"Politicians arguing, the Eagles' best player is facing suspension because of how some bastard tackled him and it looks like someone's lost an entire freighter off Brazil." I responded, ignoring the news about some politician calling the other a drunken womaniser, because everyone including his now ex-wife knew she'd slept with him, so it was hardly news.
Vanessa stuck her head around the doorframe. "Seriously?"
I shrugged. "Yep."
She stepped back into the lounge room. "Then it's as bad as I thought," she said sadly with a sigh.
"Hey, it's okay," I told her. "He might get off. You can see in the videos of the match that he was tackled by the other bastard. He only accidentally elbowed him in the face and broke his nose because he was off balance…"
"What?" Vanessa looked confused. "Oh, I don't mean the news about the football player. I meant the freighter."
I snorted. "Yeah, well, if a shipping company can lose a boat that big, they probably deserve it."
Vanessa looked more worried than before. "Brazil…that borders on the Atlantic Ocean, right?"
I shrugged again. "I don't know. Probably."
"How often do big freighters vanish without a trace?" Vanessa asked quietly, her voice deadly serious.
"I never heard of it happening before. Oh, maybe once when I was a kid…" I waved it away.
Vanessa's voice was still quiet. "You mean the Alexandre, which left Dampier and disappeared back in the early 1990s? Where there were no survivors?"
"I don't remember the name, but that could have been it," I admitted.
"Do you remember any of the details of the recent freighter that's been lost in the Atlantic?" Vanessa's voice was urgent now.
I didn't understand why it was so important to her. "It was due in port yesterday, but they lost contact with it a couple of days ago. Search planes haven't found any sign of it yet and there's been no other communication with the boat."
Vanessa was shaking her head. "I told them this would happen. I only hope it will turn out okay."
I wasn't worried. "Yeah, they'll probably find the ship and discover that some idiot shorted out the power systems so the ship's communications are down. It wouldn't happen if they had a decent sparky on board."
Vanessa's smile was tight. "Joe, even if you'd been on board, you couldn't have saved that ship." She looked sad.
"You think it's sunk?" I asked her.
Her eyes met mine, full of some dark knowledge I suddenly didn't want to know. "I think that freighter's gone down with all hands. My sisters in the Atlantic are nothing if not thorough. Especially after the mess they made of the Alexandre."
My jaw dropped and I couldn't seem to pick it up again. "You seriously think mermaids sank a whole freighter? Those things are huge!"
Her eyes held pity now. "They killed everyone on board and then sank the ship in deep water off the continental shelf. They've done it before and they'll do it again. Don't underestimate my sisters, Joe. My people are stronger than you know."
Horrified, I tried to reply, but it took a couple of tries before any words came out. "What do you mean?"
Vanessa's expression became businesslike and less worried. "I must inform the others. I think we're going to have some visitors from my people. I'd best prepare the guest room, before I go for a swim." She headed down the passage toward one of the unused bedrooms.
I stared wordlessly after her. She's expecting hitfish who kill people and sink ships to come and visit us? Shit, I'm going to go buy me a shark shield and wear it in the house.
I got up and switched on the computer, to search for a shop that sold them, before the next thought hit. Would a shark shield even work on mermaids? If they could sink ships, a shark shield wasn't going to hold them up for long.
I paused for a second. All it has to do is give me a few seconds to shout for Vanessa.
I decided to get the biggest heavy-duty shark shield I could find, and hope for the best.
44. Darma
"What the fuck?"
It was the voice of a human male that jarred with our more careful, measured tones. He wore as little as we. I thought this unusual behaviour for a human, but I had not seen a human in many years. Perhaps they did not wear clothing here.
"Nessa, what the fuck are these girls doing here and why," he swallowed uncomfortably, a lump in his throat bobbing as he did so, "are they all naked in our dining room?"
I wondered who he addressed, until I remembered that Elder Sirena went by the name of Vanessa on land. She also evidently answered to the diminutive, Nessa.
Elder Sirena stood, smoothing the short blue garment she wore, majesty in every move. "These are the Elder Council, Joe, the government of my people." Her hand swept around the table, encompassing all of us. "They have come to speak to me."
At her summons, I thought. I wondered if she had shared this information with him.
The human male looked distinctly uncomfortable, staring at us as though he could not remove his gaze.
As he continued to stand in the doorway, all of our eyes turned to him with similar intensity. He was a well-built man, with more muscle than those humans I remembered seeing the last time I ventured on land. His procreation equipment matched his physique, too, I noticed, standing ready to attention as if he anticipated joining with one of us. Quite impressive, I admit. My taste ran to smaller, darker men than he, but I felt a warming curiosity to know what Sirena's human was capable of doing with such equipment. She was not one to choose an inferior specimen, even for a casual joining.
I looked around the table. Sunitha's eyes were wide with wonder, as she remarked on the man's size to Indah, pointing with a shaking hand. Only Nafula seemed unimpressed.
The human noticed Sunitha's gesture and reached for a piece of fabric that was draped over a nearby chair. He used this fabric to cover his sizeable equipment, to Indah's audible disappointment.
Elder Sirena smiled at the human. "Go back to bed, Joe. I won't be long."
