SeaChange

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  “We can take care of all that this afternoon,” Jake assured her. “Steve has promised that he won’t keep us long, filling out our reports.”

  “They’re all typed up and waiting for you,” Steve assured them as he led them to his dusty beige sedan. “All you need to do is sign. There was no reward for these yahoos, unfortunately. I’ve arranged for some reimbursement of expenses, but that will take a little longer.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” Jake replied. He’d had plenty of time to accumulate a healthy bank account since he’d been living as a human. Then he grunted as Heidi elbowed him in the gut.

  “Speak for yourself. My fellowship stipend has been suspended, remember?”

  “I can loan you—”

  “I’m not taking—”

  A loud whistle interrupted them. Jake looked over the hood of the car to see Steve shaking his head. “Knock it off, kids. Don’t make me turn this car around.”

  Heidi laughed. “Sorry, Steve. But any help I can get toward putting my life back together would be appreciated. Once this is all over, I will need to get back to it.”

  Not if I have anything to say about it. Jake held the passenger door for her, then climbed into the back. His hopes were that Heidi would never be going back to her old life—at least not exactly. He’d buy her a damn research vessel and captain it for her if that’s what she wanted. That was one modern job skill he did possess. But they were definitely going to need a bigger apartment.

  * * * * *

  After her last encounter with law enforcement bureaucracy, Heidi hadn’t expected to see daylight again once they stepped into the Federal Building. Steve hadn’t lied to them, though. Things were entirely different this time. Instead of being stuck in a cold, sterile interrogation room, they went straight into a comfortable office with two leather guest chairs. Steve whispered to someone on the way in, and shortly after they’d been seated, a young woman with short black hair and a badge clipped to her belt entered with a stack of files and a tray with three mugs of coffee.

  “Thanks, Ali. I owe you one,” Steve said with a smile. “Jake, Heidi, this is my partner, Alicia Flores.”

  “Two,” she told him. “You stuck me here to deal with Horowitz while you were getting action down in Mexico.” She turned to shake hands with Heidi and Jake. “Your statements are all printed out, just like Steve requested. Good work on getting the prisoner out in one piece. Oh—and we’ve rounded up a SDPD officer and a California state trooper off the list so far. Looks like this drug cartel was pretty well connected here in the States. Good thing your boys are singing like canaries. Don’t want to know how the Federales are getting them to do that.”

  “Wen,” Steve said as soon as his partner had sailed out the door. “No way I’m explaining that to Ms. Shoot-first-ask-questions-later. She’s the most bloodthirsty partner I ever had.”

  Heidi sipped her coffee and read over the statement. It was pretty much accurate, except for a couple of things. There was no mention of magic or shapeshifters, and according to this, she’d waited safely out of the way until the raid was complete, when she’d come to identify Brad. “Works for me,” she muttered, picking up a pen to sign the document.

  Jake did the same and they both handed their paperwork to Steve. The agent looked them over, nodded, then tossed his car keys to Jake. “Leave it at the marina. I’ll have someone drop me off there later tonight. You’re heading out today, right?”

  Jake shrugged. “Probably first thing in the morning. Heidi’s got a lot to take care of, and we could both use some rest.”

  “Rest in a marina out on the island. They have cell service, and it’s a hell of a lot safer in the short run. Give me a few days to finish the clean-up.”

  Heidi checked her watch. It wasn’t even noon yet. They had plenty of time. Seeing her acquiescence, Jake agreed. They both shook Steve’s hand, then headed back to the car.

  “Next stop, cell phone,” Heidi said. She resisted the urge to lean against Jake’s shoulder. She couldn’t get too dependent on him—even if she had gone and fallen in love with him. She had to keep reminding herself that he was hers only for the moment. As soon as this whole nightmare was over, she’d have to go back to standing on her own size-twelve feet.

  “Groceries,” Jake added. “At least the boat was being fueled while we were out. She’ll be ready to go as soon as we are.”

  “And we have to find Leta and Niko,” Heidi reminded him.

  “Yeah.”

