“Is this your idea of a joke? Didn’t you ever read Alice in Wonderland? No good can come from drinking strange stuff.”
“Yes, I’ve read the book. I found it a charming story. Why do you assume I’m behind every abnormal occurrence you encounter?” He unrolled a small scroll and met her stormy blue eyes over the top of the crinkled paper, while struggling to retain a grip on his sanity. She’d break him with those eyes alone if he wasn’t careful—and he didn’t want to be careful any longer. He wanted to drag her into the trees and make love to her, claim her, brand her as his, but the lure of lifting the curse hung heavy on him. He owed it to them both to see it through to the end.
“Since I’ve met you it seems to be par for the course, no pun intended.” She smiled at a passing golfer on the cart path.
A pang of jealousy stabbed through Xavier’s chest and a growl escaped. He wished for once she’d smile because of something he said or did. “Be honest, Sophia, this humdrum life you claim to have lived before you met me contained no bizarre occurrences?” When she remained silent, he knew he’d won the battle. He handed her a vial containing a blue liquid. “Drink this.”
“I’m aware of what it says.” She popped off the cork. The air around them filled with the sharp scent of peppermint.
“Do you need to be so damn frustrating?” He sighed in defeat, raking a hand over his face. “The scroll says if we are urgently seeking an audience with Renn we’ll need to swim to her living quarters at the bottom of the lake. Oh, and the footnote says she’s expecting both of us for tea.” He popped the cork on his own bottle and clinked it against Sophia’s. “Cheers.”
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm before the vial reached his lips. “You can’t drink something because the label tells you to.”
“We’ll be fine. I won’t let harm befall you.” He winked, debated briefly the ramifications of teasing her further. “Thank you for your concern. I’m growing on you.” Baby steps in the right direction for his stubborn woman.
“There are consequences! What if it’s poisonous?”
He ignored her protests and downed the vial’s contents, which tasted of peppermint schnapps. Xavier cringed, stuck his tongue out as if the air would take away the bitterness. He wouldn’t admit it to her but his stomach churned, not from a reaction from the blue liquid, but from apprehension. When the anticipated spasms of agony never came, he threw back his head and laughed. “Worry wart.”
“Fine. Don’t blame me if you have another allergy attack. You haven’t refilled your prescription.” She swallowed her own blue liquid. “Nasty.”
“See, no harm done.” Xavier grinned. “You’re quite a skeptic considering what you do for a living.”
“What does that mean?” Her mouth opened and closed much like a fish. She laid a palm over her stomach. “Xavier?”
Damn. I was wrong. “It seems, whether you want to believe it or not, we’re about to become like the fish.” A slash of pain sliced through his body to culminate in his neck. “Bloody hell, that hurts worse than changing into a wolf!” He clutched his neck. Gashes appeared beneath his fingertips. Gills. He gasped as the slits opened and closed.
“Xavier, you’re turning into a fish.” Wonder filled Sophia’s voice. Her mouth formed an O of surprise. “Geez, look at that.”
Nausea washed over him when his legs fused together. The act of contorting ripped the suit from his body. It fell in shreds around him. He tumbled to the deck, the owner of a brand-new tail covered with turquoise scales that caught the sunlight. Waves of pain radiated to every nerve ending. Xavier gasped for air. “I can’t breathe, Sophia. I’ll wait for you below.” His words were quick as he hauled his body across the decking and flopped into the water.
*****
“Wait!” Sophia fell to the deck when her legs also transformed into a fish tail, complete with shimmering purple scales and a gauzy lavender fin at the end. “This is not acceptable!” She did not want to be a mermaid any more than she wanted to be a Gargoyle. “Oh God.” She flopped around on the wood. As her tail thrashed about, her jeans and loafers fell away. The ripped bits of frayed fabric scattered about the deck must be the remnants.
The tail issue pushed into the background as her lungs raged with fire. Sophia struggled to force oxygen into organs that no longer worked. With a cry, she clutched her neck as gills forced their way into her skin, the vents fluttering of their own accord. “I can’t breathe.” She gasped but nothing she did would bring the vital gas into her lungs. Stars danced before her eyes. Her vision flirted with blackness as she labored in agony.
