Page 19 of A Merman's Tail
Lyric
As soon as we arrived back at the location where my human usually stored his boat, a crowd waited for us. Something flashed in our direction, and I blinked at my sudden blindness. Ethan held my arms to stop me from stepping back and falling over the edge of the yacht—another word he’d used for his boat, and I smiled at him in gratitude.
“They’re reporters,” he said, as though that explained everything. I didn’t know whatreporterswere, and I must have looked confused because he shook his head in adon’t worry about itkind of way. I hated that he wasn’t bothering to explain it to me. Had I become so annoying already?
When we reached the wooden planks the humans were gathered on, Joey tied the boat up with a rope as Ethan gestured me to follow him off. He’d grabbed Ribbins’ tail that he’d since wrapped in cloth before carrying it over the gangway. I trailed after him because there was nothing else I could do.
The humans pushed at each other and something flashed at us again, and I blinked at the whiteness that filled my vision. It took me a moment to realize they were holding something in their hands, something I’d never seen before. That’s what was flashing.
Joey grabbed my shoulder, steadying me, and I turned to smile in thanks. He looked grim, as though he would rather not be here, and I didn’t quite understand that, either. He’d wanted to find the merfolk, hadn’t he?
“Mr. Turmont! Is it true you found a mermaid?” a woman asked abruptly, sticking something long in Ethan’s direction just as he lowered the wrapped tail onto the wood.
My human smiled, and I felt my heart thump so wildly that I couldn’t breathe for a second. His handsomeness never failed to stun me. He was perfect in every way.
“I wouldn’t saymermaid,” Ethan said with a laugh.
The humans gathered around him moved in closer, flashes of light coming from the devices in their hands, and more long objects were shoved in his direction. I recognized a few of the faces behind the crowd of humans, and the sight of one of the females made my gut twist. I could never forget her because she’d been there the night I saved Ethan. She’d smiled at him, and I’d never forget the emotion I’d experienced that night, the twisted agony that made me feel sick. She’d been beautiful andhuman.
The way she smiled now gave me that same feeling, and I gnashed my teeth together. I didn’t want her anywhere near my Ethan, but I didn’t miss the way he stared over the heads of the other humans to her and smiled.
Gut churning, I made to step forward, but Joey grabbed my arm, dragging me past the crowd. I fought against his hold, but it was useless. He was a lot stronger than I gave him credit for and without the ability to scream in rage, I was useless. Any noise I did make was quiet compared to the questions thrown at Ethan.
I struggled harder as we strode past the girl, but Joey kept a firm grip on me as he dragged me farther away from the boats until we were on land, and then he shoved me onto the cement. I hissed at him, and he glared back at me.
“This is his chance. What he was willing to kill for,” he said as he kneeled in front of me. His eyes sizzled with fury and it looked strange on a man I’d only known as carefree and funny. “What he gotyouto kill for.”
I swallowed and pressed my lips together. He had no idea the torture Ribbins put me through, the constant teasing and injuries. Killing him for my human had been easy.
“Those reporters out on that jetty? They’ve always thought he was crazy like his father. This is his chance to make it right. Now that he’s finally doing it, maybe he’ll stop with his obsession of proving everyone wrong.”
I stared out at the… jetty longingly. Ethan was out there with a pretty female. It’s where I should be, too, showing her that he belonged to me.
Joey shook his head, a strange smile curling his mouth. “But he’s not the only one with an obsession, is he? You’ve barely known him for a few days and you’d do anything for him.”
I cocked my head at him.
He snorted and stood, and I stared up at the gentle lines of his body. His arms weren’t as wide or as hard as Ethan’s, and I supposed he was good-looking for a human, but he wasn’t my human and never would be.
“Stay here until he’s done.” And then he was gone, walking away from where he’d dumped me, his long legs carrying him quickly.
My attention returned to Ethan and whatever he was saying to the reporters. He gestured to the tail wrapped in a bedsheet before he bent down and opened it for the crowd. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but there was a humming as they shuffled closer to try get a look of their own.
I sighed and pushed to my feet. Taking a seat on a bench that had been built near the rolling waves of the peer, I watched Ethan. And watched him some more. And more. I didn’t know how long I stayed there before the reporters were obviously done, packing away their equipment and leaving. Ethan wasn’t finished, though, because the pretty female finally took her chance, moving toward my human.
Anger twisted inside me, and I forced myself to glance away and stare at anything but them. It didn’t matter what I stared at because it wasn’t enough to distract me, and my gaze wandered back to them. She had her palm on Ethan’s chest, her black hair fluttering in the wind as she said something, and he laughed.
I ripped my attention away and stood, hands curling into fists at my sides. Taking a deep breath, I paced the pier for what seemed like forever until I heard his voice.
“Hey, Boy, help me with this.”
I stopped and turned, staring at him and the tail he was trying to hold in his arms, again wrapped in the sheets. The fins were hanging out from the bottom. He grunted because the tail was heavy, but they were meant to be. We used our tails to fight off predators like sharks.
I wished I could ask him whatshe’dsaid, but all I could was nod and grab the end of the tail. We carried it down the pier, ignoring the strange looks we got from people who passed us. He led me to a group of human vehicles until we reached a red one with only two seats and what looked to be a space in the rear to store stuff.
“Let’s get it in the bed,” he said, and I realized he was talking about his vehicle.
Together, we lifted the tail over the sides and into the back. I huffed when we finally got it in, but he wasn’t done. He jumped into the bed and grabbed some rope, securing the tail to one side.
