Rising (19 page)

Sara
opened her eyes in surprise. “Mmm, it tastes good.”

“Of course it does.”
He smiled.

After s
he finished off the fillet, Xanthus offered her the rest of the fish, “Oh, no. I couldn’t eat another bite.”

“You sure don’t eat much
,” he said just before he finished off her fish.

“I get enough.
As big as you are, you must eat enough to feed an entire family.” Xanthus proved her right when he ate two more large fish before he was done.

The discarded carcasses were left to smaller fish that huddled in groups to nibble. Sara noticed the tiger shark hadn’t returned. “What happened to the shark?”

“Don’t worry,
Moro Mou.” Sara’s heart fluttered at the obvious endearment. “Even large sharks stay away from a full-grown Dagonian. I’m surprised that little one came near you. He must have thought you terribly injured.”

“Very funny
.” She glared at him as he smiled. He was probably right. She punched him hard in the arm and began to float away in the opposite direction. Xanthus moved in so that they were face to face. She kind of liked that about being in the water. He no longer towered over her.

“You know, little half
-Dagonian, no one has ever gotten away with striking me as often as you. In fact,
no one
has ever struck me without retribution.” What he was saying might have frightened her if it hadn’t been for the smirk on his face.

“What do you think I should do about it?”
he asked.

Being this close to him gave
her a rush and she answered in the best way she could. She kissed him.

His lips were
warm, soft, and very willing to kiss her back. When she started to float away, he clutched her face to hold her in place. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled her body up against him, and wrapped her tail around his. Xanthus’s grip tightened just before he growled and broke off the kiss. “That’s not a good idea, Mou.” His jaw was clenched as he untangled their fins.

“What’s wrong?”

Xanthus closed his eyes and blew out a watery breath. His brows furrowed as he straightened his arms, putting distance between them. “You should never wrap your fin around a Dagonian you’re kissing, unless you intend to mate with him.”

“Oh
,” she said, embarrassed. “I didn’t know.”

“
Which is why I ended the kiss,” he said, taking controlled breaths. He shook his head and whispered something in Atlantian. It sounded like a curse.

Sara felt like a fool.
Xanthus looked up into her face, his lips turned up into half a smile. He took another deep breath and gave her a small peck on her pursed lips. “You have a lot to learn, little half-Dagonian. Don’t worry. I’ll be here to teach you. But right now, we should be heading back. I have movers coming to pack and take my things over to the apartment building. And then later there’s a crew coming to replace your counters.”

“You’re going to be my neighbor?” Sara felt as if a weight had been lifted off her back. Funny, she hadn’t realized how threatened she’d felt living alone.

“I don’t see
how I have much of a choice. You seem determined to get yourself into trouble. I’m just making a preemptive move.”

Xanthus pulled
her to his chest and swam them toward his houseboat. This situation still seemed surreal to her. She was in the arms of a gorgeous Dagonian, and she wasn’t dreaming. Anyone seeing them would think he was a merman and she was a mermaid.

“Xanthus?”

“Yes, Mou?”

“What happened to the mermaids?”

“Why do you ask?” he asked, as if the question surprised him.

“
I’m just curious. I’ve always wondered if I might be a mermaid. Now I know I’m not, but I’m still intrigued by them.”

Xanthus looked down
. For a moment, he looked guilty. “Well, from what I’ve been told, the Mer, or sirens as many often call them, were quite different from us. They were lovers of mischief, especially when it came to humans. They saw humans as a source of amusement. They would lure them in with their songs and the humans, unable to resist their voices, would steer their ships toward shallow rocks. The mermaids thought it was hilarious watching the ships crash on the rocks and the men drown in the sea.

“
Occasionally, a mermaid would get a human close enough for him to try to steal a kiss. Then she would grab hold of him and pull him underwater to drown him. Still, because of the beauty and mystery of the Mer, the humans were fascinated by them.

“The
Mer took their songs and games too far when they choose to mock Poseidon. When Poseidon lost the temple in Athens to Athena, he was furious. He was one of the greater gods, after all. Then a certain Siren began to sing a song about his defeat. It was a disrespectful song that exploded in popularity and, before long, all the Mer were singing it. When Poseidon heard the song, he went into a fit of rage and ordered them killed—every merman and mermaid.”

