiss I’d give her. Or three. Or ten.

At some point, I lost count. It didn’t seem important. The only thing that mattered was her legs wrapped around my waist, and the pressure of her core pressed against mine. The way she threw her head back against the door frame, baring her neck to my teeth. How her hands tangled in my hair, greedy and demanding.

She was mine. The others couldn’t have her. I’d kill them for trying. Hell, I’d kill them for looking. The very thought sent me toward the edge, nearly feral with need and anxiety. The member at my waist was hard and demanding, making me do things I wouldn’t normally do. It was the first time I’d experienced this particularl human body part.

It frightened me.

I took a shuddering breath in and purposefully slowed my kisses while loosening my grip. Jesse sighed against me, relaxing as we both regained our breath and composure. I had to leave, now, while I still had my mind.

I brushed my nose against hers for one last touch. “Tomorrow, then.”

Ignoring her confused, dazed expression, I forced my legs (getting stronger with each step) to move out the back door and down the stairs. Out across the long grass and straight into the inlet, I shucked off my silly human clothing and shoved it behind a rock to use the next time I came here. I dove into the water and moved my tail as fast as I could, determined to put space between us. I wouldn’t look back. I couldn’t or else I’d see the same desire mirrored in her eyes. The way her lips plumped and swelled after the attention I gave them, or the way her grasping fingers betrayed her need, as feral as my own.

No, it was better for both of us if I left. I would see her the next evening, when both of us were calmer. Rational.

Resolved, I pushed toward home. I would stop by the sulfur pits to the east first, which would cover any of Jesse’s lingering scent on my skin.

The next morning, I didn’t waste any time. I rose from the hollowed out space in the rock in my room, taking care not to wake anyone else. Three other males shifted on the sand, moved into my room to make space for everyone, including Aris. I should have expected it with us both being the sons of clan heads, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. Their noses wrinkled in disgust even in their sleep, the sulfur still on my skin pungent.

Good.

I was careful to make sure I didn’t disturb the water around them too much as I snuck out.

Being a notoriously hard sleeper, Barrett was harder to wake alone in his room. I had to physically yank on his tail before his eyes opened, scowling and curling his body away from me. The golden specks on his scales winked at me, a match to my own.

“Barrett. I need your help.”

He growled and turned over. I grabbed his tail and dragged him across the sand and nearly out of the room.

“I’M UP! I’m up! Poseidon’s nutsack, Merrick!”

I didn’t give him any time to recover.

“I need you to come up to the surface and help me. I need more human clothes, but better ones. The foot coverings you gave me are insufficient.”

Barrett yawned, running a hand through his hair, which was a much darker shade of blond than mine. When his brain caught up to what I’d said, he gave me a wry grin.

“Going to join the hunt later on? I could see why you’d want to get ahead of the crowd. Your father already has me taking a group up tonight, but I could fit you in before then. A private tour for my friend, eh?”

I didn’t like the sound of a group hunt.

“How many males are here?” I asked warily.

Barrett scratched his chin. “Sixty? More are supposed to come tomorrow.”

I floated for a moment, trying to imagine these males set upon the shores all at once.

“Is that wise?” I asked, wincing.

Barrett frowned. “Well, humans act pretty oddly anyway. Normally, I’d say it’s risky, but with the rite coming up, they’ll blend in more. The crowd gets very large.”

I straightened my shoulders. “They call it spring break,” I informed him proudly.

Barrett lifted an eyebrow. “Seems you’ve been doing just fine on your own.”

I blew a few bubbles into the water. “I need better footwear. Those ridiculous coverings you gave me are not sufficient. I also need something to cover my chest. Most of the males on land cover theirs, and wore blue or brown coverings on their legs.

Barrett blinked. “Jeans, OK. You want some jeans. When do you want to go?”

I vibrated with the need to go now, but I knew that was unlikely. I would have to put in an appearance at breakfast, especially with so many guests. My father would want to know what I was up to.

“Does midday sound agreeable?” I offered.

Barrett sighed. “Sure. I want to be scarce around that time anyway, since they’re moving a bunch of the males into my room next.” He glanced around his space mournfully. I didn’t blame him. As our clan diminished in size, we had grown accustomed to having our own homes and rooms.

That decided, we headed down to breakfast together.

