“I knew if I told you, you’d insist I marry Valkar. The timing would be too far off to try and pass the child off as hers. And since the child will be half human, it might have two legs instead of a tail. Regardless, Valkar would never raise another woman’s child.”
I recognized the truth in what he said and couldn’t see any other solution. Our fates were truly in Tinami and Saya’s hands.
Nathan swam erratically back and forth across the room. I tried sitting, then standing, then pacing. What was taking so long?
A thought suddenly occurred to me and I stopped. Nathan bumped into me from behind. I startled him when I whirled and began babbling. “We can leave. We can leave now and swim as far and as fast as we can. Now! We have to go now!”
Before Nathan could even reply, the door opened and we were summoned for their judgment. My heart sank as we approached the rulers.
With a distinct chill in her voice, Saya first addressed me. “Serena, we welcomed you into our sirene when you were injured, doctored you, healed you, and befriended you. We fed you and gave you lodging, asking nothing in return. You have repaid us by disgracing our doctor, making a mockery of our laws, and causing dissension amongst our people. You will leave the cavern with nothing but what you brought with you.”
With little hope left, I heard Tinami address Nathan. “You have been a valued member of this sirene since you were a young merkid and an honorable merman, until now. We took you in and treated you as a son. We have loved you and were proud that you became such a fine doctor. But your behavior now is disgraceful and a very poor example for the children who look up to you, as well as an embarrassment to us as rulers. If we did not have Kalani to doctor our people, you would stay and deal with the unpleasant consequences. However, since you are family, we have decided to do the only thing we can do without enforcing the strictest of our laws and, ultimately, putting you to death. We will elevate Kalani to the status of sirene doctor, effective immediately. You no longer have any rights of citizenship in our group.”
Looking back and forth between us, Tinami said, “You have two days to leave the cavern, taking only what food you can carry.” His voice took on a hard edge and his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “If you survive, you will make a nest far enough from here that you will never cross paths with our hunting parties. If they meet either of you while foraging, they will take your life and bring me your head. Go.”
His words sent chills up my spine.
We were summarily dismissed and escorted to the door.
Nathan and I started to swim back to my cubicle. Once out of sight, I turned to him with a stricken look. I frantically whispered, “I’m so scared! What if Valkar hears about the decree and comes to my room tonight? This time she’ll make sure she kills me. If I’m no longer in the picture, she’ll believe you can stay and marry her and she’ll have what she wants. And once she finds out you’re having our child, she’ll kill the baby and probably you, too. She won’t tolerate being humiliated.”
“You’re right. We can’t risk Valkar’s jealousy and mental instability any longer. Even though it’s not the best of plans, we need to visit Kalani to say goodbye. We’ll ask her to prepare us some food and we’ll leave tonight.”
I wanted to see Maia and Kiki again, to thank them for saving my life and being my friends, but knew we had to move quickly. I wished I had asked Maia earlier to teach me to hunt; now it was too late. With heavy hearts, we swam to Kalani’s lab.
One look at our sad faces told her we brought bad news. “Tinami and Saya agreed we can leave but we only have two days. And if Valkar hears about the decree, she won’t waste any time in coming after Serena again. So we need to leave now. Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Kalani was obviously shocked that we wanted to leave immediately. “You should make a list of everything you need—you don’t want to be far away and find you forgot something important. You need food, supplies, weapons. How can you leave tonight?”
“Kalani, Serena’s life is at risk if we stay. Valkar won’t take a chance on letting me leave, believing if Serena is dead I’ll stay and marry her. She was always jealous of Saralee’s status as the doctor’s wife and she won’t let the opportunity pass to gain that position for herself. Now that we have permission to leave together, we have to go now.”
Finally realizing we weren’t running off without giving it serious thought, Kalani agreed it was for the best. She didn’t like it, but knew we had to go. “I’ll make some wraps and snacks. I’m always in the kitchen at odd hours so no one will be suspicious if they see me puttering around in there. Wait here.”
