His mate would receive the gift of the merfolk—an immortal existence beneath the waters.
Ryu dove into the lake's belly. His undulating tail pushed the sand away into soft ripples that disappeared as quickly as they formed. Powerful arms sliced through the water, his dorsal spines with their venomous barbs tucked close between his shoulder blades. Pilings appeared out of the gloom, heavy oaken legs that squatted on the lake bottom. With a quick pulse of his tail, Ryu swam upward. His gills, the tiny flaps of shell pink skin encircling his throat, closed as he adjusted to the dry air.
A pier with algae-stained bumpers and frayed ropes stood sentinel in the small freshwater cove. Long-needled pine trees and scrubby undergrowth crept to the water's very edge. A narrow path marked with decaying railroad beams snaked upward from the pier to the crest of the hill and disappeared out of sight—his mate's dry land home somewhere beyond that rise.
The bullfrog hung limply from Ryu's claw. He slid the morsel free onto the planks, its golden eyes glazed with a milky sheen. Ryu resisted the urge to gobble it up, but his stomach growled just the same.
Ryu lifted his face into the last remnants of daylight and began to sing, his siren song trilling and echoing through woods. His mate would not be able to resist. She would hear and come to him.
His heart thumped when she came, slipping and sliding through the loose pine straw. Her slender arms were outstretched for balance, black hair waving around a heart shaped face. Faded denim shorts exposed her awkward human legs, but her tight yellow top was cut short to show off her soft belly. Ryu ached to clasp her in his arms, to nip at her red mouth.
"Took you long enough," she called out, overjoyed as Ryu had known she would be.
His tail coiled beneath him, ready to push onto the pier.
A male voice shattered Ryu's intentions. "I'm coming. Jeez, I only stopped to get the beer."
Squat and ugly, the human male lurched behind her. His naked chest was pelted with coarse, reddish hair and his legs bowed outward in a way that made Ryu shudder. A cardboard box of glass bottles swung from one hand.
"Told you my brother's old license would work," Ryu's mate said.
Ryu lowered himself until only his eyes and ears were above the surface.
The male slid a bottle out of the carton and offered it to Ryu's mate. She grinned and twisted the metal cap off with her teeth.
"Why were you in such a hurry to get down here?" the male asked. "It's cool and all, but damn Jess, you took off like a bat outta hell."
Jess. Her human name was strange in Ryu's mouth.
Footsteps creaked overhead. Her scent was delectable. Ryu wanted to snatch her away, but letting the male see him would be a mistake. Human deaths were messy, so hard to resist the urge to gorge. Ryu had learned to keep his appetites hidden, to avoid making the humans poke around underwater with their foolish tubing and tanks, searching for a body they would never find.
"Dunno," Jess said. "Just wanted to be out here. Not like you wanted to stay in there either, watching soaps with my mama."
She sat at the end of the pier, her bare feet dangling over the edge like two malformed tentacles. Silently, Ryu glided under the pier until he was directly beneath her.
The boards groaned as the male plopped down. His legs swung close beside hers.
"Yup, you got one hell of a family," the male said, "Thank God you're hot enough to make up for it."
"You're such a pig," she said. She didn't sound angry though.
Ryu frowned.
"But I'm a sexy pig," the male said. "You know you want some."
"You wish."
The fabric of her shorts peeked between the boards. Ryu was close enough to touch her. His hand trembled, fingers outstretched into a webbed net. He placed his palm flat against the plank and closed his eyes.
"Here you go," the male said, laughing. "Hungry?"
"Eww," she said. "That's just nasty. It's got a hole in it."
"Yum. A froggy donut."
"Throw it away," she said.
The bullfrog hit the water's surface with a small plop, making circlets before it sank.
Wood creaked as the male slid closer. Ryu swallowed hard when the male's hairy leg pressed against hers.
Her breathing changed, and she made a small noise. "Dan, no. Not now."
Ryu ground his teeth together.
"C'mon, baby." The male's voice was low, husky.
Jess gasped.
