Page 57 of Oceansong
“Oh, stop.” She laughed and gave him a light shove on his bare shoulder.
“But please, don’t worry about your appearance. I can tell you’ve worked the entire day.”
“More than worked. I talked to the mayor this morning.”
He tensed. “Good news?”
“No,” Angie said, glum, and recounted the meeting’s events. “I don’t know what else to do. I don’t even know if there’s anything my bàba can do.”
“I’ll keep trying on my end.” Kaden tapped his smooth chin. “Have you been eating enough?”
“Barely.” Her lips thinned. A spark of irritation flared. “We’re rationing out what we still have at home. Been eating a lot less.”
Kaden reached behind him, the movement drawing her attention, and Angie tilted her head. “I worried about that, and brought you a few things. I hope you’ll like them.” He opened his palm, unveiling a full handful of dried black seaweed. “Snacks?”
“Nori? I love this!” Angie plucked two from his palm and chewed on them. They were crispy and light and mildly salty, exactly the way she liked them. “I bought these in bulk from Korean supermarkets when I was in college.”
“They’re all yours.” Kaden pushed his palm closer to her. She took him up on his offer, brushing his soft, warm hand when she took the last one.
“Thank you.” She put her free hand over the proximal part of his tail, solid and cold and smooth under her touch. He glanced at where her hand was, and a tail muscle twitched under her touch. The seaweed’s mild bitterness danced on her tongue. “How did you dry this to be so crisp?”
“It’s not wet everywhere all the time.” She didn’t blink while mulling over what he said. Kaden clarified. “In the palace and mer dwellings, there are airy parts. Mostly for keeping things dry.”
She nodded, trying to visualize it. He reached behind him again, but froze.
“Wait. Where did it go?” He planted his hands flat and tensed his tail, using a powerful force to push off.
To Angie’s astonishment, he launched himself a good fifteen or twenty feet ahead, swiped at something, and then returned, landing with such grace that he hardly stirred the loose rocks and soil. One hand flattened on theground, his other holding something within.
Her eyes rounded. “Can you do that again?”
Kaden stared at her with an expression of disbelief.
“No. It’s an extremely inefficient way for us to move on land, and it uses too much energy. Energy I would much rather spend on you.” He pressed a thick bracelet into her palm. “And this is also for you. Thought I lost it. Must have dropped it when I came ashore.”
Speechless, she turned it over. It looked to be solid gold and dotted with pearls, wrapped inside a soft, romantic design, curved and dreamlike. A gold hallmark was etched into the bracelet’s inside, beside the letters and numbers “10K” and “1902.” The quality of the gold and the year it was made. Not a single spot of rust to be found. “This is over a hundred years old!”
“You said you wished to explore the deep. Until I can take you with me, I wanted to find something for you.”
“Where did you find this?” Angie slipped the bracelet over her wrist. Slightly loose, but it held on tight enough.
“In the trenches. I swam through some schools ofpipayuanddenglongyuwho eyed me like I was about to steal from them. Or perhaps they wanted to eat me.” His lips quirked into an amused grin.
He spoke the fish names slowly, and she mouthed it to herself, his language that sounded like a strange Chinese dialect to her. Anglerfish and lanternfish, respectively.
“You didn’t have to bring me anything. But I appreciate it.” She scooted to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He returned it, pressing his face to her neck.
“I wanted to.” His lips on her skin sent a burst of warmth racing down her shoulders and up her jaw. Angie pulled away, giving him a gentle tug onto the smooth ground of dry, packed sand, and snuggled into him. His arms were a comfortable safety net around her. The brisk breeze caressed her cheeks, carrying with it the refreshing pineapple-like notes of sea buckthorn, mingling with the neighboring leaves’ musky-sweet scents.
This was Alaska, her home. Four years away, and now here in the natural beauty of her childhood town and snuggled up with the alluring, kind merman she was slowly falling for.
If only the humans and mer weren’t fighting, this would be her nirvana.
On the rocks ahead, harbor seals with their pups rested and stood guard, their faint barks filling the air.
“I wish I could stay here forever.” She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the light wind on her neck and face. “I don’t know where we are,but wherever it is, I love it.” The sounds and smells of the island melted her stress away like invisible hands massaging her body.
She knew the feeling of serenity was fleeting, and she’d eventually have to return to real life. For now, she was content to stay in her little, stress-free bubble.
