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“Shh! It’s the endangered Siren species. Would you look at her beauty? It is a rare treat to see a female in her natural habitat.”
In unison, our mouths dropped open.
“Watch how the male is aggressively fanning his massive fluke! That is his way of impressing the female with his strength in the water. Now, watch as she shows him her fangs. This may look threatening, but it is actually a sign that she is interested,” Lokene continued in his faux accent. Or maybe it was real? I didn’t know where the Ancients lived.
“Please tell me he isn’t narrating Zosime’s bonding as if this were an animal documentary for television.” Fynn’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
That was exactly what he was doing.
“I think you missed the part where he said they were going to mate,” Eason interjected, horrified, from beside me.
“It won’t change anything for me. I love her.” Storm’s voice was thick with emotion.
“I feel the same.” Eason then turned to Lokene, his voice steely with anger. “This is too rough. I don’t like it. You need to do something.”
Lokene broke from his narrator’s voice to reply, “You are judging what you see through human eyes. You forget, she isn’t truly human. Have you ever watched lions mate? She is a predator, and it would be best that none of you forget that. Zosime doesn’t need protection from physical dangers around her. She needs you guys to protect her heart because it is the only thing vulnerable about our mate. Should she lose control of her emotions, it won’t be pretty.”
He focused back on the scene playing out in front of us. “The merpeople have been separated from humanity for a long time. It did not affect them quite the same as Zosime, because of her proximity to the Heart of Atlantis stone when the city sank. Her bloodlines and latent magik also changed her in ways it did not change them. They are less powerful, less deadly versions of our Siren; therefore, they are mermaids and mermen. She is the only Siren.
“However, they are still more powerful than a human, and over the centuries, they have grown more vicious in order to survive against the predators and challenges of the sea. They have their own culture and their own rituals. Zosime has been safely asleep all this time, but the Siren in her is responding to the mating dance this male is performing.”
The glass fogged as he leaned his forehead against it and breathed out a relieved sigh. “The future changes constantly, just like the tides of the ocean. I cannot see everything that is coming, but at this moment, things are how they need to be.”
“You knew,” I said it as a statement, not a question. “You knew she had a mate in Atlantis.”
Lokene only tilted his head in acknowledgment.
A muffled crack and a man’s groan startled me, causing me to jump. Still watching the strange Ancient from the corner of my eye, I took in the pair of mers currently fighting outside in the grand throne room. Zosi and the merman were thrashing and spinning.
She slammed his body into the glass wall. Hard. Keeping him pinned, she grinned evilly, showing him her fangs. I still thought Lokene was wrong about her being receptive to mating. She looked like she wanted to murder the merman.
Instead of doing the smart thing and swimming away fast, the man fanned out his flowing fin until it was nearly four feet wide, and his scales shimmered in the light. Muscles bulging, he positioned himself, still pressed against the glass, so she could see his peacock display.
I huffed. If Lokene was right, how were the rest of us supposed to compete with that?
“Oh, this is getting crazy! We may get to see the actual mating! Typically, male mers are very secretive and drag the female to a darkened cave to copulate repeatedly over the next few days. They have a real cave dweller style honeymoon!” Lokene looked way too excited at the thought of watching this aggressive merman mate our Siren.
“Whoa! Hold up! First, should we be watching? Second, he can’t take her from us for days. You said she needs to stay near us, or she will get weak.” There was panic in my voice.
I’d never seen her look as pale as she had looked last night when Lokene brought us to Atlantis. She had barely been able to lift her hands, and her entire body trembled for hours, even after drinking a significant amount of blood from each of us.
It had been a passion-filled evening, with lots of cuddling and gentle lovemaking as none of us wanted to weaken her more. Looking out at the merman, I wasn’t sure he would treat her with that same level of care. His nails had left long scratch marks on her skin, and she had several bright red abrasions from being dragged along the walls and crashing into the tall golden columns.
I smirked when I caught sight of the man’s injuries, though. Our Zosime gave more than she got. He sported a busted lip, deep marks from her nails, and several darkening patches of skin from her strategically placed punches. My heart swelled with pride.
The man’s tail slid the length of Zosi’s tail, and she shivered in response. The burning anger in her eyes flickered to something else. He repeated the motion several times before curling his tail around hers and pulling her close. They stayed pressed against the glass only a few feet from us, not seeming to care or even notice we were watching.
Her lips moved, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. The glass rumbled as the merman responded. Fire sparked in Zosi’s eyes, and she leaned in and caught his lips in a passionate kiss.
“Notice how the female has accepted the male’s advances—”
Without thinking it through, I reached out and slapped the back of Lokene’s head so fast, it shocked us both. He stared wide-eyed at me, rubbing at the back of his head.
“Guess you didn’t see that tide change coming, huh?” I tried to sound confident, but the words came out with a slight stutter. He was an Ancient, and while I liked him, he could probably fry my butt with just a thought.
To my immense relief, he burst out laughing and threw an arm around my shoulder. I returned the brotherly side hug. I was growing fond of the little family Zosime had created.
We crashed into the glass, and I held him there, pinned like an insect. I had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t trying hard to get away, although if he had, it wouldn’t have ended well for him.