  Heidi hid a grin. It was so cute to watch the big man get all confused when he talked about his little sister. It was also too damn easy to forget that sister was in her nineties. A tiny part of Heidi was still struggling to get a grip on all she’d seen and heard in the last few days.

  They stopped at a cell phone center, where Heidi explained that her phone had been destroyed, picked up a cute little smartphone. When she went to have her number switched over, though, Jake shook his head.

  Right. The bad guys had her personal information. With a sigh, she accepted a new number. “Can I give it to anyone?” she asked as they got back in the car.

  “Steve,” Jake grunted. “Me. Steve will let Brad know if needed. Nobody else until we’re sure it’s safe.”

  When they reached the Siren, Niko and Leta were waiting on deck, wearing brand new clothes and sipping giant plastic cups of soda. Heidi grinned at the idea of the mermaid princess in the gas station convenience store, wishing she’d been there to see it.

  “I love this place, Che,” Leta cried. “It’s even better than Catalina. I want to live here, among the humans.”

  “Keep your voice down,” Jake hissed.

  “Honey, you’ve just got to stop drinking before noon,” Heidi said with a loud laugh. The one or two heads that had turned toward them at Leta’s pronouncement just rolled their eyes and looked away.

  “I can’t figure out which is the sexiest part,” Jake muttered into her ear. “Your ass or your brain.”

  Heidi felt her face warm with a flush. Shaking her head, she just pulled away from him and went down into the cabin to stow the groceries.

  “Holy crap!” Bags were everywhere, clothes, cosmetics, handbags, shoes and jewelry spilling out all over the furniture. Off to the side was one small pile of neatly folded men’s clothing—one pair of jeans, two T-shirts and a pair of sport sandals. While Niko had apparently been pretty circumspect, it looked like Leta had maxed out Jake’s credit card. “He’s going to need a bigger boat.”

  “No worries,” Jake said from behind her. “Actually, I’d guess this is fairly restrained, for Leta. You want to use my study for your calls while I get things ready to shove off?”

  “Sounds good,” Heidi said. She’d been making a mental list of all the things she needed to take care of while they still had cell phone service. Which reminded her… “You’re sure you want me to go with you? This whole thing with your mother might be kind of awkward with a human tagging along.”

  Jake set down his bag of groceries and took hers out of her hand, plunking it down on the counter. Then he put both hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “If you want me to wait on dealing with my mother, I will. Niko and Leta seem to have reached some kind of truce. I don’t think he’ll let my mother force her into marrying him.”

  Heidi shook her head. “No. Your sister needs you to do this, if only to feel that you’re still her big brother. Besides, from what Niko says, your whole race is in trouble. You’ve got a unique perspective on living with humans to offer them. If your mother is willing to talk to you, I think you can be a big help to your people.”

  “Exactly the pressure I didn’t want,” he said with a wry grin. “I was never cut out for the whole prince thing.”

  “Idiot. I’ve never met a man more suited to leadership.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek, touched by his vulnerability and amazed that he could have any doubts about himself. “Prince might not be quite the right role though. Maybe what you need to do is to help t
hem move to a more modern style of government.”

  “See,” he said huskily, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Told you, you were smart.”

  * * * * *

  It had been nice to go out and have a pleasant dinner, like normal people. Heidi and Jake had enjoyed a relaxing meal at one of Catalina Island’s open-air restaurants. Now her stomach quivered as they waited on the deck for Leta and Niko to return—with or without Jake’s mother. She stifled a hysterical giggle as she wondered whether shorts and a hoodie were really what she was supposed to wear for her first meeting with a queen.

  Jake sat beside her, the fingers of one hand laced tightly through hers, his other idly tapping on the bench. His tightly controlled nervousness made Heidi want to hug him and offer reassurances. Meeting your mother after seventy-some years had to be weirder than anything she’d ever experienced. Well, except for sleeping with a merman and being abducted by shapeshifters. That ranked right up there.

  “I talked to Sara at the University today,” Heidi said, mostly to break the silence. “She said Victor is pushing really hard to have my suspension continued indefinitely. Brad’s parents want him to go home to Chicago, so they’ve offered the University a big donation if our fellowships somehow get revoked.”

