The Mermaid and the Murders

by Rachel Graves

  “I’m sorry.” He reached over and took one of my hands, holding it gently. His touch didn’t set me on fire, didn’t make me want to rip his clothes off, but it made me feel better. “That’s got to be a hard way to live.”

  “Yeah.” I stopped the car to look at him. “And each birthday, it gets harder to say no to her. We fought about it all morning, and now I don’t know if she’ll be home waiting to start it up again or if she’ll be gone for a few days, punishing me for not saying yes. I almost don’t want to go home and find out.”

  “Don’t.”

  “What?” It was the craziest thing anyone had ever said to me.

  “You don’t have to worry about it every day. You can decide to let things go for a little while.”

  “But when I get home, she’s going to be there or not, I can’t change that.”

  “Exactly, you can’t change that. The only thing you can change is what you do. So instead of going to your place, come home with me.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. If that was a play to get me in bed, it was the smoothest one I’d ever heard.

  “Or let me take you out to dinner.”

  “Dinner? What kind of dinner?”

  “What’s your favorite?”

  “Sushi,” I lied. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was the easiest. Mermaids didn’t eat burgers, and French fries would be hell on my stomach. Sushi was the safe choice.

  “Then we’ll get sushi.”

  It seemed so simple when he said it, like I could change the way things went. I sure wanted to try. “Sushi sounds perfect.”

  ****

  I told Sarah to tell Ashley that I had to stay after school. I didn’t, but going home with them meant facing Mom. Instead, I was going home with Sam, which meant facing a whole bunch of other stuff. I found him leaning against his car in the parking lot. It really wasn’t anything special, but he looked great leaning against it. The bright red made his brown hair look rich, and his tan skin almost seemed to glow.

  “So what next?” he asked as the parking lot emptied.

  “Dinner?”

  “Restaurant doesn’t open until five. Want to go to the beach?”

  No way was I going to risk that. “No swimsuit.”

  “I meant for a walk.”

  “Way too hot.”

  “Good point. My place then?”

  “Sure. I’ve got some homework to do.” I expected him to call me on it, to tell me that doing homework was lame, but instead he opened my door for me. Sam drove better than I ever would, turning out of the parking lot into traffic while he played with the radio. On A1A, he zipped around the tourists, barely even noticing them.

  “How long have you been driving?” I wondered if I’d have enough time to learn to drive so effortlessly.

  “Depends. Does driving a tractor count?”

  “A tractor?”

  “Like on a farm. We lived in Utah once, by the Great Salt Lake.”

  I thought it over for a second. “Sure it counts.”

  “Oh, then a decades give or take.”

  “10 years?”

  “Little more, little less.”

  I groaned.

  “Don’t worry. I got the hang of it after the first five years or so.”

  “I’ve got another year, maybe two.”

  “Before you go back to the…” He let his voice trail off.

  I made a circular motion with my hand, “Let’s call it a compound.”

  “No cars at that compound, then?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, at least you’ve got a year.”

  “Maybe. Could be less with the…” I was about to bring up the two dead girls, but I stopped myself. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him, and I’d already told him so much. Then again, if I believed him, if he was a salt golem, he might be able to help. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Those gang members that you killed. How’d you do it?”

  He pulled into an underground parking garage and brought the car to a stop without a word, then turned to me. “Why do you want to know?”

  “I, um….” I shook my head, unconsciously trying to get fresh water in my gills. Except that oops, I’m on dry land, so yeah, no help there. “I need to know, but I can’t tell you why.”

  “Something about the compound?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” If we said the compound was the ocean where the bodies kept showing up, then yeah, it wouldn’t exactly be a lie.

  “I shot most of them.”

  “Oh.” I blinked once, then twice. “I’m sorry. I thought as a vampire you’d, you know…”

  “Rip their throats out?” He turned away from me, concentrating on turning off the ignition. “I could’ve done that but it sounds messy and gross. I’d much rather use a gun.”

  I swallowed hard.

  “I should’ve corrected you. It’s salt golem, not vampire. But I think you do it to tease me.”

  “I do.” And I forgot half the time, but hey, he didn’t need to know that. “Want to talk about something else?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Me too. Show me your place.”

  His place turned out to be a condo with a view of the water. It was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door and it made me smile. Mother Ocean, always where I needed Her. From his balcony, I could dive into the waters of a marina.

  “It’s gorgeous,” I whispered.

  “The apartment or the view?”

  I turned around and checked out the space. It was very contemporary, with touches of Spanish décor. Red tile flooring filled the kitchen, while warm wood floors shined underneath a red patterned sofa. Wrought iron around a mirror and blue tiles painted with white flowers reminded me of the Mexican markets in town.

  “The apartment is great too. Where are you from, originally?”

  “Miami,” he pronounced with a hint of an accent.

  “Do you ever go back?”

  “Sometimes but it’s not the same as it was. I mean, not that the people are different, but the shops, the restaurants. It’s more than that, though. The ideas are different.”

  “I know all about places where the ideas are different.” I looked around at the couches and the TV on the wall, then closer to the kitchen where leather chairs surrounded a wooden table. “Is it okay for me to work here?”

