Page 51 of Midnightsong
“Let’s text each other some options and we’ll go from there?” Reesa asked. The students chimed in with enthusiastic nods and made their way back to their student event center to return the table and folding chairs.
The rally’s upbeat energy and her talk with Isabela left Angie on a high as she sat back on her couch that night, a comedy movie playing on her TV, Lulu in her lap, and holding a cup of steaming butterfly pea flower tea with a drop of honey. It was the tea she drank for celebratory reasons, because high quality tea leaves were so damned expensive. The tea was a light purple-blue color with a mildly earthy scent, and she enjoyed looking at it as much as sipping it.
Kaden was on his way back to Seattle, and the last she heard he would be there tomorrow in the late afternoon. Even better was tomorrow was Friday and she had completed all her classwork ahead of time so she could have the weekend with him.
At that moment, life was perfect.
Twenty
Kaden
Kaden’s head broke the Salish Sea’ssurface, the thin film over his eyes lifting and his nostrils opening. He took in the fresh, crisp, salty air, and shut his eyes as a gentle breeze laced through his hair, cooling his scalp. He had managed to maintain a steady speed, limiting his use of magic to only when he needed a boost. He was tired, there was no denying that, but he could push through it.
Beside him, the sea’s gray ripples and foamy peaks mirrored the smoky, cloud-covered skies. The waves’ gentle splashing brought about a sense of profound comfort.
As beautiful as the beach was, it didn’t compare to Angie. The mere sight of her brought excitement that built from his tailfins and spread upward into a heady rush. Her light vanilla, almond-scented body mist was a familiar one, and when she was close enough, he breathed her in.
“You’re here!” She pulled her raincoat tighter around herself and lowered herself to both knees.
He had heard her voice daily for the past fortnight, pleased himself, and fell asleep to her, but it was incomparable to seeing her face.
Her gorgeous, thick hair was tied behind her head. He looked at her beautiful, positively beaming face, and the warm russet-hued eyes that glinted even under gray skies.
He matched her smile and clasped his wet hands in her dry ones, pulling her in for a long kiss before he spoke.
“You make the long trip worth it every time.” One corner of his lips tugged up into a knowing smile, and he pulled himself closer to shore, his torso on the sand, and his tail in the water, dorsal fin peeking over the surface.
“Ready?” He held out his hand, but Angie shook her head.
Kaden’s smile fell and brow furrowed.
“I had a different idea,” she said, and he tilted his head, dragging his gaze from her eyes down to her chest, and shooting back to her eyes again.
Angie pointed behind her to the shadow of her apartment building on the next block. “Do you want to come to my place?”
Kaden looked over her head, then to her apartment, deep in thought. He’d have to use his magic, and it would likely drain him, but it was their best chance of getting him closer to her building, and quicker. “I can raise the water levels enough to get closer. But the rest of the path is a distance to travel. And there are those things.” He motioned with his chin to a vehicle speeding down the street, and she followed his gaze. “They look lethal.”
“Oh, it’s a car. What we use to travel long distances. Or sometimes, short distances. And they can be lethal if the driver isn’t careful.”
Kaden shuddered, thinking of being slammed into by one of those death machines. With a flick of his tail, the tide crept ashore with each sweep of the waves. And sucking his lifeforce, chunks at a time. His chest was burning, muscles in his arms, tail, and abdomen crying out for respite. But he kept his expression neutral, only allowing himself to clench his jaw, so Angie wouldn’t notice.
Black fathoms. And just when he was getting better, too, he had to go and push his limits.
Angie stepped backward, staying ahead of the water line.
He couldn’t sustain it anymore, and the water line stopped three tailspans from the apartment entrance. Kaden floated in a horizontal position, head and dorsal fin sticking from the water. “That’s as far as I can get it. I’m spent.” Once the last word left his lips, the water line receded, leaving him sitting upright on the sand. He propped himself up with his hands behind him.
“I need to think of something else. We have to be fast though. Our governor hasn’t banned the mer from the shore yet, but I don’t want to risk anyone seeing you.” Angie lowered herself to sit cross-legged beside him. Kaden squinted at the hint of sun peeking out from thick clouds, and put one arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. She felt like home.
A stretch of silence passed and no new ideas came. Angie cast a sideways glance at him and couldn’t help herself. “Can you crawl for the last few feet?”
He whipped his head, eyes opening wide. “You’re joking, right?”
“I might be.” The grin never left her face. On the street beside her, a young man zipped by on a skateboard, fully focused on what was ahead of him and paying them no attention, and she pointed at it. “Or you can get on your stomach on one of those and skate.”
Kaden put his hand on her lap and squeezed her thigh, and a warm fuzzy sensation emerged from the contact of his palm and fingers. “Sure, if you want to see my scales all over the road.” He smiled and she put her hand over his, entwining their fingers.
“Ah, no. We can’t have that. Actually—wait.” She sat straighter. “I’ll be right back.”