When Kalani returned, she gave us enough food for several days and snacks to help sustain us on our journey. When Nathan took the package, Kalani also handed him a wickedly sharp bone knife. “Please, take this, too. I hope you never need it.”
We had no idea where we were going and knew we’d never see our dear friend again. All three of us sobbed openly as we hugged goodbye. She showed us to her private entrance and Nathan and I swam away.
Feeling as though my heart was breaking, yet knowing we were doing the right thing for our growing family, I followed Nathan out of the cavern.
With only three hours before sunset, we swam quickly, knowing we had to be well away before the morning hunt began. I recognized many of the coral heads, cave openings, and rock formations that Nathan and I had passed on our daily swims, including our place. The little cave where we’d made love so many times would soon be only a lovely memory.
Eventually, we entered new territory and I could tell from Nathan’s body language that he was on high alert. We swam, hand-in-hand, until exhaustion forced us to stop. We spied a small opening nearby and Nathan told me to wait until he looked inside.
When he returned and assured me the cave was uninhabited, we entered together. Settling near the back with some rocks for a rough table, we opened the package of food Kalani had sent. We smiled as we thought of our friend and saw the abundance she had prepared. Wraps made of kelp and other underwater greens; sushi, oysters, crab cakes, lobster, and chunks of fish; and shrimp salad. In a separate package we found fruit, snacks, and desserts; kelp chips, lobster squares, and a fruity, sweet dessert salad. We quickly devoured a couple of the wraps and curled up in the back corner. Immediately, we fell into a deep sleep brought on by physical and emotional exhaustion.
In the morning, anxious to be on our way, we decided to swim for a while before eating. Tinami’s dire warning haunted our thoughts. “If they meet either of you while foraging, they will take your life and bring me your head.” We swam away from our night’s lodging, purpose and determination goading us into a quick pace.
Finally, about noon, we slowed and looked for a small cave where we could relax and eat our brunch. “There!” I was proud to have spotted the fissure before Nathan, wanting to take a more active role in support of my family. I insisted on performing the preliminary safety check while Nathan waited impatiently outside. When I tugged him into the doorway, he hugged me tightly. Seated on the floor, we enjoyed a meal of sushi, salad, and fruit, rested, and left the cozy little space to swim some more.
We repeated the pattern for another day and finished off the last of the food that Kalani had given us about noon. Totally drained by that evening and in need of sleep, we took refuge in another small cave. Nathan held me in his arms as we talked about where we should build our nest. A small seed of hope finally began to sprout in my heart and we fell asleep, nuzzling each other and giggling into the darkness. We finally felt safe.
At dawn I awoke, hungry and anxious to start looking for our new home. Nathan surprised me by rolling me onto my back and looking deep into my eyes. He was so still and looked so somber, I was afraid something was amiss.
“What? Why are you so serious? Is something wrong? Is the baby okay?” I babbled questions at him so quickly he didn’t have time to answer.
“I’m fine. The baby’s fine. I just need to hear you say you’re rea
lly okay with this. That you want to make a life with me and begin our own sirene. I need to hear you say you love me.”
“Oh, Nathan,” I breathed. “I’ve never loved someone so much in all my life. I’m so much more than okay with this—I want this with every cell in my body. All I want is to be with you, with our child, to make a life with our little family. I’ve waited forever for you to come into my life and I’m never going to let you go.”
My eyes burned with tears as he kissed me, long and slow and deep. I could feel his heart beating in sync with mine and my hand slipped to his belly where our baby moved contentedly inside him. It was the first time I’d felt it move and the feeling startled me. I pulled back, surprised, and we placed our hands together on his abdomen. At that moment, there was no sirene, no Valkar, no threats on our lives—only love, commitment to each other, and a mutual determination to make a home where our child could grow up safely.