  “Sure.” He watched me go over and dump out my bag.

  “What?”

  “I’ve never had a guest here before, and you fit really well.” He laughed at himself, then nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, that was creepy. Do you want something to drink?”

  “Diet soda?”

  “Regular or the lemon-lime stuff?”

  “Lemon-lime, please.”

  He brought my soda in a can, along with a glass with ice. I thanked him and then dove into my homework. For the first thirty minutes, I really paid attention to it. Then, little by little, he started to creep into my consciousness. He was sitting on the couch reading a book. It was The Count of Monte Cristo, and he looked completely captivated. Still, my little glances weren’t going unnoticed.

  I went back to my AP anatomy book, forcing myself to pay attention. I’d never have another chance to study the circulatory system again after this year, so why did it seem so unimportant compared to the way his hair curled behind his ear? Too late I realized being close to him, alone, where no one could stop me from touching him was all too dangerous.

  “Something distracting you?”

  “You.” I decided to go with honesty. Hey, a guy’s got to appreciate that, right?

  “Am I humming or something?”

  “No, you’re just…you.” I gave up on my books and went over to join him on the couch. I planned to sit at the far end, but somehow ended up on the seat right next to him, our thighs touching. Heat came off of him, making my pulse race. I hadn’t been alone with a guy like this since I almost drowned what’s-his-name a year ago. Why c
ouldn’t I remember his name? It was ummmm…

  “Most people don’t find me that magnetic,” he admitted, interrupting my internal search for that name.

  “Ashley did.”

  “She did?” His forehead crinkled like he was completely confused by the comment. It drove me a little more insane. Any second now I’d do something I shouldn’t. It was crazy, but I wanted to do it so much.

  I put my hand on his knee, and he looked at it then back to my face. “You were on her list of men to devour.”

  “Devour?”

  “It’s what she does.” I shrugged. I didn’t want to talk about Ashley anymore.

  “What do you do?” He leaned close to me and I could see his brown eyes up close. They looked so deep and rich.

  “I’ve never gotten a chance to devour much, but I think I’d like to try it.” Before I had a chance to realize how stupid I sounded, he kissed me, his lips against mine. His arms went around me and I found my body slipping beneath his. He felt so solid, every piece of him, his chest, his arms. It surprised me when his tongue played against my lips. I opened my mouth and let him in, let his tongue linger on mine. Moments passed while all I thought about was his mouth and the way he tasted so good. Then he moved backward, leaving my mouth, only to come back and kiss me softly. First my lower lip, then my upper, tracing the shape of my smile with his tongue. He stopped and grinned at me, then nibbled at my lower lip.

  “How’s that for devouring?” he asked.

  “Wonderful,” I told him, breathless. Every other boy I’d kissed had been in a hurry, each kiss a rush. Now I was the one that wanted to rush, while he went slowly, savoring the moment. He started to move away from me on the sofa and I grabbed his shoulders, holding him tight while I went back to kissing. A minute later my body moved, shifting my weight and his so he was underneath me. It felt a thousand times better than sitting next to him. It felt right to be on top of him. “But this is even better.”

  I squirmed and felt the hardness between his legs though my jeans. I might not know if I trusted him, but parts of me were more than willing to overlook that. I pushed my hands under his shirt, feeling the warm skin and hard muscles there. I licked the skin along his neck, then nibbled on his earlobe, doing some devouring of my own. “Mmm, Sam, you taste divine.”

  He might have said thank you, but I wasn’t listening, I was paying attention to the planes of muscles under his shirt, working my hands up and down his flesh. I found his nipple, standing at attention thanks to my kisses. The thought made me bold and I reached to take his shirt. I wanted to see that nipple, to suck on it and find out if it tasted as salty good as he did. A second later, his shirt fell to the floor and I did that, I kissed and licked my way down his hairless chest to flick it with my tongue.

  He moaned and leaned back, pushing against my mouth but then stopped and let me explore. I loved the way he let me take charge. The way I could nibble without him pushing my head lower. Maybe he wasn’t a salt golem, but he sure as hell wasn’t like the other teenage boys I knew. Wondering what else would be different; I moved my hands to his belt. Compared to his skin, the fabric of his jeans felt like sandpaper.

  “Danika,” he breathed my name but I kept my concentration on the stubborn buckle. “I think we should—”

  “Mmm?” I looked up at him through a haze of lust. There was no ocean here, no way for me to be satisfied, but then I remembered the Marina. There had to be an entrance to the water somewhere. I could convince him to take me there. To put on something much easier to remove, like board shorts, or even to get into the water with me naked. I could—

  “We should stop.”

  “What?” A thousand sirens went off inside my head.

  “We’re supposed to go to dinner.”

  I sat up and leaned back on the couch, as far away from his body as I could get. “You want to go to dinner?”

  “No. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I think we should, before you do something you’ll regret.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I wasn’t going to do anything I’d regret. Not here, in the safety of his living room, not far from the water where he’d be fine. Except, I remembered, that I’d just been thinking about how to get him to the water. I took a deep breath and stood up.

