Soon a dark shadow came into view—a reef that jutted up from the ground. Fish swam along the area, completely unimpressed with us. She pointed out some of the little fish that were hiding in holes and an octopus that was looking for dinner. A group of wild dolphins swam close and chittered in excitement. Meena smiled, and I realized that she knew this pod. For a while we played along the reef, the dolphins blowing bubbles and swimming around at crazy speeds.

They all came to say hello to Meena, playing and talking with her like they were people instead of dolphins. I remembered her telling me that they were smarter than humans gave them credit for, so they were probably having actual conversations that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t mind. In fact, I enjoyed watching it all.

A young dolphin was nosing around me, pushing at me in an attempt to get me to play. I scratched along her chin and smiled. I didn’t know how old she was, just that she acted like every little kid I had ever met. Hyper and excited. She kept nudging at me, wanting to play, but Meena was busy watching the one that I thought was the mother. I turned toward Meena to show her the little one when a larger dolphin shot between us, barely missing my face with its tail. I let go of Meena’s hand without thinking, trying to keep from being battered.

Water filled my nose and I exhaled to try and clear it. I started swimming for the surface, but it was at least twenty feet above us. Arms wrapped around me and Meena propelled us to the surface. I coughed, the water that I had swallowed making me feel green. She wrapped her hand around my arm and I immediately started to feel better. I wondered if she was passing on her water breathing ability.

“Are you okay?” Her face was worried. She shook her head as some of the dolphins surfaced around us. “They didn’t mean to hurt you, they just didn’t understand. They just wanted to play with my… mate.”

I coughed again, unable to talk. The younger dolphin nudged me in the shoulder and made a mournful sound. I distractedly rubbed its head to let it know I wasn’t upset. I looked at Meena, shock rolling through my system at her words.

“Mate?” It made sense. The markings that were more defined, the way we could feel each other.

She bit her bottom lip and blushed. “That’s what they were calling you.”

“Huh.” I looked at the smiling faces of the dolphins around us and wondered how they knew. I was surprised and relieved that it meant Meena really was mine. She had said she’d think about going with me, but I wasn’t sure she would.

“I’m sorry, Blake.” She shook her head and tears formed in her eyes. “Maybe there’s a way to reverse it.”

My heart stopped beating and the little dolphin nudged my shoulder worriedly. Reverse it? I wanted to leave the island, to explore the world, and find out more about myself. But I didn’t want to leave Meena. She was part of me. The tears that had been shimmering in her eyes were now running down her cheeks and I kicked myself for taking so long to respond.

“I don’t want to reverse it, Meena.” She had drifted away a little, so I swam closer and pulled her against me.

“I trapped you! I didn’t mean to, but I did!” Her tail swished angrily under the water. “If we can’t reverse it, then you’ll always be linked to me. What are you going to do when you find someone in France or Italy and they ask about the markings on your arm? ‘Oh, that? It’s nothing. Just the thing that links me to my mermaid mate.’” Her impression of me almost made me smile, but I could tell that she was really upset.

“Meena—”

“I’m serious, Blake. You want to see the world and I can’t do that! I’d just hold you back from your dreams. If we don’t reverse it, you’ll feel guilty following your heart.” She choked up for a minute and I reached out to soothe her, but she wouldn’t let me touch her. “What if you get married one day? And we’re still linked?”

“Why can’t I just marry you?” It was simple, obvious. Why was she making this so hard? The shock on her face was fascinating to watch. So many emotions played over her features, I wasn’t sure what all they were. Had there been any happiness at all?

“I don’t want to be your parents! I don’t want you to be with me because you have to be!” She swam away and then back, almost like she was pacing. “I want you to love me the way I love you. Not marry me because you have to. Because I trapped you.”

“I do love you.” I said the words slowly, quietly. My heart was beating fast and it was taking all my strength to keep from shouting. She had said she loved me. She loved me. I don’t think she even realized she had said it. “You didn’t trap me. You didn’t set out to make me your mate. It happened because that’s what we’re supposed to be to each other.”

