Waking the Deep
Page 1
Contents
Title Page
Other books by P. Jameson
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
About the Author
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WAKING THE DEEP
Mountain Mermaids: Sapphire Lake
P. Jameson
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Waking the Deep
Copyright © 2018 by P. Jameson
First electronic publication: August 2018
United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database, without prior written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quotations contained in critical reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this work may be scanned, uploaded, or otherwise distributed via the internet or any other means, including electronic or print without the author’s written permission.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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Prologue
Tamsin once loved who she was. She had been part of the earth for as long as she could remember being aware of herself. Her land had flourished; a perfect circle of life.
Until the strangers came. Beings of great physical strength, who raised their chins high with pride.
She watched as they prayed to gods she didn’t know and practiced rituals she didn’t understand. She kept her distance and saw they respected the land so she didn’t begrudge them the food they took to eat or the animals they chose to sacrifice. They seemed like decent humans. Some of them were even desirable to look upon, for mortals, that is.
In particular, she watched a man who was handsome and brave. Although younger, he seemed to be a leader. There was one above him, a father figure that constantly put him in front to lead the group.
The draw she felt to him shouldn’t have mattered. His life was short, and she had no need of physical pleasure. But this man made her think of things that she shouldn’t have even bothered with.
They called him Bjorn. She came to him one day while he was sitting on the edge of the lake where his clan stopped for a time. It was one of her favorite lakes with stretches of crystal blue water and under the surface were blue stones that she loved to collect.
When she appeared, he was frightened. She’d clothed herself in what she thought were clothes that looked like his, but she couldn’t hide the magical glow that always encircled her. When she spoke he started to back into the lake, his feet dipping into the waters.
She told him she wouldn’t hurt him, that she wanted only to help. He stayed and listened, and in the days that followed, Tamsin met him again and again by the edge of the lake. She showed him the blue stones she liked to gather from the bottom of the lake. He seemed very excited. Tamsin wanted to please Bjorn so she told him where they could find them.
Day after day, their strongest swimmers would swim down and come up with the stones. Sometimes men didn’t return from the deep. The clan mourned their losses but didn’t stop diving.
Tamsin found herself falling a little more in love with Bjorn every day. One night she stayed with him, their bodies joining in her first union of physical pleasure. It was magic like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
And she knew magic well.
Bjorn’s people called her a witch for her abilities. She’d been called many things and this name didn’t bother her any more than others.
One day, she appeared early hoping to surprise him. She’d visited another lake nearby and brought him some stones that were as clear as air. She hoped he would like them.
What she found was him mating with a woman from his clan. They were rutting on the shoreline, their naked bodies flashing in the sunlight. Her blond hair shone in the early morning as it whipped back and forth with her passion. And Bjorn… he pounded into the female like a furious beast.
No. Tamsin blinked, trying to see something else. Something besides the treachery before her. But there was her love, sharing his magic with someone else.
Her shock turned to anger, then into something that didn’t even have a name. Tamsin’s soul splintered and she’d never felt such pain. She didn’t how to make it go away. All she could think of was to make Bjorn feel like she did.
She first approached his father and told him of her betrayal. The man laughed at her and told her it was their way. Everyone was free to choose who to love and who they shared their bodies with.
Tamsin couldn’t understand their cruelty, and his laughter echoed in her mind and fueled her rage. Her next actions were ones she would have to live with forever.
She told Bjorn that she understood their ways. She lied so convincingly. Bjorn told her they had more stones than they could carry and would be heading home... without her.
Tamsin gathered them together and promised she would bless their voyage home and would be waiting for them when they returned. To ensure their prosperity they need only build a replica of the vessel that had brought them to her land. She would bless the vessel and them, ensuring an easy journey and a swift return.
They worked on the boat together, decorating the sides with paintings that told stories of selkies and mermaids. A wooden serpent with an open mouth and flaming tongue was mounted on the prow of the ship and looked dangerous and strong much like the explorers themselves.
To complete the ritual she instructed them to board the boat and row to the middle of the lake. As they waited for her blessing she saw Bjorn staring back at her, but his eyes reflected none of the love she once was so certain she had seen.
She would teach him and his people a lesson. Never again would they take from the land, from her without giving back. They wouldn’t use and hurt. Not ever again.
“A love so true, the earth rejoiced.
