Page 47 of Oceansong
“Why, you used to have long, flowing hair too?” She tried envisioning him with waist-length locks, like hers, and the vision made her chuckle to herself.
Nope, it wouldn’t suit him. She preferred him with his short, full head of hair.
“Nearly had my hair ripped off my head once, when I grew it past my shoulders. Almost got sucked in by a giantzhangyu. I’ll never forget how scary its eight tentacles looked.” Kaden drew his shoulders to his ears, then dropped them.
Angie jumped in her own skin at the notion. She imagined being dragged into a web of tentacles eager to make her their owner’s dinner, and she jutted her chin forward, pressing her lips together. “How did you get out?”
“A lot of thrashing, prying the suckers off, then using a stray piece of coral to jab at it until it released me. Never swam so fast.” Kaden’s nose crinkled. “Learned my lesson to keep my hair short. Most of us do, or tied into tight braids or whichever other style they desire. Coral and rocks and their rough edges are a danger too. You never know which way the currents will take you.”
She brushed leftover sand off her pants. “What’s the point of having hair on your head, and eyebrows?”
“Blunt with the questions, are we?” Kaden had moved even closer so his tail touched her legs. “Sexual selection among the mer. Thicker hair and eyebrows are more desirable in a potential mate. For us, it signals health and fertility.” His face was inches from hers, and she sucked in a short breath. His eyes gazed at her lips, and she parted them to take another breath of brisk air.
Silence descended, her senses zeroing in on him. His nearness and clean scent, the warmth emanating from his skin, breaths deep and relaxed, clear eyes hooded.
His nose bumped hers, but he stopped and appeared paralyzed by indecision. Still, she wanted to know what their lips meeting would feel like.
No, she couldn’t. Whatever would happen would lead to nowhere good.
Walruses singing in the distance drifted to her, chimes and hoots riding on gusts of wind spurting by.
She turned her head away before his lips touched hers.
Kaden broke eye contact with her and pressed his hands to his temples. Angie stole a glance at him, the disappointment in his expression clear.
When she stepped foot onto Creston Harbor’s soil, Angie picked up her pace, boots clacking against the wooden planks while she ran to the ferry terminal.
“Next time.” Kaden spoke before she moved too far from him. “I’ll show you your mother’s resting place.”
She stopped, and turned to face him. “How? She’s underwater. Is she buried under the sand, or something?”
Kaden wiggled his eyebrows at her. “We have burial grounds. I will show you. But you must promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s for your eyes only. Please do not speak of it with anyone.”
She thought about it, sure she would want to take pictures, but she didn’t want to squander this opportunity. Angie gave him a brief nod and smile before continuing toward the terminal. Excitement and anxiety warred within her at the prospect.
Her nerves tingled, spreading a toasty sensation through her body, despite the wind’s chilly ribbons winding around her. The sun transitioned from luminous golden to radiant orange-crimson.
New feelings bubbled to the surface, veering from intense magnetism to hesitation and caution. These had lain dormant until now, wiggling out to smack her across the face.
She brushed the tangled feelings away and would sort them later. Still, her heart fluttered with anticipation at possibly seeing Mama.
For now, she had one hour to get home on a trip that normally took her two.
Twenty-One
The day she would seeMama arrived.
Angie met Kaden, her diving equipment at the ready. She sat at the end of the small pier where he had comforted her the other day while she cried. It was the perfect place to begin a dive. “Wait, how far down are we going? Do I need Heliox—” She was breathless and tingling all over, a tangled web of nerves. Hope and try as she may, she couldn’t suppress it. They were much too close to the docks proper for her liking, but Kaden appeared unbothered, swimming back and forth in front of her. A quick glance revealed the space around them was empty.
“Not at all,” Kaden said with a knowing smile. The waters were clear and calm, inviting her to jump in. “I can give you sight and breath, so you will be able to see and breathe as I do. Should we encounter other mer, you will be able to understand our language.”
Angie blinked. “How?” She scanned the endless sea imagining where Mama could be. “What is this—this magic?”
“A blessing from our Goddesses and God, for the intention of protection, and to promote harmony between humans and mer.”
