by Amy Bearce
Mina swam into view, her dark eyes wide. “What on Aluvia was it, then?”
Tristan’s brow drew to a dark V. “Tell us,” he commanded, pulling Phoebe toward the shore.
“Wait!” she cried, laying her hands on his shoulders. “The men. Bentwood’s old enforcers, Donovan, and another. They came for me! They were up there!”
Tristan cursed, a low trill of sound in the merfolk’s ancient language she’d rarely heard before. Mina darted above them and peeked her head above the surface for a moment before returning.
“Two men seem to be fighting on shore,” she reported. “The ugly one just hit the short one.”
“They’re both ugly,” Phoebe muttered.
Mina laughed, but then stopped short. “Are these the men, then? The ones you escaped when my brother rescued you from that prison?”
Phoebe nodded and shuddered, the reality of the moment sinking in. “Donovan was the one who beat me when I was trapped at Bentwood’s. It sounded like they wanted to use me to force Sierra to collect nectar for the dark alchemists again.”
She drifted a bit in the current, and Tristan pulled her to him, holding her steady. She blinked rapidly, both at the shocking events and at Tristan’s sudden nearness. It had been at least half a year since Sierra had last allowed Phoebe under the waves like this. Even that short period of time had made a surprisingly big difference in Tristan’s appearance. His jaw was squarer. The child-like roundness to his cheeks was completely gone. His ribs might be more prominent than they used to be, but muscles clearly lined his torso and arms. It was one thing to see him through the water, quite another to be pulled snug to his chest.
The merfolk had both come straight from work. Mina wore a bulging knapsack, and Tristan’s work belt was cinched around his waist where his scales met the skin of his torso. A tiny knife was tucked in the belt, and a net dangled from the side, half full of clams. His eyes, so green above the water, had bled to solid black as he used his magic to allow her to survive. They were dark and shining as obsidian, and as beautiful.
“They’re trying to control your sister?” he asked.
Alarm flared through Phoebe.
“I have to go home. What if Sierra gets home and they’re waiting for her?” she announced, kicking her legs as if she would return to the shore immediately, but Tristan held her steady.
“Think, Phoebe. They’re waiting for you! I can’t let you do that.”
Phoebe glared at him. “You think you can stop me?”
He and Mina laughed, and Phoebe glared harder.
Tristan smothered his grin and replied, “Well, yes, honestly, I do. But think, little songbird. They want to use you to blackmail your sister. If they don’t have you, they can’t manipulate her, can they? They didn’t try to take her. But if you go storming out of the water, they’d take you for sure. And then what?”
Then what, indeed? He had a point. She chewed her lip. Sierra would be out of her mind with worry if she returned early to an empty house. Phoebe hadn’t actually expected to still be gone when Sierra returned. But it would be foolish to leave the water now.
Phoebe groaned. “You’re right, you’re right. But I don’t want to wait around here for that creature to come back, either. Can we hide somewhere safe just long enough for those men to give up? Like the sunken ship you took me to once? Then I could hopefully still make it home before Sierra does.”
The twins exchanged another glance. Mina said, “This would be wise. Don’t you think, brother?”
Tristan looked conflicted, but he finally shrugged. “Well, the sunken ship is too exposed, but I suppose we could take her to our secret place. It would definitely be safe there. Whatever attacked Phoebe could still be around here, but it would never find us in our hidden spot.”
Phoebe shivered, tightening her grip on Tristan’s arms. He whispered in Phoebe’s ear, so softly that Mina could not hear, “No matter what attacked you, no matter what danger comes, know that I’ll keep you safe, always.”
His smile gleamed, charming despite the intensity of his black eyes. He tipped his head sideways, a habit of his from childhood. How many times had she seen that smile, that head tilt? She had missed it so much. Missed him.
Then his words sunk in.
“Wait a minute,” she blurted. “You rescued me. Didn’t you see what had me?”
He shook his head, face heavy with concern. “No, you were sinking, alone, when I arrived. I made it just in time. What had you captive?”
