Page 16 of Oceansong
Their standdown hadn’t ceased, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
Angie inched forward.
His shoulders tensed.
“Mocking me is a really good look for you.” Her finger grazed the trigger. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot.”
The merman stared her dead in the eye, challenging her. “I’m not stopping you.”
Angie’s grip faltered. “You know what? You all are hoarding fish, sea life, the food we need to survive. Why?” An explosion of fury rose from her chest and reached her mouth. “We’re forced to eat fish that are unsustainable and unhealthy for us, and now we’re decimating the fish populations even more!”
“You humans need to be taught a lesson about the damage you’ve done to the ocean.” The muscles in his neck became tightly coiled cords.
“Oh, give me a break. When people are hungry and about to lose their livelihoods, you really think they’re going to sit back and think, ‘Wow, it’s because the mer want to teach us a lesson?’” Angie’s ears pounded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but she cut him off. “No, they’re going to do whatever they need to survive.”
“Extremes may be needed to force a change,” he deadpanned when she was done.
“I disagree. People need time to adjust to change.” The pounding in Angie’s ears subsided. “So, you’re going to starve us, then.” She steppedcloser, gun still aimed to his forehead.
Half his lips curled into a taunting smile. “Maybe you greedy humans deserve it.”
Angie shook with rage. She was a breath away from pulling the trigger when he pushed off from his hands. His muscular tail curled and swept the sea’s surface, stirring up a roaring wave crowned with a thick film of seafoam before he disappeared beneath.
The wave rushed in her direction, a bat-of-the-eye away from crashing over her with glacial brine. Thinking fast, Angie scrambled out of its path. The wave’s edges gripped her legs, icy liquid seeping through her long cargo pants and clinging to her calves.
Her lower leg muscles clenched, each droplet a tiny knife driving into her skin.
The water calmed when the merman left. Angie flipped the safety switch on her Glock and shoved it back into her backpack, shivering.
Once she was far enough from the shoreline, she sucked in another shallow, trembling breath, her nerves firing haphazard jolts and making her skin tingle.
Angie flung the backpack over her shoulder and stormed toward the dock entrance, the merman’s words playing in her mind– “Maybe you humans deserve it.”
Her face tightened, and her nails bit into her palms.
Asshole.
Angie’s cheeks still burned hours later, fuming about her encounter with the rude merman.
Who did he think he was?
How the Hells did he know he was in danger when she pointed a gun at him?
And how the fuck could he speak and understand English?
She polished off her second glass of Pinot Noir of the night.
The rest of her family was gathered in the dining room of Mia and Nick’s single-family house in the more populated southeast Creston and were enjoying a small bowl of egg fried rice, two slices of reindeer sausage, half of a fry bread, and a cup of berry cobbler. It was a far cry from the plentiful, elaborate meals Mia and Nick prepared when their families visited. In Chinese culture, food was love.
Some of her favorite foods were on the table, but she hadn’t left the comfort of the toasty electric fireplace, sitting on the gray couch closest to it. She couldn’t eat when she was so deep in thought.
“Angie ayí.” Rosie pulled at her sleeve. She peered at her with those gold-flecked, hazel eyes that Angie adored. “What are you doing?”
“Just thinking about some stuff.” Stashing her phone in her pocket, Angie beckoned her to sit next to her, and Rosie climbed on the couch. “What’s up, love?”
“Are you sad?”
She reached over to ruffle her wavy brown hair, the alcohol shooting straight to her head when she moved her arm. When had she become such a lightweight? She’d spent a good part of junior year in college partying with her dormmates and their sororities. Then her world tilted on its axis after getting news of Mama’s passing, swept away in a freak scuba diving accident. At the time, she had come home for the funeral and left the next day, unwilling to return to the hometown where she and Mama had shared so many happy memories. When she returned to school, she drowned her grief in studying and alcohol. She stopped when senior year started, attended therapy, and hadn’t touched more than a single glass of wine in one sitting since.
