Jen and I spend the next few days coming up with a routine. My ankle scabs over, but I still can’t put any weight on it. That won’t stop me from getting in the water, though. I plan to swim with Erie the first chance I get.
“We have the arena tonight after the park closes,” I tell Jen. “Be prepared for the most amazing experience of your life.”
She narrows her eyes, suspicious. “What are you talking about?”
I grin. “Swimming with a mermaid.”
The confusion plummets into a scowl, and Jen hugs her arms. “No. I’m not a reckless idiot, like you. I’m not getting in that tank with a Mer.”
“Come on, it’s Erie. She wants to swim with you, don’t you, sweetness?”
Erie smiles. “I swim with you, Finn.”
I chuckle. “We’ll swim, too. I promise. But I have an idea, so tell Niku not to hurt us tonight. If we want people to see you as human, we need to show you interacting with humans.”
“This is a really, really bad idea,” Jen says. “OSHA—”
“Can suck it. Erie won’t hurt us, and I’ll prove it.”
Jen shakes her head, throwing her hands up in surrender.
Later that night, once everyone’s gone home, we let Erie and Niku into the arena. Jen’s pale, her hands folded into fists at her sides, like she’s trying not to shake.
I put my hands on her shoulders and squeeze. “You’ll be fine. I’ll get in first, so if Niku feels like attacking something, he can attack me.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” she says as I hand her one of the Scubas.
“You’ll love it, trust me.” I throw my crutches to the side and sit on the edge of the platform with my feet in the water. So far, so good. No crazy dolphin teeth are coming my way, and the cold water feels good on my sprain. I slip into the tank, letting the water cover me. Erie’s bright face is there to welcome me.
She spins and swims around me, brushing me with her tailfin. It reminds me of the way she swam with Huron.
A quick scan of the tank reveals Niku nearby, watching with his pit bull stare. I point at him and raise my eyebrows at Erie.
“He behave,” she says. “He only hurt you if you hurt me.”
I hold my hand out, and squeeze hers when she takes it. When I surface, Jen’s holding the Scuba in her slightly shaking hands.
“Come on in, the water’s fine,” I say, after spitting my Scuba into my free hand. “Niku won’t hurt you.”
“Niku’s not the one I’m afraid of,” Jen whispers.
She must be joking—she’s scared of Erie? I mean, sure, if Erie wanted to hurt us, she could do so quicker than Niku, but there isn’t an evil bone in her body. I lift her hand out of the water. “Don’t worry. I’ve got her under control.” I grin, because how can I not? I’ve been waiting all week to get back in the water with her.
Jen slowly lowers herself to the edge of the platform with her knees tucked up. Erie’s head pops out of the water. She blinks, then says, “Come in, Jen. We swim.”
Her voice is happy, but muted beneath the surface. Jen takes a deep breath, extends one leg, and dips her toes in.
“Back up, so she can jump in, Erie.”
The magenta hair disappears and reappears in my peripheral vision. I dip under the water to check Niku’s location, but he still bobs a short distance away. When I resurface, Jen’s second foot is in the water. She adjusts her mask.
“Ready?” I say, and wrap my teeth around the mouth guard again. Her shoulders are tense, but she slips into the water. I hold my hand out so Erie won’t rush over until Jen’s ready.
Taking your first breath with the Scuba is a strange feeling. Snorkels and scuba tanks have tubes leading directly to the air, but the Scuba stops in the middle of the water. The air is salty and extremely humid, and it’s kind of a mind-fuck to use it for the first time. Jen’s about to hyperventilate, so I grab her hand and take a couple deep breaths with her until she’s more comfortable breathing through it. Then I turn to Erie, and hold Jen’s hand out to her.
In one powerful kick, Erie’s beside us, her hair floating around us like sargassum. “We swim now?”
I squeeze Jen’s hand and let go so Erie can take it—she won’t be able to pull both of us through the water. Jen stiffens, but it doesn’t last long, because, in a matter of seconds, Erie takes off. While she spins Jen around the tank, I turn to Niku.
“Your turn,” I say and swim closer. He moves away. I motion him to come to me, and he freezes. I motion him to stay and swim to him, but he moves away again. I need Erie’s help.
When I wave at her, she crosses the tank with Jen and pulls her to the surface. Jen and I spit the Scubas out. She laughs. “That was amazing!”
“I told you.” The stars have come out, and they twinkle above our heads.
Erie blinks her eyes out of the water and gapes at them. “Never see stars from surface.” Little points of light dance in her wide eyes.
Jen grabs my hand and squeezes it, and she might hate me for this later, but I pull her to me and kiss her. Her lips are salty. Instead of pulling away, she wraps her hand around my neck and her legs around my waist. We can’t blame alcohol this time—the only thing we’re drunk on is the thrill of swimming with a mermaid.
We kiss until Erie wraps her hands around my good ankle and yanks us under. Jen breaks away to surface, while I try desperately not to cough and drown. Adrenaline pulses through my veins, but Erie releases me, and I claw my way to the surface to suck in air, coughing as she crests to watch me.
“I think someone’s jealous.” Jen winks.
Erie’s magenta gaze is intense, like I’m prey. My heart thunders as I hold my hand out. “No need to be jealous, sweet. Let’s swim.”
I bite the Scuba and sink below the surface. She takes my hand, but instead of pulling me through the water, she wraps her tail around my legs, pinning them together. Her tail is much stronger than I thought, and I swallow as I realize how easy it would be for her to pluck the Scuba out of my mouth and hold me here until I drown.
Maybe Jen’s right, and Erie is jealous. What if she’s a vindictive bitch, like a normal girl? To my horror, she wraps her fingers around the Scuba. I have just enough time to take a deep breath before she removes it. Fuck. Jen may not even realize Erie’s drowning me until I’m dead.
Erie cocks her head to the side, and I try to stay calm to conserve the oxygen I have. She doesn’t look angry, just curious, and when I reach for the Scuba, she leans back and smiles. She thinks this is a game. A few bubbles escape my lips as I try to hold my breath, and she grabs at them, then runs her fingertips across my forehead, down my nose, and into my hair to find my ears. If I wasn’t about to drown—and Erie was a regular girl—I’d be turned on. Maybe she realizes that, because she pulls my face close and puts her cold, hard lips over mine.