“You love me?” She froze in place, her eyes wide.

“Yes.” I grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to me. “I love you. I think I’ve loved you this whole time but was too stupid to realize it.”

She snorted. “You are kind of stupid.”

“Apparently you love stupid.” I cupped her cheek in my hand and let my eyes run over her face. Meena. My mate.

“I do. I love you.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “The last week has been hell. I hated staying away from you so much I had nightmares.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “But is that because of this bond? Do you love me or is it the bond that makes you love me?”

“It doesn’t matter, Meena.” I ducked my head so I could look in her eyes. “I love you. The way you smile, the way you care about your family. I even love your bad jokes. When we find Jacen and Mireille, I’m willing to bet that they will tell you we have this bond because we were meant to love each other.”

“Who knew Blake Weathering was a romantic?” The corners of her mouth pulled up.

“Don’t let it get around. It would ruin my image.” I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her against me. “I love you, Meena. We’ll figure this out.”

“We should head back.” Her voice was wistful and I understood her reluctance. The sky was starting to brighten, the faint light making the water sparkle around us. I didn’t want to give up this time with her, but it wasn’t safe for us to be out in the water during daylight.

“Just don’t let go.” I grinned and threaded my fingers through hers.

The swim back felt shorter than on the way out and I was disappointed when I recognized her little beach. We slowed and I knew that Meena was sad to give up this time too. There was still so much that we needed to figure out. She brought us to the surface a ways from the beach and bit her lip.

“I’ve never wanted to skip work before.”

“We could play hooky,” I suggested.

“Hooky?” She scrunched up her nose.

“What, you’ve never played hooky?” I laughed at her expression.

“No, I haven’t,” she said. She sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. “I have a sense of responsibility, unlike some people.”

“Hey, I only play hooky for good reasons! Like swimming with mermaids.” She rolled her eyes.

“We can’t swim during the day. It’s too risky.”

“Fine. You win, Ms. Responsible.” I tapped her nose.

“You could come with me again tonight,” she offered. She looked at me through her eyelashes and it was one of the sexiest things I’d seen.

“Swimming?” My voice had dropped and my mind had gone somewhere darker and sweatier. “Or skinny-dipping?”

“I guess you’ll have to show up to find out.” Oh, she was a tease and I was taking the bait.

“I think I can work that out.” A soft blush ran over her cheeks and I wondered just what she was thinking.

I tilted my head and was going in for a kiss when I saw the shadow coming up behind her. Without thinking, I spun her behind me and pushed her toward the beach. “Swim, Meena!”

Chapter Nineteen

- Meena -

Something slammed into Blake, pushing him under the water. My response was immediate and loud. I screamed. A dorsal fin rose out of the water, but it was like nothing I had seen before. It was brown and attached to a back that was too narrow to belong to a shark.

I dove under the water and tried to make sense of what was happening. Blake was fighting off something that looked like a person with the head of a bull shark. Blood filled the water and fear choked me as I swam toward them. I had nothing on me that could help—no weapons or tools—but I had to try. I had to do something. There was a conch shell on the sea floor, so I swooped down and grabbed it on my way. I slammed the shell against the monster trying to kill Blake and heard a loud crack as piece of the shell fell off.

I could feel Blake trying to urge me to swim away, but there was no way I could leave him. Switching tactics, I slammed the sharp end of the shell into the monster’s nose, remembering that was a sensitive location on sharks. I don’t know how many times I rammed that broken shell into the beast, but there was a terrible sound and he let go of Blake. Grabbing his good arm, I raced for the beach, but the animal was right behind me. The shallows were just in sight and I wouldn’t be able to swim much farther. I hoped that it would stop the creature, but when I looked back he was crawling along the bottom. Instead of fins, he had the long brown arms and legs of a human.

I couldn’t understand what I was seeing; it was the scariest thing I had ever faced. All this time I had thought I was a sea monster, but had never imagined something like this existed. My head broke the surface and I tried to lift Blake out of the water. His eyes were closed and I tried to shake him as I crawled along the sand.

