Page 10 of Magic Potions and the Merman's Lure

His head bobs, and he speaks, but from my position, it sounds completely distorted. My voice is clear to him, but hearing underwater is obviously quite different from speaking underwater. I wonder if it would sound clearer to me if I were in the water with him, but I table that idea for now. Instead, I allow my gaze to trail over him in admiration. If possible, he’s even more beautiful in his true form.

His tail is just as pearlescent as the rest of him, but the scales are more obvious there, and the spiny fin that trails down his back—his dorsal fin—has several long barbs, as does another larger fin that goes down his back. These are milky white. The large pelvic fins just below his hips are as big as platters and tipped with pink, but it’s his fins at the end of his tail that are breathtaking. Just between them I can see the rounded bulge of his sheath but quickly drop my eyes lower along his incredibly long tail to its tip. There are four fins there that extend in a way that reminds me of a double-fin goldfish, giving him greater control of his mobility by the way they spread to stabilize him in place as he desires, and each is pearl pink and brightens to crimson.

The fact that he is doing nothing but watching me intently from the other side of the glass as he drifts in place sends a flutter of nerves through my belly. Despite that, I offer what I hope is a friendly and reassuring smile as I lift the recorder. After all I’m not the only one here new to all of this. It is only years of meticulous study within my coven that allows me to feel even the slightest bit of confidence with this undertaking.

With him, however, I have no confidence whatsoever. I feel like a nervous virgin as I make note of everything that I see in detail both in the tank and then afterward on the examination table. My entire body feels flushed with excitement as I watch him move. There is something almost hypnotic about his presence that makes me a believer in every old story. That feeling only gets stronger when he leaps from the water with an incredibly powerful push from his tail and swings over to the table with the help of the hook. No... it’s worse. My cheeks grow hot as I approach the table, doing my best not to brush against his fins in a way that he may take to be inappropriate or lewd.

This is awkward. I am sure by now I am tomato red, but it doesn’t seem to put him off at all since he is still staring at me blatantly in ways that make my toes curl. I bite back a curse as I fumble, and nearly drop, my recorder for the umpteenth time. I close my eyes and inwardly whisper a prayer to any benevolent gods of my family watching over me that things will get better. If it doesn’t, the next several weeks are going to be absolute torture. The only choice I have is to do my job and get out of there as quickly as possible.

Chapter 7

Keri

I tap my pen restlessly on my clipboard as I watch Ro drift in the tank, my gaze drifting occasionally to the monitoring system. I smother a yawn behind my hand. This is what I get for being up late studying the grimoires I pulled out from the restricted section. They are nothing compared to what is hidden in Vault buried within the depths of the library, but the volumes are difficult enough to make for some heavy reading so late at night. I should have known better, however, especially given the way my responsibilities have now doubled since Ro got his way with his request.

I’m still not sure how he pulled that off, but it’s obvious that the Society, and the governing council for our region especially, are willing to bend over backward to learn more about the elusive species. Obviously, it is not important enough to temporarily just shift my duties from the library altogether, which would be a relief, knowing that there isn’t something more going on behind the scenes, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m exhausted. No one is going to care about a lone librarian burning the candle at both ends it seems.

The simple solution would be for me to abandon my own magical studies until my research with Ro’karek is complete. But I don’t really want to do that. Double duties or not, neglecting my magic feels like it would be a betrayal of everything I’ve decided for myself. Besides which, there is still the matter of the supplement that Adiele mentioned. It’s obviously something that is necessary for Ro and others like him to have any sort of relationship with land species and further our mutual knowledge, as well as opening trade and other possibilities that Mr. Clarence went on and on about when he personally called me to appoint me to this position. He just isn’t providing any extra leeway in time to get it all done.

I mentally roll my eyes at the whole situation. There’s nothing I can do about it, though, so there is no use making a fuss about it. Things will just be a little hectic for a while. I will adjust. It doesn’t help that the unpleasant phone call with my parents last night had just been the icing on the overburdened-Keri-cake that is weighing me down today. My decision to abandon divination and pursue my own magical interests had not been well received and had resulted in well over an hour of being lectured by my parents about finding my place within the coven.

I didn’t want to tell them that the coven is the least of my concerns right now. Outside of discovering where my own magic lies, I’m obligated to prioritize my work with Ro during the limited amount of time we have at the Society’s orders. That means Ro comes before my duties to the coven for the time being, and that is completely out of my control. It’s certainly not like I asked for it, though try explaining that to my parents who simply couldn’t understand why I can’t take a few days off to come see them to discuss my future within the coven “rationally.” I sigh heavily. I seriously have enough on my plate just dealing with Ro.

Every day in the lab feels like a brutal test of my self-control. Ro is not only sexy, but he’s also appealing in small ways that have nothing to do with his appearance or any sort of “song.” That said, today we are recording samples of his singing below and above the surface of the water, and I feel an itch of anticipation that doesn’t bode well for my resolve to not succumb to the flirty male. Especially when I’m in a position where I’m about to touch him, which happens to be the case whenever I take his vitals, as I’m instructed to every day.

Like many non-humans, he won’t give his blood, but as his scaled flesh seems to be thicker and tougher despite being so supple to the touch, it’s probably a good thing. The last thing I need to do is break needles off in his skin. Just thinking of it makes me wince in sympathy. I think Mr. Clarence has stopped huffing over it now once I showed him the data regarding Aquanas skin and scales from the sample that Ro permitted me to take.

Or rather, the sample that he gave me, cut off by his own claws since nothing I have in the lab is hard or sharp enough to successfully scrape it off his inner arm.

This is a lot more technical work than I expected, more than truthfully ought to be conducted by a librarian, even one overseeing an occult library. I figured that most of my duties would be more like lengthy interviews. There is that component too, which occupies a lot of our time together, but the first hour is very much hands-on. And I’m still not able to control my blush every time I must touch him.

Ro watches me with the same curious gaze as always while I observe his motor patterns as he swims. The way his fins open and close to varying degrees as he moves through the water is interesting. Sadly, the tank is too small to observe him swimming more naturally. I wonder if I can get permission to observe him in one of the large dolphin pools? It would require special permission from the local aquarium and sea-life rehabilitation center, but Mr. Clarence has enough pull within the community to get it done, I think. Especially in the name of research.

I make a small note on the margin of the sheet clipped to the board I’m holding and follow it with a large question mark. A small splash draws my attention back to Ro. Tipping my head back, I peer up at him where he’s now regarding me over the edge of the tank. He gives me a sweet smile and I just narrow my eyes suspiciously back at him. What is he up to?

“Lovely Keri, you have been watching me quite closely. If there is anything specific you would like to see, you only have to ask,” he calls down to me. “I will happily provide anything and everything that you desire.”

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