Ryu could see the yellow of her top, a strand of hair looped between the planks as the male pushed her onto her back. She tried to push him away. Her small cry made Ryu's claws contract, stripes of pale, naked wood in their wake.
She was his. Only his.
Ryu coiled his tail, fists tightening.
"What the—"
The male's words were cut short as Ryu's talons gripped his calves, snatching him off the pier. Ryu plunged him beneath the dark water.
Jess shrieked.
His tail fin slapped the surface as he forced the male down. The male struggled, but his smooth, clawless hands slid uselessly off Ryu's taut skin. Water churned. Ryu's dorsal fin unfurled into a venomous fan. He shoved the male upward and then he dove, his spines raking the male's belly.
Air bubbled from the male's rubbery lips, arms wrapped around his abdomen.
Go back to her, Ryu told himself. She's waiting for you.
The male's flesh looked so tempting. So soft and pink and warm.
A single taste, he decided. The spoils of victory. He had earned it.
Hot, tangy blood filled Ryu's mouth. He clasped the male to his chest. With reluctance, he let the limp body slip from his arms. As the male drifted downward, Ryu's little cousins swarmed the body. Silvery bodies darted in and out, tugging at the body before the roiling mass of fish enveloped the male completely.
Satisfaction flooded Ryu. He had proven himself worthy of her. How exhilarated she must be, watching from above as two males grappled for her.
Ryu hurried to the pier.
Her muffled screams wavered and morphed through the lake water. Ryu swam faster. She needed him. He vaulted onto the pier in a slither of scales.
Preening for her as any good mate would, Ryu opened his chest to its fullest. He lifted his chin and opened his collar of gills, arching his back.
Her screams broke off as she sucked in her breath. Ryu smiled. She was overawed.
Her hazel eyes opened wide and the color drained from her face.
Ryu slid toward her, his tail muscles bunching beneath his scales. He reached out his hand.
"I am here," he said.
Jess stumbled and lifted her arms in front of her small body. Her scrawny, twig-like hands would be so lovely once they were webbed. She seemed to have trouble speaking.
Ryu knew he must explain. "Your human word for me is merman. I have decided you are lovely and will make a good mate." He pulled himself toward her with his arms.
"Come now," he said.
Ryu smiled wider when she ran for the shore. Bare feet pounding and her unbound hair whipping behind her, she looked like a beautiful nymph.
"It is good to test me," he said. "I am not offended. You are quite a prize."
Ryu snaked forward, talons digging into the planks as he pushed with his tail. She glanced over her shoulder and gave a strangled cry. Ryu could have seized her easily, but he enjoyed the chase.
Her screams echoed through the deserted woods. Ryu allowed her to reach the end of the pier, a few human strides from the sandy path before he caught her.
He wrapped one hand in her silken hair and drew her against his chest. She smelled of earth. Of musk and soil and sky.
"Let me go." She kicked and wriggled, lunging against his arms. "Help!"
"I will fight as long as you like." Ryu closed his eyes and laid his cheek against her hair.
"You killed Dan." Jess twisted and dug her elbows into his sides. "Oh, God, you killed him. You did. I saw..." Her voice trailed off, and she hung her hea
d.
"He was weak," Ryu said. "Hush now, and I will take you home."
"I'm not going. You're gonna kill me like you did him." She kicked her weight backward. They splashed into the water, a scrabbling tangle of bodies.
More agile than he expected, she yanked free and dove, striking out for shore with furious strokes.
Ryu snarled. This is taking it too far, he thought. He lunged and seized her ankle. She kicked at him, but he yanked her backward, baring his teeth.
"Mine," he said.
"Like hell." She spat, her spittle warm on his cheek.
"Hold your breath," he said. Tucking her close, Ryu dove. As the water grew darker and colder, Jess's struggles grew more frantic, but Ryu only held on more tightly. It would all be over soon. Her human body was too weak to last much longer. Still, it saddened him to see her in pain.
Her body collapsed, arms swaying like seaweed, dark hair covering her face.
The night above was quiet and still as they broke the surface. Her head lolled onto Ryu's shoulder, her human scent intoxicating. He kissed her forehead.
