“I have questions.” Softly the words leave my parted lips and bubbles rise, escaping my tongue. I still cannot believe I am speaking underwater.
“I know.” He murmurs, looking slightly disappointed that I have ruined the mood. He unravels his tail skilfully from mine and with much more elegance than I have yet mastered, he leads me down through the still water to the white marble pews as a million and one questions stir in my mind.
“What do you want to know?” Orion begs an answer of me, his eyes patient as he gazes down into my curious expression from the pew next to me. I feel odd sitting with a tail. It’s not as simple as legs when it comes to staying upright but I rest both palms down on the cool marble and try to focus on my words.
“Why am I a mermaid? Did you do this to me on purpose? Was I born like this?” I ask desperately, waiting for a response, scared of what it may be. He parts his delicate but full lips slightly and I see the slits that run parallel on both sides of his neck open and close more slowly, as though he is sighing.
“You were destined to become what you are, Callie. This is no accident. Mermaids and mermen are no accident. We are chosen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone like you … like us, when we die … we return to the sea. Once we come into contact with salt water a transformation begins, one that changes us into our destined self, one that turns us into warriors, defenders of the sea.”
“But … what if I hadn’t have died … like I did.” I ask, hating the word ‘died’; it feels foreign, like I shouldn’t be using it when talking about myself.
“Then you would have remained buried, suspended in time until we found you.” He says it like its common knowledge, like he’s impatient.
“I don’t understand …” My head is spinning; even the topic of conversation is hard to swallow.
“This is a story that begins so long ago, Callie … are you ready to hear it? You may never see the world the same way after I tell you this.” He asks, holding one of my hands with his slender fingers and my gaze with a serious and inescapable stare.
“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?” I reply, a sweet smile crossing my lips even though my insides feel like ice with the shock of events beyond my control.
“Okay then.” Orion agrees with a dazzling smile full of white teeth. He takes another deep inhale and begins, reciting the story to me as though it happened only yesterday.
THE SETTLERS
“On the east coast of Cyprus, ten settlers and their wives arrive from their migration across the sea from the Greek islands to their new home. The journey was a long and hard one and a ferocious storm raged. The lead Settler, Atlas, a wise fisherman whom had knowledge of the ocean had guided them. He knew that in order to survive the storm, the best course of action was to respect the sea and not to struggle against it, but rather to move with its thrumming waves. So that is exactly what they did, aboard the ship those men and women watched the sea rage for three days and nights but on the morning of their arrival, found themselves no worse for wear at their destination as the sun shone magnificently above them in the pale blue sky. From this day, the settlers began building new homes and sowing seeds in the fertile soil the island provided them. Each year they received hearty harvests and always ate well. Atlas, who led the fishing troupe each day, had never been happier and the bounty of the sea had never been larger. The years passed and the men grew older, Atlas found himself getting weaker and greyer in the years that followed until one day, a sunny one much like the day he arrived on the island, he closed his eyes and exhaled his final breath. It was then that Atargatis, Goddess of the sea, came to him in a vision and told him that he had led a good life and that because of this she would grant him immortality bestowing upon him the power to protect the seas against the evil its magic procured as Crowned Ruler to an army of mermen who were yet to awaken. She explained that as her gift to him for acting in her service, she would allow him three nights a month, when the full moon shone highly above, where he would be allowed to roam the land and quench his thirst for human pleasures. The only condition was that he must be back in the sea by morning or he would turn to sand in the heat of the day, returning to the hourglass of mortal time, that as we all know, must empty. Atlas accepted this duty being stunned by the Goddess’ choice and belief in his knowledge of her kingdom, he continued to live happily there.
Atlas carried out the will of Atargatis, working together with his brethren who, small in number, slowly began to awaken, many from the island from which he had come. Together they beat back the darkness. But he felt hollow. He kneeled in a sunken white marble chapel deep in the Pacific and cried to the heavens that his empty soul was eating him alive, making him wish for death, causing him to question his willingness to fight for eternity. Atargatis came to him once more, hearing his cry. She thanked him for his devotion, asking him why he looked so sad and asking why he wished to leave his responsibility as crowned ruler of the mer warriors. He replied, telling her he was lonely, having lost his wife who he loved wholly. He understood now that eternity was a long sentence to serve alone. Atargatis pondered this for a moment before splitting his soul in two. He cried out in agony as she held his soul in her hand, looking over it with scrutiny and found it was pure. She admired its shimmering mass and blew it, just like a kiss from a departing lover across the realms and back to the crucible of Gaia, where it would wait to be reborn, encased in a woman’s body as Atlas’ soul mate. It was then that the Goddess realised she had given them the means to fight but not the cause for which to fight. Upon this revelation, the Goddess’ kiss reverberated, reaching across the tides. Each merman at that moment felt a fracture within himself as his soul was ripped in two and was sent back into the crucible, waiting for the birth of those bodies, which would be named soul mates. Atargatis had decided she would give her warriors a gift, a chance to experience a love like she had with Poseidon, that which was divine. Atargatis spoke to Atlas the words
“He who loves must yield thy double edged blade, young warrior. Go forth and seek your maiden and your soul will find its way home.”
