by Marie Hall
When he broke away she laughed because now she could smell, and it was amazing. There was salt and flowers and something sweet, yet pungent. Sircco smiled, the hermit crabs around his crown marching like tiny soldiers.
“My sister and I would like to invite you both to dine with us this eve.”
She looked at Hook, he was staring at her and the way he was watching, it made heat sizzle through her veins, butterflies tickled her stomach. He nodded.
“Thank you, we shall,” Hook agreed for them both.
Sircco still hadn’t released her, his warm hands gripped her forearm as he began to leisurely swim, like if he had legs they’d be on a meandering stroll.
“And how do you find our realm, human?” he asked.
She had to turn away from his gaze. Something about it almost made her feel hypnotized. Staring at her feet, she smiled.
“It’s gorgeous. Breathtaking. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He nodded as his fingers slid down, tracing the seam of her elbow. “You do not remember this at all, do you?” His words were so casual, his touch was not.
And while she liked it, it also kind of bothered her. Sircco was gorgeous, fishy parts aside, but she didn’t want to give anyone the impression that she was okay with being touched however they wanted. Gently pulling her arm free of him, she shrugged.
“No.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t seem upset by her pulling away, which she was grateful for, he was a king after all, not that she knew much about that profession. Except that when they were offended they tended to get all moody about it. King Henry the VIII came immediately to mind. “I’m not surprised to hear it. I see Talia within you, but I see many others as well.”
She stopped walking, touching his arm to get him to turn. “How many?”
Never in her life had she believed in reincarnation, her theory had always been you lived, you died, and that was that. She wasn’t sure she even believed it now, but she hadn’t believed in mermaids or fairies either, or the sexy Captain Hook. Just thinking his name made her breathing hitch.
“Many.” He brushed hair back from her face. “I know little of the Earthen realm. Only what others have shared, but one day in Kingdom is the equivalent of one month in your world. Talia’s been dead a hundred years. How long is a mortal life?”
She trembled as the enormity of what he was saying became realized. “That can’t be.”
His smile was serene, but also full of something she couldn’t name. Longing maybe? Hope? She couldn’t exactly say, but it made her sad for whatever reason.
“There is magic in every world, you just have to learn to recognize its essence.” He started moving again.
Trisha fingers shook as she brushed her bangs behind her ear, searching for Hook. He was already within the dining chambers, sitting at a large mother of pearl table and staring into his cup.
He looked haunted, and so sad it made her throat ache.
“The prince calls to you, even in this form, does he not?”
She jerked, forgetting for a moment that Sircco had probably seen the thoughts flashing across her face. Clearing her throat, she smiled. “He thinks I’ll fall into his bed. He couldn’t be more wrong.”
Brushing her cheek with the pad of this thumb, he nodded. “I’ve missed you. Your wit, your beauty. You were always—” he stopped, then smiling tightly, dropped his hand. “But I suppose, I should stop. Because I can see that though her spirit lies in you, your soul,” he covered her heart with the palm of his hand, “is shaded differently. And this new soul,” he whispered, “is as lovely as hers.”
Stomach tickling, she finally allowed herself to meet his eyes. They were different than Sirenade’s had been. His swirled, like the brewing clouds of a gathering storm.
She wasn’t sure what she might have been about to say, because in that second she felt him. Hook. He was looking at her and she lost her words, because his look was almost a touch—a silent caress that left her speechless. How could that man affect her like this?
“In another life maybe you could have been mine,” Sircco’s warm voice made her pull her gaze away reluctantly, “for I fear, dear mortal, that in this one he still draws you.”
“No.” She frowned. “No.”
His brow lifted, as if with amusement. “There are moments when I do see her in you. Lie to yourself all you want, but the end is already written, it’s just a matter of getting there.”
~*~
This had been the fanciest dinner she’d ever eaten, definitely one for the books. Only thirty minutes into the feast and her stomach was starting to bulge uncomfortably. Mermaids came one after another into the great room, bearing heaping platters of steamed lobster tails, smoked crabs, and sliced abalone.
At first Trisha had worried that all she’d taste was water. It was still strange to her to be breathing it in, but it felt no different than the air she breathed on land. Maybe a little thicker feeling, but that was all. The food itself tasted the same as it would above, in fact, maybe even better. It was super fresh and sweet.
She honestly hadn’t expected to eat undersea creatures. She hadn’t known what they’d serve, but she’d been prepared for seaweed salad or roasted coral, because surely they wouldn’t eat their sea friends. Right?
Maybe she’d watched too many cartoons growing up, because she’d been dead wrong. There’d been muscles, clams, shrimp, even fish. Seeing them tear into steaming fish had felt a little like watching a cannibal eat. For a quick second it’d turned her stomach, but it had all tasted so good the feeling hadn’t lasted.
But now she was sick. There was too much food and if she had to force herself to swallow one more bite of anything she was going to hurl.
