Heart of Shell (The Mercrutian Chronicles Book 1) (13 page)

The moon was missing
tonight in the sky over the cove. My Mer eyes were enhanced enough for me to see everything, but I had a flashlight to help better distinguish the colours in the night. Water was shimmering, little flickers glistening, as the waves rolled in and swept softly against the sand. The breeze was an inspiring flutter against my cheeks. Standing there seemed solitary and lonesome, dangerous almost, but I felt as though that moment had filled me with warmth and peace.

I would sometimes sit in my room and meditate about this haven-like place. I knew that it must exist somewhere, though I wasn't quite sure how or where I might find it. In reading the
grimoire
I had learned new things about Mers and their abilities to sense water.

With my empathic powers growing I was starting to realize how my emotions linked to my environment. I had dreamed of this place so many times before that I had started to sense it out. In the weeks prior whenever I went for drives with my parents I looked for signs of it until one day there it was.  Not that far from where I lived, the secret cove was only about a seven minute walk. It was off a long stretch of rocky shore that curved out until it ducked around a corner and into a grassy beach front surrounding a circle of water. A few large rocks seemed to be marking an unofficial entrance. I was searching for what I knew must be there, the rock I needed for my reading. It was late, I was out of the house later than I should have been, but for the first time I felt determined to get some answers.

My parents were sleeping pretty soundly when I left  from the back entrance off the kitchen. The project they were working on in the lab had been keeping them so busy lately, it was a wonder they had slept at all. More often, in the past few weeks they had burned the midnight oil, only one of them returning home to spend the night with me before joining the other at the base camp in the morning.  Then they would switch off and repeat the same pattern again. I was starting to worry about their health. They were overworked.

The flashlight darted around the ground until at last I spotted the rock! Black and shimmering it had been smoothed over time with specks of minerals catching the light. I reached down to grab it and placed it in my pocket when I heard a noise behind me and turned quickly, suddenly very scared.

“It's just me Anya.”
How he found me I wasn't sure, he reached his hand out to mine helping me step over a large rock and I felt complete disbelief. Merrick had found this cove. My heart calmed from its sheer panic at the thought of a stranger finding me here.
“This place is beautiful” he said as I stepped down and closer to him. He turned to watch the water against the shore.

“Merrick I never expected to see you here. It's late.”

“Something in your heart must have called me then.”
“What makes you think it was my heart?”

“Well I'd like to think that I'm in there somewhere.”

“Oh? — Why is that? Would you say that I'm in yours?”

“Of course you are. Our bond made it so.”

“Right.”             

I watched the water until my eyes travelled up to the stars dotting the darkened sky. Again his words left me wanting more from him. I wished that for once her would tell me how he honestly felt, no bonding spell or magic – just him.

Even though we had spent days together that were pleasant, fun even, I couldn't help but feel like maybe this mating with me wasn't really what he had wanted.

“You've gone quiet Anya.”

“I've nothing more to add really, you've summed it all so well.”

“Have I though?”

“Yes, Merrick, you have.” I clenched the stone tighter in my pocket.

Maybe for now I would have to leave things the way they were, but I was learning more and more every day. For all I knew there could be a bond breaking spell in the
grimoire
.

Our parents knew what they were doing with that contract. All Mers did. And now we seemed to be stuck together forever like tangled seaweeds.
How did I feel for him?
I felt muddled. Perhaps the moon cycle had something to do with it, a waning moon was always a vulnerable time for us Mer folk, the new moon was even worse. Merrick stepped closer to the water.

“Want to take a dip?” he asked.

I had already seen this moment what felt like a million times before. Only this night wasn't a full moon, and it seemed all wrong. There were no waves rolling in. The water instead pitch black and still. It was eerie. I shook my head no.

“I'll walk you home then,” he said wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

As we walked, the silence was awkward, until at last he said something.

“Zale mentioned this to me,” he finally admitted, though he still didn't tell me anything else. I didn't bother asking why, obviously this moment had something to do with a choice. I just wasn't sure if it was his or mine.

