Mermaid Dreams

by Rinelle Grey

  When mermaids mated and became who they were meant to be, the change was subtle, barely recognisable to an outsider. She’d always believed it was internal, a personality change more than a physical change.

  So really, it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t have a tail, even if it was a little disappointing.

  But if Rowan was right…

  Could she be a dragon too?

  She didn’t feel like a dragon. She didn’t feel any different at all.

  Well, that wasn’t quite true. The love she felt for Rowan that had been growing for a long time had blossomed and become part of her. So much a part of her that she knew it would be there for the rest of her life.

  And it was that love that helped her face this uncertain future without abject terror. If she was a mermaid, a human, or a dragon, so long as she was with Rowan, it didn’t matter.

  “Maybe a dragon is who you are meant to be?” she suggested. It made as much sense as anything else did right now.

  Rowan’s eyes shone. “Really? That’s possible?”

  Cari couldn’t help giving a grin at that. “At this point, it would seem like anything’s possible.”

  Rowan looked her up and down. “So are you a dragon too?”

  Cari couldn’t help giggling at that. “Do I look like a dragon to you?”

  Rowan kissed her on the nose. “You look beautiful.” Then he winced. “Uh, can you give me a few minutes. My brothers…” he paused for a minute, “actually, my whole family, I think, just landed on the deck. I’ll need to go up and see what’s wrong.”

  That had been what landed on the boat then. Dragons. Cari frowned. “Why are they here?”

  Why now? She and Rowan had enough to deal with without his family being here.

  “I don’t know,” Rowan said. “But don’t worry. I’ll get rid of them. Then we can figure out what’s going on here. I can’t believe they arrived now, of all the times.” His voice was laced with frustration.

  His frustration eased a little of Cari’s. She wanted to help him. That was what mates did, wasn’t it? But she wasn’t sure how. She didn’t know his family at all. But maybe that was part of the problem. “Maybe it’s time we told them,” she suggested, even though the idea filled her with trepidation.

  Other than Rowan, she’d never met any humans before.

  Then she gave a short laugh. His family weren’t exactly human. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. They were different too, surely they’d understand? “Maybe they can help us figure it out?”

  Rowan looked down at her, his face wreathed in smiles. “You’d do that?”

  “For you, I’d do anything,” Cari assured him.

  Rowan pulled back and offered her his hand. Then he winced again. “We’d better hurry then. They’re starting to get demanding.”

  He began to pull on his clothes in a rush, and Cari did the same, relieved when Rowan came to help her clip up the bra. It was a tricky thing, but he seemed to have the knack.

  Then Rowan took her hand, giving Cari the courage to turn towards the door to meet his family with, if not excitement, at least not fear.

  Once she stepped out of the cabin and onto the deck and saw three dragons, two blue and one white, each with a human on their back, some of that courage deserted her. Seeing a dragon in the water at a distance had been exciting and amazing, but she’d known she could outrun one.

  Now that she was human, she had no hope. They seemed much bigger on land than they had under the water, and all three of them were staring at her curiously.

  “So this is why you wanted to hide away?” a dragon voice said into her head. The voice was deep and rumbly, and she couldn’t quite decide if it sounded impressed or amused.

  She did know this was exactly the same as the way Rowan had talked to her earlier and not something mermaids had ever been able to do to her knowledge.

  “Yes it is, Hayrian, and it’s also why I told you to give me some space, which you seem to have forgotten.”

  Rowan’s voice in her head was far more familiar, and she had no trouble at all recognising his irritation. It brought a smile to Cari’s face, despite the situation they were in.

  “Well, we’re not exactly here on a pleasure trip.” This dragon voice was different, so it must be one of the others. “Things aren’t going so well back in Mungaloo.”

  Cari had no idea what they were talking about, but Rowan seemed to. He frowned. “What’s going on, Damrian?”

