03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (38 page)

“
I don’t see anyone,
” she said.

“
Listen to me! They’re not here yet… but
they’re coming, and they will try to take Nixie away.
”

“
No!
” she cried, looking around again
in a panic.

“
It’s true,
” I said, “
But I don’t
know when. Please take us to Nerissa and Nixie so I can tell them
too
.”

She nodded her agreement, and positioning
herself between our two boards, she took one with each hand, her
webbed fingers sparkling and iridescent in the last light of the
day.

“You’d better lie flat… and hold on tight,” I
warned Ethan, demonstrating the best way to get towed in the sea by
a mermaid.

Lorelei put her head down and started
thrashing her mighty tail, sending us flying through the water
swiftly and smoothly. I looked across at Ethan’s face through a
veil of saltwater spray, remembering how I’d felt the first time
she’d towed me away from Aptos. Now I had someone I could talk to
about it, and it occurred to me just how lonely a thing keeping
secrets could be.

The minutes passed quickly, and before I knew
it we had arrived at the rocky little island nursery where Nixie
liked to play with the other youngsters. Lorelei deposited us in a
protected spot, and we sat up, bobbing in the gentle swells. Ethan
moved his board close to mine, keeping his wet-suited leg in
contact with me. Birds screamed and rose in the air upon our
arrival, angry about being disturbed from their evening roost.

“
Don’t be afraid,
” Lorelei called to
them, and we watched as the ruckus slowly subsided and the birds
landed back on their nests one by one.

I turned to Ethan with a smile, “She’s fast,
huh?”

“You can say that again,” he said, looking
around in amazement, “We’re way past San Francisco!”

The sun dipped below the horizon, darkening
the skies to a rich indigo. It was the gloaming, the magical
minutes between sunset and darkness when time felt strangely
suspended; my favorite time to be out on the sea. I leaned over and
took Ethan’s hand, unbearably happy because for once I wasn’t the
only person here to experience it.

I scanned the water for Nerissa, and Lorelei
dove under to search for her. A few minutes passed, and I was
starting to get a little fearful, but all at once both of their
beautiful faces rose from the depths. Nerissa reeled back when she
saw Ethan, keeping her distance even as recognition dawned in her
sparkling emerald eyes. Her hair fanned out all around her in the
darkening water, glossy and black as an oil slick.

Ethan gasped, shocked at the change in her
appearance.

“
Why did you bring your person?
” she
asked me, her eyes darting back and forth between us nervously,
“
It is forbidden
.”

“
We came to warn you about the bad
people,
” I said urgently, “
Do you remember how they took
you? Well, they want to come and take Nixie too! You must leave
this place and go somewhere far away
.”

She listened, but a familiar skepticism rose
in her eyes. I was reminded of the time when Lorelei dismissed my
vision, ignoring my warnings of her imminent capture.

“
Don’t worry, I already told Nixie to
never go close to any boat,
” she said vehemently, “
They will
never catch me again
.”

“
They want Nixie,
” I warned her in the
most serious of tones, “
And they will come here to look for her.
You must go to a different place
.”

“
No,
this is the best place to
be,”
she replied confidently. “
All of our friends will warn
us if the bad ones come
.” She gestured gracefully all around,
and a seal surfaced next to her as if to punctuate her point.

It made sense, I thought, thinking about the
the fur seals, dolphins and sea lions that frequented these waters.
They were wary and cautious creatures, and I’d already seen how far
they’d go to protect the mermaids that they loved. The birds alone
were an excellent alarm system.

“
See?
” said Nerissa, who had
apparently been reading my thoughts, “
You know that I am
right
.”

“
Maybe
…”

I couldn’t help thinking what Barbara said
about how they were closing in on Nixie, and I racked my brain for
the exact words I’d used in describing her location to Evie. I’d
gone over my surfing gear with a fine toothed comb, so I knew that
I wasn’t being tracked. Still, I was suddenly afraid, with a
haunting feeling that I might be missing something.