  “Yeah. Dinner. We should do that.”

  “Right.” He stood up next to me and awkwardly adjusted his pants.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I’m not.” He laughed, and I laughed with him, hiding how sorry I really was.

  ****

  Yum Yum Sushi didn’t even try for an authentic Japanese look. Instead, they decorated with Hello Kitty and other, less recognizable anime style characters.

  “I know it doesn’t look like it, but this is the best sushi place in town,” I said.

  “I get it. It’s all kawaii.”

  “Kawaii?”

  “It’s a Japanese cultural thing, where cuteness is celebrated.”

  “Like Pikachu?”

  “Yep, except that it started out as an undesirable thing. Have you read The Tale of Genji?”

  “No.” I shook my head.

  “It’s a classic, about people falling in love, falling out of love, seducing each other.”

  I scrutinized the sushi menu, trying not to let him see how thoughts of seduction made me blush. I’d gotten pretty into things on his couch.

  The waitress came and took our slips of paper. After she left, I tried to talk about something safer. “So you’re into Japanese culture?”

  “We lived in Hawaii once, lots of Japanese tourists. I learned a lot.”

  “Hawaii must be magical.” I wondered if there were mermaids there and how they looked, what songs they sang. In our pod, tails tended to be soft colors, pastels. Maybe in Hawaii they were bright colors, or even all the same color.

  “We could go there someday.”

  “Oh, I’ve never flown anywhere, and it’s like, what, 17 hours?”

  “I don’t think it’s that long. And you’ve got to take your first flight sometime.”

  I probably would never take a flight. I felt sorry for myself for about a second before I realized that swimming the way I did was better than air travel. “Maybe not. Ashley hates it, and she flies first class. Jennifer flies coach and she says it’s boring.”

  “I think you should decide for yourself.”

  “Maybe, someday.”

  The waitress dropped off our food and he thanked her before he started eating. “What about you?” he asked between bites. “Where else have you lived?”

  “Just here. Same house, same friends, same place.”

  “And I bet you can’t wait to get out of here,” he teased.

  “Sorry, no. I’d love to be able to stay for another couple of years.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, but then said, “Right, because your mom wants you to go back to the compound.”

  I nodded in agreement, but really it wasn’t about Mom. It was about me. If I stayed, one day I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself and I’d kill some boy, the way I’d almost killed Ryan last year, the way I didn’t want to kill Sam. I didn’t want it to happen, not to anyone I knew, not to someone who was nice like Sam.

  “Can I ask you something personal?”

  I steeled myself, sure his question would cross some line, be something that forced me to lie. “Sure.”

  He pointed to my plate.

  “What?”

  “Why don’t you eat the rice?”

  “Oh that.” I almost laughed at how simple his question was. “I don’t like it.”

  He rolled his eyes a little. “Everyone likes rice.”

  “Not me. Is that some sort of a crime? Are you the rice police?”

  “It’s just that you’re basically eating raw fish.”

  I moved my hand in a get to the point gesture.

  “Isn’t that a little weird?”

  “First, it’s not really raw, this shrimp.”
I held up a shrimp roll. “This shrimp has been soaked in lemon juice so long it doesn’t even taste raw.”

  “And you know that, how?”

  “Um.” He had me there. It’s not like I could tell him that on good nights I caught a couple of dozen for dinner and ate them without even coming up to the surface for air. Ignoring the question was the only answer. “Second, a lot of people eat raw fish. That’s why sushi is so popular.”

  He laughed. “Okay, I’ll let you slide on this one, but I know there’s more going on here.” He meant to tease me, but I could see the truth of it behind his eyes. If this kept up, if dinner dates in public led to things like we’d almost done back at the apartment, I had to be careful. This could all turn out so badly.

  I stuck to small talk for a while, trying to keep things in the dinner-date column. It was hard. Sam wanted to get to know me, and without realizing it, I was getting to know him. Not just the little meaningless things like how he drenched everything in soy sauce, but the way he loved to read and never really liked sports except swimming. By the time he finished paying the check, I could see the two of us dating for a while…except, I reminded myself, that I needed to keep away from anything male.

  “So, are you ready to face your mom yet?” Sam interrupted my deep thoughts.

  I didn’t even have to think about it. “No. It’s not what I want to do, but it’s what I have to do, so you’d better take me home.”

  “What would you want to do?”

  The list in my head was long; stop lying to the people I knew, date someone without worrying I’d kill them, live a life where I didn’t have to hide, tell him everything, but out loud I only said, “Go to the beach.”

  “Let’s give it a try, just for a little while.”

  He stood up and offered his hand to me, a gallant gesture. So gallant that I couldn’t turn him down. “All right. A quick walk.”

  We left the restaurant behind and walked on the sand. Mother Ocean gobbled up the land between the dunes and water, hungry after a long day. I knew it was the tides, the effect of the moon, gravity, but the stories from my childhood still comforted me.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Just some old stories.”

  “You willing to share?”

  “It’s silly. A bedtime story my mom used to tell me, about how the Ocean eats the land up at the end of each day. But She always eats too much, by morning She’s so stuffed Her water can’t climb up the shore.”