Page 4 of Midnightsong
“You’re not alone. There’s plenty of mermaids in the water.”
“I’d rather swim with you.”
Angie reached for the flowers resting on her lap, wanting to keep them in her apartment, but Kaden’s fingertips on her wrist distracted her.
“Don’t make me wait,” he whispered.
He let his hand fall to her waist, sliding it to the top of her thigh. She leaned in closer, and when he moved to kiss her, she pulled out of his reach. Kaden’s shoulders sagged.
Angie bit her lower lip and tied her hair back in a tight bun. When she was done, she left her jacket in a heap on the sand, shivering when the cool, evening air brushed her skin. Kaden’s eyes widened with a flash of reverence.
“Ready,” she said.
He flashed her a shark-like smile, his gaze traveling from her head to the tips of her toes. “Stunning,” he said with a hushed breath. “Now let me give you breath quickly before the urge strikes to take you entirely.”
Angie leaned close. “When we have some privacy, I’d like that very, very much.” He breathed deeply into her, and with a quick tug on her arm, she followed him beneath the Salish Sea.
She was used to the sensations now and welcomed them. Thoughts of the first time feeling and seeing as the mer returned to her. She recalled the amazement and wonder from the first time she went undersea with the mer magic, despite seeing waters nearly devoid of life. Then, the first time she kissed Kaden. Seeing him in his home, lit by sunbeams filtering through the liquid surface, his beauty incandescent.
The scales on his tail brushed her bare legs and he wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her close. “Careful,” he said, motioning to something beneath them.
A mottled, gray, big skate glided over the sand underneath, its spiny back inches from her stomach. She gasped at its six-foot length, its fins flapping as it moved along.
“Learn anything fascinating that I can show you?” he piped up.
“Hmm.” Angie thought back to today’s class. “Well, we reviewed factors that determine Earth’s currents, and the role of oceans in regulating the climate.”
“No mention of mer controlling the currents, huh?” He snickered and Angie reached over to playfully flick his wrist.
“Hah, nope.” She lowered her head to allow a school of large-headed, grunt sculpins to glide overhead. “Had Korean food for lunch with my friends.”
“What’s Korean food?” Kaden tugged on her hand, guiding her around a tall rock face covered in corals. “I don’t think we’ve had that before.”
“You’d like it. They have great vegetarian options. I’ll get takeout for us next time.” Her mind swirled with what he might like. Tofu? Mixed vegetables? Plain rice? Maybe she could get them without sauce, since he preferred his food at best, lightly flavored.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Angie marveled at the sights around her as they traveled deeper, moving past a school of long, lissome sablefish, who scattered when they approached. “And how about you? Had a good, uh, tidesday down here in the deep?”
“It’s always busy here,” Kaden replied. “Spent most of the tidesday checking on our reefs’ and kelp forests’ health, oversaw a burial ceremony, stayed with Queen Cassia and King Varin while they listened to our people’s grievances, and then it was time to meet you.”
Angie grinned.
Two plastic bags drifted by her head, and she quickly took notes, scribbling on her dive slate. A cigarette butt brushed past her forearm, tickling it, and she wrote that down too.
“Ugh. Trash pollution is horrible everywhere,” she commented, slipping her hand back into Kaden’s, unable to fully entwine their fingers because of the webbing from the base of his fingers halfway up to his first knuckle.
“It is. I respect that you are taking steps to address it, though,” Kaden replied. “You said this was to prepare you for your final project?”
“Yup, my thesis. I hope you don’t mind me researching while I’m with you.”
He cast a side-eye at her and shook his head with a partway smile, his expression speaking ‘of course not’.“You know I would support whatever you undertake.”
“I appreciate you. I really want to support and invest in a few companies devising machines that will help clean out tons of trash at a time without harming sea life.” She sighed, her heart thumping with excitement at undertaking her passion project.
“Same here, but you knew that already.”
She let out a happy laugh when Kaden gave her a quick twirl, spinning her like they were two ballroom dancers on the seafloor, stirring up rocks and sand.
