Five hours, twenty minutes and a few seconds. But who’s counting?
I heard Meri slamming drawers, but I didn’t yell at her. I had my friend back. It was really a miracle. Heliope had come through for me, even though her wonky magic had brought Meri back as a dog. At least she’d brought her back. To think, Heliope and I were actually friends now. How weird was that? I thought about calling her, but if she was busy with customers I’d just be a pain. When Heliope wasn’t selling seashell keychains or some other tchotchkes to the rare fall tourists, she hawked her spells and potions to the island’s supernaturate crowd. They politely thanked her and wisely never mentioned her current appearance. She was a natural saleswoman and could sell just about anything to anyone. Without the use of glamor magic.
She spent all her free time in the stock room of the souvenir shop trying to whip up a potion that would help her. She was obsessed with trying new concoctions, even wacky ones she found on the internet. I had to intervene a few times to make clear to her that radioactive material was illegal.
Despite the deeper lines and the gray hair, Heliope was still a beautiful woman, although she didn’t believe it. Jolly sure thought so, but because of the smack to her pride, she rebuffed his every advance. Sometimes politely. “Stella needs to get her groove back first,” as she put it to me.
She quoted movies all the time now, but at least she wasn’t trying to cook—not lately, anyway. Between having one friend acting like an excited teenager and the other going through some kind of supernatural menopause, I was more than ready for my date. I smiled as Meri walked back in the room, still wearing the pink halter dress now with mismatched shoes and a bright orange head wrap. At least she had gotten the belt right. The thin brown leather belt was just the right touch.
I put the lettuce in the bowl and clapped my hands. “Meri, you did a great job! I love this and this. Let’s get rid of those shoes and the head wrap. I think this is the outfit!” I hugged her as she bounced up and down happily. I wished she could speak to me, tell me what she thought about life here on land, but it wasn’t to be. Mermaids never spoke, not in water or on land, but she was as always very expressive.
“Friend is so happy you are here, Meri. Friend missed you.” She paused for a moment in my arms, stopped the bouncing and sighed deeply. She got very still and curled into my shoulder. I pulled back and said, “I never got a chance to thank you. Thank you, Meri, for saving my life.”
She drew back and stared into my face. Her eyes were full of supernaturally luminous tears that slid down her cheeks. She wiped them away, staring at them and giving me a questioning look.
“It’s okay. When your human heart feels certain emotions, it causes these—they call them tears. They will pass.” She smiled at me and hugged me again. “All right, we’ve got to plan this date thing. I know it’s going to be hard, but you have to hang out with Heliope this evening at the shop, okay? Jolly says he will come by and bring you both some ice cream.” She looked at me questioningly and somehow I knew what she was asking. “No, you’ll come home tonight, Meri. This is your home now. You’ll only be gone for just a few hours.” She clapped and spun around in circles.
Five hours later, Meri was leading me blindfolded outside and I was trying not to trip in my ridiculously high cork wedges. I rarely wore heels, but Ramara was tall so I thought I could pull it off. “Wait!” I said with a laugh. I stepped down the back stairs and could hear music playing softly in the kitchen window. I didn’t know the song, but it sounded like a sweet country song about long-awaited love. Seemed appropriate.
Suddenly the blindfold was off and standing in front of me was Ramara, in a neat blue shirt and dressy blue jeans. He didn’t bring flowers, but he had a bottle of expensive wine, which Meri took from him with a delighted smile. His hair was still damp and tucked behind his ears, and he looked nervous. It was sweet to see him so unsure of himself. That was a big change.
Meri had been busy while I took my shower and dressed. She’d strung my white Christmas tree lights all over the back porch and placed every candle I owned on my picnic table. The flames flickered in the breeze that blew up the hill from the shore below. The sun set in the distance. The air was cool, but I felt the blood rush to my face. We stood awkwardly facing one another for a few seconds. Meri zipped around the edge of the porch with a lighter. Somehow, some way, she’d managed to poke about two dozen sparklers in the sand and was busy lighting them. With all this light, I was afraid one of the offshore vessels would think the island was on fire. But it was the thought that counted.
It was a beautiful moment. Meri’s lack of speech didn’t stop her from gaping at us. She stomped her foot at me once while Heliope honked the horn in the driveway. She nudged me toward Ramara and with a silly wave left us alone.
“Hey there.” I broke the silence first.
“Hey.” His husky voice sounded quiet and careful. Then I realized that for the first time ever I could read Ramara’s mind. It lasted only for a few seconds, but it was a revealing moment.
Maybe I should leave before she gets hurt?
I reached out and took his hands to reassure him. I would never confess that I’d accidentally invaded his mind. That was a secret worth keeping, and it might come in handy later. We were both in uncharted waters now. I tried not to stare at his arms, but I couldn’t help myself. His tattoos were completely gone; the skin on his hands was perfectly smooth—even the battle scars had disappeared. The Order had stripped him of those and his immortality. And he’d lost all that for me.
“Shall we dance?” I said to him with a smile.
“I’ve never danced before,” he said, laughing nervously.
“I’ve seen you handle a sword. That’s kind of a dance.” I swayed in his arms, refusing to take no as an answer.
He chuckled a bit. “I’ve always been pretty rough on weaponry. I’d hate to hurt you, princess.”
“You’ve never seen me dance, have you? I think it’s you who’d better worry about getting hurt. I mean, come on, you’ve heard me sing. Let’s try it anyway, Ramara. And for the last time, my friends call me Nik.”
He pulled me close, and we shuffled under the strings of white lights. The man on the radio crooned a love song:
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me.
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.
We were terrible dancers. Ramara moved like a robot and I stepped on his feet twice, but we laughed through our first dance. When the song ended, we stayed in place and danced through another one. The second time around was better, not because we’d improved our moves, but because I got to feel him in my arms. And because I knew, without reading his mind, that he was crazy about me.
When the music faded, he stopped his shuffling and stared down at me. “It’s not too late to walk away, Thessalonike.” He peered down at me cautiously.
“Oh, yes it is, Ramara. Way too late.”
Without another word, he leaned down to me, and I was thankful for the first time that night that I had worn heels. His warm lips met mine, and we kissed again and again.
With a wide smile that reached his sexy eyes, he answered me.
“I hate it when you’re right.”
Coming soon…
The Lorelei Curse
the fourth book in the Sirens Gate series!
Read more from M.L. Bullock
The Seven Sisters Series
Seven Sisters
Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters
Shadows Stir at Seven Sisters
The Stars that Fell
The Stars We Walked Upon
The Sun Rises Over Seven Sisters
The Idlewood Series
The Ghosts of Idlewood
Dreams of Idlewood
The Whispering Saint (forthcoming)
The Haunted Child (
forthcoming)
The Heart of Idlewood (forthcoming)
The Desert Queen Series
The Tale of Nefret
The Falcon Rises
The Kingdom of Nefertiti
The Song of the Bee-Eater (forthcoming)
The Sugar Hill Series
Wife of the Left Hand
Fire on the Ramparts (forthcoming)
Blood by Candlelight (forthcoming)
The Starlight Ball (forthcoming)
Athena’s Revenge (forthcoming)
The Sirens Gate Series
The Mermaid’s Gift
The Blood Feud
The Wrath of Minerva
The Lorelei Curse (forthcoming)
The Island Jinx (forthcoming)
The Fortunate Star (forthcoming)
The Southern Gothic Series
Being with Beau
Connect with M.L Bullock on Facebook. To receive updates on her latest releases, visit her website at M.L. Bullock and subscribe to her mailing list.
About the Author
Author of the best-selling Seven Sisters series and the Desert Queen series, M.L. Bullock has been storytelling since she was a child. A student of archaeology, she loves weaving stories that feature her favorite historical characters—including Nefertiti. She currently lives on the Gulf Coast with her family but travels frequently to exotic locations around the globe.
Table of Contents
The Mermaid’s Gift
Chapter One— Nik
Chapter Two— Meri
Chapter Three— Nik
Chapter Four— Heliope
Chapter Five— Cruise
Chapter Six— Ramara
Chapter Seven— Nik
Chapter Eight— Roxana
Chapter Nine— Nik
Chapter Ten— Meri
Chapter Eleven— Cruise
Chapter Twelve— Ramara
Chapter Thirteen— Cruise
Chapter Fourteen— Nik
Chapter Fifteen— Nik
Chapter Sixteen— Nik
The Blood Feud
Chapter One— Nik
Chapter Two— Lily
Chapter Three— Cruise
Chapter Four— Nik
Chapter Five— Lily
Chapter Six— Nik
Chapter Seven— Cruise
Chapter Eight— Lily
Chapter Nine— Nik
Chapter Ten— Ramara
Chapter Eleven— Cruise
Chapter Twelve— Lily
Chapter Thirteen— Ramara
Chapter Fourteen— Cruise
Chapter Fifteen— Heliope
The Wrath of Minerva
Chapter One— Nik
Chapter Two— Heliope
Chapter Three— Cruise
Chapter Four— Nik
Chapter Five— Heliope
Chapter Six— Nik
Chapter Seven— Heliope
Chapter Eight— Cruise
Chapter Nine— Nik
Chapter Ten— Heliope
Chapter Eleven— Cruise
Chapter Twelve— Nik
Chapter Thirteen— Nik
Escape to Sirens Gate: Sirens Gate Books 1-3 Page 28