by Ruby Raine
“Yes, you save sister,” the third sang, her voice suddenly seductive.
Before Charlie had time to react, the sisters were side by side, approaching him with a single fluid movement, in perfect sync with each other. Almost in slow motion.
No. It was like they were underwater.
Were they? No. He was still in the cave. Right?
The merladies’ blue strands swayed as they walked. It had a mesmerizing effect.
A sense of calm crept over Charlie. His breathing slowed, his eyelids getting heavier, harder to keep open. Everything started to blur.
Hands. Running all over his body. He blinked, hard. Is that my shirt on the ground?
Moist lips slid across his chest. It left behind a scorching sting. It didn’t hurt. Only invited. Enticed. He wanted more. A groan filled his throat. Hands swept down his chest, sinking lower. Lower.
There was a lot less room in his shorts.
The three sisters started to sing serenely, encircling Charlie.
The newly freed sister grabbed hold of his hand and tugged him gently toward the back of the cave. Toward the pool they used when arriving on land to dry off.
“Return with us to the sea,” one of them suggested.
“Yes, come home with us.”
Lips kissed and caressed his skin leaving a stinging trail, but he could not feel where and it felt like everywhere.
“Yes,” he sighed. “I’ll come with you.” He closed his eyes, complete bliss pulsing through his body.
“First, take off ring,” the newly freed one soothingly coaxed.
“It’s the only way.”
“To join us.”
Charlie looked at his finger. What did he need the ring for when he could have these god-like creatures instead? Charlie rubbed the ring. He twisted it around his finger.
The mermaids urged him closer to the pool at the back of the cave.
One of the mermaids waited near the pool, her hips moving in a seductive dance. Her hair fanning out around her, shifting in an invisible breeze.
“Do we please you, Charlie?”
He stepped closer. “Gods fucking almighty, yes.”
“Then come.”
“Follow.”
“Take off ring.”
“Play with us Charlie.”
“Yes. I...” With each step he took, Charlie's body became heavier; his feet heaving across the cave floor like cement blocks dragging underneath his legs.
A surge of adrenaline raced through his blood and Charlie’s body shook as if he’d been doused in ice water. He rubbed his eyes and stepped back, with each step his body becoming lighter, his mind becoming clear. He stopped when he hit the cave wall.
“The ring...” It was saving him.
He gazed back up at the merladies. “Why are you doing this?”
They approached him, fanned out, blocking his escape. Charlie was pinned against the wall, with nowhere to go.
How did they know about his ring? Moreover, how did they know that he had to be the one to take it off? He’d told no one except Michael. And clearly, they were trying to coax him to take it off.
“Why?” He needed to find out, rage rising.
Before he commanded them to answer him, the two sisters that had sought him out at his home, fell to the ground, crying out in pain.
“Lost,” one whimpered.
“Sister gone,” the other spoke, as if her heart was breaking. She reached out to the second, grasping her hand. The second pulled the other in, embracing her. Each in sudden inexplicable tears.
The third merlady turned to the two sniveling on the ground, her lips forming into a hissing scowl. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth elongated, coming to pointy ends.
They did not notice.
“Wait!” The first one’s her eyes widened in delight. “New sister.”
“Yes, new sister,” the second spoke, her voice suddenly changing from sad to happy.
“Confused.”
“Unwilling.”
“Scared.”
“Will grow to love.” The first smiled at the second like they’d been happy all along and nothing terrible had happened.
“Will you two moronic creatures shut up!” the third one shouted. “The job is not finished!”
“But sister lost, and new sister scared.” She pouted, tears forming.
“Must go to her,” the second explained.
“I. Do. Not. Care,” the third mocked viciously, “about your fucking sister.” She shot daggers of silent warning at the two, who stood cowering next to each other.
“Go get that ring off Charlie Howard's finger,” the irate one spit out.
It really was about the ring. He had hoped that somehow he was wrong.
He came close to apologizing to his wolf. It had been paranoid for a good reason. The mermaids were tricking him, and he’d played right into their hands.
No. he’d played right into those mesmerizing hips, and his inability to turn down helping damsels in distress. He’d have to be more careful in the future though, as it seemed the supernatural community was now using this to their advantage.
His thoughts spun in bewilderment, but he needed to escape before they somehow mesmerized him into taking off the ring.
He stared them down. No one moved. None of them seemed sure of what move to make next. Charlie did not know exactly what the ring would, and would not allow, to happen, but he didn’t want to chance they could get it off his finger.
One day. Not even a full day since he’d put on the ring. And already something was trying to steal it. How did they even find out he had the ring, never mind that he had to voluntarily remove it from his own finger?
None of this made a lick of sense!
He hadn’t even told Melinda, Mack or William yet. Only Michael.
The mermaids approached, although the two taking orders from the mean one did not seem as eager to obey.
There were only two ways to escape the cave, the way he had come in, currently blocked by the merladies, or by diving into the pool of water, which could lead anywhere. Including other mermaids or underwater creatures, lying in wait.
