Page 11 of Magic Potions and the Merman's Lure

I snort quietly to myself and roll my eyes. He must take me for all kinds of gullible. “I’m good,” I assure him. “The Society has spelled out quite clearly what they want me to observe for today. I will be sure to let you know if that changes.”

His eyebrows raise at me, and his grin turns playful. “Where is your sense of adventure?”

“In my other pants,” I quip without thinking, my eyes studying the casual expansion of his tailfins in resting position while he has his weight supported.

The sound of his chuckle runs over my skin erotically. “Is that an invitation to explore what these pants contain?” he purrs.

I blink down at my clipboard. Well, I walked right into that. He’s certainly good. The flirtatious offer sounds so sincere that if I didn’t know anything at all about aquatic species and wasn’t pretty well versed on the nature of the magic rooted in aquatic energies, I might have been fooled.

“No,” I reply tersely as I make another note. I look up and give him a saccharine smile. “Why don’t you do me a favor and demonstrate your movements when swimming in a directly downward position.”

His head tilts, his smile widening. “But then I would not be able to talk to you.”

“Exactly,” I retort.

His laughter fills the room, but he complies and dives downward in the tank. Grabbing ahold of the bars anchored there, he continues to move his tail as if sustaining a steep downward dive. Despite that, I know he is watching me the entire time. It’s hard to miss the way his gaze shifts to me repeatedly, but I suspect that even when not directly looking at me he is still observing and watching, perhaps even more intently than I’m studying him. Just who is the test subject here... or is it perhaps due to something else?

Lifting my clipboard, I hide my own smile behind it. I won’t flatter myself to believe he has any real interest in me, but the blatant way he is watching me with a teasing smile on his lips is admittedly adorable. It doesn’t change anything at all between us in terms of our relationship, but I can’t help but be a little charmed by it.

Chapter 8

Ro

I watch my female through the thick glass of the tank. I hate it in here. The confines are claustrophobic beyond even some of the tightest underwater caverns I have swum through, even without the sides closing in around me. I am willing to endure it, however. I am a tireless hunter and well known for my capability among my pod. I won’t be dissuaded from my hunt so easily by a mere tank. If this is what it takes to get close to my mate, then so be it.

Not that I seem to have much of her attention at the moment. I tap a finger on the glass, but she must not hear it because she does not look in my direction. She only looks up when the machine beside the tank beeps so that she can write down whatever information she collects from it. I frown and bat away the wires that drift across my field of vision.

The wires are annoying, and today there are numerous wires attached to me—to monitor my vitals, she has explained to me. Apparently, she is there just to check the equipment while the machine the wires are attached to does its work. Her attention has otherwise been focused all day on the thick book in her hands. I study it thoughtfully through the glass. I have seen books from time to time preserved in the depths of the sea, but I have never felt any deep curiosity toward them. It might be because I cannot decipher the symbols of written communication, but generally, my lack of interest is rooted in the fact that Aquana pods don’t bother with such things. We are capable of communicating over distances through simple, long-range songs. Anything beyond that is not worth the trouble as we prefer to keep to ourselves within our pods, sharing and preserving our knowledge with only each other.

Humans are different, however. They insist on recording vast amounts of information that are of no immediate use to their communities. I admit the concept intrigues me. What would it be like to have easy access to a wide range of information? Humans certainly place a lot of importance on reading. There is writing displayed everywhere, much of which appears to be some form of instruction from what I have gleaned from various conversations. To my understanding some of the visible writing demonstrates territory boundaries. That I can appreciate even if my kind has its own way of marking out our territory, something which I have spent the last several nights painstakingly doing. But it does make me wonder what such a thick book could possibly contain that is so interesting.

Whatever she is reading, it is clearly demanding all her concentration. I study the small line that creases between her brows. Its instructions must be highly rigorous. As I am curious and tired of being ignored, I will simply ask.

With a powerful flick of my tail, I shoot up the short distance to the surface and break from the water. It does not take much strength, but the end result is that I have to catch myself on the edge of the tank to keep from going right over it. While I can easily leap from the tank, the impact would be unpleasant enough to make me want to avoid it. There is a reason they have a hook there for helping me hoist myself in and out of the pool, and it is not because those at the lab think I am incapable of leaping the distance. Not only is the floor hard but there is all manner of things scattered around the room that would be unpleasant to fall on. I am certain that the lab would also not appreciate me breaking them.

The machines filling the room are more confusing than fascinating to me, though Keri takes the time to explain what each one does before using it. I know that she does this so that I will not be uncomfortable with their use and presence—and as much as I appreciate it, I do not have enough interest in them to care about them beyond understanding that they will not harm me. There is only one thing in the room with me that I care about, and she is sitting in the chair across from my tank—and apparently has not noticed that I have surfaced. I consider playfully splashing her but immediately reconsider. Water—especially salt water—damages many human things and I do not want her to be angry with me.

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