My clan built its home in the valley near a hollowed out mountain that used to be above land thousands of years ago. There were even still tunnels that led to air pockets, where younger males got trained on how to switch from the gills on the sides of our necks to the lungs in our chests. I’d been the last one to use them for my clan. These days we kept to the mer-built houses of coral and stone and seaweed. I asked Father about it once, but he had only murmured something about the pain of the past, and how the spirits of the sirens still lurked in the caves.

Weird.

The largest room in the cave was usually kept for mealtimes or audiences with my father, but with so many males we had taken to eating outside amidst our gardens, which was a decent swim about halfway to the surface. There, the cavernous structure that helped make our homes stretched up toward the surface. Many plants cultivated where the sun could reach, including algae, seagrass, and kelp. The gardens were a vital part of our existence.

I spotted my father halfway up the mountain, entertaining the other clan heads. They reclined easily against a bed of red algae, laughing at something the head of the Spadefish clan had said. Was his name Gerl? It was rare that all of us were together at once. If I hadn’t been so anxious over protecting my female, I might enjoy it more.

“Father,” I intoned, bowing my head. The water moved behind me and knew Barrett was offering his respects as well.

“Merrick! Have you eaten yet? We have extra.” My father’s eyes roved to Barrett. “You too, young man. This is the one I told you all about—the one who specializes in walking among humans. He will take your sons out tonight on their first hunt! He even promised them a ride on one of their boats!”

There was much backslapping and guffaws at this as Barrett flushed and sat down in front of my father at a gesture. Seeing no other available spots, I scrunched myself in next to him.

“Merrick has asked to join the party as well. So we will all be attending!” Barrett announced, happily digging into the bowl of offered prawns and shrimp. Fine netting covered the bowl to keep the food from swimming or floating away.

My father’s eyes widened, surprise brightening his face.

“Is that so?” He turned toward me, a spark of something in his gaze.

I looked away, embarrassed. I felt like a guppie, and not a grown mer.

Yes was my only answer. I grabbed a handful of shrimp simply to keep myself occupied.

“That’s surprising,” huffed Aris’s father, shooting me a scathing glance. “Didn’t think you’d want to take a break from your … art .”

I let his insult roll off of me even as my father’s back stiffened. The chief of the Bluefish clan couldn’t be directly insulting to his host, after all.

“ Your clan seems to be his number one customer. Aren’t they, Merrick?” Barrett retorted cheekily, keeping an innocent and playful grin on his face.

I wanted to snort with laughter, but kept that in as well. Barrett got away with so much being a cousin to the royal family. The others gave him respect, but he didn’t have any of my expectations or responsibilities. Regardless, sometimes I felt my father valued him over me. I may have brought trade into our clan, but Barrett was the one everyone relied on to learn how to navigate the surface.

“Mers do like their trinkets.” Waya, head of the Kingfish clan laughed. His comment broke the lingering tension, and I bowed my head again for dismissal. Waya shifted on his bright red tail.

“Very well, off with you,” boomed my father, waving us away. Barrett and I didn’t wait to be told twice.

We swam up above them, skimming along the uppermost part of the mountain top, weaving in and out of the vegetation. Once we reached the top, we stopped to enjoy the view.

This week it looked much different than normal. Below us, nearly a hundred mers partook in their breakfast, all from different clans. A glance up showed the shimmering surface, only a few hundred feet away. The mers below looked like tiny crabs swimming here and there.

“So, what’s the deal?” Barrett asked. “You don’t suddenly have an interest in hunting. I know you. I’m surprised your father even bought it.”

I wouldn’t tell him about Jesse. I couldn’t.

“I feel bad for any female who catches Aris’s eye,” I muttered darkly instead.

Barrett laughed. “Ah, so you fancy yourself a protector of the siren born? How gallant! Or you just want to thwart him? Either works for me.”

His teasing rankled me, but I didn’t let it show. If that’s what he wanted to think, then that was fine with me.

He rolled his eyes, apparently seeing that I wasn’t in the mood to play. “Fine then, we might as well go now. The more time I have between you and the other group I’m taking, the better.”

Barrett pushed off the rock and launched himself toward the surface. I followed, nervous and excited at the same time.

We swam in silence, following the mountain range until it rose above the surface, and a large shoal took its place. We followed the line of the shoal north east, finally emerging above the waves in front of a small piece of land.

Both of us took a moment to let our bodies adjust, coughing and gagging slightly as the transition to lungs was never smooth. Barrett cleared his throat and pointed to the land mass ahead.

