Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga)

by S. K Munt

  She smiled, indicating to the sale she’d rung up. ‘I watched you do it with the first order, remember?’

  ‘And you remembered it? Just like that?’ Lincoln was surprised. He’d had to show Ivyanne several times...after Adele had shown her several times. And she still made constant errors! Technology of any sort just wasn’t her thing. ‘Are you rain man or something?’

  Sherri laughed. ‘No, sorry. Can’t do long division to save my life. But work in bars long enough and you go through a few systems. They’ve all got something in common.’ She tore the docket out of the printer teeth and placed it on her tray. ‘By the way, have you considered using an LRS Coaster Paging System during the day for meal collection instead of table service? It’s a bistro set up in here so you could get away with it, and free up the bartenders for pouring drinks-which is where you seem to make most of your money in the afternoons.’

  ‘Actually, I have.’ Lincoln said, glancing at the docket in her hand. The couple at table three had ordered two pots of gold. He moved to the tap and picked up a glass with one hand as he yanked down on the lever of the other. ‘We’re going to wait until the modifications are finished in the function room next door. We’ll offer silver service in there as a restaurant when the room isn’t booked for a party, and make this entire side bistro.’

  ‘Great idea. I had a peek in there before-it looks incredibly elegant. Beachy but…’

  ‘Swish.’ Lincoln finished, thinking of the space Lydia from the coffee shop had been slaving over for a week. She worked fast, and was doing a brilliant job. And it was coming in well under budget already. ‘I can’t wait to start advertising it.’

  ‘Do up some fliers tonight.’ Sherri said.

  Lincoln looked at her. ‘Huh?’

  She pushed a strand of short ash-blonde hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear as she took the first beer from him. ‘Tomorrow is Australia Day. I saw in the book that you have eleven massive tables booked with local guests, not just in-room tourists. Locals are your target clientele for functions, aren’t they? It would be a prime opportunity to get some buzz started, to hit ‘em with it when they’re already here.’

  Lincoln poured the second beer, shaking his head. ‘I still think you’re rain man.’

  ‘That’s because you haven’t seen me parallel park yet.’ Sherri said, matter-of-factly. But she treated him to a sidelong smile. Her eyes were grey, the pupils ringed with a trace of hazel. She was pretty in a pint-sized, delicate sort of way. Not his type, contrary to Tristan’s earlier jibes, but still a looker. His dad had hit a home run again!

  ‘But thanks. Anyway, I better get these beers to the peops.’

  Lincoln handed her the XXXX Gold and watched her place it and then saunter off, tray balanced perfectly on her upraised fingers, trying to pretend not to notice Lux’s striking lilac eyes scanning him for the seventh time since she’d arrived. He liked the boost to his ego, but the woman’s blatant flirtations made him nervous.

  Lux had talked the whole way over, and now Lincoln had a better idea of who she was, and how she’d come to be that way. Apparently, she had been swimming in a loch in Scotland-pretending to be a mermaid-as a nineteen year old woman, when she’d gotten a cramp, and had begun to drown.

  A little boy, a local and a mer, had come to her aid-resuscitating her as he’d been instructed at a very young age, unbeknownst to the fact that he was a mystic mermaid-capable of turning. Lux’s transition brought this to light, and the boy, Roan, had been betrothed to a princess he’d never met later that day. A marriage that would be thwarted by the Indian Ocean Tsunami, almost two decades later.

  Like with Lincoln, Lux had need training-and cousins of Roan Fire-the Kayu-Api’s, had offered their tuition in exchange for her caring for their little boy. As Ardhi had grown, he and Lux had remained close, despite the fact that they had no common ground but a deep affection for one another. Sort of like the strange bond between Vana and Tristan, and the one that had existed between Ardhi and Ivyanne.

  They hadn’t lived on the same continents much-Lux was a performer of sorts and like Tristan, based in L.A, though she did travel frequently. She’d been a burlesque dancer, an actress, a writer of steamy mermaid-themed erotic novels and nowadays, she posed as a cosplay mermaid ‘performer’. They were careers centering around sensuality, and Lux played the part accordingly. Her sex drive was high, but because she’d had bone cancer in her youth, her fertility was non-existent. The upshot of this, was that Lux Scarberry, could bed any man she saw fit.

