Authors: Naomi Fraser
“Friends?”
His look is hot and my stomach quivers. “I can’t get you out of my mind no
matter how hard I try. If that’s your definition of friends . . .”
“DO YOU THINK they followed us?” I glance over my shoulder
and scan the street after we exit the bus near my house. Things got tense the
last few minutes at the funeral between the finfolk men who didn’t want me to
leave and were prepared to fight and Lakyn who threatened them all. Some of the
more determined said they’d track us home, and I’d been looking over my
shoulder the entire trip.
The bus roars and then rumbles
away in a cloud of seeping black smoke. I choke on the fumes and watch the
driver take a corner far too close.
“He drives worse than I do,”
Lakyn says and rubs his jaw. “It’s possible they’re watching,” he concedes with
a frown. “Their transformation was forced by the council. But there’s no way
they’re taking your blood—”
“We could’ve all squeezed into
the Hyundai.” I cast him an amused glance, lengthening my strides to match his
along the pavement.
He slows a little and laughs.
“Yes, seven of us in a five seater.
You could’ve sat on my
lap,” he teases. “Imagine that.”
I flick my hair to the side,
allowing the strands to hide the heat in my cheeks. “You chanced six on the way
to the crematorium.”
This time his laughter rings out.
“I would never subject you to such a drive. You did me a favour, really. We had
to unfold out of the car.”
I laugh along with him as we turn
the corner. The heat of the day is a distant memory as the stiff sea breeze
suddenly buffets us along the hills. Moreton Bay Fig trees line the roads,
shadowing the front yards of beautiful, old Queenslanders, all refurbished in
white, pale greens and blues.
The first day I came here I
caught sight of an old man digging in his front garden, planting white
agapanthus and shaping a hedge. He threw all the clippings in the tray of a Ute
and waved at me on his way down the road. Wynnum is like that—the long, winding
esplanade makes people happier, they greet each other with a smile and always
say hello to strangers.
The air here smells of the ocean:
windswept, salty, fresh.
Like you’re a sail, caught up in the
essence of the sea.
I breathe in deeply, sighing with pleasure. One of
the most breathtaking sights is the blue water glittering at the bottom of the
hills, like a mirage.
After being grabbed and crying my
eyes out at Ralph’s funeral, I want nothing more than to relax in the sea—but I
can’t do that. Sirens wait and they’ll use me to get to Lakyn. The blue hides
so many predators.
The clack of my skin-coloured
wedges on bitumen reverberates in the street, and a fierce longing seizes my
heart, shaking me to the very core of my being.
Silence.
I close my eyes, drifting away—imagining liquid silk wrapping around my body
until I float on nothing.
The gliding power of my crystalline
tail; a diamond matrix of brilliant gems.
Sinking my head beneath the
waves, hair slicked back and free.
Totally free.
My exhale is long and loud.
“. . .
all
right?”
I open my eyes, realising I’ve
stopped. “Oh. Sorry.”
Lakyn’s smile is sharp as though
he knows all my secrets. He grabs hold of his collar and pulls it away from his
neck. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Ellie. I know you want to go back in.
Once we get rid of these sirens, you can.
Within limits.”
Humour crinkles the corners of his eyes. “Don’t go swimming off to another
country just yet. I want you to stick around for a while longer.”
I love my skinny jeans, short
shorts, small tops and Converse, walking around the shops, and doing sport, but
my finfolk side is a gateway to an extraordinary reality.
A
gift.
Though, I’m pleased to hear Lakyn laugh after watching him fall
apart today and I need to ask him more about finfolk magic.
“Hey . . . so when are you going
to ask me? You know—ask about how I know I can’t transform the others into . .
.” I lift a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, trying not to make such a huge
issue of it. “
There’s
a lot of things I want to ask
you. We have another ten minutes left to walk,” I cajole.
Lakyn lifts his head slowly and
seems to pin me with his ocean-hued gaze. A muscle jumps beneath the smooth,
perfect line of his jaw. He steps closer and I suck in a breath. “When the time
is right, I’ll tell you all you need to know,” he says softly. “Stopping the
sirens is my main priority. Being around me is dangerous, Ellie, and I can’t
protect you while I’m worried how far you’ve investigated into finfolk culture.
Or how you’ve done so.”
I sigh, frustration gnawing me at
his no answer. “Well then. I guess that shuts me down.”
Confusion, a rare sight, crosses
Lakyn’s eyes. He’s become so good at hiding his uncertainty about this world
from others. “Shuts down? What does that mean?
Nothing bad?”
I shrug, unwilling to supply an
answer.
“Ellie.”
His voice hits me square in the chest. “Tell me. I don’t want to do what I did
at the hostel again and ruin everything. I’m not overly familiar with human
ways. I heard some of the students in the men’s room talking about Jamie and
Alexa
. The boys were mad about being shut down by the
girls. I pretended to know what it meant.”
“I could tell you,” I offer, “but
that would mean I get to ask you about magic.
Swapsies
.
Is it possible you
transferred a sorcerer’s power—
Hey
!”
Lakyn sweeps me over to the trunk
of a Moreton Bay Fig. He looks over my shoulder, then up and down the street
and his hands shake as he releases me. “You can’t. I will help you with
everything, but take my word for it, now is not the time.”
“I disagree. Now is the perfect
opportunity.”
He leans into me, and I stiffen
against the trunk, but the heat of his body is inescapable. The slight brush of
his cheek against mine sends an out-of-control frisson across my skin and his scent
wraps around me. His shoulders shield me from onlookers as he whispers in my
ear, “If the council knew what I gave you, they’d be in control of your life
forever. You would need to run. Power and self-interest is all they respect. My
uncle is King but the council is corrupt. They won’t listen; they’ll do what
they want. I escaped with a light punishment.”
“Losing your fins was light?
Can’t your uncle dissolve the council?”
“No, they were there before him
and the only way to destroy them is with magic. He’d have to kill them. But
there’s a sickness in the council and there’s no way of knowing how far it
reaches. Even though no one has turned in so long, they still punished me by
the old law and they believed you would come to nothing. They’re watching, Ellie.
Let them believe you’re human for a while longer. It’s easier to fight one
enemy.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t say
anything to
Dr.
Farrow then. What could they do to
me?” I ask, hating the shake in my voice. The council might have seen me
manipulate the waves on the way to school.
“Take you into the sea and never
release you,” he replies. “Experiment on you. Try to get your bloodline
reproduced so others can turn. Kill everyone you love or threaten to. Remember
power and self-interest. What would humans do with a merman?”
“But it’s not my bloodline—it’s
yours.”
“Shh!” He looks up and around
again. “As soon as I performed the transformation, someone must have known.
They don’t want me there if I can control magic like that and, without fins,
I’m no real threat to the sirens. I’m an easy target, but they’ll stop at
nothing if they know about you. Whoever is controlling them wants to get rid of
me. Then they’ll work on my uncle.”
“I don’t understand.”
Lakyn shuffles a hand through his
hair. “Ralph and I discussed the possibility of someone who wants to overthrow
my uncle and how they could use sirens and ridiculous laws to do it. They wipe
out those with the strongest magic first, and you have some of my power, Ellie.
Some part of the sorcerer in you. I’m not sure how much yet.”
“All the other families were
cursed never to transform. You are a descendant of the original sorcerer who
cursed the others,” I state flatly. “Only those who aren’t cursed can perform
the turn. That means you and your uncle. All the rest can’t do it. That’s why
they keep dying. Ralph’s wife would have survived if you’d turned her, but he’d
been cursed.”
Colour fades from Lakyn’s face
and he steps back, giving me room, but the cold air contrasts to the
magnificent heat of him and I want him close again. “There’s more—I can only
change one person.”
“What? Why?” A thought suddenly
occurs to me and I straighten. “One chance is all anyone gets?”
He nods. “We choose wisely, but
normally the other person dies from it. My uncle helps maintain the magical
barriers. With him out the way, more sirens and finfolk will be able to come
here. Our world is going through some trouble at the moment.” He leans back
near my ear again and I tremble. “Listen to me, let’s focus on the stopping the
sirens. All the council wants is control, make them believe they have it.”
“All right.”
We continue walking but my knees are weak. I croak out, “Are you having a
reception for Ralph?
“Yes, at the local pub, The
Waterloo Hotel. It will be tomorrow.”