  “It seems like the humans have decided dragons are too different from them to be able to coexist. They’re afraid it’s too easy for us to hide among them or something.” It was a woman’s voice this time, and for some reason, Cari was sure it was the white dragon talking. Perhaps because it was staring at her with wise eyes, as though it knew more about her than she did.

  “Maybe they’re right, since you seem to have found a dragon here none of us knew about,” the first blue dragon, Rowan had called him Hayrian, added. He brought his head down and stared at Cari through one of his huge dragon eyes. Then he frowned. “You don’t smell like a dragon,” he announced rather loudly into everyone’s head.

  It was all a little overwhelming. The knowledge that humans were finding it hard to accept the existence of dragons, her fear for her own people, Rowan’s large and rather overwhelming family. Cari was tempted to retreat back into the cabin to hide and let Rowan deal with it.

  But right then, as though he knew she was feeling nervous, Rowan squeezed her hand. “This is Cari,” he announced to everyone. “My mate.”

  There was pride in his voice, and when he turned towards her, his smile was full of love.

  It gave Cari the courage to say, “Hi,” even though her mind’s voice was rather quiet and maybe a little squeaky.

  They were all staring at her again, but she straightened her back and stared back at them. She might not be a mermaid anymore, she wasn’t quite sure what she was, but she was still a princess. A princess wasn’t going to be intimidated by dragons, no matter how big they were.

  Or she wasn’t going to show it anyway.

  “Where did you find a dragon we’ve never met before?” Damrian asked. “Is she from the lair?”

  “I tell you, she’s not a dragon,” Hayrian insisted.

  One of the humans slid off Damrian’s back, a woman. Cari recognised her and winced. She knew what was coming even before the woman said, “She’s not a dragon. She’s a mermaid. Aren’t you?” Her eyes were filled with excitement and maybe a little accusation as she stared at Rowan. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “This is all new to both of us,” Rowan said quickly.

  The other humans slid down off their dragons too and came a little closer. Cari wasn’t sure whether to feel better about their scrutiny or not. They weren’t as big as the dragons, but they were nearly as overwhelming.

  “Do mermaid’s have dragon voices?” the female dragon asked curiously. “I wonder if that means we’re related in some way?” Her dragon head tilted to one side as she regarded Cari, and her pale eyes whirled. The action was a little mesmerising, and as Cari stared into the dragon’s eyes, she felt a little calmer.

  “No, we don’t. Not normally,” she explained. “That happened when Rowan and I mated.”

  Now everyone, human and dragon alike, were staring at her.

  Hayrian brought his head down close to them and sniffed both of them. “He smells like a dragon,” he said, nudging Rowan.

  Everyone turned to look at Rowan, and Cari wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or further worried. Her idea that his family might be able to help them didn’t seem to be turning out so well. In fact, they just seemed to be confusing everything further.

  “We all know I’m not a dragon,” Rowan joked. “Or I would have been flying circles around you for years.”

  “Then why do you have a dragon voice?” Hayrian said calmly.

  “Come on, how could I possibly be a dragon?” Rowan protested, and this time he didn’t sound amused. H
e sounded angry and a little hurt. He stared at his family, and Cari thought she saw tears in the corners of his eyes. “That’s not funny. Maybe you don’t realise it, but I’ve spent all my life wishing I were a dragon. So don’t joke about it. Please.”

  Of course. He had three dragon siblings. He must have wished many times that he could do the things they did.

  Three dragon siblings who were all, right now, staring at him in consternation. None of them said a word. Apparently, for once, they didn’t know what to say.

  Cari’s heart went out to Rowan. It must have been very hard for him. As hard, if not harder, than being human right now was for her. She turned towards him and squeezed his hand.

  “Rowan, what if being a dragon is who you are meant to be?” she told him, hoping she was speaking privately to him and him alone. “Maybe instead of making me a mermaid, the magic has made you into a dragon?” She reached up and fingered the dragon’s tooth, still hanging around her neck. “Your stepfather said you had the heart of a dragon. Maybe he was right.”