  And did.

  Lincoln had decided within two minutes of meeting her that it was best to avoid eye-contact, and shrug her remarks off, but once he’d learned about her free pass (making what she and Tristan did natural, and not the breaking of a rule) he’d realized he’d have to feign indifference to stay off her radar. Apparently, she’d just dyed her naturally red hair the platinum strawberry color that so closely matched her skin, and joked that now that she had the passion of a red-head, with the appeal of a blonde, she would be unstoppable.

  Lincoln hoped not. She eyed him the way she eyed her frothy cocktail, and the platter of deep friend camembert she’d ordered-lustily. And despite her larger frame and arrogant nature, Link had to admit that she was hot. He could see why Tristan had gone there.

  ‘Cute new girl.’ Remi, their resident redhead, strolled in behind the bar, her eyes following Sherri. ‘But another blonde Link? Really?’

  ‘Dad’s doing. And don’t even suggest what I almost knocked Tristan out for suggesting.’ Lincoln grumbled. ‘She’d have to shoot up four inches, grow her hair to her waist and swallow Ivyanne whole to appeal to me.’

  ‘Touchy! But point taken!’ Remi’s eyes scanned the room and landed on the table in the centre. ‘Hey...is that Lux?’

  ‘Yep.’ Lincoln went back to busying himself. ‘She just arrived this afternoon to pay her respects to Ivyanne over, um, Ardhi.’

  ‘And she’s already drinking.’ Remi clucked her tongue. ‘That girl has no sense of self preservation.’

  ‘Probably because she’s already been close to death twice.’ Lincoln pointed out, thinking of his own circumstances. Wasn’t that why he’d taken the wheel of the boat that day? Because the worst thing that could happened to him in the water had already happened, twice?

  ‘True.’ Remi sighed. ‘I just can’t drink. My husband doesn’t drink often, but when he does, he makes a mess of himself. Every time I get stressed out about having to leave him, and consider knocking one back, I remember hosing the vomit out of his hair in the backyard, and change my mind.’

  ‘Humans.’ Lincoln winked at her. ‘Crazy bastards.’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘So what’s the new girl like?’

  Lincoln looked up, watching Sherri work, thinking it over. She was a quirky little thing-her hair was cut short so that the ends flipped out, and she’d chosen to pair her uniform with pink and black checked knee socks. The ring on her right hand was a chunky skull, that served to open beers as well, and she had one of those stretcher things in her right ear which he hated, but Sherri managed to pull it off without looking menacing. She was like no one he’d ever met before-and it was funny because he’d expected something completely different after reading her resume.

  According to that, she’d grown up on a farm, had managed a country tavern for eight years, spent the past year on a Greenpeace ship and had half-completed a degree in agricultural studies. She’d been backpacking around the east coast of Australia for a month, and had only been looking for temporary work when his father had offered for her to train as management and fill Adele’s role. She’d accepted on a trial basis. If she didn’t like it or they her-she’d be happy to sever ties and continue on her way.

  ‘She’s great.’ He said honestly. ‘Polite and naturally just good at this. I hope she decides to stay on, but she’s an actual backpacker, so who knows?’

  ‘As good as Adele?’ Remi was winding her wild red wave
s up with a pencil, watching Sherri as well.

  ‘Better.’As he said it, Lincoln felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Was he a horrible person for being so eager to give away Adele’s job without actually learning where his ex was and if she was okay first?

  He’d heard that she’d been in contact with her parents and had withdrawn a few large sums of money from her trust account-but Walter and Brenda Knightly hadn’t given him any more information than that. Whether it was because she’d asked them not to, or they were angry at him, or they simply didn’t know was a mystery, but the established theory was that she was on a bender of sorts, drinking and partying him out of her head.

  That made Lincoln feel bad, but then again, Adele loved to party and it was technically her break between years at university, so whatever it took for her to get over him, was okay with him-so long as she wasn’t living it up too much. Or, more succinctly- with too many.

  Especially while he wasn’t getting any.

  And that thought triggered a recollection of his dream and he flushed instantly, all thoughts of Sherri, Adele, Lux, the world and the bar leaving his mind. He missed Ivyanne already. And he missed what they were missing out on while they weren’t officially together.