We looked around at our temporary haven, sighed, and reluctantly separated, knowing we’d better start house hunting. This was a nice area, full of healthy coral, sponges, sea fans, and a drop-off a short distance away—and it was far enough from Tinami and Saya’s cavern. It allowed access to deeper water as well as a shallower, sandy-bottomed stretch perfect for a youngster to play in. All we needed was to locate a nice-sized cavern or nearby cave system where we could establish our new home.
An hour later, Nathan pointed to a small fissure barely visible from where we drifted above the sea bottom. Curious to see if it opened into a cave, we swam down to investigate. True to form, Nathan wanted me to wait at the entrance while he looked inside, but I insisted on going it alone. After only a moment, I excitedly grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. It was perfect!
The small cave in the front acted as a protective foyer that led into a larger cavern. To the right, another small cave provided additional living space. It offered enough room for a small family but was secure enough that nothing too large could swim in and surprise us. And from the front opening, we had a great view that overlooked the sandy stretch with the deeper blue beyond. I couldn’t have imagined anything more ideal.
We happily explored the space and discovered a small opening at the rear of the main cavern. Not knowing what might be lurking, Nathan wanted to check it out as he usually did.
I surprised him by refusing to take a passive position. “I need to assume more of the mermaid’s role, Nathan. Let me do this.”
He acquiesced, looking a bit pleased at my assertiveness. But before I could swim into the opening, he pulled Kalani’s knife out of the pack and handed it to me. “Just in case.”
I nodded and gripped the handle firmly.
Not knowing where the tight tunnel might lead or what could be hiding in the darkness, I slowly finned through the passageway, holding the knife in front of me. As I approached each bend, I paused and took a deep breath to steady my nerves and before long, I swam out a small opening at the rear of our new home. I returned to find Nathan impatiently swimming to and fro.
“It leads outside, away from the drop-off. It’s the perfect escape route should anything happen in here that blocks the main entryway. This place was made for us!”
He took me in his arms. “I’m so proud of you! You’re a mermaid at heart.” We giggled and surveyed our new home.
The location was three full days’ swim from our old cavern. We knew Tinami’s hunting parties foraged, at most, four to six hours’ distant from the main cavern. We felt safe in our new neighborhood and found that it offered much snack food right outside the front door. Nathan pointed out areas that would be perfect homes for crabs, shrimp, and small fish.
We began cleaning out debris and old shells and coral, making our new home as comfortable as we could at the moment. Rocks formed the frame for a bed—until we could locate a large clam shell—and we brought in sand and bundles of kelp to make it softer. Additional rocks and large shells created makeshift tables and chairs. As with any new home, the projects were endless.
Chapter 10
OUR DAILY LIVES fell into a comfortable routine. Home took on a cozy and relaxed atmosphere and Nathan taught me as best he could about foraging and hunting for food. It would take time, but I knew my skills would improve and there was such abundance just outside our door that we would never go hungry.
In the beginning, we ate a lot of clams, oysters, and other sea life that didn’t use speed or agility to evade predators. I learned which grasses, kelp, and underwater plants were edible and tasty and I determined to practice catching lobster and small fish so our diet could be varied and healthy. Eventually, I would become proficient at hunting squid, octopus, and larger fish, as well.
During quiet times, Nathan showed me how to fashion a spear from bone or, occasionally, a long branch of coral. Bone was stronger and more durable, best for hunting larger game.
The baby in Nathan’s belly grew and he became awkward in the water, tiring easily. The fetus had slipped from the sac into his pouch and would be born in less than a month. We often relaxed after lunch, our bodies curled together, and talked about the baby, boy-versus-girl names, and what life would be like once we were three.
One morning, we headed to our favorite spot to bag some lobster. We’d been there before and knew they grew big and juicy in this location, but it was quite a distance from home. Although it was a long swim, it was the only way to satisfy Nathan’s pregnancy craving. We swam slowly, stopping at intervals to let him rest his unwieldy body. I became concerned when it was obvious the rest stops weren’t helping.
