Bearliest Catch

by Bianca D’Arc

  John didn’t seem to like it, but he also nodded, indicating his understanding. After a few more minutes of thick discussion, Sirena seemed to relax a bit. He’d answered all her questions in what appeared to be a satisfactory way. A few minutes later, Janice and Marla stepped forward, volunteering for the very dangerous swim back out to the pod.

  Jetty had wanted to volunteer, but she was torn. Never before had she felt so divided about either doing her duty or being with someone. She wanted desperately to stay with Andrew. She wanted… No, she needed, to be with him. But she also wanted to help her people and be there for her hunting party.

  She’d never felt the friction between doing her duty and doing what she wanted before. Not like this. Her heart told her to stay with Andrew, but her honor demanded that she at least raise her hand to do the dangerous work her hunting party needed to accomplish for the good of the pod.

  But Sirena chose two others to do the swim. Part of Jetty felt guilty at the relief coursing through her veins. She’d be able to stay with Andrew, but at what cost to her honor?

  “Jetty.” Sirena called her name as she doled out assignments, and Jetty feared reprisal for not volunteering to go back out to find the pod and pass along the message. “Since you’ve made friends here, I think you should continue to act as a liaison. If large numbers of our people decide to shelter here, the town needs to be ready.”

  “We’ve already begun discussing preliminary plans,” Jetty was glad to report.

  “Good. Continue with that. I’ll help, when I can, but I will be the first to admit, that beast took a bite out of me both physically and energetically. I’m running on the infusion of magic from Gus right now, but he warned me I’m probably going to crash hard when it runs out, which should be any time now. When that happens, I’m going to be a bit worse before I start to get better, or so the doctor assures me.” Sirena gestured toward the tall blond doctor hovering in one corner, within easy reach. He stepped a little closer.

  “I’m going to watch over her,” Sven stated boldly. “She’ll be fine, but she won’t be up to much for the first few days, so set things in motion now, milady, and then, you must rest.”

  Drew looked sharply at his comrade. “Is this normal?”

  “A byproduct of the healing magic Gus had to perform. The creature had spread some taint into her system, but Gus was able to counteract it by infusing her with his magical energy. These few moments of clarity are the result of that healing, but it won’t last.” Sven looked grave, his sparkling blue eyes concerned.

  “So, you see, I’m running on borrowed fumes here.” Sirena chuckled, her energy leaving her even as they watched. “I won’t be much help until I start to recover. Jetty, you have to represent us to the bears. Set things up. Get them ready for the pod, if they decide to come. You know what to do.”

  Suddenly, she had a mission. One at which, Jetty knew she could excel. Honor was satisfied. She would be able to fulfill her duty to her people while, at the same time, satisfying her personal desire to be with Andrew. Thank the Goddess.

  “I’ll do my best,” she promised Sirena. “Don’t worry. All you need to do now is rest and heal. I’ll check in on you as often as I can, and when you’re feeling better, I’ll have everything prepared. I promise.”

  Jetty placed her hand on Sirena’s arm, in a small space between wads of bandages. Sirena covered Jetty’s hand with her other hand, bandages and all, meeting her gaze. Jetty could see the fatigue quickly sweeping over her friend and leader.

  “You’re a good friend, Jetty. Do us proud.”

  “I will.” As Jetty spoke, Sirena seemed to slip into slumber.

  Jetty looked up at the doctor. He’d moved closer, closely monitoring the electronic readouts that were connected to the many sensors they’d placed on Sirena’s body. He nodded to Jetty.

  “She’s all right. Sleeping naturally. I won’t leave her side, ma’am. Not until I’m sure she’s completely out of danger,” Sven promised, his tone very serious.

  “Then, she’s still in danger?” Jetty asked, worried.

  “I won’t lie. There’s always a risk with injuries this extensive,” Sven told her. “But I’m confident that we got to her in time. Gus did his thing, and the evil taint has been chased from her body. Now, it’ll be up to her, but I’m very confident that she’ll be fine, given lots of rest and a bit of time.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Beth spoke up. She’d come back into the treatment area and looked a lot better than she had before. “I was a nurse-companion to an elderly lady for a few years when I lived on land. I know how to help someone who’s stuck in bed. And I can sit with her when the doctor needs to rest.”

  Beth was the youngest of their hunting party, a somewhat shy girl. They were all teaching her the ways of the ocean, since she’d only joined them less than a year ago. She’d spent most of her life on land, and two of her sisters still lived on an island near Seattle.

  Jetty realized the hunting party was looking to her now for leadership. Sirena had given everyone a job to do except Beth, but here was the perfect thing. A job that was important and suited to Beth’s skills. It would also give Beth a purpose—something she felt was entrusted to her care. Everyone needed to feel needed, and Beth was perhaps needier than most right now.

  “Good. If the doctor agrees, I think that’s the perfect use of your talents, Beth. I’m sure Sirena would agree.” Jetty spoke softly, in deference to the sleeping patient.

  They left Sirena in the care of Sven and Beth. Gus was sleeping on Sven’s couch when they left, and Peter was watching over him. Everyone who needed looking after was in capable hands for the moment, and it was time to make plans.