“Sophia, you must come into the water.” Xavier flung a glob of bracken onto the decking to secure her attention.
“I can’t.” She dragged herself to the railing and gazed into the rippling water, meeting Xavier’s concerned gaze. A shiver wracked her body and she looked away. In some annoyance, she spied an abbreviated version of a tank top of glittering iridescent sequins and beads which had replaced her conservative button down shirt and blazer.
“Sophia!” Exasperation tinged with panic rang loud in his voice. “Woman, haul your ass down here, now!”
“No. I don’t know how to swim.” She gasped and choked, freaked out at the feeling of the flapping gills in her neck. “Xavier, help me.”
“You’re a freaking mermaid, dammit, now jump!”
There was no other choice. Clutching her glasses in one hand and her purse in the other, Sophia closed her eyes and maneuvered her body off the deck.
Shockingly cold water greeted her. She shivered as it closed around her. Sophia floundered in the murky liquid until Xavier snaked an arm around her waist, lifting her up, and sanity returned. “I can’t swim.” Her teeth chattered and gooseflesh covered her arms. She attempted to clear the water from her eyes before popping her glasses in place. “I never learned how, didn’t think it was necessary since Indiana is a virtually landlocked state.”
“There’s no need to worry, my dear, since we’re now part of the aquatic community.”
He dipped beneath the water line. Sophia panicked when something yanked her below. Her heart pounded as she clawed frantically toward the surface in an effort not to drown. As she sank, Xavier appeared beside her, grinning.
His tail moved back and forth in gentle ebbs. With the gills, she breathed normally. The water filtering through the breathing apparatus tickled her neck.
“This is different.” All sounds from the busy golf course vanished in the underwater world. Vague echoes pulsed through the wetness, muted and distorted as sunlight danced and bent all around her. “This is very different.”
“I agree. When I woke up this morning I didn’t think I’d become a merman,” Xavier joked. “I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than being a werewolf.”
She heard him as well as if they’d been chatting above the water. Xavier pushed through the shadowy blue green haze with ease while Sophia struggled to come to grips with her new tail. “I don’t understand how to move!” As strange as it felt to carry on a conversation underwater, it was twice as bizarre to lose the ability to function without legs.
“Relax and follow my lead.”
“Okay.” She told herself that having a panic attack underwater was not a desirable scenario, then fastened the strap of her purse across her chest, prayed her glasses would remain on her nose and experimentally wriggled her tail. As the powerful appendage undulated up and down, her body listed and leaned.
Instead of gliding gracefully forward, she spiraled in circles. “I just don’t understand.”
Xavier’s chuckle bounced and echoed in the sparkling water. “You’re overthinking the issue.” He demonstrated the mechanics of swimming with an elegant flip of his tail. “Now, try again.”
Swatting at a slow moving bass, she concentrated. It wasn’t as much swimming in the traditional sense as it was flipping the tail and guiding her body in the direction she wanted to go. Occasionally, Sophia used her arms and hands, but they weren�
�t necessary to propulsion. Soon she followed Xavier through the water as if she’d been doing it all her life. Bubbles tickled her nose. When she ran full tilt into a large school of bluegill, panic coated her stomach as the fish swirled and darted around her. A flip of her tail cleared the group.
“You make a presentable mermaid.” Xavier’s eyes twinkled as he and Sophia sliced through the sun-dappled water, dodging schools of pike and trout, and skimming over aquatic plants. “I especially like the lavender shade of your skin.”
She glanced at her arm, surprised to see her skin had become a faint mottled purple, but the crown shaped birthmark still glowed red. “You used the word presentable to describe me.” Sophia slowed in order to study Xavier. His suit had vanished. In its place was nothing but the slightly tanned expanse of his chest, sprinkled with just a bit of blond hair. A necklace of small shells hung around his neck, floating slightly with the current. Just as her insides turned to mush at the sight of all that manly skin, he spoke, destroying her Neptune-ish fantasy.
