Rowan stopped short beside Nick, staring into the pool.
“She was here. I know she was.” He circled the pool twice before coming back to stand near Rowan. Nick pulled at his hair before dropping his arms to his side.
Amazed.
That’s what Rowan was. How did a mermaid her size disappear? Was she hiding in the bushes again?
“I told you so.” Rowan’s chest puffed up. Whatever the reason, he was glad she wasn’t here for Nick to find again. His heart lurched in his chest, wondering how she escaped and if she was okay. Was she shaken up over hurting Nick?
Nick’s mouth hung open, still staring at the pool, and then he clenched his fingers into his hair. “She grabbed my hair, like this. She pushed me under the water and stared at me while I drowned. Right. In. Front. Of. Her!” He screamed each enunciated word, pausing before the next one.
“I don’t doubt if mermaids existed they could be capable of such cruelty.” Biting his tongue, Rowan turned to face the house. “I wasn’t here, meaning I don’t know what happened and you trespassed onto my property. You need to leave. Now!”
“Seriously? I drown in your pool and you’re kicking me out?” Nick smacked his chest and huffed.
“Like I said, you trespassed onto my property and got yourself injured. Do I need to call the cops?” Rowan folded his arms across his chest and stared him down. “If you’re worried about your health, go to the hospital and get yourself checked out. In the future, I’d advise you to never come over when I’m not home.”
Rowan should have expected something like this from Nick after their argument, but he had no idea he’d invite himself over while Rowan was still at work. He had no reason to.
Nick threw his hands over his head and shouted, “You gave me your gate code!”
Rowan gently waved his hands out in front of him. “Shh, keep it down. The neighbors don’t need to hear you screaming.”
“Fuck you! I’m out of here. I can’t believe you, man.” A cough wracked Nick, making him bend at the waist, hands on his knees. His exit had lost the effect he wanted. Once he stood up, he pounded a fist on his chest, clearing his throat.
Nick gave Rowan one last hate-filled glare and a one finger salute to drive things home before disappearing around the side of the house. He had a feeling they’d no longer be friends after this, but they’d had their fair share of arguments before. Most likely, Nick would go home, cool off, and realize what an ass he’d been.
Rowan didn’t have to wait long to hear the roar of Nick’s engine before he left. Nick had parked in the front of Rowan’s house out of the way.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he surveyed the backyard, wondering where a mythological creature her size could hide. The first place he looked was the shrubbery around his fence, but no luck.
Subsequently, he checked the pool, the beach beyond his fence, the garage, and even the inside of his house. She truly and completely disappeared.
Sulking, he dragged his feet back out to the pool and slumped down into one of the plastic chairs. He mourned the loss of the one thing he’d been searching for since he was thirteen years old.
20
Once Rowan carried Nick inside, Meriya dashed to the bottom of the pool and took up residence in the corner. She cowered there, fearful Nick would come running out, pointing fingers, and shouting.
Which turned out to be true, but something in her shifted. An energy within her ignited, burning through her veins as she chanted quietly to herself. “Please, don’t find me. Please, don’t find me…”
Shouting came from above and Meriya threw her arms over her head, continuing her chant, trying to shield herself. The water around her solidified into a bubble, similar to the ones Jovie could create, blending her in with the bottom of the pool.
The bubble was transparent, making Meriya fear whether she could truly be seen or not. Neither Nick nor Rowan seemed to pay her any attention, allowing her to observe them as they peered through the water in confusion.
She stared at her hands with wide eyes. Did these hands just perform magic? Her fingers still tingled, but the magic vanished as quickly as it arrived, leaving Meriya bereft.
Nick’s bulky form stormed off after a yelling match with Rowan. Did he give up so soon?
Rowan continued to look around the pool and fence. Meriya could see and hear him as he searched in vain, his shuffling form and impatient sighs reaching through the water and shield.
She knew Rowan would worry, but she was fearful Nick was still around. How angry was Rowan for almost killing Nick?
When the bubble dissolved around her, she panicked, backing up as far as she could into the corner beneath the waterfall, fearful of the repercussions of her attempted murder and what Rowan would think of her. Sleep would be a hard-won victory with the anxiety humming through her body.
The next morning, she awoke to find Rowan asleep in the plastic chair, body slumped down and twisted funny in his seat. His head lay on his shoulder at an odd angle, and one leg stuck straight out in front of him, while the other draped over the arm of the chair. How was that position comfortable?
Meriya raised her hand from the water and flicked water droplets at him. Rowan shifted, grumbled, and then swatted at his face before jerking awake. He sat up straight in his chair, eyes darting left and right.
Those panicked brown pools settled in her direction as she giggled. The look on his face was priceless.
“Meriya?” His mouth hung slightly open, eyes wide. “Is that really you? My God, I looked everywhere for you. What happened?”
She managed a simple shrug before she confessed, “I was at the bottom of the pool, hiding.”
“But… I… I couldn’t find you.”
“I was down there, I swear.” No need to disclose her little display of power. She was still trying to process everything herself. If she reached deep enough, she could feel the small spark, but no amount of coaxing brought it forth. “Um, are you ready to change my bandages again? Most of them have fallen off or are peeling at the corners.” She pointed to her face and arms as examples.
