Chapter Eleven

Ryan followed Santino and Cam to Lake Colby at dusk.

The buzz of mosquitoes filled the air.

He never liked being on the waterfront at this time of night because of the little bloodsuckers.

His mind still reeled from the offer to join Santino and the Aspida. He hadn’t believed Melissa was some kind of energy vampire until they confronted her. He definitely felt uneasy over the idea of killing her had it come to that. The fact that she knew exactly who and what Santino and Cam were had tipped the balance.

So here he was, waiting on yet another supernatural creature to make an appearance.

“Are you sure there’s something in there?” he asked. “It’s not a very active lake.” More like a pond really. He couldn’t imagine a human-sized fairy living in there.

“We’re supposed to be rescuing a nixie, but we’ve yet to see it.” Santino stretched and then plopped onto a bench. He patted the seat beside him. “Cam’s going to try something new because, I swear to god, I am not going in some alligator-infested mosquito breeder.”

“I don’t think the lake has ever had an alligator, but I can’t say as I blame you for not wanting to go under.” Ryan eyed the water. They were in Florida. Any water in the area potentially housed an alligator.

“I’m hoping to lure her out with my singing bowl.” Sitting, Cam took a small bowl and padded mallet out of her backpack and sat on another bench.

As the sun faded completely, the deep vibrations of the bowl resonated around them. It would lure Ryan out—if only to make the singing bowl stop; he never cared for them, and they were all over in the Cassadaga shops. But it looked like Cam would run out of energy before anything happened.

The moon had just poked through the trees when the water’s surface rippled. Ryan jumped a bit as a head popped out, topped with long green hair resembling eel grass. The creature waved a webbed hand at them and then cut through the water to the edge.

“Ah, not a nixie,” Santino said.

“Then what is it?” Ryan stood, keeping a wary eye on the creature, who in the dim light actually seemed like a handsome man if one ignored the eel grass hair, webbed hands, and really sharp teeth shown by a wide smile.

“Nixies are female,” Santino said. “He’s a guy, so it’s a nix, not a nixie.”

“Does it matter?”

“No. I like being accurate. Nixies are known to be seductive, so a gay man and a straight woman would be a safe team to help her.” Santino made a face, wagging a finger between himself and Cam. “So try to resist if he starts something with you.”

As the fae swam to the water’s edge, Ryan took a look at the nix’s huge eyes and strange, flat hair and couldn’t imagine him being seductive. “Okay.”

“Are you all right?” Cam asked as the nix wobbled to his feet.

He shook his head. “Been too sick to move. Been asleep.”

The nix’s voice was surprisingly high pitched and his vowels drawn out. Ryan was shocked he spoke English at all.

“We’ll take you somewhere safe.” Cam patted his arm, then turned to Santino. “We should’ve brought the car. I don’t think he can walk that far. I’ll fly back and get it.”

“All right.”

Before Ryan’s eyes, Cam’s body jerked and folded in on itself. Feathers sprouted, and her clothing vanished as she condensed into a small owl. She stretched her wings, gave them an experimental flap, and flew off.

Ryan fell onto the bench, stammering insensibly until he managed to spit out the words, “She’s a bird!”

Santino smirked. “Did I fail to mention Cam’s magic?”

“Yes,” Ryan said, the “you asshole” inherent in his tone. “Magic’s real?”

“Obviously. Think of her as an Animagus if it helps.” Santino gestured him over. “Come meet your first nix.”

Ryan reluctantly walked over to them. The nix smelled of dank swampy water. He watched Ryan as if he might be as nervous as Ryan. The nix held up his hand and waggled his webbing. Ryan hoped the gesture was a greeting and not the equivalent of the “I’m going to kill you” throat enlargement he got from anoles five times a day. The little lizards indigenous to the area never missed an opportunity to swell up their colorful throats and bob at anyone, delivering their tiny threat of doom. “Hello,” he ventured.

The nix flashed another toothy, fishy smile and warbled something followed by, “I am Saewine.”

Santino made introductions while they waited for Cam to correct their lack of forethought. Ryan worked up the nerve to put a comforting hand on Saewine’s shoulder. He mostly wanted to touch him to test if the nix felt human. His skin gave a little under Ryan’s fingers, feeling more like the beluga whale Ryan had petted at SeaWorld.

Santino leaned in and whispered, “We’re taking him to Alexander Springs. You mentioned wanting to go there. Want to come with?”

“Yeah, on a date, not…” Ryan took a good look at Saewine and then shrugged. “Sure, why not.” This is what he was signing up for, right? He couldn’t back out now.

Cam returned quickly, and Ryan agreed to meet them later as Santino helped the nix into the car. Ryan wasn’t sure he wanted to pile into the backseat with Saewine, who had to sit on the garbage bags Cam had spread out to keep the seat dry.

Still, he couldn’t help himself because joining the Aspida was looking more desirable. He bypassed his place and kept on walking to Santino’s house, determined to do this.

*

Santino treaded water in the middle of Alexander Spring’s crystalline blue water. He wasn’t used to being able to see all the way to the bottom of a spring. Ryan had been swimming next to him and was now heading toward the shore. Slick water vegetation tangled in Santino’s toes as he followed. They dripped their way to the picnic table and a packed cooler containing their lunch, bungeed shut to repel raccoons.

“I still can’t believe you let Saewine go and didn’t send him back home.” Ryan shook his head. “I guess it’s hard to wrap my head around supernatural beings living here.”

“Most are harmless. He went right into the underwater cave here. He’ll be fine. Look how pretty the water is.” Santino gestured toward the spring, wondering if Cam was making any headway with the cute guy she’d spotted while they’d all been relaxing in the water. She’d swam off to talk to him under the shade tossed over the water by tall trees. “It has an active portal as well. Saewine will be able to go home from here if he wants.”

Ryan rubbed his forehead as Santino undid the bungees to get to a beer. “There are people here who dress up as mermen and mermaids and swim in this spring. Now I’ve kinda seen a real one. So wild.”

“Too much for you?”

“If I think too much on it, maybe. But, no, it’s amazing really. You don’t even have to ask.” Ryan took Santino’s hand. “I want to join up. I want to stay with you.”

Santino leaned over the table and kissed him. “I’m thrilled.”

Ryan grinned. “Excellent. I have Lisa set up with Alice to continue her mentorship, so it’s all good there. I’ll want to talk to you two about taking Kuro with me and what to do with the apartment.”

“We’ll have time to hammer out the details,” Santino assured him.

“Great. And after all this, you owe me another dinner.”

“Wait ’til you try my cannoli.”

Ryan’s eyes went devilish. “I thought I already had.”

“Dick jokes? Really? What have I gotten myself into?” Santino heaved a melodramatic sigh.

“When we get home, I’ll show you.”

Santino slipped an arm around Ryan. “I hope that’s a promise.”

Ryan kissed him hard. “And then some.”