Flukes (22 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

- Meena -

Leaving the hospital wasn’t an option. I needed Blake as much as I needed the ocean and for right now, the water could wait. We were moved to another room later that night and my parents had come to check on us. Mom and Dad had fussed over Blake, making him uncomfortable, and I’d laughed. Seeing him treated with love made me happy. Mom had looked at our hands but hadn’t said anything. I knew I’d have questions to answer the next time we were alone.

Mireille and Jacen brought a large pitcher of water when they came in the room and some salt packets. She dumped one of the little packets into a plastic cup and poured some water in.

“This will help you stay comfortable overnight.” She handed it to me and I took a sip. It wasn’t the same as the ocean, but it did seem to ease the tightness of my skin. I looked at my parents with large eyes. Why hadn’t we thought of this before?

Blake’s mother had arrived that morning, so I’d left to give them some time. Claire Weathering was a tiny thing with huge brown eyes and short brown hair. Her two sons looked so much like her it was shocking. After meeting Blake’s father, I hadn’t been sure what to expect from a mother that had moved away. It had been a relief to see that she was as far from his father in reaction as you could get. When she entered the room she had gone immediately to his side and ran her hands over his face.

She’d spoken in French, her words quiet and musical. He’d responded in kind and, if it was possible, it made him even sexier. I squirmed in my chair, thinking that I should leave and give them time, but Vince was blocking the doorway. Claire glanced at me, a soft smile on her face, before asking him a question. When Blake nodded his head, she looked back at me with tears in her eyes.

“Meena? Blake said you saved his life.” She took both of my hands between hers and kissed my cheeks.

“No, Blake saved my life. He pushed me out of the way.” I looked over her shoulder at Blake and frowned.

“Yes, but you were able to get him help.” She squeezed my hands, drawing my attention back to her. “He also told me that he’s going to marry you one day.”

My heart stopped and I looked back at Blake. He was smiling softly and raised an eyebrow. My mouth opened and closed once, trying to find words. Vince coughed and I had a sneaking suspicion that he was hiding a laugh.

“I’d very much like that.” I bit my lip.

“
Tres bien
. You two will make me very pretty grandbabies.” She patted my cheek and fluttered back to Blake’s side, fussing with his pillow. “So, Vince is moving back home with me?” She looked at her younger son and smiled. “I’ve missed my family.”

“Then why did you leave?” The words poured out of my mouth before I could stop them. I wanted to know, though. My parents would have fought the world to keep me at their side. In a way, they had.

Her eyes were thoughtful as she looked at me. “When I caught my husband with the first mistress, I accepted his apologies. The second time, I had no more love in my heart. I tried to leave, to take the children with me, but he controlled their futures.” She sat down in the chair and crossed her legs. “He threatened that if I divorced him, he would cut them off. Tell everyone that he had found out they weren’t his children. I had no doubt that he could pay off doctors to lie, so I did the only thing I could. Being a family man is important to him. He feels that it makes him look more stable, trustworthy. So, if I didn’t push for divorce, he could just claim that I was on vacation.” She shrugged.

“We understood,
ma mère
.” Blake reached for his mother’s hand. He was moving easily today and the doctors had tsked over his stitches.

“You understand some of it.” She squeezed his hand. “What you don’t know is that I’ve spent the last few years funneling money into accounts for you three. Yours and Vincent’s trust funds are safely tucked away in a Swiss bank account. Elizabeth’s is already safely in her hands.”

“Does Dad know?” Vince came farther into the room.

“Unlikely. He has believed that he had me stuck under his thumb.” She shrugged, her expression reminding me of Blake’s sneaky smile.

“You snuck our money out?” Blake leaned back on his pillow and laughed. “Oh, he’s going to shit.”

“Blake.” His mother admonished him softly but smiled. “It would be a funny thing to see.”

“Please let me move my stuff out before he realizes what’s happened.” Vince shuddered.