“That’s Bald Head Island. There’s a tiny clan of humans here, and it’s my home base. Come on.”

We swam in silence toward the shore, circling around to the east side of the island. A large sandbar rose in front of us, a sad, dilapidated wooden shack, the only thing on it aside from a few tufts of grass. The main shore of the island was about a mile inland.

I followed Barrett as he hefted himself ashore, dragging himself across the sand until he was out of the water. The moment our tails had faded away into legs, he stood gracefully and walked to the shack. It took me a few moments of stumbling to catch up.

Inside the shack looked worse than the outside, if that was even possible. Rotted wood and the stink of stagnant water filled my nose, and I drew back. “What is—”

“Keep your voice down. Above the water, sound carries quickly across it. The humans could hear us, even though the shore is far away.” Barrett finished chastising me and headed toward a latch of some kind on the floor. “Found this years ago. It must have been a hiding spot humans used once upon a time.”

To my astonishment, the latch was attached to a door that was lifted. It was made of the same material as the floorboards. If you didn’t know it was there, you would never have found it. How clever.

“Come on.” Barrett jumped down into the hole, disappearing from view.

Alarmed, I swung my feet over the edge and squinted into the darkness.

“It’s fine! It’s not a large drop. Just keep your feet under you, and bend your legs. Don’t keep them rigid. Broken leg bones aren’t fun,” he said.

I sincerely hoped he wasn’t speaking from experience and pushed myself off the ledge.

A quick moment of terror passed quickly as I landed in a crouch, my feet jarring from the impact, but otherwise I was unhurt.

There was a clicking sound, and the hole filled with light.

“Electricity is what it’s called. It’s how humans make all the lights at night. Deadly when mixed with water, though. I still think I like our lights better,” he scoffed.

I agreed. Our lights were softly pulsating orbs, made with injections of bioluminescence collected from plants and fish. The lights of the surface world were harsh and unforgiving.

He gestured. “This is where I hide my stuff. You’re welcome to anything if you need it.”

Once my eyes adjusted, I realized the hole was filled with . . . well … stuff. Barrett had several chests filled with human clothing, piled haphazardly on top of each other.

“Shoes are over there, shirts, pants …whatever you want. Find something and then stuff it in this.” He held up a large, brightly colored human satchel. I frowned at mine. His would ma ke me blend in more. I turned my attention to the heaping mass of clothing.

“Where did you get all this?” I asked, overwhelmed.

Barrett grinned, flashing a bit of fang at me. Our teeth didn’t always change with us when we surfaced. “Oh, you know, here and there. You’d be surprised how careless humans are with their things.”

He shrugged and selected a large pair of blueish leg coverings I had seen many other men wearing. I went to the same box and picked out one for me, but darker.

“Those should work. You’re probably only a size or two bigger than me. Oh! Don’t forget these!” Barrett threw a bright orange scrap of fabric at me, and I caught it in reflex. I frowned, not sure what it was for. Well, if Barrett said I needed it, I would have to believe him. I stuffed it and the jeans into his bag. Now to choose footwear and a shirt.

There weren’t too many options, since only a few of the footwear were as long as my feet. The only pair long enough was made of a beige canvas material. Into the bag it went. There was a ball of white fabric in the footwear that I left there. Perhaps it was like the orange fabric, and crucial to wear.

The shirts all looked much too small. Barrett shrugged his shoulders apologetically. We simply weren’t the same size, and most of the clothing was meant for him, after all. Eventually, I found a black shirt that hung nicely off my frame, and we were ready.

“This bag is waterproof, so everything will stay dry on the swim over,” Barrett explained, and we left the crumbling shack behind and dove back into the ocean, heading directly toward the shoreline.

I kept a wary eye on the beach, but it seemed deserted. There was only one road and no human structures nearby. Once on the beach, he explained, “This part of the island is a nature reserve; that means humans aren’t allowed to live here. They are trying to keep the land safe.”

Thinking back to the massive buildings and filth of the human city I’d been in the other night, I could see why that might become a problem. At least some humans possessed a modicum of intelligence.

Like my Jesse.

Barrett threw my clothes at me, pointing things out about them as I struggled to dress. “See the numbers here? They indicate size. Try them on to make sure they fit. The humans call them jeans. Wait! Put this on first.”