“They have a nice beer garden
there,” I say in low tone, my mind completely occupied by everything Lakyn has
just told me. Some birthdays make me feel one day older. This one makes me feel
like I’ve aged ten years. I’m sixteen today.
Sixteen.
The past seems a blur and the future an exciting adventure.
“I’m glad you know more,” he
says. “I didn’t want to hurt you at the hospital or the hostel by pushing you
away, but I couldn’t stand the idea that something else might happen to you
because of me.”
“I know,” I say softly, reminded
of the tortures he must be going through thinking he’s to blame. That’s why he
tried to push me away, but knowing the why doesn’t make the action less
painful. He saved my life, doing what he thought right no matter he feared
losing his life. After my father’s death, I understand life’s worth and how
much Lakyn gave up for me.
Lakyn’s Adam’s apple bobs up and
down. “I can’t help feeling so damn guilty about it all,” he grounds out.
“Everyone around me lives on borrowed time. I can’t protect you like this.
Without my fins, without my magic.
Ralph’s death made me
realise that. This happened in the sea and it’s happening here. Back at the
hospital, I had to list Ralph’s next of kin, but he has none. His wife died.
Then I needed to sort out his funeral arrangements. The guys wanted me to go
because—well a few of them threw up at the hostel. They’ve never seen what the
sirens can do. I have,” he says grimly. “They’re nothing but murderers of the
sea.”
His chin dips to his chest,
shoulders hunching like the weight of life is suddenly too much to bear. “I
should’ve done more research on the sirens while I had the chance. I just
killed them when they took our children. I wonder if all the souls are released
afterwards. I’d like to think so.”
I rub my left hand over his
right, not anticipating the immediate warmth spreading through my skin. Tingles
shoot up my arm in electric flutters. The smoothness of his palm and slight
calluses at his fingertips make me want to hang on. I sigh and slide my hand
from his, but he fiercely tightens his grip, threading his fingers through
mine.
It’s still daylight as we wind
our way along the road. School is out for the weekend. Darkness falls later in
the night during Queensland summers. “Want some good news? Guess what? It’s . .
.” My voice trails off as Lakyn brings our entwined fingers closer to his
mouth. Tremors curl my toes. The outer rim of his irises turns ultramarine
while the inside becomes pure azure. I shake as he lowers his mouth to my
knuckles in a tender kiss.
“No matter what happens, I’m not
prepared to lose you.
Know that.
But if I say you need to leave me—” he
swallows, his voice full of pain, and he meets my gaze, “—it’s only so you will
survive.” He clasps my hand tighter, and then splays it over his heart as he
whispers, “So you must. These sirens may be too strong for me.”
I nod, but don’t mention the
supplies I bought from the shopping centre in case I need to prove his
innocence. Or about the pulses of magic I experience while practicing the
spells in human form, which will hopefully be stronger when I’m a mermaid. “I
don’t think you should walk home by yourself today. Wait at my place for the
next bus and catch that. Or my mum can drop you home. We can watch a movie; eat
some popcorn while you wait. You know, hang out.”
“Who’s protecting who here?” he
asks, giving my hand a squeeze.
I answer honestly, “We help each
other so we’re both safe.”
He stops walking and turns to me,
a dazed expression in his eyes.
“Ellie.”
His voice
softens. “I know I shouldn’t have turned you, but I believe you may be the
greatest gift I ever gave to myself.”
“You saved my life,” I say
roughly, emotion thickening my voice. “Don’t talk about
shouldn’ts
.”
We stand there, staring at each
other and then he tugs me closer in a hug. I throw my arms around his neck, and
he buries his face in my loose coils where I can feel him breathing deeply. I
rub my cheek against his warm skin, my hands resting on his shoulders. The tang
of the ocean fills my nose, and the more I think about it, I wonder if the
smell lives inside his molecules. It must do because all the other
finfolk
turned human carry the scent of the ocean.
Wherever he goes, he takes a
piece of home with him. His bouts in the sea as a human have been short, and with
most of his time spent walking on land, eventually his longing for the sea will
fade while mine will grow. His vibration will align to this reality. Just like
Finfolk
Lore & Transformations
described. We’ll grow closer together
emotionally, but further apart physically.