  “Victor admitted this?”

  “No.” Heidi leaned her head on the side of his shoulder. “But Sara is one of those miracle secretaries who knows everything about everything. Anyway, if that does happen, it will put a big crimp in my chances to get hired for a tenure-track position anywhere else, which was the plan for as soon as this project was over.”

  “What will you do then?”

  “I don’t know. Probably try for a teaching job somewhere. California has lots of junior colleges. Plus, I’m a certified scuba diving instructor. I can always fall back on that if I have to. It sure beats waiting tables, which I’ve also done. A little frustrating after spending the last twelve years of my life building academic credentials, but there you go. As long as I’m near the ocean, I’ll get by.”

  “You could stay with me.”

  Heidi’s heart skipped a beat. Had he really just said that? And meant it? Her mind whirled as she tried to find an answer.

  Before she could figure out what to say, she spotted Leta’s head just off the starboard side of the boat. Damn it. Perfect timing.

  Leta approached the swim deck, and paused a minute, probably while she shifted from her mer form to human. Odd how Heidi was already getting used to this stuff. She had left a stack of beach towels down on the swim deck, and all Leta’s clothes, along with Niko’s, were still down in the cabin. If the queen showed up, hopefully she could be convinced to put something on. Heidi wasn’t sure she could handle an extended conversation with a bunch of naked merfolk.

  “All by yourself?” Heidi asked as Jake’s sister crossed the deck. She wore a bikini top, and had wrapped one of the towels sarong-style around her waist.

  “Mother will be here shortly.”

  “She agreed, then?”

  Leta bit her lip, then nodded. “She seems pleased about seeing you,” she told Jake. “She has reservations, though. But she is desperate. In the last week, three of our warriors were killed in a skirmish with our uncle’s followers. Mother herself was wounded.”

  “Damn.” Jake let out a long, ragged breath. “I should never have left. If he hadn’t absorbed my powers…”

  “Don’t beat yourself up.” Heidi gave his thigh a squeeze with the hand that rested on it. “You had no way of knowing this was going to happen.”

  “Your spell casting powers have augmented his own,” Leta added. “But only a little. You were always better at physical skills than with incantations.”

  Jake had been a spell caster? Like Steve? Interesting. Heidi filed that away for later. Right now, she reassured him with common sense. “Your average mutineer is going to find a way to gain power. If he hadn’t gotten them from you, I bet there’s another way.”

  “Yeah. Murder.” Jake laced his fingers through hers. “With the right spell, you can siphon someone’s magic if you kill them.”

  “See. There you go.”

  “I should go dress,” Leta said. “I will bring up clothing for mother and her escorts as well.”

  “Escorts?” Heidi asked.

  Jake shrugged. “Well, she is the queen. She doesn’t go anywhere unescorted. Besides, if she’s been attacked, I’m glad she’s got bodyguards.”

  When Leta returned wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top on, she carried Niko’s jeans and a few other garments, setting them next to the swim deck steps.

  “So how did it go with Niko?” Heidi asked the other woman. “Did your mother agree to call off the wedding?”

  Leta nodded. “Yes, but she is very disappointed with me. When Niko said he no longer wished to marry, however, she agreed to end the betrothal.”

  “So why don’t you sound happy about that?”

  Leta shrugged. Heidi had a strong suspicion that Leta really was in love with her erstwhile fiancé. She just wasn’t ready to settle down yet. While the extended lifespan of the merfolk was appealing, Heidi couldn’t imagine the hassles of spending over a century as a teenager. There wasn’t enough money in the world to make her want to be sixteen again, let alone for a hundred years.

  They continued to wait for maybe half an hour. She swore she could actually feel Jake’s tension coiled like a moray eel in the pit of her own stomach.

  “You want Leta and me to wait downstairs?” She didn’t know if he’d feel better meeting his mother without an audience. “I could make some coffee or something.”

  “No!” Jake tightened his fingers around hers. “I mean, you don’t have to.”