EMILY HAD DRIED OFF, standing on her human legs once again. She stood on the beach soaking in the rays of sun and letting the ocean mist fill her nostrils. Mr. Jordan had lent her a pair of his daughter’s shorts, seeing as she’d destroyed hers when she’d transformed into a mermaid. As the minutes ticked by, desires expanded in her heart. Desires that were getting harder to ignore by the second. Desires that set her heart aflutter with anticipation.
“Emily,” shouted Michael. “Why don't you come inside? Mr. Jordan is working on a cure.” When she did not answer, he hopped off the pier and strode up to her. “Emily,” he called out again.
“Oh, Michael. I didn't hear you. Sorry.”
“You doing okay?”
She gazed over the vast ocean. “I want to go out there, Michael. I can hear all of them. My sisters, there's so many. I never knew there were so many.”
“Yeah, that's not a good idea, Em. You need to stay on dry land.”
“I know. Sorry. I don't want to be a mermaid. I know I don't,” her voice trailed off as if uncertain.
“God, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't talked you into coming with me today.”
“It's not your fault Michael. It’s just, the call of the ocean is like nothing I have ever experienced before. It's like... it's like I can feel the water, without being in it. Like it's my home. Where I am supposed to be. It’s wrong here. This sand is dry. Scratchy. Hot.”
“You're going to have to fight it,” Michael told her firmly, grasping her shoulders. “I will find a way to fix this.” He did not like hearing her speech sound like that of a mermaid.
“Couldn't I just go, for a few hours?” she begged, taking a step toward the water.
“No!” he spoke harshly.
Her face turned sad as if she had been reprimanded. “You're mad,” she pouted.
“Oh, no. No. I'm
not mad. I just want my Emily back. If you go into the water, I'm afraid you'll never come back to me. Need I remind you of the dangers lurking out there right now? We still have no idea how many bloodsuckers there are.”
“But they need me, Michael. I feel my sisters, right now. They are in pain. They are in pain over the sister they lost, and sad, for me. Because they can hear my true voice. I don't want to be one of them.” Emily closed her eyes for a moment. “I don't want to be one of them,” she repeated as if reminding herself of who she really was. Her frightened eyes found Michael's. “It's happening so fast! I don't have much time, do I?”
It was like the two sides of Emily were fighting to see which would win.
There was nothing Michael could say to make it better. He just needed to find a way to fix it.
He watched her expression turn from sad concern, to curious, and then angry.
“Emily, what's wrong?”
She said nothing for a moment, but looked as though she was listening to something. “Charlie?” she questioned softly. “Why are you trying to hurt Charlie?” She spoke as if someone could hear her.
“What about Charlie?” asked Michael. He still had not successfully reached his brother.
Emily gasped. “Oh no!” Her head snapped to the ocean and before Michael could stop her, she ran straight into the water, diving. Clothing shattered, floating on the water’s surface.
He shouted after her, but to no avail. He stood just inches into the crashing waves, searching for any sign of her. For a moment, he thought his heart had stopped beating. She was gone. Just like that. Gone.
Emily's head popped out of the water, about fifty feet off the shore.
“Please come back,” Michael shouted after her.
“You have to trust me, Michael,” she yelled over the crashing waves. “I know what I'm doing. I'll be back, I promise. Charlie needs my help.” She sank down below the waves, her flippers popping into the air with a splash as she dove, swimming away from him.
“Fucking motherfucker!” Michael shouted across the shore. He ran his hands over his head, telling himself to breathe. His heart thudded hard against his chest. Panic rising to levels he had never experienced before. For once, all his own. No one was close enough for him to use his empathy on.
He’d wanted Emily to stay close to him today. Thought she’d be safer by his side, over being alone. “What the hell is going on? And why is it suddenly impossible for my girlfriend to stay out of trouble?”
Not only was Emily a mermaid, swimming in bloodsucker-infested waters, but apparently, his brother was also in some sort of trouble that only a mermaid would know about.
“Michael,” a voice called out.
He flicked his head. It was Mr. Jordan. He was standing on the pier, motioning for Michael to join him. When he got back onto the pier, Mr. Jordan ordered Michael to follow him into the house.
He did, stepping into the living room, which was stacked with boxes and trunks filled with papers and books.
“Did you find something?” he aimed at Mr. Jordan desperately.
“Yes, I think I did,” he returned eagerly. “But I should warn you, it's not pretty.”
“Just tell me, please.”
“Emily must die!” Mr. Jordan spoke bluntly. “It is the only way to force the mermaid essence out of her body.”
“Um, okay. Not liking the sound of this so far.”
“And that's the good news I'm afraid,” said Mr. Jordan, his voice lower.
“Killing my girlfriend is the good news?”
“Right before her death, is the only time the essence can be removed. But here's the real kicker. We have to find someone to transfer the essence to.”
“That's...” Michael had no reply. His face contorted as if trying to speak, but nothing came out.