“Wow,
that’s pretty harsh,” Sara said.

“The gods aren’t known to be forgiving or tolerant.”
Xanthus shrugged.

“S
o how different did the Mer look from Dagonians?”

“
We’re similar in body, but differ in temperament. Dagonians are very proud and arrogant. The Mer were very flighty, attractive, but also mischievous. And those humans who thought that someone so beautiful could never harm them died a quick and often painful death. In fact, we Dagonians called the Mer children of the sharks.”

“So why don’t the humans have any legends about
Dagonians?”

“
Because Dagonians keep far away from humans. The few humans who have had contact with Dagonians and lived, assumed that the Dagonian was a Mer.”

Xanthus
adjusted his grip, pulling Sara closer under his chin. She held tight, feeling his muscles ripple under her gripping hands, as he swam. The warm current rushed across her face. It was amazing how fast he could swim, even with a passenger. She wondered if a mermaid could swim as fast. She doubted, from what he was saying, that they ever had Dagonian and Mer races.

“
So, I take it Dagonians didn’t get along with mermaids.”

“We
feared the wrath of Triton enough to leave them alone,” Xanthus said. “But, Dagonians hated the Mer. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Dagonian that’s sorry they are all dead.”

“Are you sorry?”
She wondered if he was hardened enough to be glad a whole race of merpeople were dead.

“To tell you the truth, I am sorry for what happened. That was pretty harsh of
Poseidon to kill them all, every mermaid and merman. And my mother who is much older than me told me they were not all as bad as so many Dagonians made them out to be.”

“How old is your mother?”

“I’m not sure
,” Xanthus said, surprised. He sounded as if he’d never thought about it before.

“You don’t know?”

“She’s very old
. More than two thousand years.”

“You’re kidding
,” Sara said.

“Not at all.”
She heard the smile in his voice.

“So she
might have known some of the Mer,” she said.

“I’m
sure she did. My own great-grandmother was a mermaid.”

“Wow
. So you’re part Merman?”

“Some
,” he conceded.

“So
has Triton had any more children?”

“
No, he hasn’t. Losing all his children in such a violent way made him vow that he would never father more.”

“If Triton did have more children, what would Poseidon do? Would he kill them too?”

“No
, all the guilty have been punished and any new children of Triton would be held guiltless.”

A
n ethereal glow shone through the milky blue water as Xanthus’s houseboat came into focus. “Looks like we’re home,” she said. Her face burned red when she realized what she said. “I mean, it looks like we’re at
your
home.”

Xanthus
chuckled. “Yes, we’re home. Well, it’s home for now. Would you like to swim from here?”

“Sure, but I’ll need help getting in. I don’t levitate like you do, Houdini.”

“Houdini?”

“He was a famous magician.”

“Okay, Mou,” he said, “I’ll levitate you out of the water.”

She
took a few stuttered tail swishes forward until she got a smoother rhythm going. “You’re doing so much better, Sara. Before you know it, you’ll be swimming better than Michael Phelps.”

“Oh
, thanks.” She rolled her eyes and swam toward the surface. “I’ll be able to swim better than a human. I can’t believe how quickly I’ve become accustomed to thinking of myself as other than human. I guess I never felt much a part of the human race. So what do you call someone who’s half-human, half-Dagonian?”

Xanthus
looked away and shrugged.

“You don’t know a name for
someone like me?”

“Sara, it’s been so long since we’ve had a half
-human that we had no need for a name.” What he said made sense, but he was acting
way
too strange for her to believe him.

“You
do
know a name for it. You just don’t want to tell me.”

“Come on
, Mou. We’re going to be late.” Xanthus avoided the subject as he pulled her into his arms. He left her stomach behind as he sped them though the water, up through the hatch, and into his houseboat. He continued on as he raced her into his room, plopped her down on the bed, left, and closed the door behind him. Sara wasted no time peeling off her dress and changing into dry clothes.