So the souls were scattered across space and time.
All they had to do was wait.
And so they did.
However, it cannot be said that this is the end of such a tale; Poseidon, discovering the gifts she had bestowed on her mortal keepers, flew into a jealous rage believing her act to be out of love. He claimed they could not handle divinity such as theirs and neither did they deserve it. He reminded her of the man who had captured her, turned her to sand in the heat of the day. Atargatis, enraged by his closed mindedness and lack of empathy for man dared him to try and do better, dared him to try to create a creature that would protect the seas with only mortal blood. Poseidon accepted her challenge, taking a tortured soul, one of the settlers no less and creating a creature with a more primal edge, a carnal killing machine. He stared upon his creation, the very first, with the tail of a swordfish and the speed and cunning to top even the oceans most deadly predator. Atargatis warned him, told him such an unstable entity would only become destructive, but Poseidon would not listen, and soon he saw the monstrosity he had unleashed as the psiren spread the darkness to another, his brother to be exact. Humans having been overcome with such power and instinct that they had no conscience, banished to the abyssal depths of the sea could not be trusted to keep immortality to themselves. He abandoned them, hoping the darkness would not spread and trapping what he could of it in demonic flesh, which he banished in a dimensional prison. The mer soon learned of the psirens creation and some were tempted by its power, falling from the grace of the Goddess and into the darkness created by her mate. The others had no choice but to try to destroy them as their numbers began to grow. This battle still continues …
Orion is silent finally; he continues to stare at me, looking concerned as to what my reaction may be. I look down at my hand, which is still firmly in his grasp and I think carefully about w
hat my next words should be, drinking in the water through what I assume are gills.
“That’s a nice fairy tale, but where do you fit into all this?” I whisper quietly, gently tracing my fingers along the smooth skin of his palm I feel him stiffen slightly.
“Atlas is my father.” He clarifies and I stare at him in disbelief.
“How old are you?” I ask, surprising myself and he laughs, a beautiful melodic sound, which rings through the water and makes my insides warm.
“Older than you.” he replies coyly, his gaze becoming playful, but I don’t want the mood to lighten. I am in serious shock. I have a tail!
“So why are you here?” I ask and he looks confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Here … near California. You’re from Europe right?” I question him and he tilts his chin up.
“Atargatis needs us here. This is where the walls are thinnest between dimensions.”
“So you just moved here?”
“Yes. We swim fast, so travelling isn’t too much of a problem. I guess you could say we are kind of nomadic that way.” He shrugs.
“So you’re all from one island?”
“No. A lot of the older mer like me come from the same island, but there are others too. They come from all over. We don’t try to understand, it is the will of a Goddess we are talking about here. She has motives we cannot begin to comprehend. I suppose diversity makes for a great army, and that’s what we have to be.” I sit and frown; he’s starting to sound like a preacher.
“Okay, well, what is my role in all this?” I pry further and his gaze becomes serious again. He moves towards me far too quickly and rolls his arm around my waist pulling my chest towards him.
“You have been … I mean to say you are, a maiden of the Tidal Kiss … that is to say you have been tidally kissed by the Goddess. You are the final piece of a puzzle that’s taken over five centuries to complete. And you are mine … forever.” He whispers, kissing me on the lips with a possessive growl and I struggle backwards out of his arms.
“Tidally kissed?” I feel the term roll around my tongue like magic.
“Yes, the Goddess, just like in the story, chose you to be my other half. I’ve searched for you … waited so long.” Orion looks slightly mad in this second, his tousled hair is still perfect but it’s something more subtle that gives him away, it’s the emptiness behind the glass of his eyes.
“Why, because destiny says so? Don’t I have a choice in this?” I exclaim, feeling as though all the water above us is pushing down on me, exerting massive amounts of pressure. Orion’s expression is instantly worried, startling me. He moves like a lightning strike, cracking his tail down against the marble so he is no longer resting against the marble pew but is floating effortlessly a few feet in front of me. He is upright and I am in a defensive position as he reaches out one hand towards me.
“I thought you felt the same … I’m sorry Callie, I shouldn’t have assumed, it is just for me, there is only you. Not because of destiny, but because you and I were made for each other, we share a soul. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it.” He cocks his head and his eyes narrow so slightly that if I wasn’t studying him with scrutiny it would have gone undetected.
I relax, dropping my shoulders an inch, stunned by the conviction in his voice, the passion in his stare. I look at him up and down, the glistening royal blue scales that bind his legs and connect to his defined abdominal muscles are shining. His arms are bulging as his fists are closed and his lips purse into a tight line once more. His gills open and close at an accelerated rate.
“Well I …” But I can’t finish the sentence because the expression on Orion’s face is so odd. He looks as though he is trying to contain some angry outburst from surfacing and at the same time is taming great excitement. I rise from the pew slowly, flexing my tail with nervous energy. I take a stroke forward, needing him to know how I feel after my surfacing doubts. I do want him right now, no fate or destiny matters. He is my choice.