The next morning, I
woke feeling like maybe I had dreamed the previous night. Until, I looked at my bedside table and noticed the rock wrapped in arrowhead leaves.  Then, I recalled the fish bones I'd also saved from the previous night's dinner.
I grabbed them all eagerly, tearing a piece of parchment from my sketchbook and running down the stairs. After I poured the water into a small bowl, I arranged the paper with the bone at the edge of it closest to me. I tapped my fingers on the countertop to intensify my water boiling chant until steam slowly wafted up from the surface of the water.

I poured it, slowly, focusing on my question in my mind. As the water ran over the bone it met the page and thick black lines appeared beneath the surface of the bone and spreading onto the paper, like ink it was seeping over the surface in a wave of motion and spreading out. At first I had felt like the bone had not properly understood my question. The lines were  spreading out like the limbs of a coral reef, but then the words began to appear, in
Mercrutian
and with so many different meanings like the words for choice or freedom or love. Thin and wisp-like they glinted in the light. Some were hard to read,  but when I looked at the beginning there was my name at the root of the major vein. It was the beginning. I was the beginning. Three lines were travelling from mine. The first intersected a lot of other words and numbers on the page, but stopped before the page had even ended.

My eyes travelled back to the middle line, and I followed a few words like birth, and choice and
Sealatia
until it had Merrick's name written. This line intersected so many of the other lines on the rest of the page, spreading out the longest length and swirling here and there until there was no space left on the page. It disappeared before I could see where it ended. There were too many words for me to read or make out clearly. Some of them written over top of each other, scrambling their true meaning.

The final line emerged from the root beneath the bone into the same first few words as the middle line had, words like birth, and
Sealatia.
O
nly, it separated from where  Merrick's name had been written. Instead, it had Zale's name etched into the surface. This line ended way before the others. The word death inscribed on the page before it travelled very much further. I should have been relieved that it had provided me some answers. I was meant to be with Merrick. Or so this reading seemed to suggest. Yet, the bone reading hadn't truly answered my biggest question of all.

As I looked at the page again I tried to read some of the words intersecting the middle line, but they were all quite tangled in a mess. Frustrated, I let out a deep sigh. I still wasn't so sure what it meant, but at least I knew why Zale had asked Merrick to choose me. It seemed like I might have the best life with him.

I had been spending
more and more time with my Dad on the weekends helping him organize all the analysis data printouts that he needed for work. Since organization was apparently my forte, he had been asking me to help him pretty steadily.

School seemed to be slacking and I finished my assignments shortly after I got them, but Leah and Evie were increasingly busy with all their studying and we hung out after classes less and less. We were all anxious for summer vacation to arrive.

Today, as usual, I had travelled with my dad down to the Science buildings where he and my mother worked. It was a Saturday, but he was always putting in overtime so it was to be expected. He was busy typing away at his computer when he looked up at me taking a pause.

“
So Anya, there’s been a verdict on that summer opportunity at the Cap Pele base camp that I wanted to discuss with you.”

I prayed it had nothing to do with the
Sealatians
, on my behalf he had submitted an application for me to participate.

“What is it Dad?” I asked eagerly, but I feared his answer.

“
Well your mother and I have been accepted as two of the chairs on the summer research program in Cap Pele this year.”

“
On the beach program there.”

“
Yes, and I found out today that the student position available has been offered to you as well. It would be something like an internship where you would have the chance to assist us with some of the fieldwork.”

“
Oh,” I said, “so we’re going and you want me to accept and come with you? I don’t see what else I would be doing this summer.” I had never really spent much time away from my parents.

“
Well that’s the thing, Caspian and Ondine offered for you to stay with them this summer if you like. That way you’re not too far away from your friends, and Merrick, of course.”

“
Really?”

“
Yep, you bet. We just want to make sure that you’re happy over your summer vacation.”

“
I’ll have to think about it,” I said. My father looked surprised. I think he had expected me to want to stay behind.

“
You know, Anya, you can invite Merrick over more often if you like. You don’t have to worry about your mother and I thinking it strange for you to be alone with him. Your mother tells me you worry too much.”

“
I...I... she said that?” The conversation had taken an unexpected turn and now I was starting to worry that my parents would begin asking for Merrick to come over more often.