Phoebe’s mind hurt. Where had the blue light come from, then? She’d assumed it was some sort of mer-magic she hadn’t known about. And had she really seen a shadow moving in the darkness? No, that had to have been her mind playing tricks on her. Lack of air could do that.
“I was grabbed by some horrible creature I’d never seen before, with red eyes and too many teeth!”
“Hmm. There are many predators in the sea. There are creatures in the depths so strange and cruel-looking that they would shock land walkers, but such deep dwellers rarely come to shallow waters during the day. We’ll need to talk more of this,” he murmured.
Phoebe took a deep breath, always amazed by the miracle of breathing underwater. Her spinning mind slowed. Her friends’ concern was a bandage, wrapping up a bleeding wound. “But won’t this get you in trouble? You’re not supposed to take me beyond the shoreline, you said. Your own people forbid it.”
“Well, as you say, what they don’t know won’t hurt them!” Mina chirped.
Tristan scowled at Mina, but then relented with an exasperated smile. “We’re not really breaking any laws, Phoebe. You’re here already, almost terribly harmed by a creature of the sea. We wouldn’t be doing our duty to our people if we didn’t learn all we could about it and keep you in a safe, hidden spot until we can deliver you safely to shore.”
“Exactly!” Mina said.
“No one could argue with these facts,” Tristan added, almost as if convincing himself.
Phoebe didn’t need much convincing. She would love to stay with them, to be honest. A chance like this was something she might never have again, not if the relations between merfolk and humans continued to worsen.
“Well, if you think it won’t cause you any trouble…”
Tristan reassured her. “It’ll be fine. You can tell us about the creature that attacked, and we can share our news of the skeleton. It is good news, of a sort, as much as anything of that kind could be. But trust me when I say you are safe with us. We’ll tell you more, but first, let us go farther from the shore.”
Mina squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh, please say yes, Phoebe!”
Phoebe nodded. She couldn’t face the shore. Not now, even knowing that horrendous creature was still sharing the ocean with them. But Tristan’s touch radiated warmth that thawed the terrified frozen place inside her.
“Come,” he said softly.
He held one of her hands; Mina held the other. And they pulled her deeper into the sea, where she’d always longed to go, no matter how many told her she couldn’t.
hey swam in silence, Phoebe surrounded by her two best friends. She wished they could always be like this. She scanned everything, locking away memories deep into her heart for the day when she was back in an empty house, making yet another boring pot of beans. Unlike life at home, there was nothing remotely boring about a pod of dolphins speeding by, clicking and whirring at them, or magenta fish darting between the three friends like it was a game.
Despite the gruesome reason for being here, Phoebe gloried in being in the sea once again. It had been six long months since Sierra had forbidden swimming in the ocean at all for unexplained “safety” reasons. And longer than that since Phoebe could swim beyond the cove.
But here she was now. Finally.
As they swam deeper into the sea, Tristan and Mina seemed to glow. In fact, Phoebe registered that they didn’t seem to glow―they did glow. A soft luminescence spread from every inch of their skin down to where scales
covered their flesh. The soft brilliance of silver light made Tristan even more handsome than usual. Phoebe blushed.
“Amazing,” she said breathily.
Mina laughed and lifted one arm for examination. “What, our moonglow? I forget you haven’t seen it. We have no need of it along the shore. But now we’re going a little deeper.”
“You’re both incredible,” Phoebe said, awed.
The two merfolk just smiled back.
“We’re almost there. I’ll check to make sure the area is clear of predators.” Tristan sped ahead then shot straight up into a tangled vine of seaweed and disappeared.
Phoebe gasped.
Mina laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie. Our secret spot is well-hidden on purpose. This little side trip isn’t just for you, you know. It’s for his own good. That mer will never do what he wants. There was a time he would have done what his heart told him and toss the consequence, but not anymore. The old Tristan’s got to be in there somewhere. We need the Tristan I know and love.”
“We do?” Phoebe didn’t understand what Mina meant.
Mina glanced at her, then ahead to where Tristan was already returning, a broad smile on his face.
