I sat wiping blood off my arms as we drove away from the Everglades, Miami, and the incomprehensible, bloody scene. Hal stayed quiet as I stared out the window and tried to process what had happened. This had all been orchestrated by Creon. He’d bonded me to Manx, making me queen of the Gulfs, as a play for power. The Gulf and Atlantics were now locked in bonds and blood. Creon would frame our deaths on the renegade suffocators. He’d set it up so easily, playing the Gulfs’ weaknesses. Now, he would step in to protect them. Manx had no brothers. The Gulfs’ line was dead. Creon had gambled big, hoping to win it all, but he had not anticipated Hal's interference. I was supposed to be dead. Creon’s poor, sweet mermaid niece, murdered by renegade suffocators. It would have been a terrible tragedy.
“How did you know I would be there?” I asked Hal once my hands had stopped shaking.
“The cecaelia is a trusted ally. She let me know you were coming. We suspected Creon’s plans for you and Manx.”
“She survived, didn’t she? She disappeared out of sight.”
“There are caves under the tavern. She escaped, as she always does.”
“You’re taking a great risk rescuing me. Creon will learn where I have gone. He may try to blame Manx’s death on you, probably on both of us.”
“Creon wanted you dead. I couldn’t permit it.”
It was all going to work so perfectly for Creon. With Manx and me dead at the hands of the suffocators, they would all turn to Creon to punish the killers of the young king and queen. Little would anyone know, Creon himself had set the death sentence on us.
“I don’t know what to say. You have my deepest thanks,” I said, turning to him. His handsome face was dimly lit by the glowing street lamps.
Hal smiled gently at me, then took my hand, squeezing it lightly. “Why don’t you rest? We’ll be there in a few hours.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Oceanus…Cocoa Beach, as it is called today. My home. Creon will come for you, but not tonight. Tonight, you may sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thank you, Hal.”
He nodded.
I curled my legs into the seat sideways and lay my head against the headrest, gazing at Hal as he drove. His eyes glimmered inhumanly, soft green light sparkling in the glare of the dashboard lights.
“You were at my exile ceremony,” I said then, my voice sounding hollow.
Hal nodded.
“And again in Miami. Why did you come?”
“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“Why?”
He turned those flashing eyes on me. “Because my heart was lost to you from the moment I set my eyes on you,” he said simply then turned back to the road again.
I lifted his hand and pressed it against my lips. I then closed my eyes and prayed to the Great Mother Ocean. Against unfathomable odds, I had found my way back to the only person who’d ever sparked my heart to life.
* * *
I woke when Hal’s car pulled into the driveway of a small house sitting alongside a river. The house was painted in hues of faded orange and was trimmed in blue, the side of the building covered with vining jasmine that perfumed the night. Old oak trees, thick Spanish moss hanging like beards from its branches, shadowed the road. The moon cast its light on the rippling river water. I could smell the tang of the brine in the air, the fresh and saltwater mixing together.
“Where are we?” I asked groggily.
“Along the Indian River…at The Plaza Hotel,” Hal said.
Puzzled, I raised an eyebrow at him.
Hal smiled gently. “We are in Rockledge, just outside Cocoa Village. My people owned a hotel here in the 1920s. It perished in a hurricane, so they built the small community of Valencia. The nagual and the lagoon mers have inhabited this area since the 1800s. This is my home.”
Hal got out and rounded the car, opening the door for me. Taking my hand, he led me to the door of his small house. Key jangling, he pushed open the door and switched on a light. The room was lit with a soft orange glow. The house was neatly arranged but filled with many curiosities: antique maps and illustrations of ships decorated the walls, odd little trinkets he’d fished from the deep sat on the mantel, and he had orchids growing everywhere.
“I’m sorry,” Hal said. “I can’t remember the last time someone was in my home. I do my best, but I’m just an old alligator,” he added, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. In the dim light, his eyes glowed a warm green. He shifted uncomfortably, like he wasn’t sure what to do next. I could see he was nervous, and I was sorry for it. Clearly, he was a very solitary creature.