The rest of the morning was spent talking and laughing, planning on getting Vincent moved out with as little friction as possible. When the nurse came with the release papers, Blake was already dressed and ready to go. They changed the bandage on his arm again and I got my first look at how much he had healed. My mother came in time to meet Claire and that had been an interesting conversation. To say Mom’s face was comical when Claire started talking about grandbabies would be an understatement.

“I’ll see you tonight.” Blake kissed me, his warm breath making my heart pick up. He leaned close so that he could whisper in my ear. “Then we need to figure out where we’re going to live.”

I followed Mom to the car and waited for the interrogation to begin. My parents never pried, they always treated me like an adult, but I couldn’t blame her for wanting to understand what was going on.

“Meena, are you pregnant?” She was sitting in the driver’s seat and hadn’t put the key in the ignition yet.

“No. I’m not pregnant.” I frowned. “Unless condoms don’t work with mermaids.”

“I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t.” She let her breath out slowly. “Are you going to tell me about the tattoo on your arm?”

This was a little trickier. “It’s part of the mating bond.”

“A mating bond.” I could see her rolling the idea around in her head. “And that’s why Blake has a matching one. I take it that this is a new development?”

I nodded my head.

“What does this mean for you?”

“It started almost a month ago, but we didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t until we…” I was open with my mom. We talked about a lot of things, but what had happened on the beach that night was between Blake and me. “We’re linked now. Mireille said that when we hit a certain age, mermaids start looking for their mate; it’s programmed into us. I just got lucky to find mine so quickly.”

“I see.” She smiled, and I was relieved to see that she wasn’t upset. “You’re an adult, Meena. If you’re happy, I’m happy.” She lifted my hand and looked at the intricate lines that wrapped around my left hand. “It’s gorgeous. I wonder if they all look like yours or if it’s unique to the two of you.” She pulled me to her for a hug. “There is so much that we never knew about you. I started out as a scientist, but you taught me to believe in magic.”

“There’s something that I wanted to talk to you about.” I watched her as she put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot.

“Shoot.”

By the time we got to Flukes, Mom and I had come to an agreement. She had said yes almost immediately, which thrilled me to no end. Dad waved at us, and I smiled when I got my first look at the new sign. It was beautiful, just the right design to stand out in a sea of tourist attractions.

“What do you think?” He waved his arm like a game-show host.

“It’s gorgeous.” I wrapped an arm around his waist.

“It matches your eyes.” He looked down at me and I winked. I looked back and realized that he was right. The mermaid tail was almost the exact color of my scales and eyes.

“Wow.” I turned and looked at the rest of the sanctuary. The new greenery really popped, making everything look high-end and lush. I’d only been gone for a day and a half, but the place looked amazing.

“C’mon.” He tugged me down to the dolphin pens, and I realized that Mireille and Jacen were swimming with Mitch and Jallia.

I hopped down the ladder to the floating platform and called for Mitch. She swam to me with excited squeals. Her excitement was contagious and I couldn’t help laughing. She was so glad to see me and I was glad to see her, too.

“How’s Blake?” Jacen swam over and rested his arms on the platform.

“Good. They sent him home.” The feeling that I should know him hit me again. “Thank you. If you hadn’t shown up, I don’t think we would have made it.”

“It’s no problem.” He narrowed his eyes for a minute. “You must feel overwhelmed.”

“A bit.” I watched as Mireille let Stormy push her through the water. Her blue hair was pulled back in a tight braid. “So, is it real? Her hair?”

Jacen laughed. “She wishes. Mireille has a flair for the dramatic.”

“I didn’t know.” I shrugged. “There is so much I don’t know about us.”

“When I realized you seemed to not know what the bond was, I figured you might have been raised by humans.” He tilted his head up at me. “It happens, rarely. Mermaids are a pretty close-knit community, so we notice when one of our own goes missing. But it does happen sometimes. Just like in the human world. Do you remember anything about your parents? Your biological parents?”

“Not really.” I frowned. “I remember impressions, mostly. Being happy, swimming. Not much else. I don’t even remember what my mom looked like.”

“Ben said that she had red hair.” His voice was gentle and I wondered what he was getting at.

“I think so.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “This will sound crazy, but you look familiar.”