“The merfolk do,” Mina whispered and then put her finger over her lips as Tristan grew closer.
Tristan announced, “It’s safe.”
Mina pulled on Phoebe’s hand, and Phoebe promised herself she’d ask her friend more about that mysterious comment later. They followed Tristan to the dangling column of seaweed and plunged into the darkness. Even the merfolk’s moonglow was all but eclipsed by the plants. Slick seaweed tickled Phoebe’s skin, and her stomach plummeted as they rose rapidly. They took a sudden sharp turn to the side and swam beyond the seaweed into an open area that made Phoebe’s eyes pop wide in wonder.
Sunlight beamed down through clear water. The light bounced off pale yellow seaweed behind them. A rocky cliff rose in front of them, while reefs curved around the rest of the way like a bowl, making this spot quiet, serene, and beautiful. Sea anemones swayed back and forth in the currents, orange and white in crystalline water. Vivid purple starfish dotted the reef like handprints left by an artist. Schools of red fish no bigger than Phoebe’s finger darted among deep blue water plants, and transparent tiny squids drifted like balloons through the currents, their delicate membranes outlined in lacy white.
Phoebe floated in silence, jaw dropped with awe. Mina watched her, triumph in every line of her body. Tristan began to speak, but the words on his lips died as his gaze focused on Phoebe, too. The twins gave her a long moment to just observe and absorb the beauty.
Tristan said, “This is where we come to relax and think. It’s Mina’s and my secret spot.”
A thrill raced through Phoebe at being in on their secret.
“No human has ever seen this place,” Mina whispered.
Phoebe turned to face her friends. Their own luminescence had mostly faded with so much natural sunlight present, but they were no less stunning.
“Thank you,” she said reverently.
In this space, it was easy to forget that the sea could be as dangerous as it was beautiful.
“Now,” Tristan said. “Remembering you are safe here, tell us about what attacked you, please.”
“There’s not much more to say,” Phoebe said, still caught up in the scene around her, no doubt as Tristan had planned. Fear was distant in a place as magical as this. She went on to describe the experience. The red eyes made her shudder during her retelling. They asked a few questions, but it had all happened so fast, there wasn’t much more she could add.
“I don’t know what it could be,” Mina said, frowning thoughtfully. She was reclining against a bed of sea flowers, spinning one bloom lazily in her hand.
“Me either, but I suspect it was just a wandering deep sea creature too far from home. I don’t think we need to fear it any longer. It swam away, in any case.”
True. Okay, so the sea had some mysterious dangers in it she hadn’t known about. But her mer-friends had not yet explained about their safety. Her concern for them outweighed fears for herself. “What did you learn about the poor merfolk who died?”
Mina sat up and swam to them. Tristan’s face grew serious again. Phoebe hated to cast a shadow on the moment, but she needed to know.
“The elders say this skeleton was a merman from many moons ago, a hermit who lived outside of our community after we were set free. He could have been dead for some time. The body must have gotten dislodged from wherever it had been… trapped.” He gulped slightly and then continued, “The elders don’t know what did the damage that obviously killed him. They think maybe he got caught in a riptide and was dashed against the rocks, breaking the parts of the skull, and the black mark might just be a birth mark of some kind, or even part of his mer-tattoo. They swore it meant nothing.”
“But Mother told us differently.”
Tristan shoved Mina’s shoulder, but she held her chin high as Phoebe asked, “Your mother knew something?”
A thin red eel slid by, but Phoebe didn’t even flinch. Her focus was on Tristan and Mina.
“She’s the historian of our people, a mermaid of great learning,” Mina explained, weaving her fingers through her long hair and pushing it out of the way. “She studies ancient myths and the golden age of the merfolk. She knows things others have forgotten and says there was once a creature that could have done it, but no one has seen or heard from such a thing in centuries. The others scoffed at her for even bringing it up.”
“The elders scoff at everything not under their noses, but this time, I can’t blame them.” Tristan shook his head.
“What did she say?” Phoebe asked.
