For a moment they just regarded each other in silence, then she shook her head slightly, her posture relaxing into something much more natural.
“Sorry,” she said, with a slight chuckle. “It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? Trying to have a conversation with you up there and me in here.”
“Uh, a little,” said Heath, a small smile breaking through his stupefaction. He had wondered why she was still in the water, but hadn’t liked to mention it. His eyes flicked down to her torso, then quickly back to her face. She was only wearing the large shells again.
The girl—Merletta—seemed to take in his slight flush, because she tilted her head to the side curiously. It only made his face grow hotter. He had worried that he’d again interrupted her in an attempt to wash, but he was a little reassured by her obvious confusion as to his reaction. Most likely her attire was normal according to the customs of her people, and she had no idea why it seemed so strange to him.
Mercifully, Merletta chose not to comment on the silent interaction. “I don’t mind if you don’t,” she said instead, and it took Heath a moment to realize she was talking about her earlier comment regarding being in the water. “I suppose we’ll have to just work with it, because it’s not like I’ll be coming out there, is it? And I’m guessing you’re not coming in here anytime soon.”
“You…you want me to go into the water?” Heath asked, distracted from his embarrassment.
“What?” Merletta seemed bizarrely startled by the question. “No, of course not! I don’t mean you any harm.”
Heath opened his mouth, then closed it again, more confused than ever. They might both be speaking the language of men, but she may as well be using dragon speech for all the sense her comments made.
“Um…thank you?” he said, his tone making it into a question.
She clearly realized he was confused, and her brows drew together as her eyes found his. For a long moment their eyes were locked, foreheads furrowed as each tried to read the other.
Even as his heart beat more quickly, Heath found his mind relaxing. Merletta was throwing him like no one he’d ever met before, but at the same time, there was something about her that set him at ease. He took an unconscious step forward across the rocks, bringing him closer to the water’s edge. That something in her eyes was still there, that restless energy that made him think they would understand each other, if given the chance.
“How did you get here?” she asked abruptly. “Where did you come from? You don’t live on this land, do you?”
“No, I don’t live here,” Heath said, shaking his head slightly and coming out of the trance he’d been in. “And actually…” he hesitated, “I flew here.”
Merletta’s eyes were suddenly as round as coins. “You can fly?” she breathed. She’d been leaning toward him, her hands on the rocks, and she pulled herself up so she was fully supported on her arms, the movement seeming unconscious.
“Well, not me personally, obviously,” Heath chuckled, unable to help his eyes straying down her form as more of her emerged from the water. “My friend Reka agreed to—DRAGON’S FLAME!”
The exclamation broke from him involuntarily as he leaped backward, his eyes riveted on the area where Merletta’s hips should be. His gaze passed from the unnerving sight of her warm brown skin melding into shiny purple scales over to the enormous gold-tipped fins protruding from the water off to one side.
For several stunned seconds he just stared, feeling his eyes growing wider with each heartbeat. Then his gaze passed to her face. She looked confused, and wary. She was still up on her arms, but was leaning slightly back toward the water, as though ready to flee.
“You have a tail,” Heath said stupidly. “You have…an actual tail.”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “Naturally.”
“It’s just…I don’t…” Heath tried to pull himself together, moving back toward her with an effort. His thoughts were swirling wildly, but underneath it all, he still knew that he didn’t want her to run away. Especially not now he had a whole host of new questions. “I don’t have one of those,” he said, with a weak attempt at a smile.
“Of course not,” said Merletta, half-laughing. “You’re a human.” She paused, her face growing uncertain again. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said Heath, a hysterical laugh threatening to bubble up out of him. He passed a hand quickly over his face, drawing a deep breath when the vision didn’t disappear. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ve just never had to clarify that to anyone before. But yes, I am a human. And are you…are you a mermaid?”
“That’s right,” said Merletta, nodding. Her eyes passed over his face, their expression fascinated. “You didn’t know that? What did you think I was?”
“I thought you were like me,” said Heath frankly, and something in Merletta’s eyes warmed. He gave a small smile, crouching down by the water’s edge. How was it possible for her to seem so…human?
“You see,” he explained, “I didn’t know mermaids were real. They’re just a myth where I come from. An ancient legend that no one has ever actually believed. Or so I thought.”
Merletta nodded eagerly, pulling herself even further toward him in response to his movement. She was propped on her elbows now, just the lower half of her tail dangling in the water. Heath’s fascinated eyes followed the movement of her tail, as it gently swished back and forth. It was probably rude to stare at it, but he couldn’t help himself. It was less terrifying and more beautiful by the second, strangely. The scales seemed to change as the tail moved, from purple to blue to green and back again. And all of it sparkled in the sunshine in a way he was certain no fish tail ever had.
“That’s exactly what I thought about humans,” Merletta was saying, her tone expressing the fascination he felt. “That you were just a myth, something from a bedtime story. My people don’t even know about this land, let alone its inhabitants. But when I saw the structures on the shore, I knew something must have built it.” She lifted one hand, brushing her long, dark hair back over her shoulder in a tangled mess. “But even in the craziest myths, I never heard anything about humans being able to fly!”
“Oh, no,” Heath hastened to clarify, laughing apologetically. “Humans can’t fly. When I said I flew here, I meant—”
But he cut himself off at the sound of her sharp gasp. He had clearly lost the mermaid’s attention, her eyes now fixed on something over his shoulder, and an expression of pure terror on her face.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN