Spell or High Water

by ReGina Welling

  “I love it!” She loved everything about being on land. And she loved being on land with Conall. Could she enjoy staying here forever? She thought of the lake and knew she couldn’t stay here always, but she’d like to have a home in each place, and have Conall in those homes with her. Could she fall in love with a human? And so quickly? She barely knew him, but she’d never met anyone she cared about romantically before and who made her wish to have him in her home.

  Would her father accept a human as a husband for her?

  She pulled her head back in and turned to Conall. He watched her with fond amusement on his face. She reached out and touched his hand. His eyes darkened. She yanked it away again, surprised by the warmth that spread through her from that small contact point.

  From the seat in front of them, Murtagh growled. Conall chuckled.

  She wished she dared touch his hand again, but didn’t.

  Murtagh must have read her mind — thank goodness she knew he couldn’t really — because he turned and glared at her.

  She smiled innocently at him.

  He turned back around, shaking his head as they drove toward town. She just allowed herself to enjoy all the sights and smells and sounds of the above-water world.

  The next thing she learned was how to shop. Brayden dropped them off at a store and said he’d be back in a couple of hours to pick them up because he needed to do some work on his laptop. Inside Frankenstein’s Second Hand Store, they found clothes for the four merfolk. Conall explained that these clothes were used, but that it would be cheaper to outfit them all with several sets of clothing. Plus he liked to do thrift stores. She loved thrift stores. She found four different shirts that fit, a pair of jeans, and capris. She tried them on and looked in the mirrors and loved how they made her look.

  She found she liked her new legs very much.

  Next, she learned how much she liked burgers and fries at a place called A Bite to Eat Café. And chocolate cake. She had never tasted anything so good as chocolate cake. She needed to ask Cook to make some of it when she got back, because she didn’t want to live without it now that she’d found it. Ever.

  After lunch, they walked into Town Square.

  “What are we looking for?” Nixie asked.

  Conall said, “Listen to conversations and see if we hear anything, but soon we’ll make our way back to the beach.” He glanced around to make sure no one — at least no one besides her father’s three protectors — was close enough to hear, and said, “Someone on the dive boat used the harpoon gun. I don’t think it was any of the scientists or dive master, but I’m not sure, because everything happened so fast and people could have moved after I saw them somewhere else. I was busy watching the amazing swarm of fish.”

  He looked at Nixie suspiciously. “Did you cause that swarm of fish?”

  “Throne call,” she answered. “I asked them to create a diversion.”

  He chuckled. “Aye, but aren’t you the talented one?”

  His praise lit her up from within. “Thank you,” she said.

  She looked up and saw a booth that said Craved Ice. She pointed. “What’s that?”

  “Apparently the best snow cones in the world, made by another talented lady.”

  A zing of jealousy shot through her. “Do you like this lady?”

  “I don’t know her, but some of the crew talked about her. From what they said, everyone in town likes her.”

  The jealousy subsided somewhat. “Okay.”

  And that’s when she learned that she liked Jingle Belle, too, and that she loved snow cones. Especially ones called Sea Blitz, that were blue like the sea and lit up with blue light. Nixie recognized magic when she saw it. She asked Jingle, “Is this safe to eat?”

  “Oh, yes. It is designed to help you learn new things.”

  Nixie laughed. “I do need that.” And then she tasted it. “Oh my goodness! I want to get one of these every day from now on.”

  After they all had snow cones in hand — even grouchy Murtagh, who was actually smiling as he ate his — they moved on, carrying their shopping bags.

  There was a woman standing in front of an easel who was painting some monsters alongside a mother and two children. Nixie didn’t know where the father was, but a large man in some sort of green suit stood beside them. She could tell he wasn’t really a monster, just a human in a suit. No, wait. A werewolf in a green-monster suit. That made her smile.

  The artist was amazing, though, and Nixie stopped to watch. The woman glanced over and smiled. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Nixie said, taking a step closer.

  “I’m Amber Winston, the sheriff’s wife. Excuse me not putting my hand out to shake, but I don’t want to get paint all over you.”

  “I’m Nixie Starfish. This is beautiful.”

  “I can paint one with you in it, if you’d like.” Amber motioned with her chin. “My business card is on the end of the easel.”

  Amber reached out and took one, holding it up. There was a painting on one side and Amber’s information on the other. The painting was of Amber and a man and a small boy, and three wolves, two large and one small. It almost gave the illusion that the three were the wolves. “Can you paint one of me and a mermaid?”

  “A mermaid? I’d love to.”

  Nixie looked at Conall, who said, “Can I be in your painting?”

  Nixie nodded, looking into his eyes, where he seemed to be asking a much more important question. “Yes. I definitely want you in my painting.”

  They watched her paint for a while, then Murtagh said, “We need to be working.”

  Conall nodded. “Yes. Let’s split up—”

  Murtagh shook his head. “We stay together.”

  Nixie knew that tone all too well. There would be no arguing with the merman.

  “All right,” Conall said, “but it will be harder to be inconspicuous with all five of us. Nixie, maybe Murtagh should stay with you, and I’ll split off with the other two.”

  Murtagh looked pleased, but Nixie wasn’t about to agree to that. “We stay together.” She meant she and Conall.

  Conall sighed. “Look. As long as you can see Nixie and be within, say, twenty feet of her, will you back off? So you can still be close enough to protect her, but far enough away that people don’t know you’re with her?”

  Murtagh frowned, and grunted, but finally agreed.

  “All right. We’re going to the offices of Seize the Bay, a dive boat company. You, Marinus, will ask about chartering a boat. See if you overhear anything. I’ll stay outside, because they’ll probably recognize my face.”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Nixie said.

  The four men looked at her, and she shrugged. “I like him.”

  Murtagh grunted and rolled his eyes, something he never did with her father. Marinus smiled at her as if he was amused by the romantic entanglement she seemed to have ensnared herself in. And Quayly smiled shyly.

  Conall stared at her. “You like me?”

  “Yes.” She stuck out her chin. “I like you.”

  He grinned at her. “I like you, too, Bubbles.”

  Incensed, but also sort of pleased, she said, “Bubbles?”

  He shrugged. “You’re cute and you rose to the surface to help me.”

  She thought about it for a moment. “You may call me Bubbles.”

  He chuckled. “Thank you, princess.”

  All too soon, it was time to head to the parking lot, where Brayden had told them he’d pick them up. He was going to take them back to the dive boat office at the dock on Moonchuckle Bay.

  She didn’t know what they’d find, and the thought of the harpoon scared her.

  She took Conall’s hand and immediately felt strength and calm. When Murtagh growled at her, she ignored him, but Conall squeezed her fingers lightly before releasing her hand.

  She wished he hadn’t.

  That Was Just A Joke

  The ride back to the dock in her new clothes pleased Nixie. This time she
didn’t put her face out the window, but held her hand out and zigged it back and forth in the breeze.

  Brayden pulled the van into the Moonchuckle Bay parking lot and parked. “I’ve got to go put some things in order on the dive boat. Will you be joining me, Conall?”

  “After a while. I need to help these folks rent a boat first.”

  “All right. It was nice meeting you folks.”

  “They’ll be staying at the hotel tonight,” Conall informed him.

  “Oh, then I’ll see you later.” He took off, and the others slid from the van and shut the doors.

  She took Conall’s hand again, and he led the way. She looked up at him and whispered, “You do belong to me, you know.”

  He smiled at that and squeezed her hand. Behind her, she heard Murtagh’s grunt, and she giggled.

  She’d never giggled before in her life.

  Conall could eat her up! She was so pretty, and she obviously liked him. She made him feel like a hero.

  As they neared Seize the Bay’s office, Conall stopped. “Marinus, you’re in charge in here.”

  Murtagh protested, but Conall held up a hand. “Marinus is the diplomat with all the land-dives.”

  “Land-dives?”

  Conall shrugged. “I live on land and dive in the water. You live in the water and dive on land.”

  Marinus mulled it over and smiled. “I like it.”

  Quayly nodded. “Me, too.”

  Murtagh grunted. Shocker.

  “So,” Conall continued, “Marinus will do all the talking while you’re in there. But you, Murtagh, and you, Quayly, will pretend to be paying attention to Marinus’s conversation, but instead, you’ll be listening for any other information you can get. We need a lead, something — anything — that we can follow.”

  The mermen nodded.

  Conall handed a cell phone to Marinus. He’d shown him how to use it earlier. “If I learn anything, I’ll call and you can pretend to be talking with your girlfriend or sister or something. Then you can ask any new questions I have.”

  Marinus stood tall. “We’re going in,” he said, which made Conall want to laugh, except he couldn’t, because Marinus was so serious.

  The three merman walked toward the door.

  Nixie whispered, “Do you think they’ll learn anything?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t know where else to start. I suspect it was one of the crew members who tried to shoot you, and we need to learn more about the crew.”

  They watched as the three went inside, and could see them standing at the counter inside. A man came up to help them, and the conversation began.

  “Okay, while they’re busy, I have somewhere for us to go.”

  “Where?”

  “We’re going to walk around the building and see if there’s anything in their trash.”

  “Trash?” Her face puckered into a grimace.

  “Yes, princess. People leave revealing information in their trash.”

  “My father warned me about humans like you,” she said.

  Taken aback, he sputtered.

  When she started laughing, he realized she was teasing him, and he smiled. “You got me.”

  “I certainly do,” she said, smugly.

  He led her past the shop, and then they walked to the side of the building, where a small dumpster sat.

  It smelled.

  Nixie looked at it and then him, with something akin to horror in her eyes.

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry, princess. I’m the one going in.”

  He lifted the lid, and jumped over the edge and dropped inside. It was about half full of trash, and he started going through things.

  It took about ten minutes of dumpster diving before he hit pay dirt. Dirt being the operative word.

  A crumpled paper with the names of Seize the Bay employees on it, and their dates of hire.

  Everyone had worked there for at least three years. Except one, who had been hired four weeks before — just before the merman got harpooned.

  He climbed back out holding the paper. Thank goodness it was relatively clean. He folded it and carefully stuffed it in his shirt pocket.

  Nixie studied him with distaste. “Where will you wash off?”

  “Let’s step in here,” he said, and pushed inside the door of a small gift shop. “May I wash my hands in your restroom?” he asked nicely.

  “Sure, honey.” The woman at the counter nodded toward a door.

  Nixie walked with him, and he left the restroom door open while he washed and dried his hands.

  He pulled out his cell phone as he moved out of the restroom and called Marinus.

  “Hello?” The merman sounded tentative.

  “This is your sister,” Conall said. “Ask them about a crew member named Arvid Jorgensen. Tell them you heard he was a good crew member and you’d like to get him scheduled on your boat.”

  “Okay,” Marinus said, and hung up.

  Conall looked around at the over-priced merchandise and finally paid the woman for two donuts that smelled fresh and hot.

  As they walked out, he handed one of the donuts to Nixie.

  Her eyes lit up. “For me?”

  “For you, beautiful.”

  She took a bite, stopped, closed her eyes, and groaned.

  He chuckled as he took a bite of his own. It was good.

  She sighed and opened her eyes. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

  He reached over and brushed his lips against hers. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

  She blushed furiously, even as he wondered at his impulse. But he smiled at her and followed another impulse, taking her hand, and they stood like that, waiting for the mermen to come out. He was acutely aware of her hand in his.

  When they did, the men hurried to Conall’s side.

  “Arvid Jorgensen isn’t scheduled back to work until tomorrow.”

  “Did they say where we could find him?”

  “No.”

  Conall frowned, but nodded. “All right. Let’s go find a motel where we can all room together. Princess, we’ll put you on a bed and the rest of us will sleep on the floor to protect you.”

  “But first,” Nixie said, “I want to go to a restaurant again.”

  “You got it, Bubbles.”

  Conall had taken them all to the Bubbling Cauldron for dinner. Nixie loved the broccoli-cheese soup and fresh-baked bread. Flavors were more pronounced on land than in the water, and her taste buds were partying.

  Afterward, Marinus told them they should check into the Wildwood Hotel, which served paranormals.

  Conall said, “I’m human.”

  Marinus shrugged. “You’re with us.”

  So Conall had paid for a suite at the Wildwood Hotel, a place almost as fancy as her father’s palace.

  There were three rooms — two bedrooms off a main area that held couches, a small kitchen, and a dining room table.

  Conall found a movie on the television, and was starting it up. She sat on the couch next to him, while the others lounged on the other couch or the floor. “I think you’ll all like this one.”

  It came on the screen.

  “The Little Mermaid?” Murtagh grabbed for the remote. “That’s not even funny.”

  “That was just a joke. Now I’ll put the real movie on.”

  After another moment, My Big Fat Greek Wedding came on.

  I’ll Need Help Getting Out of Here

  The next morning, they were back at Seize the Bay. Marinus went in alone this time, and came out ten minutes later, smiling.

  “Arvid is on the boat on the dock. The Radar Rider.”

  “That’s our scientific dive boat,” Conall said. “All right. I think Nixie should not go on the dive boat because this could well be the guy who shot at her, actually did shoot me, and already shot a merman. I’ll go back on alone.”

  Murtagh shook his head. “We stay together.”

  Conall sighed. “I’m not going to b
etray you or anything like that.”

  “You could use our help,” the big man replied.

  After a stare down, Conall shrugged. “All right. But I don’t want Nixie there.”

  Murtagh said, “Marinus will stay with Nixie along the shoreline, mixed in with the many tourists. I will go with you to protect you.”

  Quayly said, “I will go, as well.”

  Conall said, “All right. We have a plan.”

  Nixie wasn’t pleased with the plan because it left her doing nothing. Well, nothing except eating human food from a booth on the beach.

  She could get used to this human food.

  “You’ll like the corn dogs, too,” Marinus said.

  So she added one to her plate. Good think Conall had left them two twenty-dollar bills.

  She led the way back to the shore, where they settled down on the sand, and tried to see what was happening on the dive boat, which was still hooked to the dock.

  Conall had a bad feeling about this. As he stepped onto the dive boat, the hair on the back of his neck rose, and he scanned around him. Brayden and Levi waved from the other end of the boat. Hector turned and waved to them, as well. Three crew members were also hard at work.

  He wondered which one was Arvid. He’d looked up the name and it was a Scandinavian name, so he was betting on the tall blond guy securing ropes.

  “Follow me,” he said softly to Murtagh. “I’ll say you’re my assistant, so try to look like you know what you’re doing.”

  “I know what I’m doing.” Murtagh sounded offended.

  “Try to sound like you have a degree in marine biology.”

  Murtagh finally grinned, surprising Conall. “I know marine biology very well.”

  “I bet you do.” Conall clapped the other man on his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s do this.”

  He led the way to the bow, where his colleagues sat shooting the breeze. “Hi, everyone. I want you to meet Murtagh. He’s here to help me with a project, so I thought he could go out with us today.”

  The other men leaned forward and waved up at Murtagh.