Mina explained, “She said there was an ancient sea beast called Baleros that lived in the deepest part of the ocean, in the midnight realm.”
Tristan added, rolling his eyes, “Baleros is the story that parents tell naughty little seawees who disobey, Phoebe. He’s the embodiment of evil, a very powerful, very greedy sea monster, often known as just ‘the beast.’ He’s supposedly the reason our ancient civilization collapsed. They say he could steal the magic from within a merfolk, through touch. He physically burned the magic out of them, leaving them nothing but a husk.”
It didn’t sound like a myth to Phoebe. It sounded far too much like the skeleton. “Oh no! It sounds like you are in danger!”
Phoebe had often wanted to curse Sierra’s silly rule forbidding swimming in the ocean, but maybe Sierra knew something Phoebe did not. The frightening thing that grabbed her was bad enough, though Tristan clearly dismissed it as any kind of danger. Now some evil beast could be killing merfolk by siphoning out their magic? That sounded far worse.
“You don’t have to be concerned for us,” Tristan assured her. “Baleros has nothing to do with it. He’s just a myth. And our limited magic is hardly something Baleros would crave anyway. Mother often makes a whale out of a minnow. She tends to be dramatic.”
The two merfolk quirked their lips at each other.
“But―”
“Don’t worry. We won’t be going off alone anywhere, and our village is safe. We will be careful, we promise.” Tristan tipped his head to one side as he watched her reaction.
Phoebe smiled uncertainly and nodded, though fear thrummed inside her like the surf pounding on the shore. Tristan obviously wanted her to drop it. So she would. For now. They had been so good to her, bringing her to such a wonderful place to distract her from her fears.
“Now, it’s been long enough that I suspect the men are gone. Phoebe should probably return home if she wishes to arrive before her sister.”
Mina pouted. “No fun. No fun.”
“Life is not always fun, sister. It’s full of problems for everyone,” he replied with a sigh.
His voice was tinged with unexpected depths of sadness that made Phoebe pause. “Tristan, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just glad we were able to sh
ow you this place. It’s more than I ever hoped for.”
Phoebe flushed. What did he mean by that? She wished she could see his expression more clearly, but the water was growing darker and his glow had faded to nothing.
Regardless, Tristan was right. She should go. Time was so hard to determine underwater. An hour could feel like a day and vice versa. But she didn’t move. She didn’t want to cross the dark forest to her house or spend any time alone. Not today. The panic would be sure to come upon her. But Tristan was right. She had to go. The twins exchanged a worried look.
She took a deep breath, savoring the magic that allowed her to do so, and forced a smile.
“Thank you both for saving me. I don’t think I said so yet, but you’ve saved my life again. And thank you for sharing this place with me, for thinking of me. It was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever experienced,” Phoebe said. Her hair floated in front of her face.
Tristan reached out and gently pushed the wild red locks out of the way. Phoebe’s cheeks burned. They were probably as pink as a sunset.
“We always think of you,” he said.
His touch chased away her concerns over strange myths and mysterious handprints. She smiled at him, willing it to be a natural, friendly smile. She wasn’t ready for him to suspect that she had sort of been… daydreaming about him.
She stared at Tristan, forgetting everything for a moment.
Mina hummed briefly, and then said, “I’ll head home now and distract Mother from noticing your lateness. See you later, Phoebe.”
She winked at them both and zipped away, leaving Tristan and Phoebe alone.
Totally alone in the most beautiful spot on Aluvia, still holding hands.
he moment was perfect, as if from a dream. Everything seemed surreal, a magical painting Phoebe had wandered into. Her heart felt so full, like a thousand songs were playing inside it. She almost couldn’t stand it.
“Thank you, Tristan. You’ve always been so kind to me. You’ll never know how much you mean to me,” Phoebe said.
She looked up at him, hoping her face showed the feelings she was too afraid to say. She knew that he would one day choose a bondmate from among the mermaids of his village. As a human, she couldn’t be more than a friend. He could never leave the water, nor could she live in the water as a proper bondmate.