“
Where is Nixie?
” I said in a panicked
voice, scanning the water frantically.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know… It’s just–” At that precise
moment a pair of sea lions came zipping through the water towards
us, towing a giggly little mermaid with her baby arms wrapped
around their necks.

“
Whee!
” she cried with glee,
“
Marina!
”

Once again I was shocked at the growth she’d
managed in the short time since I’d last been out to see her. The
sea lions saw our surfboards and melted away into the sea, leaving
Nixie hovering in the water a few feet from us. Her olive green
eyes flew open wide when she saw Ethan.

“
Eeek!
” she shrieked in terror, flying
into Nerissa’s arms, burying her face in her shoulder.

“
It’s alright,
” Nerissa crooned
soothingly into her tiny shell of an ear. “
This one is good.
This one does what Marina tells it to do
.”

Nixie peeked back up at Ethan, and dove
underwater, surfacing behind him. She circled us, studying Ethan
from every conceivable angle, and when her curiosity was finally
satisfied she launched herself onto my board, wiggling onto my lap
and taking my face in her cherub hands.

“
This one is why you won’t swim with
us,
” she said gravely, surprising me with her insight.

I smiled bashfully and nodded, and Nixie
turned her head to cast a dimpled smile at Ethan.

His eyes met mine, his eyebrows raised,
“Whoa,” was all he could manage.

Nixie looked back at me, “
Now let’s go
wave riding!
”

I looked at Ethan hopefully, “Are you up for
a surf?”

He swallowed hard and nodded yes, still
speechless.

The mermaids towed us out to the wave break,
and as the sky darkened a perfect moon rose on the horizon, casting
its glowing light on the mysterious night waves. The mermaids began
to glow too, luminous and wraithlike under the water as they
twirled all around and beneath us.

“Are you okay?” I asked Ethan, worried by his
silence.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky, “This is…
It’s just so…”

I reached out and squeezed his hand. I knew
what he meant, for there were simply no words that were adequate to
describe the otherworldly experience. I don’t think I’d ever felt
happier than right at that moment, sharing all the beautiful things
I’d been privileged to see with the one I loved.

“Watch this,” I said, lying down on my board
as Lorelei took me out to deposit me onto the biggest wave of the
set. I surfed with abandon by the light of the moon, getting
retrieved at the base of each wave and swiftly towed back to where
Ethan sat watching.

“It’s fun… You should try it,” I told him
with a smile.

He nodded again, and I could see the whites
of his wide eyes in the dark.

“
Will you take him out on one?
” I
asked Lorelei, sensing a beautiful set coming towards us like a
slow train. She nodded, grabbing his board and towing him out to
the perfect spot.

“
Be careful with him,
” I called out to
her, watching as Ethan popped up and rode a beautiful wave in his
own expert way. The moonlight cast its magical spell, and I held my
breath until I saw Lorelei retrieve Ethan and tow him back to
me.

He was exhilarated, sitting up next to me
excitedly “I’ve never surfed in the dark before! That was
intense!”

I giggled with joy, for I knew exactly how he
felt. He suddenly got quiet, leaning over to give me a salty kiss.
I met him halfway, and we rocked in the sea, our arms locked
tightly around one another. His lips were warm on mine, the exact
opposite of the frigid sea and dark night that surrounded us. All I
could think about was how much I loved him; I knew that I’d feel
this way always.

Lorelei popped up in front of us, “
You’re
just like Adria,
” she said with distaste, leaping out of the
water like a dolphin, and splashing us with an expertly aimed swish
of her tail. She went back to tumbling in the water alongside
Nixie.

“What did she say?” Ethan asked.

“Nevermind,” I said, “There’s another good
set coming.”

Nixie started joining me as I surfed, lying
flat at the nose of my surfboard with her arms stretched out ahead
of her. She laughed, giddy with delight, as I cut back and forth
across the waves like a ship with its own little mermaid
figurehead. I watched Ethan surfing, dancing with the sea in the
silvery moonlight, and I shivered with happiness. I wished it could
last forever.