  Rowan was staring at her, his face a mixture of doubt and hope.

  All Cari’s own doubts faded away. If she’d done this for Rowan, if their mating had achieved his wildest dream, then she almost wasn’t upset it hadn’t returned her to her mermaid form.

  Almost.

  Chapter 23

  Cari couldn’t be right, could she? Her magic couldn’t possibly have made him into a dragon.

  Could it?

  Rowan stared at her in shock. Yes, Calrian had said he had the heart of a dragon, but he’d just been trying to bolster the confidence of a young boy who was being bullied. He hadn’t meant Rowan could ever become a real dragon.

  None of them had any idea something like this was possible.

  If, indeed, it was.

  He turned to his brothers and sister and their mates. If anyone would know, they would. “What do you think?” he asked. “Is it possible I’ve become a dragon somehow?”

  “You tell us, bro,” Hayrian said. “You’re the one with a dragon voice. The only way I know of to get one is to be a dragon or mate a dragon, and it appears you haven’t done the latter. A mermaid. I can’t believe it.” He looked at Cari with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. Rowan might have been jealous if he hadn’t been aware that Hayrian’s bond with his mate had stopped his brother’s wandering attention.

  But though his brother’s comments didn’t bother him, he could see from the drooping of Cari’s lips, they’d just reminded her that their plan hadn’t worked. She was still a human.

  “There’s one way to find out for sure,” Damrian suggested. “You should try to shift.”

  That thought filled Rowan with a momentary excitement. He’d dreamed of flying through the clouds ever since he’d discovered dragons were real. This could be his chance.

  But if that was the case, it would wait. He needed to help Cari first.

  Ignoring his family and pushing away any thoughts of his own changes, he turned to his mate and took her hands, searching for something to say that might make things better.

  She looked back at him with so much love in her eyes his heart melted. “Rowan, your brother is right. You should try to shift. If you really are a dragon, then that’s amazing. You should enjoy that.”

  She was happy for him. Rowan’s heart swelled with love. He wished he could offer her the same opportunity. He wished he could help her shift too.

  And maybe he could.

  “Look, Cari, maybe I am a dragon, but right now, I don’t look like one, right?”

  She stared back at him, confused. “No, but that’s because you haven’t shifted.” She gave a small grin. “If you’d turned into an actual dragon inside the boat, that would have been a problem.”

  “And if you’d turned back into a mermaid inside the boat, that would have been a problem too, wouldn’t it?”

  “Well, yes. It would be a bit hard for me to get to the water without legs…” Cari’s voice faded away as she realised what he was saying. “You think I need to go back to the water and try?”

  Her expression was a pained mixture of hope and doubt. Rowan knew just how she felt. They’d already tried this, and it hadn’t worked. She couldn’t trust it would this time.

  “We have to try,” Rowan encouraged. He was sure things would be different this time. “If I’m really a dragon, then you have to be a mermaid, right?”

  If he was a dragon and she was a mermaid that could pose its own set of problems. But Rowan didn’t even want to think about that right now. The thought was too unsettling. First he needed to help Cari.

  His siblings and their mates were all watching him silently, and Rowan was glad they knew when to be quiet. Right now though, he needed some help. “Can you take us to the beach?” he asked, looking at Hayrian and Damrian.

  It was Hayrian who nodded. “Sure thing,” he agreed and stepped forwards, bending one knee for Rowan and Cari to climb on.

  His mate looked a little nervous at the closeness of the huge blue dragon, but though she looked to him for reassurance, when he nodded, she climbed on without hesitation. Rowan climbed on behind her, putting his arms around her. He’d flown before so he wasn’t nervous, and he hoped his calm helped her.

  It was only a short hop down to the shore, his other siblings and their mates following.

  But when they slid off Hayrian’s back and stood in front of the water, Cari hesitated again. She stared at the waves as though they might bite. “I don’t think this is going to work,” she insisted. She turned to Rowan. “I still think you should try being a dragon first.”

