Page 50 of Chasing Tail
Chapter 26
The sins told us how they intended to pull this off. It was confusing to both Taron and myself because no one did that kind of thing in the ocean, even in grief. Taron and I were upset about the loss of our family, but it didn’t even cross our minds to hurt ourselves in our grief. Instead, we risked everything to kill the person responsible.
There was a certain deviancy to their plan that I really liked. They weren’t mermaids, but they sure plotted like us. Sometimes, you had to face a bigger, stronger foe in the ocean. Mermaids weren’t massive, and there were plenty of dangerous creatures that weren’t our friends. Even some of the sharks and whales weren’t with us. So you had to rely on wits and cunning to beat them.
I wanted Beck to stay. I wanted Forrest and Callum to stay the night too. But I understood why they couldn’t. So tomorrow night, we were making our move. We were doing what we came here to do.
I started out intending to use them to kill the druid king. If you had asked me when we met them on the street, I would have said I didn’t care if they went down for his death or war broke out on land because of what we did. That wasn’t me, even before Seira was butchered. That was my grief, turning me into just as giant a monster as the druid king was.
As soon as I realized how kind his sons were and how lovely things were on land, I snapped right out of that. We fought when needed in the ocean, but it was for survival or against an enemy. I may have thought so before because it was how I was taught, but not everyone on land was our enemy. Even when war broke out in the ocean, you didn’t kill innocents.
They left us alone, and I was way too keyed up to sleep. This was one of those times I’d grab Taron, and we’d have furious races all over the ocean. Taron was massive, but we were both built for speed. It was always a tossup who would win, and it always got our minds off anything. It was also completely exhausting, and I slept quite peacefully afterward.
I’d happily deal with the excruciating pain that came with getting my tail back to go back to the ocean with Taron. Especially since I knew it would eventually stop. We couldn’t risk it. We both knew the land dwellers weren’t our enemy, but Taron couldn’t be in the water with them unless it were on the private beach that was mentioned.
The water would be full of blood, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop it. Taron could ignore people in the water unless they got too close, or they were bleeding. They’d attack him if they saw him, and he’d fight back. I knew not all of the people here were bad, and the ones I’d met so far hadn’t tried to hurt me. I knew killing people was frowned upon here, but I’d learned enough on land to know people were fascinated with mermaids. Someone might try to keep me prisoner.
I pulled Taron into bed and snuggled into him. He nuzzled my head with his cheek.
“No mating tonight, Kishi. We need to focus and rest. This is happening tomorrow night. The plan is good, but remember where we came from. Even if the plan is flawless, an otter is always going to swim in and ruin it. I’m sure some of these people on land are really otters.”
“I guess it’s too much to ask for that a lot of things on land are nice, but we can’t get away from the otters.”
“Beck, Forrest, and Callum remind me of sharks,”Taron said.
“A little. They certainly have the same honor, and they want to protect their people. Us too. Why did you kiss Beck and invite him to bed?”
“Because I wanted to see what it felt like. I enjoyed it, and I knew you liked him too. I don’t feel threatened by him or feel the need to fight him for you. I thought it would be enjoyable for all of us. I had fun. Based on the noises you made, you did too.”
“Oh, I did. What about Forrest and Callum?”
“I don’t want to fight them either, but I don’t think they would enjoy kissing me like Beck does. I think they would like to be invited to touch you, but not me. So I’m okay with that.”
“That’s not a very sharklike thing to say, but I like it.”
“I enjoy mating—a lot. I never used to think about fighting my friends and family to do it, but we hurt each other. I’m proud of the scars I earned in battle, and sharks don’t hold it against you if you injured them when it comes to a female.
“Honestly, it’s nice not to have to do that. I learned a lot from Beck that night. You aren’t even remotely built like a shark, and I don’t know the first thing about making you feel good. I want to. Beck, Forrest, and Callum can show me how.”
“I’ll bet there are ways for you and Beck to feel good together.”
“Maybe. But I only want to do that if you’re with us. I like Beck, but I love you.”
“Taron, you knew we weren’t going to be able to go home, but you didn’t try to stop me from leaving and followed me, anyway. Why did you do that, you asshole?”
“Because I lost everyone when that ship came. I was the only shark that escaped the net. I couldn’t save them, and I couldn’t save Seira. I won’t lose you too. If you left, you could have died. Even if you succeeded, they wouldn’t let you come back home. I couldn’t deal with not knowing. I thought we’d go back to the ocean and make a home together, but then we got here. We don’t have to be alone. I was going to find a way to get us back to the water and figure out your pain, but we have an answer to that too.”
“Why do you think they drill into us it’s so bad here? The man who made that statue Beck has loved that mermaid. I don’t think he was keeping her hostage. Adamo seemed remorseful he hurt the mermaid he was dating but seemed happy she found a new love. They sent a sea witch to land to work with Salem. They tell us everything is horrible here, so we don’t even try to visit. I’m sure Adamo’s girlfriend and that sea witch spread the word not everyone here is terrible.”
“I think they know that. It could be two things. Adamo said it took his girlfriend many moons of getting wet before the pain stopped. So maybe they don’t know it stops. Or it could be something we’ve learned on land. Mermaids can only mate with mermen, and sharks can only mate with other sharks.
“It’s literally impossible to mate with someone in the ocean unless they are like you. It’s not like that here, and from what the Sins said, the people here used to be against people mixing like that. Most everyone is okay with it now, but some people like the druid king aren’t. We had this conversation already. If you got pregnant on land, what kind of hatchlings would you have? I’ll bet they would be totally adorable, and all of us could handle them together, but I’ll bet the idea terrifies the people back home. What if you have a little mermaid hatchling with druid magic?”
“What if the two of us had a cute little merman with shark teeth? We could raise him to be more like a shark than a merman.”
“A little hatchling merman with two rows of razor sharp teeth sounds like the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“We just need to finish what we came here for. I’ve changed my opinion about a lot of things since we got here, and I’m grateful we don’t have to fight as much, but I can’t wait to kill both of them.”
“Me either. I don’t mind having legs, and I understand why they want to do it the way they do. But, it would sure be nice to rip his head off with my teeth after what he did to our family.”
“That would be extremely sexy, but their way means our revenge lasts for eternity. His people won’t know the truth, but he’ll be watching us, knowing what really happened from the afterlife. He’ll see Callum undoing some of his laws and not ruling out of fear. He’ll know he was murdered in his sleep, and not a single soul is trying to avenge him. So the druid king will have nothing to do for the rest of eternity but be bitter about that.”
“That’s evil. I love it. Get some sleep, Kishi. It’s finally happening tomorrow.”
I settled into Taron’s arms and closed my eyes. The man who butchered my sister and Taron’s family was finally going to pay for it. I could force myself to sleep to be well rested for that.