I place a hand on his chest and he looks up from the floor that he has been staring at, disappointment turns to hope. His eyes burn with something I have never seen before in a man: desire. He takes my wrist in hand pulling me to his chest, wrapping both his arms around my waist. Then he is pushing me down to the white marble floor, wrapping his tail around mine again so I cannot escape his furious kisses. His lips possess mine over and over, making my breast heave and the speed of my breathing skyrocket. We are both in a tangle of hot emotion and passion when it hits me: how do we have sex?
With this thought my lips freeze and my eyes open. Orion’s face hovers above mine, his eyes are so close to mine our noses are touching, he smells amazing even underwater, which I am yet to understand the inner workings of. For now I silence that question and ask the one that stopped me cold in his scorching gaze.
“How do we …?” I ask, hearing how forward I sound and stopping in the middle of my sentence.
“Have sex?” Orion picks up my thought with a joyful smirk. “I believe that is why I am so blessed as to walk on land three nights a month.” He expresses through a ragged, breathless whisper.
“Isn’t that to seduce young women and have your way with them?” I tease with a raised eyebrow, an edge of seriousness in my tone, giggling internally at the thought of mermaid babies. He catches my eye surprised and then unbinds my tail by sliding down beside me, placing his arm over my shoulders and letting my head rest in the crook of his arm.
“That hasn’t been done for a very long time Callie, once it became obvious that the human race was becoming smarter, it wasn’t worth the risk. It’s probably the reason we have managed to stay hidden for so long. We are small in numbers compared with mankind. I remember that many mer didn’t agree with it anyway, thought it was unkind seeing as we have an unfair advantage.” He enlightens me. His voice flows rough like raw silk, husky and sensual as ever. I wonder what he means by unfair advantage, but once again let the query slide back into the recesses of my mind.
“But you did … seduce young women that weren’t me, I mean.” I ask the question, a lump forming in my newly mutilated throat, afraid of the response I might get.
“There was a time … I thought I would never find you.” He admits, his eyes stormy.
“So you …”
“Drowned my sorrows in the arms of strangers.” he admits, closing his eyes as though the memories pain him.
“How many …”
“I’d really rather not Callie, besides, it’s over now. You’re here.” I feel his evasion like a slap across my face, harrowing and brash. He looks sorrowful and I imagine another woman’s arms around his back, clawing into his skin with unspoken pleasure, moaning against his lips. I want to cry.
“So is it rare to find new mermaids now?” I press him, trying to forget the hideous image that had just invaded my mind, bringing a fresh and ultimate fear forth from where before there was nothing.
“You are the first in over 100 years.” He replies with a sigh and then pulls my face closer, placing a kiss on my head. “I have waited a long time for you.”
“I’m sure you had many other mermaids to keep you company though, right?” I pry, unable to stop myself wondering what centuries of loneliness must be like.
“Not an option for me romantically. Nothing ever filled the hole until I saw you sitting on that beach. No matter how hard I tried to make it otherwise.” He smiles again, trying to be sweet but all the while, I know he was not all he had appeared to be at first, he was not a knight in shining armour upon a white steed, but rather a tortured soul thrashing with the weight of the cross he bared for so long. I push the thought aside again. I’m getting really good at denial, I think to myself. I wonder how I can be underwater without feeling wet, distracting myself from the flash of images in my mind of Orion under silk sheets with various naked figures. I decide to try and avoid trivial questions as I have too many without wondering why I don’t feel wet.
Or
ion sits up and I shuffle sideways awkwardly, not quite used to balancing the weight of such muscle on my lower half.
“I know you have questions Callie, but right now we have somewhere to be.” He soothes, stroking my arm with his fingers.
“Oh and where is that?” I retort quickly, feeling a knot of uncertainty curl in my gut at the recent revelation of his infidelity. It is irrational that I feel so bruised by his seeking comfort in other women, but then maybe that’s because I don’t have any past relationships that will make him feel the same way I do right now. I’m a clean slate, a tabula rasa, and he … well he is tainted by the millions of other invisible fingerprints left by the wanton touch of those gone before.
“The Lunar Sanctum and your initiation of course.” he enlightens me so simply and yet I am nervous with a million more questions heaped onto my already overflowing pile. I am really beginning to feel out of my depth in this moment, my chest constricts and I feel myself flush red.
“Hey don’t look so nervous!” He exclaims, embracing me lightly before he holds me out at arm’s length with a sly smile. “Besides, it’s not the celebration or initiation you need to be worried about Callie. It’s meeting my lovely sister that should make you terrified.” With that sly smile I feel my stomach tie into knots. “That was a joke …” He reassures me, placing a hand on the back of my shoulder.
“In light of the fact that I’ve just sprouted a tail and died all in one day, do you think you could maybe not joke like that.” I try to look angry but fail, trying hard as I might to resist smiling, to let shock swallow me whole, his boyish grin brings me back to myself.
The Kiss That Killed Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 1) Page 13