“My mom says that I look a lot like my Aunt Sabrina. She disappeared with her daughter a couple of months after her mate died.” He watched my face carefully and for a minute I just stared at him, looking at his features. “It was about eighteen years ago. I was about two when it happened.”

“You think that I might be your cousin?” My heart hammered in my chest. Could it be true?

“I called my mom and asked her to tell me a little more about her sister and my cousin.” He pulled himself up out of the water and sat next to me. “My uncle died in a car accident. Not long after that, my grandparents invited Aunt Sabrina and my cousin, Maleena, to stay with them in Jamaica. They never showed up.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. Maleena sounded a lot like Meena. I could see how a child might not be able to say it just right. My parents were standing on the dock, their arms around each other. They were watching us and I realized that Jacen must’ve already told them this.

“Mermaids come from clans. Each clan has an affinity for a certain animal. Ours is with dolphins. We aren’t the only clan out there connected to dolphins, but we know all the clans on this side of the world that are. When Aunt Sabrina left for my grandparents, she traveled with a dolphin that had recently calved.” He looked out at where Jallia played with Mireille. “We tend to bond with an animal, a lot like a mating bond. If you’re Maleena, Sabrina’s dolphin would not have left you, even after her death. She would have seen you as her responsibility.”

I chuckled, but it was watery. “Jallia thinks she’s my mom.”

“That sounds about right.” He leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows.

“So, you and Mireille are my cousins?”

“Well, if you’re Maleena, which I think you are, then you’d be my cousin. Mireille is my cousin on the other side.” He smiled. “I wasn’t kidding. Mermaids are a tight group.”

“Is that why you go on swimabouts? To try and find a mate that you’re not related to?” I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

“Partly. But as you noticed, we mate with humans, too.” He winked at me. “More than you might think, which I think is to introduce fresh blood to the community. The swimabout started a long time ago. When we come of age, something in us automatically wants us to find a mate. Probably to ensure the continuation of the species. We start early, because it can take a long time. Mermaids can’t reproduce without their mates, except for very rare instances. Like the siren I killed on your beach.”

“So, his mom was a mermaid?” I frowned.

“It would have been one of his parents, but it’s likely that his father had some mermaid in his DNA, too. If you breed without your mate, then it comes out wrong. Some of them are mostly human, usually gorgeous by human standards, to help lure people to the water. But once they hit the water, they change into something closer to the animal the mermaid’s clan claimed.” He rubbed the top of Mitch’s head with his foot.

“I’ve never had trouble with sharks. They usually leave me alone.” I shuddered and reminded myself that Devin hadn’t been a true shark.

“It wasn’t the shark part that hated you. It was the siren.” Jacen sat up and frowned, obviously choosing his words. “Sirens hate us. We’re what they should have been but aren’t. We gain strength from the water, can change easily into forms that work well on land and in the sea. Sirens gain strength from stealing the energy of humans. Usually in a physical manner. Sex or violence. Not all sirens do it. They live their lives like humans for the most part, but it’s easy to fall into that cycle.”

“Since I’m bonded with Blake, our children won’t be sirens?”

“No. They will be merfolk.” Blake smiled. “And since you haven’t been around many merfolk, let me tell you that when you decide to have kids, you’re going to have your hands full.”

Relief washed over me and I couldn’t help the giant smile that pulled at my cheeks. I couldn’t wait to see little mermaids. Mom and Dad didn’t have any pictures of me in my tail for fear that they might be found.

“Thank you, Jacen. You’ve given me so much more than I could have hoped for.” I grabbed him in a hug and laughed. “I feel like I understand myself so much better.”

He hugged me back and patted my shoulders. “You’ll rethink that when my family descends on you. My mom was in hysterics when I told her about you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already swimming here.”

“I don’t even know where you guys live!” I laughed again. “There’s so much I still don’t know.”

“Mom and Dad live in Melbourne, Florida, with my younger sister and brother, but Mireille and I were going to college in California.”

“Meena! I think you should get ready. Jallia is getting ready to welcome her baby boy.” Mireille raised her voice so that it would drift across the water.