I reached for one of the salt sticks in a bowl on the table, curious to find out how they tasted. It made a crunching sound as I bit into it, but the taste was pleasant – salt and powdered grain.
He looked as if he wanted to obey her order, but still he hesitated. After a few moments, he planted his feet firmly on the floor and raised his voice. "Look, don't any of you even think about taking Vanessa away from me. She's my wife and you're not taking her back to the bottom of the ocean. She has a life and a family and people who love and need her here. I'll go up against any one of you, if you think you can take her without going through me first."
Not all of the Council members understood English as Sirena and I did, so there were confused looks around the table, all of which settled on me. My confusion was no less. Did this human not know who Sirena was? Even if she did not give him her true name, he clearly knew she was not human. Of all of us in the room, the woman he called Vanessa posed a greater danger to him than the rest of the Council combined. At a word from her, he would cease to live. None of us would dare defy her.
I swallowed the mouthful of salt stick and spoke slowly, trying to remember the correct words in the human's language. "You should listen to her wise words, human. She holds your life in her hands. It is well known that she does not forget, nor forgive." I smiled gently at him, hoping to soften the warning in my words.
He opened his mouth, but no reply seemed forthcoming.
Elder Sirena pushed her chair back from the table and approached the human. She curled her arm around his and turned him around. All the eyes at the table followed his well-rounded behind with admiration.
Sirena guided him out of the room and into an adjacent one. She kept her voice low, but I heard her reassure him, repeating the same things she had already told him, but in different words. When this did not have the desired effect, she surprised me by asking him a question.
"Why did you want me, Joe?"
"I woke up and I…wanted…you…and you weren't there, Nes
sa," the human said in a tone that sounded like he was distracted. We all clearly heard the man gasp.
"If you still want me, I'm here now," Elder Sirena replied. I heard the squeak of wood under tension, as if something heavy had been placed on an item of furniture. I tried to remember what the furniture in the adjacent room was. I could only remember a bed.
The wood began to squeak in a slow rhythm, like a chained buoy in the waves.
"Nessa…What about the…others…in the dining room?" the human hissed, as if trying not be heard. He sounded a little short of breath.
The squeaking ceased. "Would you like one of them instead? Or in addition? Which one? I can ask…"
Indah half rose from her seat and I felt a considerable pull to do the same.
"No…" gasped the human. "Just you, Nessa. Just you. I meant…won't they be angry when you don't come straight back?"
"They will wait," was Elder Sirena's response, followed by a quiet moan, "Ohh…yes."
We were the Elder Council, the government of her people, as she said, but we were her people, too. I'd never seen such a blatant display of her power as I did that night. She permitted a human to interrupt a very important meeting, took her pleasure with him in the next room, all the while knowing that we would wait, not daring to proceed with our meeting or move from our seats until she returned. And wait we did. With all mouths open, as if to moan with her, and many eyes closed, I noticed, far from immune myself. Sunitha had a salt stick part-way to her mouth, but the stick sat in mid-air, forgotten. Nafula had her finger in her mouth.
Sirena's moaning continued, almost a song, the beat kept by the increasing tempo of creaking wood under stress. I lost track of all time, the moments seeming to stretch endlessly, yet I was not impatient for them to end.
Sunitha's hands were over her mouth, whilst Indah's were under the table, when we heard Elder Sirena's scream of pleasure from the next room. The human followed soon after with a deeper groan, in which I could clearly hear the word "Nessa," no less heartfelt than her, before the squeaking ceased.
I heard Sirena's voice murmur something softly, too low for me to hear. The wood gave an extended creak and I heard footsteps on the floor.
I looked around the table. Not a single one of us was unaffected, some more than others.
Elder Nafula cleared her throat, her blush barely showing beneath her dark skin, and asked softly, "Elder Darma, could you explain what the human said?"
The footsteps approached and I watched Sirena kiss the human softly, smiling as she pulled away. "I love you, Joe. I'll be upstairs again with you soon," she said.
"I love you, too, Nessa," he replied. He caressed her bare breast, just once, staring into her eyes like a human who had been sung into submission, though she had not. His skin gleamed with sweat and the lingering salt on my tongue left me with a desire to taste some more salt that was not from the sea.
I kept my eyes on the human as I spoke. "He said that he would not let us take Elder Sirena to the depths against her will or his. He offered violence in response to any attempt we made to force her from land."
I heard Nafula's musical laughter first, before the others joined in. Even I had to laugh at such a ridiculous notion. Elder Sirena, coerced to do something against her will? When she had summoned us to land with a command so strong we all felt forced to obey? This human knew nothing of the woman who captivated him so completely without even a song.
He stiffened at our laughter, the muscles in his behind growing taut in a very attractive way. I watched those tight muscles move as he started down the corridor and up the stairs, out of sight.
Elder Sirena had seated herself at the table whilst I was distracted. She patted the perspiration from her breasts with the blue garment she had been wearing earlier, before reaching for one of the salt sticks and popping it in her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed pink. I'd never envied her as much as I did now. I wanted her human.
Sirena sipped from her teacup and swallowed. "Now, where were we?" she asked, her voice a little breathless.
