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“A fucking riptide. Yes. That is what it caused. You ripped the fucking air right out of my lungs and left me to deal with the tide.” She was glowing more now. Like a bioluminescent creature that man hadn’t even yet discovered. Like the old Goddess of underwater lore. Electric like an eel, all lit up like a jellyfish. I was so turned on, I didn’t even stand a chance when she zapped me.
I fell backward and landed on my ass. “Ouch. Shit. That hurt!”
To add insult to the injury, the case bobbed into my elbow again. I gave it a scowling look, but noticed the ribbon was no longer hanging out of it. The bioluminescent witch and the cosmetic case side-kick headed up the beach. Case. Now I was calling it by name, and it seemed to have all-terrain wheels. I snorted a sound and shook my head as I ran my fingers over the bruise on my chest. Huh. She had enough power in that to leave a mark.
I looked toward them again and admitted, Maxine Mayhem didn’t need to get all electrified to leave her mark on me. I just couldn’t see how anything would ever work between us. Not outside of this little punishment chamber they made for her, but was more like a paradise to me.
I made my way back to the cabin and when I entered the space, I smelled the familiar scent of her. Crisp like apples, warm like cinnamon, and a hint of something more… forbidden. Familiar, yet unknown to me. It was her core essence and after being in the water so long, I was in tune with all my senses.
My stomach agreed with a growl. She wasn’t far. I knew that because Case was outside the door where the sound of water running indicated she was taking a shower. Good thing all that energy didn’t impact her the way it did me. I looked at the small kitchen space and began exploring.
I didn’t mean to almost kill her. I didn’t even realize she got swept into the water. I was so… focused on my own happiness and relief I didn’t even think about a rip current. Made sense. The waters here were fabricated to mimic the ocean, but there was sea glass at the bottom of this ocean. So beautiful. So interesting. I wondered if she even knew that. I wondered why she only went out to her knees to begin with.
I closed another cabinet filled with teas and comfort foods and looked at Case and asked aloud, “I wonder where the real food is. Should I be looking somewhere else?”
It rolled to show me the back side of itself. I had to admit, it was sort of charming that she had a loyal companion like that. One that I doubt would age out like my seahorses had. I vowed to never have anything in my life that I would care for, be responsible for, love ever again because the loss of my loyal companions due to my youth and arrogance—
I shook it off and looked in the refrigerator only to find more snacks. Where the hell is the meat in this house?
CHAPTER 5
Maxine
I hadn’t exactly planned to zap him. I didn’t even know how the hell I did that, much less how I could do it again. It did feel good to do it, though. No doubt about that. I was in that state of what? Shock, hibernation? I had no idea what happened to me when I would get in that deep. I only knew I was told to stay away from the ocean from the time I was able to walk, therefore, I remained safely in chlorinated waters or out of water altogether.
Case had already put my favorite pajamas in the bathroom for me. Fortunately, his duffle bag had made it through the door with him. I had originally thought that the bedroom would be a space we would share this weekend, but after today, I was happy Case had shoved that bag into this bathroom.
I suppose Case was unsure where the merman would end up. Crazy to think that even before Thurston had left me to drown, Case had more clarity over my situation than I did. Still, I exited the bathroom and looked at Thurst standing at the counter in the kitchen. He was so blue right now. So much darker than usual. His hair was lighter, too, closer to my color now. He looked bigger somehow. Maybe because we were in this little cabin.
Still, before I could set aside my murderous intentions and re-engage in the romantic ones I had fantasized about for over a year, I saw his frustrated expression and asked, “What?”
“Where is the meat?”
Ooops. “There is none.”
Eyes wide, mouth ajar, he looked at me like I was telling him there was no meat left in the entire universe rather than none in this cabin.
“None?” he asked, a bit more depth of tone to his voice.
“None.” I smiled cheerily. I had forgotten to send that intention along when I conjured the door. So, this place had the usual for me and that was… plant-based protein. “The plants are filled with—”
“I can’t eat this.” He indicated a bowl of various fruits. “I need meat.”
I shook my head and snorted a sound. “No. You want meat. You don’t need meat.”
I gulped. His brows knitted and then really lowered into a scowl. He didn’t ask how I knew that. He already understood his brother had told me as much about their species during his Year of Land. It was Loudan’s show of responsibility and eagerness to be a part of the land-living world that had intrigued me enough to speak to him. As someone obsessed with the ocean and what it would be like to live under the sea it was refreshing to exchange these ideas with someone who was just as compelled to build ties between both worlds.
Sure, we had the academy, we had dual citizens, and we had trade and commerce established, but everyone wanted more. Well. Almost everyone. My father did not want me anywhere near the ocean dwellers. He was never more thrilled to find out that there were only a handful of mer-species at the academy and that Loudan would not be among them.
Barely refrained anger, if the deepening of that blue chest color was an indicator, came out as he said, “I bet he taught you lots of things about our species. Didn’t he?”
I shrugged as a nonchalant response, but that was playing with fire right now. I could tell the truth and admit the relationship on the romance side was all one-sided, if at all. I don’t think Loudan really liked me. He liked the attention I got and knew some of that would pass along to him.
I didn’t even know Loudan had presented us as a couple. I didn’t really care either, not until I became aware that he was Thurst’s brother. Then, I discussed telling the truth, but Loudan was a sea snake and had plenty of dirt on me by then. I couldn’t just break it off with him without him exposing lies I had told to my father in order to spend more time learning about the ocean dwellers.
I got to see more glimpses of mer life and sometimes had more encounters with Thurst, so I didn’t make a big scene and break up with him. Eventually, he moved on to another who could advance his hopes and dreams, a researcher and scientist with a few magic tricks up her sleeve.
Of course, to prevent me from making a scene about that, he let my father know I had been to the outer islands. I got sent here for a week when my father first learned about it. That was the week I kept visualizing the water and the pink beach. By the end, I had this place as close to perfection as I could make it. Fortunately, father was always busy, so I didn’t have to work very hard to hide the fact that his winter cabin had become a summer vacation for me. My mother enjoyed visiting this place when I was younger, but when I told her about the beach, she said she would not return until I removed it. Which meant she would never return, because I will never remove it.