He threw a small orange bit of fabric at me. I watched carefully as Barrett showed me how to put the clothing on. It looked like it took an incredible amount of balance as he stood on one foot and deftly slid the other leg through the small holes in the garment. A tiny, tiny garment that went over his human reproductive parts.

“Why do we wear the smaller garment under the larger one? Doesn’t it cover it up?” The orange bit of fabric in my hand easily stretched, but I didn’t see how it would fit any part of me.

Barrett laughed. “Underwear, Merrick. You need it so your human dangly bits don’t get caught in the metal of the zipper.”

I would have to take his word for it. I stretched out the orange underwear and matched my legs up with the holes. I only fell once before I got my legs inside. Unhappily, I yanked it up over my dangly bits. I frowned, feeling tight and stifled.

He chuckled and turned to continue dressing. “Relax. You’ll get used to it.”

I highly doubted that.

I put on the jeans, proud that I only stumbled, but didn’t fall. They seemed to fit fine. The black shirt went over the top. Barrett beat the extra sand off me and helped me put the odd white coverings on my feet.

“Socks, Merrick.”

Socks. Fine. Then the shoes. Human clothing had so many odd steps to it.

“Do you plan to bring the hunters here as well? This seems far away from the ritual site.” I followed behind Barrett as we climbed clumsily up the sand dunes and toward the road.

“The remoteness is part of it,” he answered. “It’ll give the hunters a chance to literally get their legs under them and practice where the humans won’t stare.”

He pointed up ahead. “There is a boat there that travels between where the ritual takes place and here. There are always many humans coming and going, so they will not notice extra people. Not even a group of hunters.”

Barrett showed me how to ride the ferry and even how to use human money. He had a wad in the bag, which he carried on his back. Apparently, you didn’t need to pay to get off the island, but needed the money if you were traveling to it.

Another human rule I didn’t understand.

The boat was odd. Hearing the rushing of the ocean and seeing it cut effortlessly through the waves was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening. I worried the entire time that water would splash up and hit Barrett or myself, thus exposing us. Barrett laughed at my worries.

The other humans crowded around us closely, and I drew my arms in. It was hard to maintain one’s own space against the crush. I stared at a female who had short, bright pink hair sticking straight up. She wore spikes on her neck and wrist. An older lady next to her only came up to my chest and talked endlessly about a cat named Simon. The female with pink hair smiled at her, but the grin seemed pained.

“Humans come in all shapes and sizes and different skin tones. They color their hair and depending on where they’re from, they speak differently, too,” Barrett lectured.

“Speak differently? How do they all communicate? Is there a common language?” I asked.

Mers all spoke our own language from birth, but we also learned the human language as well. I’d thought there was only one.

“This language is what these humans speak. I’ve heard many other tongues.” Barrett said.

The boat came into the dock smoothly, and soon I struggled against the crowd to stay with Barrett. This gave me the perfect excuse to leave him and find Jesse. “Thank you for the help! I will see you later for the hunt!”

Barrett laughed, not fighting against the crowd as more people grew between us. “I see how it is! You want to scope the best spots. Happy hunting, my friend!”

I let him think whatever he wanted because it worked in my interest. The crowd separated us and carried me toward a large, empty square of road with many of the human transportation machines sitting between drawn, white lines. I looked around in dismay, not recognizing anything from the other night.

“Hey buddy! You look lost. Whatcha looking for?”

I tried to calm my expression of alarm as a large man with a big belly called out to me from where he was loading up into one of those quieter machines. The golf carts, Jesse had called them.

“I am looking to go into the city,” I tried, hoping there was only one.

“You a spring breaker then? Look a little old for that.”

I wasn’t sure what the last part of his sentence meant, but he said ‘spring break,’ so I seized it.

“Yes! That! I am here for the … spring break.”

The man chuckled and sucked on a large brown cylinder that protruded from his mouth. Foul smoke wafted from it.

“Sounds like you need to get into town. The shuttle line starts over there.” He gestured roughly across the road where a group of other humans were standing around a sign with a picture of a large machine on it.

“Thank you.” I joined the group of humans waiting, listening to their conversations. There were a few older human mates, females with males with gray and white hair. Standing apart from them was a group of five or six men who looked a little younger than me. Their conversation was more interesting than the older mates’ argument over where to eat their dinner.

“Yeah, so I heard this year the bonfire is going to be Friday on the beach. It’s going be lit, man.”