"About to discuss the fate of Laila, the child who will soon return from the Atlantic," I began, before I blurted out with bluntness I had not known I possessed, "Will you share your human?"
Now all eyes were on me, before sliding to Sirena. Her smile was almost coy. "He prefers me alone, so I must say I will not. He is my consort and under my protection still." Her last words held a potent warning.
The others visibly shared my disappointment at her answer. "Then we will not touch him," I forced myself to say.
Sirena stood up. "As for Laila, when she returns you must send her to me to do her duty, accompanied by my grand-daughter, Estella. The two are still close friends, are they not? I will see to any further discipline for her actions in the Atlantic. You may be sure she will do her duty before she returns home." She finished with a dismissal, already headed toward the stairs and the delectable human.
She turned as she started up the stairs. "It is still early. There is a human drinking establishment not far from here, called the Left Bank. I suggest you wait in the car park. Though not as skilled as Joe, you might find a partner to join with before you take to the water." She winked. "Until we meet again, sisters."
All of us rose to our feet, making our way out of her house and down the street to the drinking establishment by the water. It seemed I was not the only one craving human warmth tonight.
45. Joe
Nessa slid into bed beside me and I eased my arms around her, pulling her close.
"That was incredible," I told her, though she hardly needed me to.
She pressed her body against mine, still naked, and I inhaled sharply in anticipation.
"Have they gone back out to sea?" I asked hesitantly.
Vanessa laughed softly, so that her breasts bounced against my chest. "They've all gone down the hill to the pub."
I tried to imagine the four women who had been downstairs walking into the Left Bank. "They wanted a drink?" I suggested.
Vanessa shifted to distract me even more. "No, they wanted you. I think they went to find consolation in other humans in the pub car park, when I wouldn't share you."
Somehow, the thought of those four naked women getting with random guys up the road didn't do anything for me, but it didn't matter. Nessa knew I was ready for her and she didn't waste time. "Four mermaids wanted me? What for?" I groaned as she moved her hips slowly.
I thought she hadn't heard me, but I was too focussed on her to care for a while. I felt her body stiffen as she let out a quiet gasp. Breathlessly, she replied, "This, Joe," as she blew my mind for the second time that night.
Afterwards, when she was lying in my arms, as sated and happy as me, Vanessa laughed. "You made quite an impression."
I brightened. "You mean I made four mermaids hot?"
Vanessa shifted slightly under my hands. "Five, Joe," she murmured, pressing harder against me. She felt softer than before, almost like…
I felt her tail flukes caress my calf. Oh God, if we hadn't just had sex twice in one night I'd be ready to go again. Shit, no, wait...
"How am I supposed to do this?" I mumbled, remembering the last time I got turned on by her tail. I'd gotten nowhere.
"Like this…" she breathed.
I learned that you can make love to a mermaid, but only if she really wants you to. Not many men get to see heaven while they're still alive, but that night, I did. Oh, Nessa…
46. Laila
Elder Sunitha approached me first. "What tidings have you of our sisters in the Atlantic?" Her words were brisk and businesslike.
My eyes could not cry in the depths as they could on the surface. If they could, I would have cried a new ocean for the slaughtered humans. This was immaterial to the Elder, so I did my best to suppress my feelings as I spoke of more practical matters.
"Their ocean changes more than ours does. From the shifting of the sea floor to changing currents, warming waters and overfishing by the humans. The
y perceive the changes with pleasure, for it means more trouble for the humans than for our sisters. They feel that fewer humans are no loss, for the humans present increasing danger for our people and theirs." I closed my lips firmly, not wishing to venture another word, knowing all I could say would reveal my own feelings and thoughts, which were not pertinent.
Elder Sunitha looked grave. "Have you recovered from your long journey? Long enough to attempt another?"
My confusion was complete. I had expected her to comment on my report, not send me back. I looked to her in wordless panic. I could not fathom the thought of returning to the Atlantic. Not now. My words came out hesitantly. "I have recovered somewhat. What journey would the Council have me take?" My voice shook, but I could not yet bring myself to beg to stay home. I dared to hope.
Elder Sunitha looked sympathetic, but her words were not. "The Council would have you do your duty. You and Estella. Elder Sirena has summoned you, that immediately on your return you must present yourself to her. You will travel to Perth, where Elder Sirena awaits you."
Elder Sirena knew me better than most and she knew humans better than any sister alive. I shaped my thoughts into hesitant words. "Does Elder Sirena know that I was in the Atlantic?"
Elder Sunitha looked as if she felt sorry for me. "Elder Sirena sent word of events in the Atlantic before your return. The humans communicate faster than we do and with more detail."
My heart sank. Elder Sirena does not forget and she does not forgive. She would require atonement for slaughtering the humans. My heart buoyed up a little at the thought that Estella would accompany me. I would not be alone. I could stand anything required of me, if Estella were beside me.
"I will do my duty as the Council commands. Estella and I shall leave with the dawn." I swallowed my dread, where it lay like a sunken ship on the sea floor.
47. Joe
"Daddy, do mermaids go to heaven?" Marina chirped, an eager smile on her face.
"Ah…what?" I asked, stunned.
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