Ryu towed her to a small inlet masked by weeping willows and bristling with horsetail reeds. Carrying her into the shallows, he laid her on the cool, sandy bank. The lake lapped at her pitiful human legs.
Gently, Ryu brushed the clinging tendrils of hair away, careful not to mar her skin with his claws. Giving a human the gift of the waters was a momentous event. Ryu solemnly plucked a sapphire scale the size of a turtle egg from his tail.
"Here, my love," he whispered, opening her slack jaw and laying the scale on her tongue.
Burying his hands into the lakebed, he scooped dripping sand over his mate's unmoving body until her humanity was no longer visible. Then he lay down beside the mounded form to wait for her to be reborn.
Silver moonlight dappled the cove's surface. The willow's drooping fronds swayed with impatience as they kept vigil with Ryu, his tail coiled around her sandy cocoon.
Not much longer now, he thought. Excitement thrummed in his chest. Never had he felt so alive—so aware of another being as he did now.
The first trickle of sand broke loose. His gills rippled eagerly before he remembered to breathe with his lungs. Another rivulet spilled free and then another.
His love was awakening.
Ryu brushed the silty blanket away from her face. Sea green eyes blinked open, coral lips parted over razor-edged teeth. Ryu smiled as color flowed into her cheeks. She was the loveliest creature he had ever imagined.
He couldn't help his impatience. He had to kiss her. Her breath whispered across his face, sweet as orchids before her sharp teeth clamped down onto his cheek. Her hands rose out of the sand, raked into his chest, and broke his skin. Ryu cried out as she twisted and bucked beneath him, snarling like a mad creature.
"No," he cried. "You mustn't fight so. This is our moment to be—"
The fury in her eyes silenced him.
The crust of sand over her lower body splintered as she dug herself free.
"My legs!" Jess tugged at the scaling over her lower body as if it would roll back to expose her human legs. "What have you done?"
Ryu's breath caught in his throat. She was magnificent.
"This isn't real. It's some sick joke." She pounded her fists into her tail.
He reached out to caress, her but she flinched away.
"Touch me and I swear I'll rip your arm off." Her voice shook.
"I've done only what you wanted, my love." He couldn't help himself. He craved her touch with a desire that frightened him.
She laughed, a harsh sound. "You think I wanted..." Her words choked off.
Ryu reached for her hand but thought better of it. "Of course you did. You are a child of the waters, as am I. You bewitched me. You came when I sang to you. I brought you tokens of my devotion, and you accepted them."
She shook her head, buried her hands in her hair, and then shuddered. "What are you talking about? What tokens?"
"The gifts I left for you—the baubles and trinkets that could never compete with your loveliness."
"The rocks and sticks? The half dead fish?" she asked. "That was from you? It was nothing but trash."
"But you always came back to me," he said.
"I didn't know monsters existed," she said. "Until today."
Monster. The word hit Ryu like a slap.
"Dan's really dead, isn't he? You killed him. To kidnap me," she said.
"Yes, the male is dead." Ryu hung his head.
Her jaw tightened. She stared out at the dark lake. "You're gonna change me back," she said. "I want to go home."
Her luminous eyes drew Ryu into her. He only wanted to cup her soft cheek in his hand.
"I am your home," he said.
Her body tensed. Ryu withdrew his hand. She needed time to adjust to the change. He could be patient. He would wait for her.
"Rest now, my love. Tomorrow I will show you the waters."
Jess turned her back to him, arms wrapped around herself, shoulders hunched.
* * *
Ryu awoke at first light, his arms empty. He had waited until Jess had finally fallen sleep, too exhausted to hold her head up any longer. Then he had drawn her into his arms and breathed in the heady richness of her scent. But the temptation had been there—the succulent taste of salty sweat on her skin, the pulse of hot blood.
Perhaps the call of the water had been more than she could resist. Maybe she'd slipped into the lake in search of a tasty fish to eat. Ryu's stomach growled in anticipation.
What if she were lost? She was adjusting to her new body. Or if she encountered humans, would she call to them? Fear twisted his belly. Humans could be deadly. She would have no reason to fear them—until they netted her, carried her off, a specimen to prod and poke.
