Ravens of the Mist Series: Tail of the Sea

Henry

I’m pinning Madison to the ground, making sure she can’t slip away. Her cheeks glisten with tears, and I fight the urge to brush them off. I’m waiting for her to explain herself.

“Henry, I’m not who you think I am,” she tells me.

As Madison turns her face toward me, I release my hand from her head but keep a firm grip on her arm.

“You’ve seen my face before. Try to remember,” she implores.

I study her face. I can’t deny it. She’s breathtaking.

Get a hold of yourself. I scold myself for even thinking such a thing about a creature like her. Madison’s a mermaid. She’s designed to entice men like me. I remind myself.

“I know exactly who and what you are,” I snarl at her. “If you think it changes anything about what happened ten years ago, you’re sorely mistaken. You did it for your own gain. You mermaids killed my family!” I spit the words out.

Madison shakes her head. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

I yank her toward me so forcefully she has no choice but to brace herself against my bare chest. I hiss as I feel a spark of electricity pass between us.

What was that?

I shake my head. FOCUS!!!

“Then tell me where I’m wrong,” I dare her.

“Why are you so hostile?” Madison asks. “I’ve saved your life twice. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

As I gaze into her large green eyes, I feel myself getting lost in them.

This is her game. She’s messing with you. You have a mission. Focus, for fuck’s sake.

“Answer the damn question!” I bark at her.

Her lips quiver with fear. “It wasn’t mermaids who attacked your boat. It was sirens.”

I frown. “It’s the same damn thing.”

“Don’t you dare compare me to a siren, do you hear me?” Madison’s words are laced with venom and fury.

She shoves me hard, trying to break free, but I refuse to let her go. “If you think I’m going to release you, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Madison falls silent, her gaze dropping to the sand at our feet.

***

I want to end her life, just as I’ve been trained to do, but for some fucking reason, the thought of hurting her doesn’t sit right with me.

It infuriates me that I feel so powerless against a creature like her. I’ve killed beings before. So why is the idea of hurting her so unbearable?

I have to resist this strange new feeling I have for her.

If Plan A doesn’t work, I’ll have to switch to Plan B.

After Madison swam away from our first encounter, I had time to explore.

I found some vine trees and decided to take a few vines with me, just in case. I knew they could be useful, especially with a creature like her.

She fought me like a wildcat as I tried to tie her to the tree. Once I was sure Madison was securely bound, I felt confident she wouldn’t be able to escape until I decided what to do with her.

Madison shoots me a look that could kill. Her gaze makes me uncomfortable. I prefer the softness in her eyes when she looks at me.

What the fuck am I thinking? Why should I care how Madison looks at me? I turn away so I don’t have to see her face and start to walk away.

Something lands in the sand next to my feet. I look down and realize it’s the necklace my father gave me ten years ago. Madison must have quickly pulled it off her wrist and thrown it at me. I lost it ten years ago, and all this time, it was in the possession of a mermaid.

I should let it go, but my curiosity gets the better of me and I turn back to her.

“Why did you keep this all these years?” I ask her, shaking the necklace in front of her.

Madison sniffs but doesn’t answer. Once again, she avoids my gaze.

I lift her chin until our eyes meet. “Answer the damn question.”

She snorts. “Why should I? You clearly don’t believe anything I say.”

“Then enlighten me,” I press.

Madison clears her throat. “You gave it to me.”

I can’t help but snort. “That’s how I know you’re lying. My father gave me this necklace that day. Why would I give it to you?”

“You gave it to me as a thank you for saving your life. You knew I wasn’t to blame for what happened to you and your family.”

“If what you’re saying is true, then I was naive back then. I was just a kid. Now I know you’re to blame,” I interrupt her. “Mermaids attacked us that day!”

“Get it through your head. Mermaids and sirens are two different beings,” she blurts out. “At least back then, you knew the difference.”

“What difference?”

Malcolm Bennett has books on mystical creatures. I’ve read them all, and they all say that mermaids and sirens are the same damn creatures.

So where am I wrong?

“There’s a huge difference. Sirens lure men with their voices, then snatch them from the water to feed on them. You saw their true faces before I saved you from them. Mermaids, on the other hand, just swim in the sea. Sirens are the enemy of mermaids. They need us to survive. If they’re lucky, they’ll find their mates,” Madison explains, a hopeful look in her eyes as she speaks her last words.

I frown. “Their mates?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not important. Just some mermaid fairy tales.”

I run my hands through my hair, trying to make sense of our conversation, when I notice two dead fish on the ground.

She caught them for me. I remember her words. “I didn’t know if you were hungry, so I brought you something to eat.”

She said she’s saved me twice now. The first time was the day I lost my parents, and the second time was today. If she wanted to kill me, wouldn’t she have done it by now?

The more time I spend with her, the more confused I become.

I can’t trust the food she brought me. For all I know, she could have poisoned it.

She’s the enemy, end of story. I’ll finish what I came here to do, then I’ll go back to Leslie. That’s where I truly belong.