Page 13 of Magic Potions and the Merman's Lure

Chapter 9

Ro

I keep close to the buildings, my eyes following a delicate silhouette walking quickly down the street. There are enough people out that I lose her for a moment as a small crowd rounds the corner. They aren’t from the area and have wide-eyed looks of excitement as they hurry along, their voices rising in a noisy chatter. I peer at them in annoyance, my gaze searching among them for some sign of Keri’s petite stature. My heart speeds up anxiously until the crowd shifts and I get a clear glimpse of my mate.

Rubbing a hand against my chest right over my erratic pulse, I slip from my hiding place, moving quietly as I trail after Keri while keeping a carefully maintained distance. Although I know she wouldn’t be happy to discover that I spend my days pursuing her, it has become second nature to me to guard her from a distance as she obliviously goes about her day. I am not too concerned about being spotted since her head is down, her gaze focused on whatever she is holding in her hand. I’m more worried about everyone else around her that she also seems to be oblivious to. There could be a threat from any of the other humans on the road and she wouldn’t notice until it’s too late.

That’s fine. She has me. I will destroy anyone who attempts to harm her. I am not afraid of human laws or the power of the council. If anyone tries to stop me from protecting my mate, then I will simply whisk her into the sea until I can find a safe place for us to settle. Not that I want to do that. My mate seems happy with her home, and she has friends here she would be displeased to lose.

My lips curl with an unbidden smile as she heads directly for the Emporium, an extra cup of coffee in her hand. All the times I had visited the shop to inquire about my order, I’m shocked that I’ve never noticed a trace of my mate’s scent there before when it’s now obvious that Adiele gets free coffee and company on a daily basis from her. At least that is one place where I know I can rest assured that my mate won’t encounter any danger. Adiele wouldn’t permit it and has figured out by now that wherever Keri is, I’m not too far away if there is an emergency. I’ve gotten a few raised eyebrows from the female, but her secretive smile lets me know that she is also pleased by my effort. I am not doing it to please her, so that matters little to me, but I am glad that my mate has those she can count on.

I keep expecting some feeling of territoriality to emerge since I’ve come to realize this, especially given the way my mate seems to hurry from the building the moment our scheduled time together ends, as if she is determined to escape my company, but it remains banked with nothing more than a hum of contentment that pulses within me as I watch her disappear inside the shop, the sound of the bells hanging over the door jangling merrily to announce her presence. The door slides shut, cutting off the sound of Adiele’s welcome but I lean against the wall and smile quietly to myself as I lift my own cup to my lips, imagining that I am in there with them, sharing a quiet moment together.

Is that what my life could be like?

I smile to myself as my imagination spins further. We would walk hand in hand like the mated pairs I’ve seen. Like the human males strolling along the docks, I would indulge my mate in anything she desires. Although Aquana don’t value wealth the way other species do, we do collect it easily enough and I have a lot to shower on my mate—which is something that I very much look forward to doing. I imagine the joys of feeding my mate and holding her in my arms every night. I am so caught up in this vivid world my mind is creating that I startle and blink slowly when the bell over the shop’s door jangles again and my mate emerges. She shivers at the cool breeze and her head tips back to look at the sky as she zips her light-weight coat.

My eyes lift to the gray sky overhead as I peel away from the buildings and follow her once more down the road, somewhat surprised that the sunlight had become snuffed out while I was waiting. I frown at the dark clouds moving in, an electric prickle running through my scales and along my fins warning of the rapidly approaching storm. If I were in the sea, I would be diving deep into the safety of the depths, far from the turbulence of the surface world. I shiver slightly as I push back the instinct. The apprehension that rises through me is natural but I’m not in the middle of the sea. I am far from it actually—which, too late, brings a whole host of other concerns that hadn’t occurred to me with all the sunshine that seemed to accompany me on land and the access to the supplement that I previously had.