A betrayal so cruel, the stars cried.
Those that chose to ignore my pain,
Will forever be bound to the bounty they
Tried to steal. My heart is shut to their
Cries of pain. Your souls will twist in
The mud below just as the fish dig for food.
You’ll suffer as I have under each full moon.
Until such time that you find your true love.”
As she spoke her words, the ship burst into flames. The fire licked at those on board, the blue flames not burning but covering them, their skin changing color to match the fire. Their legs melted together in a magical swirl and they collapsed upon the deck, their tails slapping desperately. As the ship sank the final echoes of those on board calling for help, begging for mercy, rang in the air.
From above she saw a brilliant flash of light that seemed to have come from the heavens above. She could hear the sounds of those above her, the Old Gods that came before. They cast down a b
lessing over her curse. Those below the water would be protected. The bow of the ship touched the water and the serpent came to life, its long body moving to encircle the boat.
The Old Gods promised they would sleep and only awake when they could find their true loves. Their magic was strong, much stronger than hers. There was no breaking her curse and no matter how the Old Gods tried to help, the explorers from the north would never forget what price they had paid to cross Tamsin.
Once the ship sank under the water, Tamsin made her way to the surrounding lakes. She found more of the explorers, ones that had traveled with Bjorn and his clan. They all were taking precious stones from the lakes without giving back.
Greedy, selfish fools.
She repeated her curse on all those that had sought to steal the heart of the lakes.
Someday, many moons from now, Tamsin knew she might regret what she had done. Until then, she would make sure the people of the lake knew unending days with no love in their hearts.
The man watched her from within vehicle he’d hidden in the trees. Many years, he’d looked for her, always missing her by one step, one day, one minute.
Not this time.
Found you, MysticMaiden208.
He knew her real name, but it didn’t suit her. To him, she would always be the lonely girl he found in a chatroom many years ago.
She didn’t want the life he’d chosen for her. For them. But it didn’t matter. They belonged together, and he was going to see it happen.
Even if it had to be in death.
He watched her climb the rocks to the edge of the falls that dumped into a great lake. Sapphire they called it, for its blue water and the jewels mined from the bottom of it. It was a nice resting place. She’d chosen well.
He exited the car and eased up the embankment toward his prize. What a prize she was, with her unique abilities. It was a shame the world wouldn’t have them much longer.
When he approached, he found her naked, toes hanging over the ledge, ready to jump. She was beautiful, he had to admit. But what a whore, showing her body like this.
“Why are you naked?” he hissed, catching her attention.
She swung her gaze around, dark hair whipping in the faint breeze. Fear danced in her eyes and he liked the looks of it. The power he held over someone so powerful was like food for his black soul.
“Because I saw it end. And it ends like this… without you.”
“No,” he growled.
And with a satisfied smile, his prize leaped backward over the edge, falling to the lake below.
Chapter 1
It was time. Once again, it was time.
Mansen of Ragalen felt the call of the moon above him and the song of the jewels buried deep in the bottom of Sapphire Lake. And the glimmering lights of the Aurora. Together, their pull was irresistible, a powerful chain jerking him out of the deep slumber he’d committed to.
There was a time when the change excited him. The idea of waking and moving from the water to the land. The process of his body becoming fully human again. His fins pulling away to become legs again. The mere chance that he might find his mate and break the curse put upon him and his people… it used to strengthen him and give him hope. Made him feel fierce again, like the battle-ready warrior he used to be.
Now? Now the change just bored him.
It was an endless cycle he couldn’t escape from.
Three eager days of living as a human, searching desperately for the female meant for him. The one who would bring him out of the despairing lake for good. The one who could see his glamour mark. The one nobody else could see, that marked him as an ancient Merman.
The female that he could love forever and make a home with.
A home that wasn’t a watery place where he slept most of his lifetime away.
A real home. With a bed and a fireplace to keep them warm. Where they could eat meals together and eventually raise children together.
Three days of hope before he was pulled back to the lake by that same moon cycle, that same song of the jewels. The same Aurora lights. Back to his watery rest to waste away until the next full moon.
After centuries, Mansen didn’t love the feel of the change anymore.
But now it was time. Again.
His eyes opened to the cool dark water surrounding him and he breathed deep through his mouth, letting it in while his body absorbed the oxygen it needed.