Finally, Nathan told me to go on without him; he was going to head back and take a nap. His time was near and I knew he must be extremely uncomfortable since he never sent me out alone.
I offered to swim back with him but he waved me off. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll be fine. You be careful—don’t let those huge lobsters haul you away!”
In addition, I wondered if I’d be able to catch enough lobster on my own to make a satisfactory meal—normally, we worked as a team.
He gave me the knife that had become our “safety talisman,” we laughed, and he kissed me. I ran my hand lovingly over his belly and smiled into those captivating green eyes.
Our life was perfect. I had never been happier and certainly never more in love. This wonderful merman was my rock, my world, and I couldn’t wait to begin our life as parents. My heart was bursting with joy and I reluctantly stayed behind as my beloved swam awkwardly toward home.
Beneath the joy, I had a niggling feeling that something wasn’t quite right but didn’t want to make Nathan feel helpless and vulnerable by insisting on going with him. I turned and started toward the lobster field. The farther I went, the stronger that horrible feeling of impending doom became.
Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I whirled and bolted for home. Racing as fast as I could, I scanned the water for some sign of Nathan. Nothing.
I rounded a rocky outcropping and there! There he was, resting against a large rock, his head hanging down, eyes closed. I gulped a huge sigh of relief, knowing he was alright. I felt silly. All that impending doom stuff seemed ridiculous and I smiled to myself. I waited behind the rocks for a few moments to catch my breath, keeping out of sight so as not to embarrass Nathan should he look up and see me.
I peeked out from the rocks as I was about to turn back to The Great Lobster Hunt.
And that’s when I saw it.
A huge tiger shark glided up over the edge of the wall like a sleek and dangerous shadow. I tried to recall what Nathan had told me about shark behavior and my heart began to race. Frozen in place, I couldn’t move...couldn’t help.
The shark swam lazily in Nathan’s general direction and I tried to convince myself it hadn’t seen him. Then there was a subtle change in the shark’s movements. It swam faster... A bit more erratically... It hunched its back. Lowered its pectoral fins. Then it made a tight turn to the right. I almost sighed in audible relief as it swam away from where Nath
an rested.
I saw him push off from the big boulder and strike out for home. Oblivious to the danger, he swam with determined flicks of his tail, moving farther and farther from the scant protection of the rock.
Suddenly the shark banked sharply. I watched in horror as it sped directly at Nathan. Its speed increased as it focused on its unsuspecting prey.
Nathan never saw the shark that killed him. Hit from behind, he was nearly torn in two. The contraction of his dying body expelled our unborn child too early into a dangerous world.
The predator fed voraciously, greedily devouring flesh and gore from the now-murky water. Thankfully, I was unable to clearly see what happened. Then I spotted the still-struggling fetus as it drifted slowly toward the sea floor.
“My baby!” Without fear for myself, I darted forward, knife in hand. Maternal instinct screamed at me to protect my child. Then I braked as the shadowy torpedo zoomed downward and swallowed him in a single bite.
I snapped. With a visceral need to get my hands on the murderous shark, I bolted toward the scene of the carnage. My mouth opened wide in a primal scream. “NOOOOOOO...!
Chapter 11
“NOOOOOOO...!”
I screwed my eyes shut to wipe out the horrific scene, my heart shattered, my life over. I wanted the shark to attack me. As he ended my life, I would spill his blood as well. I had nothing left to live for.
As I opened my eyes, red water, carnage and death had been replaced by white tile walls and a strong antiseptic smell.
“What the...? Where...? How did I...?” Confusion merged with terror in my soul and panic washed over me like a rogue wave.
Doctors and nurses flocked to my bedside, drawn, undoubtedly, by the scream that had left my throat raw. I heard voices, a PA system paging Dr. Hollister, and a nurse at my bedside talking about a scuba diving accident.
Saving Serena Page 7