“Hal,” I said, taking his hand. “Thank you for rescuing for me. And thank you for bringing me here. But I think I should go. I need to confront Creon. I don’t want… I don’t want you pulled into the middle of this. My being here endangers you. That’s the last thing I want.”
“I owe your father my life. I owe you my life. And you,” he said, looking down at me. He reached out gently and touched my cheek with the side of his finger. “You.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached up and wrapped my arms around Hal’s neck, then pressed my lips against his. Every step I’d taken after I’d met Hal had been in the wrong direction. The fact that I was free to follow where my heart wanted to go, even if just for a moment, made me feel urgent to try. I wanted Hal to know just how much I wanted him. I only hoped he wanted me too.
When I pressed my mouth against his, I felt something I’d never experienced before. I felt like I was melting into him. His mouth was soft and sweet. I loved the feel of his hot breath intermixing with mine. His strong hands clutched my waist, pulling me close to him. My skin prickled, and I felt a burning need inside me. Amid all this chaos, I found a soft refuge in Hal’s arms. This strong, soft-spoken creature was everything I needed. He was not one of us, that was certain, but it didn’t matter. All I knew was I wanted him.
“Ink,” he whispered, pulling back.
“I’m sorry,” I said, breathless. “I couldn’t help myself. I thought I would never see you again, would never be able to have you.”
“I want you too,” he whispered, kissing my lips softly. “But you’ve seen so much this night. They’ve put you through so much.”
“That’s why it must be tonight. Make it go away,” I whispered in reply.
Hal lifted me and carried me through his house to a small bedroom in the back overlooking the river. Moonlight shimmered on the waves. Hal lay me down on his bed. The scent of jasmine filled the room. I pulled my aquamarine-colored gown, covered in Manx’s blood, over my head and dropped it on the floor. I sat, topless, in the dim light. Hal pulled off his shirt and slid out of his jeans. He then joined me on the bed, leaning over me to kiss my neck and face. With gentle hands, he carefully stroked my breasts. My body jerked, the sensation setting me on fire. Mers whispered that lovemaking on dry land was much more pleasing. I’d never been with anyone before, so I had no way to compare, but the sensation of Hal’s hands and lips on my body was pure bliss.
He kissed down my chest and across my stomach, stopping when he reached the line above my panties. He sat up and looked at me, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “Are you certain?” he whispered. “I know the meaning of this gift is heavy among your kind.”
I didn’t answer him with words. Instead, I exhaled deeply, letting my desire for him travel on the invisible waves around us.
“Siren song?” he whispered.
I nodded.
His hands slid down my sides. I reached out to touch him, stroking my hands across his muscular chest. I reached up and touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. His expression moved me.
“Ink,” he whispered, his voice cracking. He buried his head into the crook of my neck and kissed me while he gently touched and kissed my body. I breathed him in deeply, caressing his back and arms. He was covered with so many scars.
“What happened to you?” I whispered.
“Too much,” he said, kissing my hand. “Battles…human, mer, nagual…always, there is fighting. I’m weary of such machinations. The desires of the few destroy the lives of the many.”
“It will stop. It must.”
“Yes,” he replied simply, planting a sweet kiss on my lips. “Let’s think about it no more. We may only have this night.”
He was right. When Creon found me, he would try to kill me…us. We could be dead by the next eve. It didn’t pay to waste the little time we had worrying over the past or the future. I would have two choices come morning, fight or die. Perhaps Creon would negotiate, but I didn’t trust him. If it came to it, I would do what I had to to protect my people, to protect Hal. But as Hal’s hands slid over my hips, his fingers hooking onto the sides of my panties, I realized I didn’t want to think about it anymore. That moment belonged only to Hal and me. And in that moment, my heart was in control.