She tried to swallow her gag reflex as yet another mermaid set yet another platter in front of her. Mouth drooling, stomach heaving, she covered her mouth and eyed the others. They weren’t eating the way she was, more picking and moving pieces around.
Sirenade grinned, her teeth reminding her somewhat of a shark’s the way they were pointed.
“You’ve finally finished have you?” She leaned in closer, the briny scent of her hair tickled Trisha’s nose. “I thought I might pass out before too long.”
Grabbing onto her sore stomach, Trisha snorted. “Oh my God, please don’t tell me you all were waiting for me to finish?”
The men—who were at the opposite end of the table—looked up then. Hook with brows lifted and Sircco with a ghost of a smile. Feeling like the world’s biggest ass, she groaned.
“I’m so sick I think I will puke, right now. I just didn’t know how to say no more.”
Setting her sterling silver fork down, Sirenade pushed her half-eaten plate away. “It’s quite simple really, you open your mouth and say ‘no more.’”
Rolling her eyes, Trisha moaned. “Har. Har. Har. You guys are hilarious. The food was good, but I think it’s reached my eyeballs at this point.”
“So why didn’t you say stop?”
“Because you’re a queen and all I kept thinking was, if I stop she might want my head on a pike. Why do you think?” Trisha knew she was acting more familiar with Sirenade, talking to her like they’d known each other forever, but in some ways it felt like that. The beautiful mermaid was so easy to talk to.
A bronze hand patted her own. “Oh, little mortal, you are as funny as Hook claimed. I think I should enjoy having you in my realm. Have you given any thought to staying?”
Trisha tilted her head. “I’m leaving in three days. I can’t stay.”
“Mortal, you can always stay. The choice is yours. Do you not like our realm? Sircco?” The gentle swell of an ocean tide rocked in the depths of Sirenade’s cool amber eyes. “He seems to like you a great deal.”
An uncomfortable sound tripped from her tongue, a mix between a laugh and a snort. “Umm… no,” she said slowly, not sure how to handle this, still not entirely certain she trusted Sirenade wouldn’t go psycho Red Queen on her if she did
the wrong thing. Tapping her foot, she made an effort to not look at Hook this time—last thing she needed was someone else assuming she was in love with a man she barely knew. “He’s a king, he can get any mermaid he wants. I doubt he’s thinking of me at all.”
“Hmm.” She tapped her black claws on the table. “I wouldn’t say that, Sircco and Talia were engaged once. Before she met Hook.”
Trisha’s eyes widened, snapping her gaze up toward the two of them. “And he’s not angry at Hook?”
“I should say that is not the way of our kind, that we’re more refined in how we handle emotion, but that would be a terrible lie.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle, she found herself liking the fishy woman sitting beside her.
“He was hurt, he loved her dearly. Talia had a way of bringing out the best in those around her, which was why she was so well loved and regarded. Very likely why Hook fell for her as well. But time heals, and Sircco is a good man, he would never have been happy marrying her knowing how unhappy she’d be. There is a great deal of her in you, you know.”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “so everyone keeps telling me. But can’t you understand how hard all this is for me to believe? I mean I see you,” she gestured up and down, “but my brain is having a hell of a time accepting this reality. Whales with buckteeth, fish that look like flies and frogs, and beautiful people with tails. This isn’t reality in my world. You’re all myth and legends and I don’t think I could ever stay here. I feel like Dorothy in Oz, a complete fish out of water. No pun intended.” She smiled to soften the blow.
A golden seahorse swam from Sirenade’s crown toward Trisha. It was so cute, neighing and squealing as it settled on her finger. Its long pink tongue licked the tip of her pinky, its fan-like pectoral fin fluttered like a little wing.
“He likes you. It’s a great honor for a seahorse to greet you. You see, lovely mortal—”
“My name is Trisha. Trisha Page.”
Sirenade beamed. “Trisha then, whether you accept it as fact or not, your soul belongs here. It’s attuned to this world, these people, even him.” She stared directly at Hook.
“What the hell,” Trisha glowered, “do I have a freakin’ A stamped on my forehead? It is not. I barely know him.”
The mermaid just shook her head. “In my world we have a saying ‘The eyes are the windows to the soul’…”
“We have that saying too.”
“Then you know what I say to be true. Whether you are aware of it or not, yours glow whenever you look at him. It is difficult when the soul already accepts what the heart has not. Sircco is a good man, but he was never the one for you.”
This was a nightmare. What did Trisha have to do to convince these people she didn’t give a damn about Captain James Hook? Kick him in the balls? She didn’t believe in destiny or soul mates or whatever the hell else.
What they saw was lust, plain and simple. That she could admit to. The man was unbelievably hot, but that was all it was. In three days she would leave. Period. Staying away from her life for three months was almost unbearable, if she’d had more family to worry about her it may have even been downright criminal, but all she did have were parents who rarely spoke to her, except maybe on birthdays and Christmas. After her sister’s death the family had fractured. In a lot of ways she was alone, but that didn’t mean she wanted to stay either.