“My choice of words was intentional. If I described you as beautiful, not only is it a generic term for women but it’s also vastly untrue of you.”
“Untrue?” Her softer emotions fizzled in the face of the anger surging inside. “You really shouldn’t have stated the obvious. I have feelings, you know. As your supposed mate, shouldn’t you think I’m the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen?” His words hurt, but she’d rather die than let him see how they affected her.
Xavier swam in a circle around her. “My earlier statement wasn’t meant to be obvious. It was merely an observation.”
The outline of an old school bus loomed in the distance, the yellow paint seeming to glow as a beckon. “So what exactly is it you’ve observed about me?” She yanked off her now useless glasses and jammed them into her purse. Whatever the reason, her vision was clear under the water. “I’m aware of my flaws.”
“Indeed.” He tickled the belly of a passing snapping turtle. “As I told the marriage counselor, your best feature is your smile. You can bring me to my knees with it. Even that will pale in comparison to the ever-changing depths of your eyes. I lose myself in them every time I look at you.” He tugged her to a stop and lifted her chin so she had no choice but to peer into his face. “Confidence is the greatest aphrodisiac a woman owns, and when you use yours, nothing can stop you.”
“Oh.” Sophia blinked then pulled away in confusion as butterflies played havoc with her stomach. Even in the underwater world, he had the power to reduce her to jelly with something as mundane as a glance or a few soft words. She licked her lips, tasted silt, and tried hard not to think about what else was in the water. “It’s a good thing I don’t exude confidence, huh? Otherwise I’d have men falling at my feet, or tail as the case may be.”
She darted through the water, determined to put plenty of distance between her and Xavier before something drastic happened. What if he kissed her in the water? Would she still be able to breathe? His persistence could be a hindrance to the mission.
It would be too dangerous to become involved with anyone, let alone Xavier, for a host of reasons, namely because Sterling wouldn’t be pleased. Still, the promise of a lifetime with such a man shone bright as a beacon she desperately wanted to catch.
“Why must you persist in running away or changing the subject when the conversation becomes of a personal nature?” His long elegant hand closed around her wrist, preventing her from going further. The rusted school bus sat ten feet away.
She whirled to face him but not before lacy curtains twitched in one of the windows. “The less we know about each other the more likely you’ll remain intact.” His shell necklace floating on the gentle current distracted her. She shook her head as her fingers itched to touch that glorious golden chest hair. “Don’t you understand? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of me.”
“Is it me you’re trying to protect, or you? Are you so terrified of what Sterling will do you’d throw away a chance at happiness?” He stroked her cheek. “I’ll never let him hurt you, sweetness, surely you can feel that.”
“Do you call being a fish-person happiness?” She focused her gaze on Xavier’s gills as they opened and closed in languid movement. She couldn’t look into his eyes because she’d be lost. Now wasn’t the time, so she retreated behind sarcasm. “Perhaps I should turn myself into a statue and sink to the bottom of the lake. Maybe you can call that unadulterated joy.” Yanking her arm from his grip, she bumped into a common map turtle on her way to the door of the bus. “Or are you so full of yourself you think a kiss would send me over the top in elation?” Knowing that statement wasn’t far from the truth, Sophia banged on the door with a fist and glared at the werewolf. “So we’re mates. Big deal. It’s better for both of us if you forget about me once we’re done with this quest.”
“Don’t be so sure. I have four days to change your mind.” Xavier grinned and stroked his goatee as they waited. “Once I set my mind to something, I’ll work at the task until it’s finished. I’m very persistent.”
“The matter is finished now,” she muttered between clenched teeth. Xavier rested a hand on the small of her back as the door to the bus wrenched open, and Sophia stared down the muzzle of a harpoon gun.
Chapter Ten
“I never thought I’d see you again, but I promised myself that if I did, I’d kill you.” Green eyes glared over the weapon. “I guess it’s my lucky day.” The mermaid’s mossy hair floated about her head and shoulders, red starfish stuck within the mass.