Her buoyant mood shifted from the giddiness she’d felt at his shock of finding her to an uneasy feeling which settled in her lower abdomen. Her head didn’t feel quite right either. Suddenly, a wooziness passed over her and she clutched the side of the pool.
“Yeah, Yeah.” He waved a hand in the air, not realizing her discomfort. “Sure. Let me go get my medical kit and I’ll be right back.” Meriya felt touched he stayed out here all night, worried about her welfare. Her heart swelled, but she didn’t have time to address or label those feelings. She’d categorize them later after he changed her bandages and she’d had ample time to rest her head.
Hoisting herself out of the water, she sat on the edge and lifted her tail out. The hard concrete still scraped her scales and body causing her to wince. She hated having to touch it, let alone sit on it.
“You’re already out of the water,” Rowan observed out loud.
“I’m trying to make it easier.” She pointed to the few spots on her tail where the bandages came undone. “Go ahead and fix my tail first.”
Rowan sat down cross-legged beside her tail, examining the skin and scales underneath the white patches of tape-covered gauze. That’s what he’d called it, gauze. What a strange word.
“These wounds look like they’re healing, but more of your scales have been shed.” He tentatively ran a finger over one patch of smooth skin sending a jolt to the nerves beneath his touch.
The moment quickly passed as she leaned over to see what he spoke about. She gasped, her stomach roiling with a bout of nausea.
“They always grow back. I’ve never taken this long to heal or grow back my scales.” She found a huge patch on her tail where the scales were completely gone, only soft peachy skin remained. When a mermaid lost a scale, it evaporated into nothing, helping the Ocean keep them a secret. Had they not disappeared, she would have seen them floating around the pool, appri
sing her of the problem.
She turned to face the water, biting her lip, knowing she wouldn’t find any evidence of her scales within its depths, but she couldn’t bear to face Rowan at the moment. Instead, she gaped at her own reflection on the glassy surface. The water calmed down since she’d removed herself and she could see her eyes staring back at her, shocked, no longer a vibrant purple, but a hazy blue. Her brown hair hung lifeless and lackluster.
Her appearance no longer glowed with the essence of a magical creature. Was she dying? She felt like it. Despite the sun barely hovering over the horizon, her body felt like it was on fire.
Rowan, oblivious to her dilemma, kept his attention on the wounds and missing scales.
“Oh no,” Meriya breathed out softly. Stories from her childhood came flooding back. Tales told of mermaids who’d gone inland, away from the ocean. With their distance and time away from the water, which gave them life, they eventually turned into a human.
Their scales fell off, their skin, hair, and eye color changed. Never again would they swim unbidden in the depths of the sea.
“I’m not going to redress these. They’ve healed, but…” those chocolate brown eyes of his took in her distress. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” She swallowed hard, forcing down acrid bile.
The stories weren’t one hundred percent clear on how long the transition took. Anyway, they were a myth, something parents told children to scare them and keep them away from land and humans, but if they never returned to the ocean, how did other merfolk know about them?
She wondered what could be worse than becoming what you feared the most. Were any of the humans on this island once creatures of the sea? She hadn’t slept for a week the first time her mother recanted the tale during her bedtime ritual.
“Maybe having them uncovered will help the scales grow back. Do you think having the bandages on them prohibited the regrowth of my scales?”
“You know, I hadn’t thought of that. It could be a possibility.” He packed up his medical supplies and zipped up the bag. “I’ll check on them tomorrow and see.”
“Okay.” She scooted back and prepared to get back into the water. “Rowan, I…,” she thought about keeping the myths to herself, but she needed someone else to know, in case something happened to her.
She rubbed a hand up and down her arm, trying to shake off a bad feeling.
“Are you still shook up about Nick? He’s alive.”
Shaking her head, she dropped her gaze to her lap. “No, my scales. I think… when I was a child there was a story about a woman who wandered onto land. She was away from the ocean for too long, never returning to the water because…” Her words twisted and knotted within her throat, not wanting to come out.
“Because…?” Rowan lifted one single brow and dipped his head for her to continue.
She swallowed hard, watching her hands wring together in her lap. “She… she turned into a human.” With her eyes still downcast, she went on. “A mermaid can’t be away from Her too long. She is what sustains us."
Meriya raised her head to gauge Rowan’s reaction. His eyes widened, but he looked confused as well. “Her? Who is her?”
“I told you the other day. It’s the ocean. She takes care of her own. Without Her…” she blinked back tears, not wanting to consider life as a human. She loved the ocean and everything in it. She loved the feel of the water over her scales as she swam at top speeds through the water. She loved her family even though she didn’t always agree with her parents. She also cared for Cayson. Maybe it wasn’t love yet, but she felt like he was changing, molding himself into the adult he would become.
“It’s only a tale, right? Those things can be wrong or made up. Maybe it’s like the Boogeyman. A story only told to scare little children.” He scooted closer, his fingers blazing a path down the side of her face. “We’ll monitor your progress and figure out a way to sneak you back to the ocean without any other humans seeing once you’re completely healed.”
