Page 33 of Chasing Tail
Chapter 19
We all gathered on the couch, and I snuggled into Taron for support. Beck came back with food and several bottles. We had just eaten, but there was cheese and strange meat on the tray, and I wouldn’t mind snacking on it while I tried to talk to them. Callum scowled when he saw the bottles.
“I said wine, Beck. I doubt they have whiskey in the ocean. You’re going to get them drunk, and Kishi won’t be able to finish her story.”
“I’m not sure what whiskey is, but we get drunk in the ocean as well,” I said. “You might not think I can handle whiskey, but you probably couldn’t handle a seaweed cordial. I know my limits.”
Beck started pouring his whiskey into glasses and glared at Callum.
“Bold of you to assume drunkenness is just a land thing.”
“Sirens are miserable drunks. They start singing off-key and want everyone to tell them they are pretty.”
Taron started giggling because the singing was just soterrible,and they kept doing it. Beck, Callum, and Forrest just gaped at us, and I realized sirens had murdered a lot of their people, and they probably didn’t care about how they acted when they got drunk.
“Sorry,” I said. “We all find what sirens do to land dwellers distasteful. We have a few that live with us that have turned their back on that. A shark will only bite a land dweller if they swim in their territory, but they take no pleasure in it like sirens do.”
Beck cocked an eyebrow at us, then just exploded.
“Sorry, Callum. I get you have questions, and we need to know more, but how in the world is a mermaid mated to a shark? How do you have children? I can’t picture the logistics.”
“Seriously, Beck?” Callum snapped. “We have two potentially dangerous species here, and you want to know how they fuck?”
“That’s offensive, Beck,” Forrest said.
“No, it’s okay. Taron and I aren’t mated. We revere sharks, and they help protect us. Taron has always been a friend and looked out for my sister. This has all been quite new to him—me too, to be honest. I’ve never been on land before either. Mating is different for both of us in the ocean. I thought I was going to detest everything about land, but I like things here. Taron and I have been experimenting, but we don’t know how to stop hatchlings like this or if our children could return to the sea. We’ve hada lotof fun even without mating.”
“I love these two. I can help with that,” Beck said.
“H-h-how?” Taron demanded.
“Stop!” Callum yelled. “Out with it, Kishi. Why are you here?”
“Your father sent a ship to my home during the lunar eclipse. None of you have any way of knowing this, but we are already in danger when that happens. We have ways of seeing at night, but they are useless during a lunar eclipse. Sea monsters come from the depths to hunt us. So we stay in our homes where we are safe. I was out late hunting and took shelter in one of the old sunken ships. I couldfeelthe ship in the water. It was like it was scraping my flesh, even if I couldn’t see it. My people felt it too.”
Callum nodded like this made sense.
“A lot of species on land have magic related to the moon. A lot of druid magic relies on the power of the full moon. A lunar eclipse affects us here on land too. It wreaks havoc with the shifters. Sane druids avoid doing magic when it happens because of the negative energy. Even if you are clear with your intentions, it tends to go wrong.
“My father knows this, and so does my stepmother. They also know sacrificial magic has long been proven not to work. He probably sent the boat on the lunar eclipse for two reasons—the cover of darkness and the misguided belief that a sacrifice made during a lunar eclipse and harvesting the organs would give him what he wanted. Please tell me no one died.”
I looked at him sadly. He knew people died. They found the wreckage of the ship. He meantmypeople.
“A lot of people died, Callum. Your people died too. My sister was a gentle soul. She used to love exploring the sunken ships near our home and speculating what it was like on land. I wasn’t there. I should have been there to stop her. Instead, she felt the ship just like I did and snuck out.
“By the time I got there, the water was full of blood. Parts of my sister and Taron’s family were floating to the ocean floor. The net wasn’t in the water anymore. I swam to the surface and listened to them. I heard they mutilated my sister and several noble sharks by order of the druid king. So I called my people and we sunk the ship. And now I find out my sister, Taron’s family, and all the land dwellers on that ship for nothing!”
Callum jumped to his feet and started pacing. He wasn’t grilling me anymore. I guess he had heard enough.
“He’s gone too far this time! The mermaids never did anything to him except asking to be left alone. They made it clear what would happen if we invaded their home. I’ve never met a shark before, and if I see one in the water, I get out. Taron has done nothing but try to protect Kishi since they got here. The men on that ship were probably lied to about why they needed to risk their lives and do what they did. Sorry, Kishi and Taron, but they wouldn’t have questioned the sharks. No one on land would have mutilated a mermaid unless they had been manipulated, and my father is the master of that.”
“I get that now,” I said. “My people are setting patrols to sink any ships that come back. If your father tries this again, the people on the ships will die. The mermaid council is against coming to land to wage war now. Everyone loved my sister, but my parents weren’t council members, and Seira wasn’t a hunter. They all mourned her, but she wasn’t important enough to them to risk exposing the secret we can go on land. If a mermaid they consider more important gets killed, that could change.”
I was suddenly pulled into this massive druid hug. Taron was pretty touchy now that he had legs and didn’t want to be left out. He wrapped his arms around Beck and rested his head on his shoulder.
“Your sister is just as important as any mermaid, Kishi,” Beck said. “I’m not wild about the idea of being in the water with sharks, but I get there is a lot I don’t understand about the ocean. I like Taron, and his family didn’t deserve that.”
Taron grunted and nuzzled Beck with his nose.