The business end of the harpoon lance bobbed six inches from Sophia’s nose. She cocked an eyebrow at Xavier. “Annie Oakley must be talking to you.”
“Seems so.” Xavier shrugged and flashed his trademark, charming smile. “Renn, I admit when I dropped you unceremoniously on the lawn of that burning house I didn’t anticipate you would harbor a grudge against me for saving your life.”
“Oh please, Xavier, the Universe doesn’t revolve around you.” She gestured to Sophia with the weapon. “I’m talking about your girlfriend here.”
“I’m not his girlfriend.” Sophia eased off the doorstep until she was slightly behind Xavier. Women’s lib had its advantages but being shot first was not one of them.
“She’s my mate, actually.”
“I don’t care. Hannah called and warned me you were on your way. She jogged my memory to exactly who Sophia is.”
“Oh, goody. Hannah makes yet another intrusion in our lives,” Sophia whispered into the werewolf’s ear. “Retribution for throwing her out?”
Renn lowered her weapon and stepped aside. “Get inside. The least I can do is offer tea before I take my revenge.”
From her position behind him, she felt Xavier stiffen. The muscles of his naked back played under her fingers. “Any violence enacted this day will be at my hand. Don’t threaten Sophia.”
As her heart lurched, they moved into the living area of Renn’s home. Sometimes annoyingly superior men were useful to have around. “You must be out of your mind to think we’re going to take anything from you.” The seats had been removed from the bus; and in their place, the vehicle was divided into a mobile home-like setting.
Standing—or floating as the act actually was— in the living area, Sophia looked directly into the tiny dining area with equally abbreviated appliances. The concept of how electric kitchen machines worked under water escaped her, but she didn’t question the issue. She’d learned long ago the truth wasn’t disguised with simple explanations. Beyond the kitchen were a small bedroom and a bathroom. Sophia gnawed a thumbnail. How did mermaids use the facilities?
“Sophia?”
Reality came rushing back as if she’d been slapped. Her cheeks flamed while Renn and Xavier stared. “I can’t trust her.”
“Big surprise there.” As Renn shrugged, her tangled mass of hair floated away from her body to reveal two perfectly formed breasts.
She opened her mouth
to object, but Xavier interrupted. “What Sophia means is since she is a vegetarian she’s concerned about what you’ll offer in the way of a repast.” He dropped onto a chintz-covered sofa.
“If I’d meant to say that I would have.” Sophia glared at him. Even as a merman, he managed to loll about with elegance and understated masculinity. At least he’d averted his eyes from Renn’s chest, which went a long way in endearing him to her.
“Don’t put words in my mouth, Xavier, it’s a bad habit.” She planted her hands on her hips. “We can’t trust her. What are you going to do when she attempts to murder me?”
“First, I won’t let harm come to you. I’ll die protecting you. Second, if your death occurs, I’ll kill her in revenge. Drop the subject.” Xavier inserted a warning in the silky soft words. “Why don’t you hear her out? After that, you have my permission to get your hackles up.” He chuckled at his own joke. “This is humorous since I am the werewolf in the group.”
“Funny.” Sophia met Renn’s gaze. They rolled their eyes and for one brief moment, the women were on the same page. The moment was broken when the mermaid dumped her harpoon gun on the coffee table with a muffled clatter. “So, what made you decide to take up residence in an old school bus?” She glanced around the length of the bus and shuddered at the decorator’s nightmare of a chintz explosion, complete with white ruffled eyelet curtains at each window. “It’s quite, uh, something.”
Floral patterns in all shapes, sizes, and colors adorned every available fabric surface, blurring slightly in the gentle current.
“It’s amazing what you can get on Ebay.” Renn busied herself with a teapot and poured out three cups then distributed them. “What? You thought mermaids just floated through bodies of water, eternally playing with the fish, perhaps flipping around in circles while singing stupid children’s songs?” She paused. “You’ve got a lot to learn about the world, Sophia. Naiveté can be deadly.”
Charmed by the Werewolf Page 12