“My mom said the same thing. But he didn’t try it.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. I guess he didn’t think he needed to. He’d already shot Sam and I was on the ground-”
“Is Sam okay?”
I turned to look outside. He was laughing with my mother. “He’s fine. We both are. And you never have to worry about Edgar again.”
“We should throw a party.” Her sarcasm dripped through the phone, but I decided to ignore it.
“You know; I think we should. Only this time, at my place. What do you say?”
“You’re serious?”
“Completely. Call everyone.”
“And tell them to bring the keg and the food and the whole deal?”
“Yeah.” I opened the fridge and looked around. “Actually, I’ve got plenty of shark to grill, so tell them to bring side stuff instead of sandwiches. How long do you think it’ll take?”
“About 20 minutes? I can’t believe you really want to host a party.”
“Believe it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sam worked the grill as if he’d been doing it for decades. He somehow managed to flip shark steaks, make small talk, and not look as if he’d been shot less than a day ago. I watched him from a few feet away on the deck while I told Ashley everything. Her eyes kept getting bigger and bigger.
“Wow,” she finally said.
“That about covers it.”
“So he’s dead, the council owns all the land, and your mom is the only council member left.”
“I don’t think Mom considers herself a member still. I think the council’s gone.”
“You ladies hungry?” Sam came over with a plate loaded with shark kebobs. We both grabbed one and started to pull the meat off the sticks. He sat down behind me and I fitted my back into his chest.
“How many people do you think were on the council?” Ashley asked, interrupting my relaxation.
Sam shrugged. “You’d need to have a bunch; enough representatives to include all the different oceanfolk.”
“But not too many,” I decided. “Too many and you’d never get anything done. And an odd number, like seven or nine, so you wouldn’t have any stalemates when it comes to voting on things.”
Sam asked, “Why are you asking?”
“You’re a salt golem. She’s a mermaid. I’m a siren. That’s three. Get another four people and we’ve got a council.”
“You want to start it back up?” I’d thought the same thing, more than once, but I hadn’t expected Ashley to be on my side.
“Sure. Why not? We could solve a lot of problems.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about it. My father had wanted me to be on the council. I could make his dream come true.
“She’s got a point. We handled the murders pretty well. We’re all adults,” Sam agreed.
“It should have dry-lander representatives too, though.” I wondered if the first council had them.
“Jen,” Ashley declared, studying her from a distance. “Unless she’s hiding something and we don’t know it.”
“If she is, Sarah?”
“No way.” Ashley cringed at the idea.
“Her dad’s the sheriff. That could be really helpful,” Sam countered.
“If you guys insist, but I don’t want any drama or stupidity. The idea is to solve problems, not cause more of them,” Ashley declared.
“Agreed,” Sam told her. “We’d need to meet somewhere.”
“I’ve got an idea. What about my dad’s restaurant? It’s accessible from the ocean and land, and we still own the space.”
“Wasn’t it kind of trashed when we left it?” His eyes caught mine and I knew he was thinking about the bullets and the bloodstains.
“Yeah, we’ll need to clean it up.” I thought about the council, about bringing it back; and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. “What else do we need?”
“You guys decide. I’ll go see about Jen.” Ashley left us and I leaned back into Sam’s arms.
“Having a good time?”
“Best time I’ve had in a long while.” Sam said, his lips close to my ear.
“So are you going to stay here long?”
“Do you want me to?”
I twisted my head back and kissed him, letting my fingers tangle in his short hair. “What do you think?”
“I think the only way I would leave is if you asked me to go.”
I smiled and stayed close to him. “You don’t ever have to worry about that.”
His arms came around my waist and I realized I’d never felt happier. I’d made things right with my mom and grown up a lot, but it was him too.
“I’m glad you’re here to stay.” I thought about Neptune’s and getting the council back. I knew Sam would be my partner for that, and a lot of other, really great things. There was a lot to do now, and I was looking forward to doing all of it.
A word about the author…
Rachel Graves writes urban fantasy detective stories with more than a few steamy scenes. Her work creates dark and dangerous fantasies that explore the many shades of gray found between the lines of right and wrong. Focusing on strong heroines, their fears, and the men they lust after and maybe, eventually, love, her writing incorporates myths from the familiar vampires to lesser-known creatures like selkies and yuki onna.
Rachel is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
You can read more about her at http://www.rachelgraves.com/ where her blog offers short fiction and more.
http://rachelgraves.com
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