“Potentially a much larger problem,” Anthony Jordan finished for him. His voice held an edge of dismay, which Michael easily noticed. “Don't lose hope my young man. Don't lose hope. I have just the concoction to kill dear Emily. First problem solved.”
Michael just looked at Mr. Jordan as if he were completely insane.
“Trust me, Michael Howard. I am an expert with plants. We can make it so for all intents and purposes, Emily will be dead, but she'll be perfectly alive. More, in a very deep sleep.”
Michael bowed his head for a moment, holding his breath. When he looked back up, he spoke with heavy skepticism. “Even if I go along with this plan, we're never going to find another person to take on the essence. I can't exactly run an ad that says, any gals out there want to become a mermaid for the rest of your life?”
“No, and I'm afraid I haven’t found anything helpful about transferring the essence. But never fret. We still have time.”
Michael wanted to call William and ask him to research on his own, but realized he would be busy helping Melinda, and with Charlie still missing, he did not relish the idea of Melinda trying to help Mack on her own. Not that she couldn't. He would never forgive himself if he pulled William away, and Melinda got hurt.
“Well, give me a book or something,” Michael muttered, disbelieving what he was about to do. “There's got to be some way to store the essence without transferring it to another woman, and then I just have to kill my girlfriend.”
MELINDA AND MACK ARRIVED at the pier where the fisherman had been attacked. They did not see William, but assumed he was somewhere nearby. Mack walked across the wooden pier to question the fisherman, while Melinda ducked underneath it, looking for any sign of the bloodsuckers.
She did find one, but not the kind she was looking for.
William heard her arrive and glanced upward.
She joined him at the edge of the rocky shore, underneath the pier. She hated the tension between them and tugged at her bottom lip.
“I do not believe the leeches are still here,” he informed her. “I have seen no sign of them.”
Keeping it all business. Okay. “So it looks like we're playing chase?”
“It does appear so.”
“I'm gonna try Charlie again,” Melinda told him, yanking her phone out of her pocket. She shook her head. “Voicemail. What the hell is he doing? This morning he's all about being in the lead and on the front lines, and now, none of us can even reach him!”
William noted equal amounts of frustration and distress in her tone. “I'm sure he's fine. Most likely he is busy and cannot answer.”
“I hope he didn't go and do something rash.”
“I presume you’re speaking of the Deanes?” guessed William.
Melinda nodded yes.
“Charlie is smarter than that. He wouldn't do anything without passing it by the rest of us first.”
“Even with his new ring?”
William took too long to reply.
“Uh huh. Exactly. Not even your logical brain can answer that with certainty.”
“I don’t believe your frustration is entirely about Charlie, is it, Melinda?”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“I am going to assume this is regarding the young man who dropped you off at the sheriff's house earlier?”
She knew this was coming. They might as well get it over with.
“I met him the day we found out Emily was a spirit vessel. I was going to tell you about him this morning but I just... chickened out I guess.” She shrugged, feeling stupid. “Sorry.” The word hardly seemed strong enough for how sorry she truly was.
The corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smiles. “I think this is a good thing, Melinda.”
“You do?” She hadn’t expected him to say that.
“Yes.”
She didn’t believe him. He sounded confident as he spoke, but she’d seen his face when he’d opened Mack’s door.
Crushed.
She had completely crushed him.
“Melinda, I cannot express how important it is to me that you find happiness in this life. I meant everything I said to you this morning. Nothing
has changed.”
“But there were things you,” she stopped herself. Her nerves caught in her chest. She could not ask him about the things he didn’t say. Why force him to admit he had feelings for her. Open a wound that had no potential of healing.
“Go on,” he urged her.
“I... I don’t really know what I was going to say,” she lied. “I’m just sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“There is no need. You are building a life for yourself, as you should.”
“I did promise to try. But I did not expect to meet a guy. Not so fast anyway.”
“One who has obviously swept you off your feet?”
“Yes,” she admitted. She couldn’t look him in the eye when she said it.
“Will you tell your brothers?”
She let out a puff of air. “Not yet.”
He tossed her a questioning look.
“I don’t want to scare this guy off. My last few dates, all my dates really, did not go that well. And,” she trailed off with a timid shrug.
William had recalled each time she’d come home from her previous dates. In tears, every time. He had loathed seeing her like that. Never understood it. Why any man would turn her down. It made him want to track each of them down and threaten them. But he hadn’t, in case one of them came to their senses and asked her out again.
“The truth is, William. I like this guy. But I’d like a little more time before he finds out who I am, or has to endure rounds of approval from Charlie and Michael. I've already had to run out on him twice and he probably thinks I'm a total wacko.”
“No man that truly cares for you would ever think this, Melinda,” William replied in all seriousness.
“I’d just like to do it on my own terms, in my own time.”
He nodded that he understood.
“William?” she started, a moment of boldness.
“Yes.”
“Have you ever been in love?” She wasn’t even sure why she asked him this.
William did not answer right away. For a moment, he looked flustered.
“Yes. I have. You don’t live over four hundred years without falling in love a few times.”
“The last time, was she a human?”
His eyes narrowed. Darkened.