  ‘Sweet.’ Remi picked up her tray. ‘I’m going to go clear the glasses from round the pool.’

  ‘Kay.’ Lincoln could feel those eyes on him again from the restaurant, and he pulled his phone out, mindlessly checking for messages, needing to appear as oblivious as he wasn’t feeling. Heat creeped up his neck. Was Lux a mystic too? Of the sexual variety? Or were the withdrawals messing with him once more? It was strange to be so aware of her, seeing that Ivyanne had been the only person on his mind for over a month.

  The two waitresses narrowly missed one another as Remi exited the bar, and Sherri rushed back in. They exchanged brief greetings.

  ‘So Link...you got a girlfriend?’ Sherri asked as she returned, sliding the tray onto the bar and then walking around the other side.

  ‘Girlfriend?’ He repeated, hearing the squeak in his voice. Had she read his mind? ‘Why do you ask?’

  Sherri pulled a bottle of water off the counter and took a sip, then screwed the cap back on. ‘Because if you don’t, I think the buxom blonde at table twelve would like to fill out an application. She hasn’t taken her eyes off you since she got here.’

  ‘Ahh…’ Lincoln said, pocketing his phone, embarrassed. ‘You’ve noticed that too?’

  Sherri nodded boldly. ‘I’m tempted to go offer her a towel for the seat.’

  Lincoln snorted. ‘She’s a bit of a wildcat that one. I dare say that her attention will be diverted by the next bloke who walks through the door.’

  ‘And I dare say that you’re one of those men suffering low self-esteem, despite the fact that they’re entitled to the highest.’ Sherri said with a quick grin. ‘I’ve seen at least six girls check you out since you got here- including the chick in the function room.’

  Had Lincoln been a dog, he would have wagged his tail at the news. Six? That was...almost unthinkable.

  ‘Well…’ he mumbled, flattered, wishing Ivyanne was there to notice others noticing him. He wanted her jealous and nervous, even if she had no reason to be. Lord knew he was feeling both emotions on a daily basis in almost unmanageable degrees-especially in the wake of Tristan’s cry for attention. Would Ivyanne grant it, or leave Tristan to stew? Lincoln prayed it was the latter.

  Everyone joked about what a lady killer Tristan was, and though Lincoln made sarcastic remarks about his rival being a man-whore, secretly, he wished that he was the one everyone assumed was a tiger in the sack. He wanted Saraya to make a joke about showering with him like she’d offered Tristan numerous times, or have other men ask him for work-out advice. Lincoln knew he looked good-and he was getting more and more defined every day, which made his initial weight-loss (bloat-loss?) Seem laughable. But he still had a long way to go before he literally made women shed their clothes on the spot, like Ivyanne had for Tristan.

  Pain twisted in his stomach like someone turning a knife.

  ‘Whoa...where did you just go?’ Sherri asked, waving a hand in front of his face. ‘Something I said?’

  ‘No. I was thinking about the question.’ He answered. ‘No I don’t have a girlfriend, but I am working on it. A lot. And I have some stiff competition.’

  ‘Uh-oh.’ Sherri said, leaning on the bar. ‘That’s gotta suck. What are you going to do about it?’

  ‘The other guy is taking off for a few days.’ Lincoln said, absentmindedly gazing down at his arm, seeing the hair there thinning, as Tristan had warned him it would. Apparently, the mers lost all of the hair that wasn’t on their heads. The idea was an unsettling one-but when he applied the same rules to Ivyanne’s own skin...a shudder of arousal ran through him.

  ‘And...and I was wondering what I could do to you know, work that to my advantage without pushing her.’

  Hairless. He thought, wetting his lips. Sweet, soft and bare… His fingers twitched.

  ‘There’s lots of things. Flowers, sexts, ask her on a date, arrange an accidental one…..’ Sherri shrugged, not noticing his glazed expression. ‘Cliches work with girls. That’s how they become clichés. Just put a personal spin on it.’

  Lincoln thought it over, snapping out of his oversexed mental haze long enough to absorb what she was saying. Flowers? For a mermaid? He’d have to do it today, while he had the boat. But what else could he do, now that he had cause to return as a designated driver? Take a boat with a midnight picnic and have it ready for when he finished work that night? Make her forget that she cared about Tristan’s feelings at all, by kissing her into oblivion while no one was around?