A few m
inutes later, there was a soft knock at the door.

“Come in, I’m decent
,” she said as she continued to wrap her fin.

Xanthus
walked in wearing shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip-flops. His damp curls were still dripping. “It’s a shame to cover such a beautiful tail fin, Mou.”

S
ara scrunched her eyebrows and chuckled. “That still freaks me out, you calling it a tail, although I always knew it
looked
like a tail. I thought just thinking of it that way would mean I was completely insane.”

“Here, let me.”
He took her fin, carefully folded it over, and wrapped it. “I’ve never seen a tail so flexible.”

“I
t’s had years of training.” She smirked.

He finished the wrap and lifted
her into his arms. “I’m sorry you’ve had to hide for so long, Moro Mou.”

“It’s not so bad.”
She shrugged.

Xanthus
looked sad as he gathered her in his arms to leave. A moment later, he carried her outside into the warm, Hawaiian air.

“Hello
, Xanthus.” A tall, blonde, voluptuous woman waved from the other side of the dock and sauntered over.

“Danielle, I haven’t seen you for a while. It’s good to know you’re back,” he said.

“Yes, well, I’ve had a lot of problems to deal with at work
,” she said. Xanthus raised an eyebrow.

“This must be your sister, right?”
Danielle’s eyes were a bit too narrow as they darted down to Sara’s spandex-wrapped stump. This woman was jealous. She
hoped
Sara was his sister.

“No, this is Sara.
Sara, this is Danielle, a neighbor of mine.”

“
A very close neighbor,” Danielle said. A smile tugged at Danielle’s lips when she laid her hand on Xanthus’s arm. How close a neighbor was she? Sara’s eyes shot over to Xanthus. He was hard to read. He looked a bit bored with the whole exchange, almost too bored. He was hiding something.

“I’m sorry we can’t stay and chat, Danielle, but I have some men coming to install counters in Sara’s apartment.”
Sara wondered why he neglected to tell her he was moving.

“Oh,
” Danielle said with a sigh, obviously relieved. “She’s one of your tenants. It’s so nice of you to help out someone in her condition.”

Danielle
put her hand on Sara’s arm and spoke to her as if she were a small child. “Sara, you’re a beautiful girl. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you won’t find love just because you’re crippled. You have such a pretty face.”

Sara
’s fingers dug into Xanthus’s arm and she had to clench her jaw to keep herself from saying something she would later regret. Sara waited for Xanthus to tell Danielle
he
cared for her. But he didn’t. He wasn’t going to tell her. There must be something going on between them and he obviously wasn’t willing to end it.

“I’ll see you later, Xanthus baby
,” she called out and strutted away.

Still holding her in his arms,
Xanthus strode over to his SUV and placed her in the passenger seat. He pulled out his cell phone and talked while he walked around and got in the driver’s seat. “Hello, this is Xanthus Dimitriou. You have some men coming to move my things this afternoon. I was wondering if you could have them come tomorrow instead.” He paused. “Yes, I know. Something has come up.” He ended the call and snapped his phone back in its holder.

Sara
felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Was he breaking up with her? Of course, it couldn’t really be a breakup—they’d never made being together official. Still, it was obvious that he didn’t want to tell Danielle that he was interested in her. Actually, he’d never said he
was
interested in her. Maybe to him, he was just protecting another Dagonian. After all, that’s what he did, and a few stolen kisses didn’t make him her boyfriend. Sara’s stomach was sick when she realized she’d been reading
way
too much into their relationship. She pulled the seat belt across her body and blinked back tears.

Xanthus
turned on the SUV. He waited until he pulled out onto the road before he spoke to her. “Sara, I need to explain.”

“You don’t need to explain anything, I don’t own you.” As
the words fell from her lips, she made a realization. She may not own him but
he
owned her—both heart and soul. Whether or not she wanted it, her heart belonged to him, but broken heart or not, she still had her pride.

“Sara,
please let me explain.”

“You don’t need to. I understand perfectly.”

“No you
don’t
understand. Haven’t you wondered what kind of assignment I’m here for?”