So she just shook her head, but clamped her lips shut, better to keep her thoughts to herself, at this point no one believed her anyway. Except maybe Hook himself who seemed less inclined to begin a torrid love affair than even she did.
“I need to walk, do you have any gardens? The food isn’t sitting right,” Trisha said, giving a weak smile.
“The Kelp gardens,” Sirenade nodded, “but before you go, I want to give you this.” She touched the tip of her black claw to the little seahorse still settled on Trisha’s pinky finger.
The moment she touched it, it wasn’t just a gold colored seahorse, it literally turned to gold. Its eyes were closed, a serene smile painted across its little horsey face.
Gasping, Trisha held it up and tapped its head. “Did you kill it?”
“No,” there was laughter in Sirenade’s voice, “I’ve spelled him. Powerful magic now rests in his body.”
“What can he do?” Trisha looked up, ensnared by the rollicking waves trapped within amber eyes.
“He is now your lifetime companion. I’ve placed him in gold so that when he travels on land he shall not die, anytime you take him into water he will return to what he once was and should you ever need me, he will know how to find me. He will remain faithful to you always and I hope that you will treasure him as I have all these years. Now, a friend will show you to the Gardens, it was good to meet you, Trisha Page.”
She smiled and curled her fingers around the beautiful little horse. Touched by Sirenade’s kindness. “Thank you, Sirenade. This means a lot to me.”
Pushing away from the table, Sirenade and Sircco rose simultaneously. A serene smile graced Sirenade’s lips. “I hope to see you again,” she said, and then swam off without looking back.
Sircco stayed where he was for a while longer, just gazing at her and she knew she’d been right earlier, there’d been longing in his eyes, as there was now. Then raising his hand one final time, he turned and followed his sister from the hall. Not wanting to lose her treasure, she tucked it into a little pocket stitched into the side of the dress by her hip.
Hook cleared his throat. “You’ve bewitched them both, little bird.” His words made her heart swell.
“I liked them.”
“Oh, that was obvious,” a twinkle glowed in the depths of his coal black eyes and she discovered that she enjoyed star dusted black over rolling amber any day. Coming around the table, he latched onto her elbow and she trembled, confused that she liked it so much. That she’d even missed it. “In fact, I think they’re both well on their way to being in love with you all over again.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’re just jealous I got to sit next to such a hot piece of tail.” Chuckling at her own stupid joke, she didn’t hear anyone else in the room with them until a loud voice cleared.
Startled, she twirled and then clasped onto her breast. The mermaid in front of them was staring at her so intensely it made her want to run. Her skin tingled at the glowing red gaze, and yes…literally red eyes bright as liquid magma, roamed up then down her body. A wild mane of hair trailed like flame down her pale ivory back. Ropes of red seed pearls draped the body from fin to neck. Her tail was a burnished orange with flecks of gold. She looked like fire.
“Is it true?” she asked with a voice that shivered both deep and dulcet. “Are you she?”
Trisha sighed, opening her mouth to beg this woman to please stop. She was sick to death of explaining it over and over. But before she had a chance to say anything, Hook curled his hand tighter around her arm and stepped in front of her, as if shielding her from the woman’s view.
“Maiven.” He inclined his head. His whiskey smooth voice made Trisha’s heart beat just a tiny bit faster. “Talia’s soul is within, but this is not Talia. This is Trishelle Page of the Earthly realm.”
She really wasn’t sure why he’d done that. At least, not until Maiven began to tear up.
“My granddaughter’s soul truly beats inside the body of this one?”
Trisha sucked in a sharp breath. The woman didn’t look older than her, suddenly more interested, she studied her features. Her skin was as smooth and pale as the finest marble, her lips were full, her cheeks round. She was as pretty as all the rest and now that she was really looking, she could see the resemblance with the woman to the picture Hook had shown her on the ship.
He nodded. “But you should know, the soul is much diminished. I find nothing of Talia within.”
Why did he sound so sad about that? It shouldn’t bother her. It didn’t actually. It completely and totally didn’t. Because she was Trisha, not Talia. Not this pe
rfect mermaid that everyone still seemed to have a hard on for. She liked who she was, liked that she was from earth, that she was human, she liked everything about herself and didn’t give two craps that they didn’t.
She frowned, feeling grumpy all of a sudden.
Maiven hissed, snapping at Hook, her teeth looking much sharper than Sirenade’s had been. Hers were fine tipped, and as lethal looking as any blade. “It’s all your fault. Beguiling her, tempting her to leave her realm. Her people. That is not the way of our world, we do not leave, you come to us. But you…you refused, and so she followed you. I’ll never forgive you, Hook, never.”
His jaw clenched and a compulsion to soothe him beat through Trisha’s heart, tingled through the tips of her fingers.