He pulled his hand away, eyebrows scrunched. “Are you feeling okay?”
His nearness elevated her heart rate. Her lips parted to answer him, but then she watched his gaze drop to her lips and all coherent thought left her.
A battle waged within those dark brown eyes of his. The same one which clawed and clashed within her, trying to win, but she was unsure of the prize. If she were to become human, would she be happy on land?
“Oh, and Meriya?” His words came out gruff, but they derailed her train of thought. Their eyes met, and she sucked in a shallow breath.
“Yes?” Her heart stuttered once, twice, in her chest, terrified of what he was going to say.
“I have the rest of the week off from work, so no more incidents like Nick will happen.” He laid his hand on hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I promise.”
Pressing her lips together, she held herself in check as she leaned away from Rowan, diving into the water. She pushed away thoughts of Rowan and Nick.
Instead, her thoughts shifted back to her home and what she might find when she returned. She missed her sisters and mother, and in some twisted way, she missed her father, too. He might have been stern and aloof, but he was still her father, right? She’d discover a way to get back home, whether it involved Rowan helping or not, so she could find out if her family was still alive.
21
Once Meriya dove into the water, the building tension between them dissipated, but he could still feel this longing hanging in the air. They were from two different worlds. If she became human, she could stay with Rowan, but she didn’t understand the human world.
There were dangers of leaving her alone again, but he needed time to think, time away from her so he could clear his head and get his thoughts straight. Would she be mad at him for breaking his promise to be there? In the end, it came down to the fact he couldn't keep her safe if his head wasn't in the right mindset. He would have to get things worked out for himself, or else he wouldn't be able to help her.
Leaving another package of fish next to the pool for her, he climbed into his truck and drove to the one place always capable of helping him think. The beach where he found Meriya.
His mistake would be his downfall as he sat on the sand, watching the waves crash upon the shore. The sound used to lull him into a sense of calm, but memories from that evening flashed through his mind. Seeing her washed up on shore, finding out she was a mermaid, and trying to rescue her from anyone else finding her.
The emotions and stress of the past few days exhausted him. If he didn’t get her out of his head, he would lose his mind completely. Maybe it would be better if she went back to the ocean now, instead of later. She complicated his life, causing a rift between his friends and him. She also made him feel like he had a greater purpose. He helped her heal as well as protected her secret.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a message from Nick flash across his screen: We need to talk. Call me.
What did they need to talk about? If he brought up the subject again about mermaids, Rowan was through talking. Nick was stubborn and hardheaded. Usually, when he got an idea in his head, it stayed there until he implemented the plan, or something better came along.
Maybe he needed to think of something better for him to chase, but nothing seemed to trump the idea of finding a mermaid, especially in Rowan’s pool.
Rowan was screwed.
Pulling up his phone contacts and touching Nick’s name, he put the phone to his ear. The line only rang once before Nick picked up.
“Hello?” Nick answered.
Rowan cut to the chase. “It’s me, man. What do you need?”
“I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I don’t know what happened.” There was a pause followed by rustling over the phone. “Maybe all your talk about mermaids has rubbed off on me and I’m seeing things.”
“It’s okay.”
“Listen, I ran into Catalina this morning at the coffee shop. She
mentioned you were out for the rest of the week. What’s up?” Nick’s voice strained through the line.
He knew Rowan never took off work and after him thinking he saw a mermaid in Rowan’s pool, he sounded suspicious, but for good reason. His good-natured banter didn’t add up, not after yesterday.
“Work’s been getting me down. Seeing all those sick animals can get depressing. I needed a break.” The lie he told wasn’t really a lie. Working for the sanctuary was stressful and gloomy at times, but it could also be rewarding when they were able to rehabilitate a marine animal and release it back into the ocean.
“So, you won’t mind if I played hooky and came over to your place to hang out?” He definitely knew something was up. His voice was a smidge too high-pitched for Rowan’s liking.
“Um, Nick, I’m not at home. I’m at the beach. I’ll meet you over at The Dockside Café and we can have lunch together.” Crossing his fingers, he hoped he was open to the idea. He didn’t need Nick showing up at his house, especially since the gate code had yet to be changed. Rowan’s heart rate picked up as he waited for Nick’s reply.
“No can do, Rowan. I’m almost to your house and The Dockside Café is a pretty far drive. Just meet me here.”
Shit!
“Wait for me at the gate. I don’t need you drowning again.” Rowan tried to keep the hysteria out of his voice, but he wasn’t sure how successful he was.
“Whatever,” Nick muttered, disconnecting the call.
Meriya was in trouble if Nick decided to disregard Rowan’s instructions to wait for him. Running on sand wasn’t the easiest. His feet sunk into the beach, each step like a boot of concrete on his feet. He needed to get to Meriya before Nick did.
Jumping into the truck, he ignored the large amount of sand he’d tracked inside the cab. He’d clean it out later. His main goal was to get home as quickly as possible without getting a ticket. He’d break every speeding law as long as he could reach her in time.
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