  Kissing her where it’s bare…?

  Lincoln grinned at the thought, and more ideas came to mind. What if he made Ivyanne flowers from things that were more her? Shells, pearls, driftwood…? An expectant smile came to his face. This could be fun! And all of a sudden, he didn’t want to put it off another second.

  ‘Hey Sherri…’ he began.

  She smiled at him. ‘Go. Get the wheels in motion. I can hold down things for an hour or so while you work it out.’

  Lincoln could have kissed her. ‘Thanks so much!’ He turned and immediately headed across the room, towards the beach entrance. He’d go collect things for the bouquet first and try to fashion something. He wasn’t the most artistic man on the planet, but what if Lydia helped?

  ‘Hey…’ a hand closed around his wrist as he passed the mermaid table. One look confirmed that Lux had him, and her face was glowing with that ‘drank beyond a mermaids boundaries’ glow he’d seen on Ivyanne’s own face once. ‘Where are you fleeing to, sexy?’

  Lincoln grinned and politely disengaged his arm from her grip. ‘Off to plan a surprise for Ivyanne. I’ll be back in time to take you home, don’t worry.’

  ‘Take me home?’ Lux purred. ‘Promise?’

  Lincoln wagged his finger at her. ‘I’m watching you, young lady.’

  Lux laughed. ‘That makes it mutual then.’

  ‘Good luck!’ Saraya chirped, elbowing Lux. ‘And knock it off you.’

  ‘Okay, okay…’ Lux drawled, waving her arm dismissively. ‘Run off after the skinny blonde. Typical!’

  Lincoln winked at Saraya, ignoring the slightly put-out expression on Lux’s face.

  ‘Never been the lucky type.’ He confessed. ‘But I’m starting to think that maybe I’ll be okay without it.’

  With that, he strode into the bright sunshine and headed down the grassy hill, which was thick and lush after the recent Ardhi-induced rain. Who needed luck, now that he’d finally met a helpful blonde?

  ⁓

  Ivyanne took a sip from her water glass as she shifted through the color photographs her mother had handed her, her heart seizing every time she encountered an image displaying a particularly bad case of coral bleaching. It was important work-important enough even to distract her from the ridiculous chapter i
n her life she’d decided to close the book on for the evening.

  ‘Those are the worst,’ Vana said softly. ‘It can’t be undone. But these…’ she handed Ivyanne a different stack of photographs, pointing to the GPS co-ordinates typed onto the upmost left corner. ‘These are places in the Great Barrier Reef that should be reversible. I’d like to go soon, and speed the process along.’

  Ivyanne lingered on a photo that was familiar to her. ‘Didn’t we already treat this area?’

  ‘After the first El Nino,’ her mother confirmed. ‘But we haven’t been back since the second.’

  ‘This is right near an island.’ Ivyanne said, frowning down at the image. ‘There are tourists there constantly.’ The mermaids could heal the coral. Ivyanne had spent weeks doing it before. But it required spending a lot of time submerged, transferring her energy with direct contact-a feat made impossible with humans constantly paddling about.

  ‘We’ll go after the next severe cyclone.’ Her mother said. ‘They’ll evacuate like last time, and we’ll drop whatever we’re doing to get there. Could buy us a window of a day, maximum.’

  ‘The damage will be worse then mum. And it’s cyclone season now. Maybe we should just start recruiting for a midnight mission?’ Ivyanne glanced out the window. The sun had just set, and the sky was a deep, cloudless lilac. There was no wind, so the only sound she could hear was the shower running upstairs, where Tristan was preparing for his flight. He’d breezed in half an hour before, and headed upstairs without commenting, or looking at her. ‘Even a rainy day would scare the tourists inside long enough for us to make headway. It’s too bad Ardhi’s not around to stir things up a bit-’ she broke off mid-sentence, frowning. ‘It’s too bad’ seemed like a featherlight sentiment to utter over the death of her former best friend. A death he’d given himself readily to, for her. Guilt constricted her heart.

  ‘Baby, don’t.’ Vana’s warm hand pressed down on hers. ‘If I’ve learned anything in my four centuries, it’s that we have a right to every single emotion and thought that occurs to us. Even the ones we think we should be judged for.’