“
You’re a good Mer, Anya. Your mother and I trust that you won’t do anything you’re not ready for, and well we know you are responsible. Otherwise we wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving you on your own.”

“
Thanks Dad.”

“
It’s just that sometimes we think you’re too hard on yourself and maybe limiting yourself too much. You might be a quarter human, but we don’t follow the same practices as them. Heck you’re going to marry Merrick; you should be taking some time to get to know him better, and him you. I've seen the way he looks at you.”

Those words had me utterly appalled. “What do you mean the way he looks at me? Dad!”

“
Tiger Shark, you know he’s going to have to love you, you’re too wonderful for him not to.”

“
Oh Dad!”

“
I can see it though, he definitely cares for you.”

“
Ummhmm,” I said not really wanting to discuss Merrick with my father anymore. “I should go outside and check on the samples.” It was the perfect excuse to slip away from him since it actually needed to be done quite often.

I slipped into my lab coat and put on my gloves and protective glasses. It’s not like the water samples were toxic or acidic or could harm me, but there were qualities found in them that linked to our underwater cities. Particles or plant life were indicative of our sophistication and needed to always be kept a secret. For that reason when going into the samples building set up like an outdoor tent it was always necessary to wear required gear.

The science Mers were a little paranoid if you asked me, but I understood that this was how things were done and so I didn’t complain. What I found funnier was the lack of security or security equipment on site. The employees did have pass cards for entrance at the main gate and for the main building, but the rest of the buildings were not so easily controlled or regulated.

As I rounded the corner on the building my father and I had been in, I spotted a few of my father’s co-workers with Arturo up ahead and walking towards me. He was directing them to follow him though they seemed to be in protest.

“
Arturo, we left piles of printouts back there, we can’t just leave them and move onto the next site with you.” The taller of the two Mers was wearing a similar get up to mine and I had to admit it was quite comical.

“
My assistant will deal with those,” he said firmly in his no nonsense tone, and pulled out a walkie talkie pressing the button that he dialled to connect with the other side. The static on the other line was abysmal, but he barked orders into it that the papers should be gathered from Site 3, and then nodded to the other scientists. They seemed satisfied with that, and I waved at him while I passed. He smiled at me and then returned his sharp gaze back to the other Mers. I sure was glad that I was not either of them right now. Arturo may have been like an uncle to me, but I knew that he was an incredibly powerful Mer in the science world, and I would hate to ever get on his bad side.

Walking around the corner of another building the glint of sun in the distance caught my eyes and distracted me from looking forward. I collided seconds later with another body. Only I realized afterwards that I had been the only one moving. I bent to grab my protective lenses which had fallen in the scramble and grew embarrassed. “I’m so sorry,” I began, “I wasn’t paying attention and the sun distracted me and...”

“
It’s alright, Anya,” the other voice said and I recognized it immediately. When I looked back at the person, there they were, those haunting teal eyes that I could picture with my eyes closed.

“
Merrick what are you doing here?” I asked surprised to see him at the Science base camp.

“
I came to see you,” he said flashing a charming smile. I could feel slight hesitation in his words and knew something was not right.

“
Why are you lying to me?” I asked, afraid I wouldn’t like the answer. He shouldn’t be there, how had he even been given access to the base camp for Science Mers. I knew he could do anything he wanted at the soldier outpost, but here was a completely different story.

His face fell. He grew serious. “You think I’m lying?”

“
Aren’t you?” I asked with my eyebrow raised.

“
No.” He began, “Anya, I thought you agreed you wouldn’t use that power on me.”

“
I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t. It’s just that a feeling glimmered out of you and it made me wonder.” I grew embarrassed. I wasn’t often wrong with my emotional reads.

“
It’s okay,” he said touching my elbow lightly, “you can make it up to me with a tour.”

“
A tour?” I said. “Wouldn’t you just find that boring?”

“
What makes you say that Anya? Is it because I’m a warrior Mer? Meant to be a strong and captivating soldier? I’m a brute force, not a brain.”He was teasing me.

“
Yes of course Merrick. Your attention span couldn’t take the calculations and explanations of how we measure water with graduated cylinders.”