The fog rolled in, obscuring the moon and
making it hard to see anything more than a few feet away. Ethan
drew closer to me, and I sensed him wanting to stay in contact more
and more.

“Aren’t you thirsty?” he finally asked, and I
realized that we’d been out here for hours, and it was getting
late.

I was grateful that he was there. When I
surfed with mermaids, I became oblivious to my body’s signals, and
would keep going, surfing again and again until I was literally too
weak to stand. They never tried to stop me, ignorant of the fact
that no human could compete with the stamina of a mermaid.

Ethan hadn’t complained once, and it made me
love him even more.

“Let’s go home,” I said.

After a swift tow back to Aptos, I thanked
Lorelei, warning her to be extra cautious. Ethan and I paddled back
to the deserted beach in silence, slipping out of our suits and
packing our bags in the foggy darkness. He handed me a bottle of
water out of his bag, insisting that I go first, then polishing it
off. He bent down to take our bags and his board and we walked up
the stairs in complete silence. When we got back to Abby’s the
lights were out and Dutch’s car was still in the driveway.

“Where’s your truck?”

He pointed to where he’d parked it a little
ways down the street.

“Are you alright?” I asked. He seemed dazed,
and he moved slowly, like he was in shock. I started thinking the
whole thing might be too much for him to accept, and his silence
must be a sign that he was freaked out by the experience. I suppose
it’s only fair, I thought. After all, hearing about it and seeing
it were two different things.

“I don’t think I’m gonna be able to sleep
tonight,” he said. He didn’t sound happy.

My heart sank, for as beautiful and magical
as I found night-surfing with mermaids to be, it hadn’t occurred to
me until now that Ethan might see it very differently. My profound
supernatural experience might be his dangerous freak show. Tonight
was the ultimate reality check; fair warning to get away from me
while he still could.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked
quietly, wondering if I should tell him about the meeting I had
planned with Evie.

“I have to work,” he stopped himself, adding,
“But maybe I can get started late…”

“Oh… Well… You should try and get some rest
then.”

He just stood there silently, watching me. I
realized that I’d probably mistaken his shock for awe, and falsely
assumed that wordlessly sharing moonlit surfing felt as intimate to
him as it did to me. I realized then, just how much I’d really
wanted him to accept that half of my family.

“I’ll walk you to your truck,” I said,
setting my bag on the porch.

He moved down the dark street slowly, like he
was thinking about what to say. His silence made me increasingly
nervous, and my stomach tightened up. He put his things in the back
of his truck and turned to face me.

“Are you okay?” I asked again, only getting a
nod in return.

I leaned in for a quick hug and was surprised
to be seized in a sudden ferocious embrace. He pulled me as close
as he could, his breath warm in my ear.

“Thank you,” he whispered harshly, “Thank you
for showing me,” he stopped to catch his breath, “That was the most
amazing thing I’ve ever seen… ever done in my life.”

“Really?” I asked, looking up at him, “I was
starting to think–”

He cut me off with a passionate kiss that
left me panting, finishing off sweetly, brushing his lips across my
cheek to whisper to me again, “I don’t see how I can get by without
you tonight.”

I laid my head on his chest with a sigh,
relieved. Something inside of me surrendered.

“Wait here,” I said, untangling myself from
him and rushing back to Abby’s. I crept in, silently packing a
large bag.

“You win,” I said under my breath as I
slipped back out, locking the door behind me.

Ethan was leaning against his truck in the
misty moonlight, and when he saw me coming back with my bag he
smiled from his head to his feet.

“Let’s go home,” I said.

CHAPTER TWENTYEIGHT

RESOLVE

We sat down to coffee the next morning,
smiling shyly at each other. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it,
but now that I’d agreed to share the apartment with him, something
had changed between us. We skirted around each other gingerly,
uncertain as to how we should behave. Everything felt new and
awkward, and I kept catching Ethan watching me when I wasn’t
looking. It was more than a little bit alarming.