“Assignment?”
She turned, giving him her full attention.

“Yes
, assignment.” Xanthus sighed. “We’ve had two Dagonian colonies destroyed due to humans dumping poison into the waters in the South Pacific. I’ve been tracking down the origin of the poison, and I’ve traced it to a factory here in Hawaii. I’ve brought the guilty to judgment. Thank the gods I was able to stop them before more damage was done. There’s only one loose end I still have to tie up, then hopefully things back home will calm down enough to avoid an open war.”

“So Danielle is part of this?” S
ara wrung her fingers together.

“She’s right in the middle of it and guilty as sin.”

“So is she your loose end?”

“Yes
,” he said, to her relief.

“What are you going to do to her?”
She wondered if he would punish her himself.

“S
he’ll answer to Triton.”

“
Wow, Triton?” Sara guessed she shouldn’t have felt so jealous of Danielle. She would be terrified to be in her shoes, facing an angry god.

“Yes, and don’t ask me what he
’ll do. I don’t know. I only know it won’t be pleasant.”

“
So if the Dagonians decide to retaliate against the humans, how much damage could they do?”

Xanthus sighed.
“We could do a lot of damage. About half of the human population lives near the ocean. With massive tsunamis strategically triggered, we could wipe out about three billion.”

“Three billion…” Sara felt dizzy. “Hawaii would be gone, everyone would be killed.”

“Unless you were lucky enough to be hiking to the top of Mauna Kea. At 13,000 feet, you’d probably survive.”

“And this is all because we polluted the waters in the South Pacific and killed… how many?”

“Over three thousand… and for a Dagonian with a lifespan as long as ours, that is astronomical.” Xanthus shook his head. “And it’s not just that. Humans have been polluting so much of the seas in the last few decades, much of it is unlivable.”

“I’m so sorry
,” she whispered.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You
’re not at fault.”

“No, but my people are.”
Sara hoped that Xanthus could stop this war. But how could one man make a difference?

As
Xanthus and Sara pulled into the apartment parking lot, Sara gasped at the sight. It was filled with trucks—Al’s construction, Wall-2-Wall Flooring, Water-Works Plumbing, Pest-Assassin Exterminator Service, Bright-Light Electrical, Kinimaka Brothers Painting Service…

“I take it my apartment isn’t the only one you’re
updating,” Sara said.

“I’m just doing what any responsible apartment building owner would do.
I do have to act the part. Besides, there are small children and old women living in this building!”

“
I’m not complaining. Your tenants are going to love you.”

“I’m not looking for love from these humans
,” Xanthus said.

“You may not be looking for it, but you’re going to get it.”

Xanthus didn’t respond, the frown on his face said it all.

That evening, Sara relaxed
in Xanthus’s arms as one of the
Star Wars
movies played on her little television. She was really too tired to pay much attention to the movie. Watching Xanthus and the other men work was exhausting.

“You really should have let me help today
,” she said.

“
Hm? What?” Xanthus said, distracted by a space battle. Then her words sunk in. “Sara, we went over this. You could get hurt doing manual labor. Besides, that’s what I was paying those men for.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You helped.”

“They
needed
my help,” he said.

Sara bit her lip when she was about to say,
Yeah, right
.

“Humans have quite the imagination.” Xanthus said
absently.

Sara looked up at him.
“George Lucus sure does.”

She smiled when she noticed
he still had a few lipstick smudges on his face. Like it or not, his tenants now adored him.

“Did you want the last sushi roll?” he asked.

“You can have it,” she said as she lay her head down against his chest and closed her eyes. “I’m glad you found some human food you could stomach.”

“Barely stomach,” he said, correcting her.

Late into the night, Sara awoke in her own bed. She wondered if Xanthus had gone.

She got into her wheelchair
, rolled out into her living room, and found him asleep on her couch. At least, half of him was on her couch. His long legs stretched out over the side onto the floor. He didn’t look at all comfortable.

S
ara sighed. He was so adorable, like an angelic, sleeping giant. And he was willing to forgo comfort to make sure she was safe. She returned to her bed and fell asleep smiling.