The sand around him had been disturbed into a shallow trough. Instead of leading to the lake, it snaked toward the tree line, the scrubby underbrush broken and bent. Would her human instincts have told her to stay on dry ground?
He wasn't ready to lose her.
Ryu moved quickly across the wet sand and onto the pebbly soil. He saw the scales first, copper and ruby discs strewn through the crushed leaves. Then, smears of rusty blood staining newly snapped twigs and protruding rocks.
At the bottom of a small rise, he found her, her back curled against a limestone ridge that jutted a man's height from the forest floor. Her torn and battered tail was wrapped tight around her shivering body. Amber sap streaked with blood mottled her arms, her claws broken and jagged.
She looked up as Ryu dragged himself the last to her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and soothe her, but he stopped himself.
"I hate you," she said, her voice an exhausted whisper.
"Stay with me?" he asked. "For only a moon's turn."
"People will find Dan's body and think I'm dead too. They're going to come looking for me. They're gonna find you and hunt you down, gut you like a fish."
He persisted. He needed time to make it right. "A day then. Until the sun sets." One day to memorize the color of her eyes, the way the sun made her scales dance with light underwater…a chance to show her his world and convince her to stay.
"I'd rather die than stay here with you for another second." Her hands tightened into fists, clenching and releasing, blood oozing from her knuckles.
The tang of her blood reached Ryu, sweet as perfume. His mouth watered.
"How're you gonna get my legs back?"
He wanted to lie—to tell her it was impossible, she was locked into this form forever. Anything to keep her with him. But a tiny part of him knew that if he truly loved her, he had to watch her walk away.
He sighed.
Her eyes narrowed when he opened his mouth. With his forefinger, he probed beneath his tongue until he found his salivary gland. He squeezed free a single iridescent pearl, probing the empty pocket with his tongue to ease the sting.
The morning sun made his webbing glow pink whe
n he opened his palm and offered her the pearl. She frowned and reached for it. Her claws grazed his skin, and he shivered—but not from the cold.
"Put it under your tongue," he said.
His eyes met hers as she popped the pearl into her mouth.
"Can I hold you?" he asked. "Until you turn? Just once."
"No." She turned her face away.
Ryu wanted to snatch her up, to fish the pearl from her mouth and make her stay. Instead, he began to gather up armfuls of tangled vines and moss. She let him pack it around her. He wanted to weep as her shining scales disappeared under the foliage.
The sun had peaked before Ryu was satisfied with his work. The covering reached as high as her neck. Ryu wanted her to see the trees around her and feel the warm air on her face as she changed.
He would have given anything to kiss her, but he only bowed his head.
"I am called Ryu," he said. Names had great meaning. He offered her one last chance to prove the bond between them had been real if fleeting.
She didn't acknowledge him—only stared off into the forest with a glazed look in her hazel eyes.
Ryu backed away slowly. She had never been his.
He watched from a careful distance, hidden behind a fallen tree trunk grown soft and fragrant with decay. The sun beat down, stealing water from him until his gills burned and his scales felt scabrous and desiccated. But he kept his vigil until she stirred. She opened her eyes and looked around. Ryu sank lower into his hiding place. With urgent, clawless fingers, she explored her mouth then smiled with flat, blunt teeth. Her covering rustled when she threw it aside, her smile wide.
She had never been so lovely. Her slim, human legs were strong and resolute as she began to climb the rock ledge. Flat on her soft belly, she scrambled over the edge. The jagged rocks scraped her skin, and she winced as showers of gravel pattered down.
In a moment, she would be gone—beyond his reach.
Ryu closed his eyes.
Let her go, he told himself.
A gentle breeze stirred the trees, carrying on it the delicate scent of her blood.
"No!" Ryu flung himself forward, his tail thrashing across the small clearing. She gasped when he clutched her ankle, tried to pull her back, but she kicked at him with her free leg. Saliva pooled under his tongue, choking him. But she kept slipping from his grasp, wriggling higher up the ridge.
Dark Light Book Three (Dark Light Anthology) Page 33
