9. Friendly Waters

9

FRIENDLY WATERS

PACARI

A s soon as I have returned Teresa to her abode, I run down the cliffside and dive into the waters. Slugger follows behind, barking happily until he too dives into the water.

Then I realize he has not transformed back—instead yapping in anxiety. His paws do not swim as well as his nudibranch body.

Panic shoots through me and I turn around, snatching him up into my arms and rising from the waters.

"I need some space. To… think. I'm so sorry. If I leave you with the tide dwellers, perhaps you can make some friends?"

The water-logged pup stares back at me, wide eyed and whiny. He wrestles to escape my arms and as soon as we are on solid land, I let him free. He shakes off, sending water flying in all directions. I wince as the water hits my skin. My body is a mess, transitioning from gilled form to human and back in such short increments—on top of the desires fueling my blood, demanding its due.

"I will come right back for you," I promise. "Just as long as you do not leave the tide pools."

Curse the witch's magic. Curse my own stymied needs. Curse our deal and my dependence on her patronage to keep the life forms I adore so dearly alive.

Slugger sits his little body down and looks fairly annoyed at me. I suppose I can understand—ever since his home was destroyed in that quake, we have been together. He has yet to be alone. And now he is here, in this foreign world, in this strange body, and I'm asking him to be alone just because I'm having all sorts of unusual feelings. I bury my face in my hands.

"It's wrong of me to ask. I'm sorry," I groan. "I am terrible."

Instead of abandoning him to the tide pools, I sit down in the sand at his side. My clothes are soaked through and partially torn where my fins cut through when they formed.

"I've never felt this way about anyone before," I admit to the little creature. "Never wanted to do anything just to be with one person. And I don't know what to do. She has me enchanted. I've never been on the other side of this. Am I just enchanted by the idea of her? Or is there something special? How can a human have me so mixed up?"

I grumble again, but this time, Slugger comes close and nuzzles up next to me. His fur is atrocious to touch in its current state, but I pet him regardless, grateful for his attempts to soothe my conflicted mind. I watch the waves as they crash into the ground, looking to the ocean to calm me as it so often has before.

And then I spot a flicker.

I stand.

"Kalixto?" I call out quickly.

There's a distinct plop in the water. Looking around, I spot a loose rock and pick it up. Scanning the water, I search for the telltale glimmer of purple, green, and blue. The second I spot it, I fling the rock.

" Salta kai gamisou !" Kalixto swears, shooting up from beneath the water, flinging his long green hair out of his face.

I know that phrase. It's something like go fuck yourself. It's not the first time I've heard it from him.

"If you missed me this much, you needn't have hidden," I call out.

He swims closer, darting quickly to surf the wave as it barrels towards me. An attempt to be threatening, but as his ready claws prepare to strike in retaliation, all it takes is a step back to avoid his ire. He slides back for a second before swiping, but when that fails, he sits himself upright against the sand, leaning back on his tail.

"What are you doing here?" he growls. The scowl is still not enough to de-beautify his pretty face.

"The work of the Lantern Witch. Did she not tell you?" I ask, testing him. Lately, it almost seems as if he is her herald. Her pet, maybe. Previously, I didn't even know sirens could swim that deep. "Or perhaps to be her spy is why you are here?"

"What is that?" he asks, pointing behind me.

Slugger shakes off the recent wave. Kalixto squeezes his eyes shut against the onslaught of water. Nobody likes dog water in the eye.

"One of my wards," I answer. "The dusky nembrotha."

"That is not a slug. That is a dog."

"And you are a beached fish pouting over particulars when you still haven't come forth with why you are here."

His eyes shoot up the cliff, towards the house overlooking it. "No reason."

"Very believable," I commend. "You plan to be here long, then?"

"I might be," he answers, searching my face for the catch.

"Excellent, then you can watch Slugger," I say, picking the dog up and dropping him in Kalixto's arms.

"Oh, the fur feels awful," he grumbles. "Slugs are much better than dogs."

"Unfortunately, because of the witch's magic, he is stuck like that for the foreseeable future and I fear to leave him alone should some peril befall him."

Kalixto sighs deeply. "And what am I to do with him?"

I shrug. "I thought of taking him to the tide pools. Perhaps he can meet a friend there."

"And what will you do?" Kalixto asks of me.

Now it is my turn to gaze up at the cliffside house—surely for much different reasons than whatever is going on behind the siren's empty head.

"Collect the witch's due," I sigh. "Whatever the consequences."

If I am to be her errand boy, I will do it my way—not with her eyes upon me. Besides, it will be much better to woo the humans without having to constantly be on the lookout for my unusually furry friend. And for all his fickleness, Kalixto has always been true to his word. Even with his unspecified relationship with the witch, trusting him with the life of another cannot go awry—as long as that life is not a sailor at sea. Whatever brought him here, I am thankful for it as long as it enables my plan.