Only a month had passed since his last waking, but it felt like an eternity. He didn’t know how the ones who woke daily to the water could stand it. The monotony. The constant wetness. The feeling of being other.
He stretched his arms, flexing the muscles that never seemed to shrink even with his years of inactivity, and flicked his tail to clear it of the dirt that had settled upon him while he slept. Swimming out of his cave and into the open water felt good. In the way it felt to be moving after sitting for too long.
And he wasn’t the only one making a journey to the surface. Men and some women arrowed silently for the shore, their fantastically colored tails whipping the water into a frothy soup, each hoping this land-cycle would be the one for them.
Each wasting their hope on a whisper of a possibility.
Not him.
He wouldn’t wish for the impossible anymore.
From this point on, each wake was going to fucking mean something for him. He was going to live. If three days was all this curse gave him, he was going to live his best damn life for three fucked-up days. The way he figured it, he could get an entire lifetime of living under his belt with just three days a month… three days times an eternity… yeah, that equaled…
Whatever.
Mansen didn’t head for the shore right away. Instead, he swam to the only part of Sapphire Lake he truly liked. The only place that felt like home to him, even though it wasn’t his.
Shadow Falls.
It was a small, secret piece of the greater falls that emptied into the lake. And it wasn’t anything special really. Except to him. Because he’d discovered it so many years ago. Before he was Mer. When he was robust and the Old Gods looked upon him with favor. He’d dreamed of staying behind when the others journeyed back to the homeland. Of making a home here, in the beauty of a new place waiting to be unveiled.
Until Tamsin the witch cursed his people to dwell in the lake.
Past the sunken ship his people had once sailed here upon, the great serpent could be seen. Its long body circled the boat, and it remained calm as long as nothing threatened the people of the lake.
It was their protection, though it seemed more like a lazy pet most of the time.
Mansen swam past the monster, watching as one lazy eye blinked open and shut.
A few minutes later, he broke the surface with a faint splash and closed his eyes to the mist and spray the small falls created as water fell to the rocks nearby. He let it shower him under the watch of the moonlight. The magic moon. The moon that controlled him in so many ways.
Tonight, he would use it to his advantage.
His mind swirled with plans.
He’d hit The Saucy Wench first. Get some strong drink in him. Strong as it could be these days. Whiskey was his chosen vice. It wasn’t as good as the mead of the old land, but it was damn close.
Maybe there, he’d woo a female.
The idea didn’t excite him or his cock.
So… maybe not.
He’d see Jase then. They hadn’t been on the best of terms after his last waking when he left him in the company of the vicious shieldmaiden, Vada. One of his people who had a reputation for being a man-eater. She’d had her lusty eyes set on Jase, and Mansen wasn’t one to interfere in matters of the cock. But was Jase grateful for what was probably the best night of his life? No. No, he was not.
Mansen sighed.
He really should make mending that fence a priority. It was important to have an ally on the shore. But making and keeping friends had never been easy for Mansen. He preferred solitude, h
is own thoughts, and exploring. Why else would he have wanted to leave his homeland and all he knew in search of another?
He swam forward, closer to the falls. He couldn’t touch land yet. The instant he did, he would begin to shift. But he let his gaze roam over the beauty of the place. He could hardly believe that after so many years, it had hardly been altered. Hardly changed at all.
Much like him, existing but never living.
He bowed his head briefly. “Hey, up there. Ya bastards still awake? Do you still listen?” He addressed the Old Gods, the way he always did upon waking. The only thing that had changed over the years was his reverence… or lack thereof. “I not-so-humbly ask your blessings this land-cycle…”
Wait, no. This cycle would be different. He wasn’t searching for his mate this time.
“Never mind. How about this? You just keep sitting up there, watching us make amends for the offense of one man. I hereby say unto you, fuck thee.” Mansen smirked and tossed the sky a lazy salute before twisting to swim away.
But he didn’t get far before a pale thing floating in the water caught his eye in the moonlight. It was twenty yards out from the falls, in the open water, and something about it sent chills racing up his fin and all the way to his scalp.
Mansen squinted to see better in the moonlight as he cut through the rough waves to reach the calmer water. Dipping below, he peered through the wet darkness trying to put a name to what he saw as he approached.
Legs.
Mansen stopped short, letting the momentum of the water rush over him.