  With Sirena and Beth at the doc’s office, that left Drew with Jetty and the two ladies who were going to make the dangerous swim to report back to the pod. Marla had red hair, and Janice was a blonde. Both were pretty and had athletic builds, and were exceptionally quiet around him, eyeing him with a bit of suspicion, if he wasn’t mistaken.

  He hoped to alleviate some of their fears, given a chance. He figured a shared meal was a good place to start.

  To that end, Drew ushered them all to the bakery, where he told them to order whatever they liked, his treat. Nell Baker packed up their order to go, and Drew escorted the women back to his boat. He had to move it from the town dock back to his own private pier.

  He figured the women would eat at his place while they strategized the safest way to get them back out to sea in the vicinity of their pod. He knew they wanted to swim the whole way, but he couldn’t, in good conscience, let them do that. Not when he might be able to deliver them closer, with more safety. He just had to convince them it was a good idea.

  He figured he had his work cut out for him.

  Janice helped him tie up the boat, her skills indicating that she had prior experience with boats. Both women struck him as very capable and more obviously warrior-like than Jetty, though she was definitely in charge. The other two looked to her for permission to enter his house, and Jetty’s small nod wasn’t missed by Drew or the two who sought her guidance.

  Though his house hadn’t been designed for guests, the ladies seemed to like it. Marla was the first to offer a compliment on the decorating, even unbending enough to send him a guarded smile.

  By the time they’d shared the impromptu meal, they were all chatting amiably. Marla and Janice seemed to relax as Jetty talked with them about the town. Drew didn’t bring up the subject of their proposed journey back into the ocean until they were all sipping fresh coffee and eating the sweet treats Nell had added to their order.

  “When do you plan to go back out?” Drew asked, trying for nonchalance.

  Marla answered, though she and Janice looked at Jetty first. “Sunset, I think. Or just after, to help prevent any possibility of being spotted.”

  “All right, but I want to drive you out there on my boat. As close as you’ll let me come to where your people are.”

  Ma
rla and Janice seemed upset as they looked at Jetty. They didn’t speak, but seemed to expect Jetty to object.

  “He’s right,” Jetty said, sighing heavily and running one hand over her hair to push it back from her face.

  “But—” Marla objected, but Jetty didn’t give her a chance to say much.

  “I know.” Jetty held up one hand, a gesture asking for patience. “But the whole reason I agreed to let him take me out this morning was because Drew can sense the creature. He can also shield against it and shield others too.” Marla and Janice looked at him with suspicion. “That’s why we were able to get away this morning. Once you were on the boat, his protection extended to you all.”

  Now they were eyeing him with something more like intrigue.

  “How does that work? Can all the shifters here do it?” Janice asked, a shrewd look in her blue eyes.

  “Do all mer have the same strengths and weaknesses?” Drew countered. “As far as I know, I’m the only one with this kind of magical ability. Each of us has our own set of skills. Mine just happen to allow me to steer clear of that creature and hide my magical signature from it, so it won’t come looking for me. From everything we’ve been able to learn, the creature is attracted to magic. That’s probably why it’s here, since there are so many of us gathered in one place, concentrating the power.”

  “Makes sense,” Marla said, shrugging as she polished off the last of her cheese danish.

  “So if we go with you, your protection can shield us until we get in the water?” Janice asked.

  “A short distance from the boat, actually,” he said. “I can cover a small radius around me. But more importantly, I can sense where the creature is and let you know, when you get off the boat, what direction to avoid, if at all possible.”

  “I think you should let him take you out as far as the hunting grounds,” Jetty added decisively. “Maybe even a little farther.” She was looking straight at her two comrades now. “We can’t divulge the exact coordinates of the pod’s current safe hold, but he already knows where our hunting grounds are from this morning’s action.”

  Damned if she didn’t sound like a commando planning a raid. Drew thought it was sexy.

  Chapter Nine

  For the second time that day, Drew drove his boat out past the mouth of the cove and took stock of the magical currents only he could feel. Jetty was at his side, offering advice on where to drop off their two guests, but speaking quietly. Maybe she sensed what he was trying to do. It took a moment of focus to feel where the danger lay.

  He blinked and looked at her. She was watching him closely. “Do you know where the creature is?”

  “I think so.” He motioned toward the ocean chart he had displayed on his left. “The big one is in this area right now. Some of the smaller ones are clustered here.” He pointed to another area on the map that was near where Sirena had been attacked earlier that day. “There could be a few outliers, but I won’t be able to sense them until we get closer to them, if at all.”

  “Okay. Then, we need to go here.” She reached across him to point to the chart. “This is the southern end of our hunting range, away from the big creature and most of the smaller ones. Once we get there, you’ll be able to sense if there are others nearby, right?”

  He nodded. “I know you’re very secretive about the location of the pod, and I’m not asking to know where they are. I just hope you’ll let me get your friends as close as I can before we send them out there into Goddess-knows-what. I don’t want to see anyone else hurt today, and that leviathan, and its little friends, are probably still pretty fired up about this morning.”