A male with short, bright green leg garments gestured wildly in the air. Small and dark glass coverings covered his eyes. I wondered if he was injured. Looking around, I noticed that many of the humans wore these small eye shields. Shoes protected their fragile feet, and small shields protected their fragile eyes. It was a wonder they got anything accomplished. My imagination spun with all the things I could make with glass that clear, and that sharp. Most of the sea glass from the ocean was opaque and rounded.

“I can’t wait. I bought a new suit and everything.” A girl grinned at him in a way that had my stomach twist nervously. If Jesse ever looked at me like that, I didn’t know what I would do. I’d likely pin her to the floor and—

“Psh, I’m excited for the food trucks. Denny’s barbeque is gonna be there!”

The male didn’t seem to notice the female deflate as he dismissed her clear advances in favor of his stomach. Were all human males so dismissive of their females? Perhaps she was not his mate. That would explain it. Especially with the way the other two males in the group watched her. The other female rolled her eyes and stared down at a small black rectangular device in her hands. She ignored the other males as she tapped on it furiously with her fingers.

“Excuse me, are you talking about spring break?” I interjected when their conversation seemed to lull. Perhaps I could travel with them to where I needed to be.

The female glanced up from her device, her eyes going wide.

“What's your name?” she asked, her voice lowering significantly in pitch. My eyes couldn’t help but flick to her breasts, which she pushed invitingly out toward me.

“Merrick,” I answered easily enough, keeping my gaze on the males. The way they were staring at me certainly didn’t seem friendly. I didn’t want to offend them by staring too openly at the female, if she belonged to one of them.

“Merrick? That’s … different.” The female moved in closer. Too close. She put one hand on my chest and I jerked back, alarmed by her boldness.

I liked it with Jesse. On this female, it simply made me uncomfortable. Her hair was a straight sheet of dark brown, almost black. The way her blue eyes pulled at me had moisture appearing on my forehead. The other males closed in, their shoulders tense and rigid.

“I … no, thank you,” I stuttered, unsure why I said that and what exactly I was refusing. She hadn’t asked me a question or offered anything. The wind changed, blowing her scent toward me. I froze, recognizing the same tang that Jesse’s scent had—a biting heat with a spicy undertone.

No. That was impossible. Well, improbable. Certainly not impossible, but what were the odds I’d found two siren born females on my own?

I didn’t like this female, though. I didn’t like how she looked at me like a predator. Only Jesse could look at me like that. Perhaps Barrett could have this one. Or even Aris. This female was aggressive and wasn’t sensing that I didn’t want her hands on me.

Was this what it was like for females when we hunted?

I was saved from further introspection by the large machine that groaned its way toward us, coming to a lurching stop. It was much larger than anything I had ridden with enough seats for all of us waiting, with many empty ones to spare. I waited until the group of young males went in first; the female gave me one disgusted last look before climbing up the steps. They went all the way to the back, so I sat up toward the front.

I thought about reporting back to my father this one siren born, and then immediately dismissed it. I may not like this female, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be impregnated and left alone. I would leave it to chance if the others found her or not.

A sudden thought occurred to me. What if the mers who came on shore forced themselves on their females? My stomach soured. Surely no honorable mer would do that, would they? I could not imagine forcing myself on Jesse. I would be heartbroken if she turned me away, of course, but that was still her choice. To force myself on her just to create young?

It made me sick.

I imagined Aris or Barrett finding a siren born. I had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t simply let her walk her away. They would pursue her and not give up until their task was complete.

My stomach turned and twisted uneasily. Was that how I had been conceived? Had my father forced himself on a siren born female?

This was wrong. It was all wrong.

I resolved to monitor the hunters after I spent time with Jesse. I had to make sure they behaved and didn’t hurt anyone. Unless that was the unspoken point? We’d been taught at guppies that finding a siren born was the ultimate blessing and to pursue at all costs.

At all costs.

My stomach rolled. Was my nausea from the erratic movements of the large machine or the realization that my culture was built on pain and violence? My need to monitor the other males warred with the overwhelming desire to keep Jesse safe and away from them all.

I closed my eyes and breathed. I would be on Jesse’s boat tonight. It was highly unlikely the hunters would go anywhere near us. I would take her home afterwards and ensure her safety. And perhaps a kiss or two, if she was willing.

Then I would go find the other mers and ensure they didn’t hurt anyone.

I gripped the sides of my seat, my course set.