He stopped and looked down at me. “My, aren’t we saucy.”

I wiggled my nose at him and he bent down and kissed it; I hadn’t expected him to be so affectionate and was surprised, excited by how close he was to me. He straightened, looking a little embarrassed so I hugged him to show him how happy I was with his presence and affection. He hugged me back just as lovingly and I could have swooned. It was moments like this that made me wonder why I had ever doubted him before, but then he had never managed to voice to me what he felt.   

“
Well what are you doing here anyway?”

“
One of my dad’s friends is attending a meeting regarding the use of some scientific research to support our warriors out in the field against the Depths. So I am here tagging along to find out more about our interactions between the two groups. I guess you could say it’s like an internship.”

“
Oh” I said surprised that he had been doing a similar career development type thing with the warrior Mers. The Depths were dangerous creatures that lurked in the coldest parts of the ocean. Inky and shadow-like they came out every few years to decimate coral populations and in more recent years had even gone as far as attacking a Mer city. The Mers had formed a research league to find out more about the mysterious creature.

“
Yeah, but he found out that you were here today too. So he insisted that after the meeting I take some time to track my betrothed down while he finished up with some of the so-called boring standard stuff. Apparently, I already know how to handle those things.”

“
I didn’t know you were in a Mer internship Merrick, you never told me that.”

“
I don’t like to brag,” he said jokingly. Sometimes he was so charming I wanted to grab him and kiss the senses out of him. I bit my lip as punishment for my thoughts and his eyes immediately followed the movement. He smiled wickedly and looked around before pushing me back against the outer wall of the building.

“
I must say Anya, you’re looking awfully cute with those glasses on. Maybe we should skip the tour and make out instead.”

“
Merrick,” I said disapprovingly. The last thing I needed was for my dad to come searching for me and stumble upon me necking.

“
Fine,” he said tucking my hair behind my ear. “Torment me.”

I rolled my eyes at him.
“
Come on,” I said, “I have to go measure some samples and take some readings.”

“
Lead the way,” he said as I grabbed his hand, our fingers interlocking. It was the first time we had held hands, and as seemingly juvenile the gesture, it made me want to blush with delight. His fingers interlaced with mine.

We reached the way station and he was patiently watching me measure things.

“
I can picture you working here all summer, except with a little bucket hat on your head and some sandals.”I laughed at the image.

“
You sure have an imagination, mister.” I hesitated before I spoke. I hadn’t really told anyone that I had planned to take my dad up on his offer. “but, I don’t think that I’m going to be here this summer Merrick.”

“
I knew that.”

“
How?” I wondered if my father had mentioned anything to him.

“
Zale,” he said. He seemed colder suddenly, more distant. I wondered if what had happened in the dream still bothered him, but I did not want to mention it to rub salt in the wound.

“
Oh. Well, I was thinking that the summer internship in Cap Pele my parents mentioned to me would be an excellent opportunity, so I might take it.”

I suddenly wondered just how much Zale had told him about me.
How many choices had Zale witnessed in my life and why?

“
Well have fun in Cap Pele then.” He seemed so nonchalant to the point where I wondered if it bothered him.

“
Your parents offered for me to stay with your family.”

“
I know.”

“
Well would you want that?”

“
It doesn’t matter what I want.” I wondered what he meant by that, and why he seemed so controlled. I wanted to send out my feelers to sense his emotions, but I had promised him that I wouldn’t.

“
Okay,” I replied still unsure about his response. I guess I wanted more out of him, some inclination that he might want me around.

“Anya, you should do what you want.” Well I guess that was my answer.

“I will.” I said finishing with the last measurement and marking it into the computer with a few keystrokes.

“
So what is all of this information you have here?” He asked lifting the edge of the reports printed out next to the computer.

“
Just the water analysis report.”

“
Do you always keep such excessive copies of these things?

“
I guess so. Since I started here, it seems to be the way that they do things.”

“
Well, can you print another report?” He asked me and I was starting to wonder what he was getting at.

“
You want to take one of the reports?” I asked pushing my protective lenses back on the bridge of my nose.