The Fate of the Muse

chapter TWENTYNINE

MISSION





I had some time to think on the drive home.

I wasn’t really surprised by Fatima’s warning; I knew that Nathan Edwards was still out there, an ever present danger to my sisters in the sea. What was surprising was how cavalier Cruz was about the fact that his boyfriend’s father was my arch-enemy. The old Cruz would have fretted and worried, always looking on the dark side; now he seemed almost reckless– skipping blithely through a minefield that he willfully chose to ignore.

I heaved a breath, and another one of Evie’s sayings rang through my mind. “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” she used to say. How ironic that her enemy turned out to be her closest friend, and in league with the one person who posed the biggest threat to the mermaids.

Thinking about the mermaids swimming innocently while Edwards plotted to use them for his own evil purposes made me clench my teeth in anger. I swore an oath right then that I would never allow him to hurt them. I would do whatever I could to stop him from stalking my sisters.

And suddenly I knew my purpose in life as clear as day. Whether it was a simple twist of fate, or a result of my mother’s actions while she carried me, it was my destiny to be the link between the mermaid world and the human world. I would assume the role of guardian, interpreter and advocate. I would defend and protect them, and warn them about the ways people might try to capture them.

I’d always wondered exactly what I was meant to do. I knew that I could never go through life like Evie, for I was monumentally uncomfortable with the idea of controlling and manipulating all those around me. Cruz and Ethan, Abby and my father– even Megan and Shayla all had a clear path laid out before them. Now I did too.

I pulled up onto the dirt road, shivering with happiness when I saw Ethan’s truck. I parked next to it and followed a gravel pathway down a little incline to where Lue’s greenhouses sat in a neat row. I could see Ethan’s outline inside one and I walked in quietly, curious to see what he was up to.

He was bent over several racks of small plants on the table, and he looked up to give me a surprised smile, his eyes crinkling up at the corners, “Hey.”

I smiled back, “Watcha doing?”

He motioned for me to come closer and explained how he was thinning basil seedlings. The scent was thick in the air, and he snipped out the crowded plants and held a handful up for me to sniff.

“Smells like pizza,” I said, surprised to find myself hungry all at once.

“Mmm, sounds good,” he said, sidling up to me and bending to kiss me, taking care not to touch me with his dirt covered hands. I turned into him and returned his kiss, amused at the way he stood with his arms out at his sides.

“Watch out,” he said, “Or you’ll mess up your pretty dress.”

I laughed and draped my arms around his neck, kissing him again and pressing up against him. “Can I help you?”

“I’m almost done,” he said, “But you’d better stop that…”

He leaned into me, and I took a step back, “Show me how.”

He showed me how to pick the healthiest sprouts, and remove the crowded ones. Before too long we had all the trays of plants finished and he led me to a sink to wash up. He came up behind me, putting his chin on my shoulder as we shared a bar of soap.

“How did it go today?” his voice rumbled in my ear.

“Don’t ask,” I said.

We rinsed off, and after Ethan dried his hands he took mine in his.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

We ambled down a little path that cut through a tangle of blackberry brambles to lead out to the edge of a bluff. There was a fallen tree there and he brushed it off, gesturing for me to sit down beside him. We faced the water.

“Did you tell her everything?” he asked.

I nodded, thinking about all the mermaids hidden away in the earth’s vast oceans.

“Well?” he prodded, “What’s she gonna do?”

“Uhm… she hired more security.”

“And?”

“That’s about all she can do. I think it’s up to me to make sure they stay safe.”

He was quiet for a minute, like he was working up his courage, and then he asked, “Do you ever miss it?”

Somehow I knew exactly what he meant, and I paused, trying to put it into words, “Maybe the feeling of being so fast… and so strong… but not the–”

“The what?”

“The forgetting.”

He was quiet, and I felt like maybe I shouldn’t have spoken the truth, for although staying on land was the right choice for me, the ocean’s lure was undeniable. The idea of spending an eternity… worry free and weightless; it was an option many people might want to take.

“They were just so amazing,” he said quietly, “And you could be like that… beautiful and free… forever.”

“No,” I said, touched that he saw them the same way I did, “They need me to stay here.”

He took me in a close embrace, whispering in my ear, “I need you to stay here too.”

I stroked the back of his head, kissing his ear. There was no point in saying it anymore. I was just going to have to prove it.

“I’m starving,” I said, “Let’s go get something to eat.”





I followed his truck back out onto the freeway and we ended up at the little pizza place he’d taken me before. We took the same exact booth in the back and looked at the menus.

“They all look good,” I said, “You pick.”

I looked up to see him smiling at me, “Do you remember this place?”

I nodded, smiling shyly, “After my first surfing lesson… You made me so nervous, the way you were staring at me.”

The waitress arrived, and he ordered, playing footsie with me under the table. I had to struggle to keep a straight face.

He nudged me when she left, “So I was staring, huh?”

“Yes,” I said reproachfully, “You made me very uncomfortable.”

“Really?” he smiled wider, “You looked so freaked out… I just wanted to come around the table and give you a big hug.”

“You did?” I asked.

“Couldn’t you tell?”

“Not really… Why didn’t you?” I said teasingly.

“You made me nervous too.”

“Do I still make you nervous?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes,” he said, getting up to come around and slide in next to me, “But it doesn’t stop me anymore.” He scooted closer, raising his hand to my face, caressing my lips with his thumb.

“You know what else I wanted to do?” he asked.

“What?”

He bent down to kiss me softly, and we stayed there like that, lost in each other’s eyes and lips until the food arrived, bringing us back to reality.

We ate in comfortable silence, and I thought about how much we’d been through in the short time we’d known each other. Within a few months Ethan had become the most important person in my life, and I knew that I’d stay with him forever. He must have been feeling the same thing.

“When we’re married,” he said, “I might have to put you to work in my greenhouse.”

I smiled, “As long as you feed me afterwards.”

“I’ll cook for you every night…” He looked at me sideways, “Unless you wanna cook.”

I sighed, “Ethan?”

“What?”

“Do you think that maybe…”

“What?”

I bit my lip, “Uhm… Sometimes, I think that it’s never going to live up to your expectations… I mean, you do know that when we’re married things won’t always be perfect… right?”

His eyes were so blue I wanted to go for a swim in them, and they bored into mine, “All I expect from you is one thing.”

“What’s that?” I whispered.

“All I want from you is everything.”

“OK,” was all I could manage.

I could feel the tides between us slowly turning, washing all my lingering doubts away. There was no place to go now but forward.

“Now,” he said, brushing the hair from my face, “Tell me what happened at Evie’s.”

And so I did.

Everything.


-THE END-