  She must be getting really sensitive to his moods. His moment of panic had made her own breathing stutter. Of course, being a guy, he couldn’t come out and admit that he wanted her support. It felt really good to being doing something for him, after all he’d done for her.

  Finally, she saw three silvery trails breaking the smooth, dark surface of the water. As they approached the boat, the shapes resolved into three white-sided dolphins. When they reached the stern, the air shimmered a little, then there were three human heads sticking out of the water.

  Niko climbed on board first and grabbed a towel, smiling briefly at Jake and Heidi in greeting. Then he held out a hand to assist the woman. Unlike Leta, she was completely nude and didn’t seem the least bit concerned about it. She did accept the towel Niko handed her, and wrapped it around her, but her intent gaze never left Jake.

  He waited until she climbed the ladder to the main deck, then he dropped Heidi’s hand and stood. “Hello, Mother.” In deference to Heidi, English was the order of the day, though she knew that wasn’t his mother’s preference.

  “Che.” She nodded regally and offered him her hand.

  Heidi watched as Jake knelt and kissed it. Myrrine was tall and slender—probably just a couple inches shorter than Heidi—with light-brown hair that hung in a thick, wet coil to her waist. It was too dark to make out eye color, but Heidi thought the queen’s were lighter than Jake’s.

  Then the queen took both of his hands and tugged him to his feet. They stared each other down for a long, heart-stopping moment before Myrrine went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You look well, son.”

  “Thank you, Mother. You’re as beautiful as ever.” He tossed his hesitation aside and hugged her close. “I’ve missed you more than I can ever say.”

  Niko and the other bodyguard had pulled on pants and climbed up behind their queen. Leta handed her mother a folded garment and laid a hand on her shoulder. “We should go below.”

  “Of course.” Jake stepped back from his mother. “Welcome to the Siren—my home for the last several decades.”

  “It is pleasant,” she said politely. Then her eyes narrowed on Heidi and she nodded. “How do you do?”

  “Mother, I’d like you to meet my friend, Dr. Heidi Eriksen,”
Jake said formally. “Heidi, this is my mother, Queen Myrrine of the merfolk.”

  Heidi stood. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” Instinctively she dipped her head in respect.

  “My daughter has mentioned you,” Myrrine told Heidi with a small smile. “She said you were a scientist, and had offered to assist our people.”

  “If I can help in any way, I’d be happy to,” Heidi confirmed.

  Myrrine nodded. “Very well. Let us go down into this boat and we shall talk.”

  Jake led the way, his mother close behind, while Leta and Heidi moved after them, the guards bringing up the rear. Myrrine looked around the salon approvingly, then Leta led her into the cabin to get dressed. Meanwhile, Jake was greeting the other merman. This one appeared to be older, with lines around his green eyes and a few silver strands in his blond hair. He was still ripped, though, and wore Niko’s swimsuit like it had been made for him.

  “Marcos.” Jake offered his hand to the other man.

  Heidi saw him hesitate, but then he returned the handshake, albeit briefly. “Che. It is about time you made an appearance.”

  “The spell cast by Phaeton prohibited it,” Jake replied calmly. “I thought it better to return when the spell was done than to suicide. I had no idea my uncle intended treason.”

  “Suicide?” Heidi couldn’t help interjecting.

  Jake turned to her with a tight smile. “That’s what happens if a geas is broken—a strong one, at least. The power of the spell…explodes inside you. So if I were to enter a merfolk colony, yes, I’d die.”

  “Sounds like he really wanted you out of the way,” she muttered, though part of her wanted to scream at the idea. Not knowing what else to do, she reverted again to her Midwestern roots. She went over to the galley and started making coffee.

  Jake had felt Heidi’s moment of panic, and her concern for his welfare was like a caress. He wondered if she was already feeling his emotions as well, or if the mating bond wasn’t manifesting itself to her in the same way. If she did, he was sorry for the turmoil she must have sensed as he waited for his first sight of his mother in over seventy years. Now that he knew she wasn’t going to disown him, he would be far more able to concentrate on the matters at hand.