  “I trust you, Andrew.” Her voice was firm but soft, her gaze speaking of more than just this moment. “But you know I have obligations to hide the location of the pod. I’ll get us as close as I can without breaking my vow of secrecy. With your help, Marla and Janice are much safer than they would have been swimming out by themselves, so you’ve already cut the danger by a big margin.”

  Drew didn’t like that, but he understood. “I just wish I could take the risk away completely, but nobody’s figured out how to kill that thing yet.” He wanted to cuss, but refrained considering the ladies on board. “Or banish it. The intel Big John’s received so far says it can’t be killed, only banished.”

  “Well…” her tone was almost philosophical, “…someone figured it out before, right? I mean, the thing was banished once before, during the last battles with the Destroyer. So we know it’s do-able. We just need to find the right weapon or person or team…or whatever…to do it again.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” he quipped, sending her a rueful smile.

  “Yeah, I know. But I have confidence the Lady will help us. Evil can’t win this time. We have to stop it, in all its forms.”

  Now he could believe she was a huntress. A warrior. She had that determined stare as she looked out over the waves. She was fierce. And he couldn’t love her more.

  Jetty directed Andrew and his boat as close to the area where the pod was currently dwelling as she dared. Marla raised one eyebrow at her in question, but Jetty knew what she was doing. She trusted Andrew with her life—and the lives of her friends. She knew he wouldn’t betray them, but she’d sworn a vow to keep the exact location of the pod a secret.

  She brought them close, but not directly over the grounds. She only waited for Andrew to do his sensing thing before wishing Marla and Janice a fond farewell.

  They were just about to dive in when Andrew came up to the rail.

  “I know you’ll need time to explain everything to your people and for them to make a decision. I’ll come out to these coordinates every day at dusk for the next week and stay until the sun sets. If you run into trouble, you can find me here, shielding. If anyone wants a ride into town, I’ll take as many as fit on the deck. Or if they want to swim in, I’ll act as escort, spreading my shield as wide as I can to cover as many as I can.”

  “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” Marla challenged. “We’ve been out here all along. We haven’t had any trouble before today.”

  Andrew frowned. “Maybe so, but now that the leviathan knows you’re here, the trouble may only just be starting for your people. I don’t want to see anyone killed by that thing, so I’m offering my services, and my magic, to shield as many as I can on the dangerous trip to the cove. I think the leviathan and its minions will be watching for your folk now. It got a taste of Sirena this morning, and it’ll probably be looking for more.”

  Janice shivered, and even Marla finally seemed to take him seriously. “I’ll tell them.” Marla nodded at him, and Andrew finally retreated to his wheelhouse.

  Jetty took charge of her friends’ discarded clothing and stuffed it in a bag while the two mer shifted and swam away. She was worried about them, but didn’t see any other way to get the message to the pod. And she greatly feared Andrew was right about the trouble having only just started for the mer in the Pacific Northwest pod.

  Andrew turned the boat around and headed back toward shore. They talked quietly as he steered the boat back into the cove, and then to his private dock. He cooked dinner for her on the grill while she set the table. They passed the evening comfortable in each other’s company.

  Jetty called over to the doctor’s office using Andrew’s phone, to check on Sirena and let Beth know the others had gotten to the area near the pod okay. Beth would tell Sirena when she woke. For now, Beth wasn’t leaving Sirena’s side, acting as nurse, companion and watchdog.

  Beth would figure it out pretty soon, Jetty thought. The young mer woman would figure out that the bear shifters of Grizzly Cove weren’t all that much different than the mer. Oh, the bears were magical, and they had secrets of their own, but they were good people, willing to help others.

  It hadn’t taken Jetty long to learn that for herself. Of course, she had the added benefit of being around and, now, with Andrew.

  She’d watched him from afar for a long
time, fascinated by his presence on her patch of ocean. She hadn’t really realized why she’d been so drawn to him, but the effect hadn’t lessened once she spoke to him. In fact, the attraction only grew stronger the more she was with him. And now that she’d been his lover, she knew deep inside that she would never have another.

  Wait a minute…

  Just like that, the light went on in her mind. She suddenly realized why she hadn’t been able to stop spying on him, or why she wanted so much to be in his presence—and in his bed.

  He was her mate. Sweet Mother of Oceans.

  They made love that night with a new intimacy. Now that they’d learned the basics of what each other liked, they were free to explore and cover new ground. They also didn’t have to rush. Jetty didn’t have to leave the next morning, and they could even sleep in, if they wished.

  They had time now. Time they hadn’t really had the first night they’d spent together.

  Had that been only yesterday? Had her life changed so much in just a day or two? Had she gone from watching the sexy fisherman from afar to sharing his bed in so short a time?

  Jetty had grown up in the human world. Even though she was mer, she’d been raised among human values and standards. She’d never slept with a guy on the first date before, much less started thinking about keeping him forever.

  Could she keep him? Would he want to be with her…exclusively? Was his bear thinking mate, too?

  She had no way of knowing, short of asking a direct question, and she didn’t have the guts for that right now. She didn’t want to scare off the best thing that had ever happened to her.