“Blake, wake up! Wake up!” There was a long cut on his left arm and the water was turning red. I continued on, all too aware that the creature was right on us. The brown back broke through the water and I tried to move faster. Without legs, trying to crawl through the water was almost impossible and I didn’t have the time to change. “Blake. Please, Blake.”

There was a thin noise as something shot through the water. I looked back over Blake and gasped when the beast raised its head out of the water and roared. I froze, partly in shock and partly in horror. The shaft from a spear stuck out of his side and he whipped his head back and forth. I scrambled back, trying to pull Blake into my lap. He was groaning, the only sign he was still alive.

The monster looked at me and roared, his face shifting just enough that I could see the human underneath. Devin’s hate-filled eyes spit malice at me. He moved in my direction and another shaft impaled his side, closer to the gills, with a sickening thunk. My breathing stopped and I watched, shocked, as he fell to the sand, shaking. His body was grotesque—part man, part shark. His face contorted into something completely inhuman with razor-sharp teeth jutting out of his jaws.

I looked from the monster to where Jacen stood in the shallows. His eyes were trained on Devin with a fierce look. Mireille was coming out of the water behind him, a worried look on her face as she rushed to my side. They were both naked except for the bag that was hanging over Mireille’s shoulders, but I didn’t care. They could have been wearing nun habits and it wouldn’t have mattered. All that mattered was that Blake was dying in my arms.

“Are you hurt?” Jacen knelt down, his sea-green eyes running over my face.

“No. It’s Blake.” My fingers were pressed against the gash along his arm, trying to stop the bleeding. “We need an ambulance.”

“I’ve got a phone.” Mireille dug through her bag and came out with a waterproof box. She popped it open and turned on the cell phone that was inside.

Jacen pulled the bag off his cousin’s shoulder while she dialed. He dug through it and pulled out a T-shirt that he helped me wrap around Blake’s wound. I pushed my fingers against the bloody material once we had it in place, trying to help slow the bleeding. Jacen pulled out a pair of swim trunks and quickly put them on before ducking back down to check Blake.

“I need your address, Meena.” Mireille’s blue hair hung lankly about her shoulders. I told her where to send the paramedics and then asked her to call my parents.

“Let me take him so you can change.” Jacen looked into my eyes and I could see the concern etched there. Again, I had that feeling like he was familiar, someone that I should know. I shifted Blake out of my lap and wiggled toward the deeper water. As I shifted, Jacen lifted Blake in his arms and carried him up to the beach. I left the water and pulled on my bathing suit bottom as I ran to where Blake lay.

I could hear my parents running down the path and Mireille was quickly pulling on a shirt when I looked in that direction. Mom rounded the corner of the trail first. She was carrying a first-aid kit and had a towel over her shoulder. Dad was on his cell phone and I wondered who he was talking to.

“Blake, please. Please hang on.” I brushed the hair out of his eyes. He was so pale he looked dead.

He coughed up a little water and blinked his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” I scooted around and leaned over so I could see his face better. “You’re hurt, but the ambulance is on its way.” Tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop them and was fighting to not lose complete control. Blake’s eyes drifted shut again.

“You’re going to be okay, man.” Jacen leaned over and moved the shirt a little to check the wound. “You’re healing already.”

“What are you talking about?” I looked at Jacen like he was crazy.

“You sealed the mating bond, so he’s already healing.” Mireille knelt down next to me. “He’d probably be dead if you hadn’t.”

“I don’t know what you mean!” I yelled the words. “I don’t know anything about a bond or what’s going on!” My nerves were shot and I felt lost. “What were you doing here anyway?” My voice tapered off. I was drained from the burst of adrenaline and the worry.

“We know.” Mireille reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. “That’s why we’ve been looking for you. We caught whiff of a siren swimming nearby the other day, which is why we came prepared. They hate mermaids and Jacen thought that it might have been tailing you.”

“Siren?” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m so lost.”

“We’ll help.” Mireille grabbed my hand.

“Meena! Blake!” Mom fell to the ground next to me and ran her hands over Blake’s face. “What happened?”