  Rowan squeezed her hands. “I know this is going to work, Cari. It has to work.”

  He couldn’t bear it if his dream came true and not hers.

  He would find a way, no matter what it took, but hopefully he didn’t have to. Hopefully this time everything turned out exactly right.

  *****

  Rowan looked so determined, so sure, Cari couldn’t say no, even though she was convinced nothing would be different. She didn’t feel any different.

  And she couldn’t help wondering, deep down, if nothing had happened. Maybe her sister was right, maybe mating with a human didn’t spark the mating magic? What would she do if that was the case?

  Could she give up Rowan to get her tail back?

  But that couldn’t be so. If his family was right, he had changed, turned into a dragon. So the mating magic had occurred, but it was only her who was unaffected.

  Did that mean she wasn’t meant to be a mermaid? Her heart sank at the thought. She might have had issues with Laquaria’s rules, but in her heart, she’d always been happy to be a mermaid. She’d taken it for granted. And now it might be gone. Forever.

  And yet, despite that, she couldn’t find it in herself to regret mating with Rowan. It had been the most amazing experience of her life.

  Whatever else happened, she was glad she had taken that chance.

  And now she had to take another. Rowan was right. She needed to know if this had worked. She needed to give it everything she had before she moved on.

  Taking a deep breath, she slipped off her underpants, glad the dress covered her a little, and stepped into the water.

  The waves washed around her feet, illuminated by the moonlight, the familiar coolness seeming to almost invade her soul.

  The white dragon standing beside her touched Cari’s shoulder with her muzzle, and suddenly a calmness and acceptance flowed over Cari. Whatever happened, she’d manage. She and Rowan loved each other. They would find a way to make things work.

  Cari waded into the water up to her waist, trying not to be disappointed when her lower half remained firmly legs. She closed her eyes and focused on the cool water around her. She imagined diving through the waves, down to Laquaria, seeing her father and sisters.

  Her feet wriggled in the sand, almost as if they were flippers. Cari focused on them. She imagined her pink scales sprouting from her skin, her legs fu
sing together.

  A heat spread through her skin, and Cari could feel the magic working. Her heart began to sing. She could do this.

  This time there was no pain. Cari stared down through the water at her legs, a little bit of her mourning their loss as they morphed back into her tail.

  “I told you you could do it,” Rowan said joyfully. He stood in the water next to her, supporting her, helping her despite what it could mean for them.

  Cari sank into the water, her tail not holding her up the way her legs did. For some reason she felt immeasurably nervous about putting her head under, the memory of not being able to breathe haunting her. What if she wasn’t completely a mermaid?

  She needn’t have worried. Breathing underwater came as naturally to her as it always had.

  Beside her, Rowan sank into the water, then he reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Cari, my mermaid mate,” he said, grinning. Then he kissed her.

  Some of Cari’s fears eased at the gesture. Her love for Rowan wasn’t going to change just because she was a mermaid again and neither was his love for her.

  But if she were a mermaid, could they still be together? She wanted to discuss it with him, but his family all stood on the shore, watching them both with fascination.

  So Cari focused inward. “Can a human have a mermaid mate? We can’t be real mates like this, can we?”

  “Of course we can,” Rowan said, his voice in her head strong and certain. “We’re talking in dragon speech, that means we’re mates.”

  Cari wished it was that simple. “I wanted to be a mermaid, but not if it means I can’t be with you. Rowan, I love you, even more than I love being a mermaid.”

  “I love you too, Cari,” Rowan said gently. “And I think you can have both. You can still understand me, right? So even though you’re a mermaid, you’re different from before. I bet you can shift from mermaid to human at will now.”

  He was right. She could still understand him in both his human speech and his dragon speech. That thought buoyed Cari’s spirits a little. “I’ll try,” she said, determined now.

  She closed her eyes again and focused on her legs, imagining them splitting, her scales retreating, and her toes returning. She braced herself for the pain, ready this time when it came, though it wasn’t as bad as before.