Page 65 of Blood and Bone
“It is fine,” Gael said. “We come here each week for a special time with my daughter. The owner of this establishment is a goldfish shifter and he allows this because merfolk cannot take our offspring to the ocean until they are older.”
“I don’t understand,” Eoghan said. “Your people…merfolk…your people aren’t born in the ocean?”
“We are but we are being forced from the seas,” Gael said. “They are being polluted by human waste and garbage, so we are forced to live deep underwater to keep away from the danger.”
It made sense to Ari. He exchanged a glance with Eoghan who looked as outraged as he felt himself. The very fact that these beautiful creatures were forced out of their home by something as terrible as the humans who dumped trash in the world’s oceans, was the saddest thing he’d come across since realizing the paranormal world existed.
“Why are you here, though?” Eoghan asked.
“Because our bodies require salt and the sea to survive. This saltwater pool and others like it, provide a haven for our people,” Gael said.
“I mean—I’m sorry—I mean, why are you and your family not on the bottom of the sea where it’s safe?” Eoghan pressed.
“We must come to the surface once a year. We need the sun as well. After, we can dive back down, but sun is needed annually,” Gael replied. “We have been here—” He turned to gesture for his family to join him before turning back. “We have been here for more than a year since Jaelle’s birth. We cannot return home.”
Ari was furious as he stood here listening to Gael talk. His mate and their offspring came over, smiling shyly at them andonly then did he spot the tiny gills on the sides of the baby’s neck as well as the larger ones on her mother.
“I’m so sorry to have scared you,” Ari said to Gael’s mate.
“You did not know,” Gialle said. She glanced at her baby who sucked on two fingers and then held them up before grinning. Jaelle let out a delightful coo which sounded like a much quieter version of the high-pitched scream which her mother had let out when she’d witnessed her mate being attacked. Gialle returned her daughter’s smile and then kissed the drooling child’s cheek before turning back to him. “You are brave. Thank you for trying to save us.”
Ari bowed just a little bit. “You’re welcome. I only wish the humans who pollute the oceans could be more easily punished. I feel powerless that I can’t help the merfolk with this terrible problem.”
“Pollution of the oceans is a terrible problem for all creatures,” Gael said. He slid his arm around his mate and child before looking back at them. “Someday it will be too late for the humans as well.”
Ari nodded, feeling the creature’s sadness and knowing he wasn’t the only one feeling powerless. They left the small family a short while later, walking out to the car in relative silence. Ari couldn’t imagine how horrible it could be to be a creature whose very existence depended upon humans simply being kind. It made him ashamed to be counted among them.
Several hours later, in hindsight, he’d be reminded by his partner that even though what he’d done made him too stupid to live, he’d done what he’d done to save a child and was ultimately a kind and caring person.
But this was more than a child and two adults floating lazily at the bottom of the pool. Ari had disturbed the private bath and “party” time between other mythic creatures…afamily of mermaids…and as it turned out—very outraged—mermaids.
As it turned out, I.S.R. Marshal Aristotle Brown was batting a thousand, and the universe was laughing its ass off at him.
Chapter Eighteen
They drove to Shasta that night, stopping in Redding, the town closest to the base of the ancient, dormant volcano. After finding a room and checking in, they’d called the chief to tell her what had happened at the saltwater pool. She’d not heard of this family of merpeople but she had known about the goldfish shifter who owned the gym. She told them to document their encounter with Gael and his family in the morning, then hung up.
They went in search of food and selected a booth at the back of a busy café with a bakery that baked its own bread and all those things that were bad for them. They promised each other they’d be good and select one small dessert, justifying the decision by the ordeal they’d endured in the gym. It was a thin excuse, but they swallowed it with dual smirks and no guilt at all. They timed their dinner outing so that only college age folks were around. That way they figured they could talk without being overheard by anyone nosy enough to care about what two “old” guys had to say to each other.
“I can’t believe you came as close to drowning as you did,” Eoghan said as they sat with their coffee and Danish pastries after a nice meal of a delicious, homemade pot roast.
Ari reached across the table and took Eoghan’s hand, looking deeply into his haunted blue eyes. “Don’t go on so, Eoghan,” he soothed. “I’m fine.” He reached up and felt around his neck. “See, no bruises.”
“But you could have drowned,” Eoghan said. He sounded devastated.
“It wasn’t the drowning I feared. It was how tight Gael was squeezing my throat.” Ari wondered whether elaborating on the incident would be more harmful to Eoghan’s heart or bringing it out into the open and talking about it would be better. If he told Eoghan how his fear of dying had been all consuming in the seconds before Gael let go, would Eoghan completely lose it? This was why agencies didn’t want people to become involved with their partners—because they put their lives before the lives of the public. Ari decided it was stupid not to be honest. Not only that, by now he really was sure he was falling in love with Eoghan, and he felt like not telling him would have been a lie.
If it had happened to Eoghan, Ari knew he’d be feeling equally out of control and down about it. He’d not let Eoghan rest until he had answers. So, he figured, he might as well just get it all over with so his lover—because he was his lover more than his partner at the moment—could get past it easier. “Honestly, I thought he’d snap my neck or break something permanently inside.”
“Jesus, Ari, you came too close.” Eoghan’s eyes welled up and he looked away, blinking rapidly as Ari watched him closely. He felt his heart do a flip-flop. When he turned back, he looked better, more in control of his emotions.
Ari squeezed his hand and finally pulled it free. They were sitting in a public restaurant and although he really didn’t care what anyone thought, he didn’t want people focusing on them for the wrong reasons. They’d had just about as much as they could take in the last few hours. He took another bite of cheese Danish, washing it down with black coffee before going on, deciding it’d be best to take a different tack.
“You acted surprised when you met Gael and his family, Eoghan,” he said. He glanced side to side and leaned forward, quieting his voice. “Haven’t you ever met a merman before?”
Eoghan immediately shook his head. “No. I’ve seen a lot on this job, and I’ve met fish shifters before. You met Kaycee, Laycee, and Bob, the ringed octopi shifters, so you already know there are sea creatures who can shift. Gael said the owner of the gym is a goldfish shifter, but trust me, I’ve never seen a fully formed dude with gills before.”
Ari chuckled. “Yeah, that freaked me out!” He grinned as he sat back in the booth.