But now I am about to become very vulnerable in a terrible spot for it to happen and my stealthy guarding over my mate is about to bite me in the tailfin. I have a vague impression of my mate turning around on the street in front of me as I hiss shrilly in dismay, and I look frantically for the nearest shelter even though I know instinctively that I don’t have enough time to make it any of them. As if on cue a bassy rumble of thunder rips across the sky. There is no escaping the storm.

This is confirmed with the initial splatter of raindrops that suddenly hit my nose and brow. My stomach knots up anxiously in reaction, startled by the sudden impact of cold water. I’m attracting attention but at this point I don’t care as I wheel around, my arms raising over my head. I take several shaky steps towards the cheerful light of a bookstore when the sky opens up and the water falls in a deluge over me, soaking my clothes and slicking every inch of me. I stumble again, my legs growing even more unsteady as the magic sparks deep within my core. Someone shouts my name, but it is muffled by my panic as my legs collapse from beneath me and the sound of fabric shredding under the force of power rushing through my lower body.

The pavement scrapes painfully against my scales as I hit the ground. I hiss again, this time in pain and frustration. Loose rocks on the pavement dig into my tail and scatter as it flicks helplessly against the slick sidewalk. Feet are rushing toward me, a sound of excitement rising. I curl in on myself, bringing up my forearms as a barrier in front of my face and drawing my tail protectively in front of my belly and between my forearms so that the tailfins enclose around the top of my head as I attempt to hide behind the safe barrier of the fins and spines. Light cracks and my tails snaps reflectively at the sound. Someone shouts in alarm and then a voice rises above the others from behind me, further distorted by the confusion of people closing in around me with voices raised in excitement, and the sound of the storm riding through the heavens above.

“Get back you idiots. Can’t you see that he’s in a defensive position? I swear you all have the sense the gods gave kittens.” Footsteps scramble backward but that singular presence crouches down behind me. To my surprise, I feel my spine dorsal flatten in response to their proximity rather than expand further in defense. “It’s okay. It’s just me... Keri,” they add softly, their words penetrating my awareness.

I shift my tail fin away from my head just enough so that my eye can roll back toward her. She leans over me, her pale hair plastered to her head and the sides of her face and neck with the rain. I am filled with relief that she is here and still within range of my guard, but my relief is short-lived when a strange male suddenly looms behind her.

I don’t think, I just react.

Uncoiling lightning fast, I whip toward my mate and grab ahold of her, tugging her down into my embrace. She lets out a startled yelp and a startled sound goes through the people around us, but I don’t care about them. I only care about guarding my mate the only way I can now. Although I can’t cover her as effectively as I would like, I roll my body over her, curling my tail fin over both of us as I defensively raise my dorsal spines running along my spinal fin to their full height. Shouts are rising above us, but I block them out, my awareness focusing on the breath of my mate fanning over my scales and the heat of her hands slicking over her chest.

“Lady, are you all right?” a male bellows from above me. “Shit! Someone pry him off of her. I don’t care how you do it, get him off!”

A tremor of rage racks me and a crackling growl rises through my hiss as my muscles tighten so that my scales stand out in a hard spiny barrier and my back arches defensively. Let them even try. Someone grips me but draws their hand back abruptly with a curse.

“Fuck! There’s no way, Paul,” they shout in turn, scrambling back from me. “This mother fucker is as prickly as a sea urchin. How exactly do you expect that we grab him?”

“Then cut him off,” Paul snaps.

“Wait! Don’t do that.” Keri shouts from beneath me. Her entire body has tensed at the other male’s words, her hands stilling against my chest. “J... just get back. Please. He won’t hurt me.”

There is an uncertain pause. “Are you sure, lady? This doesn’t look too safe to me.”

“I’m sure. I... I know him. Please just back away from us.”

She holds her breath warily and I also stop breathing, my growl drawing back to a faint crackle as I listen warily to their retreat. I don’t allow myself to breathe until I suddenly feel her hands patting and stroking gently across my chest. My growl stutters to a stop and I blink down at her. Her head is tipped back, her eyes wide as she looks up at me from beneath the shelter of my tailfin.

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