Page 15 of Magic Potions and the Merman's Lure

“Where did you touch him?”

“Just his shoulder. All of them scales are prickly as fuck.”

I sigh with relief and step away. “You are fine then.”

He doesn’t look entirely convinced but I don’t have time to reassure him further. Giving Ro another encouraging look, I hurry back to the Emporium, my sneakers practically flying over the slick surface of the sidewalk. I do skid, however, when I pass through the entrance and onto the shop’s linoleum floor. Fortunately, there is a sturdy shelf close enough to the door that I’m able to catch myself without causing a disaster but not before letting out a startled shriek that has Adiele running over to investigate. On the plus side, it saves me from searching her out.

“Keri, what...?”

“I need you to come with me,” I interrupt, grabbing ahold of her hand.

“W... what?” she stammers. She doesn’t resist, though. Shouting instructions to Teddy, she allows me to pull her out the door. Her face scrunches up the moment the rain hits but she merely blinks the water out of her eyes as we hit the street running. “Where are we going?” she asks breathlessly.

“Ro got caught in the rain,” I reply.

That is self-explanatory enough it seems, or at very least it is for those very few of us acquainted even a little with the Aquana species.

“Shit!” The word explodes from her as she exchanges a frantic look of worry with me. “How far away.”

“Just over there,” I explain, pointing down the road where the crowd seems to have grown even larger in the moments since I left.

Several umbrellas have made an appearance, but Ro is a big enough attraction to draw even those lacking them out into the rain. And keep them there apparently because there are a large number of very soggy humans loitering about when we arrive.

I may be a little ungracious and inelegant pushing people aside out of my way as I fight my way through the crowd but I’m not entirely worried about offending anyone or hurting feelings at the moment. Apparently neither is Adiele because she meets more than one sharp response with a less than polite retort of her own before losing patience entirely. Tucking two fingers against her mouth, she whistles loudly, the shrill sound carrying down the road. The sound makes me wince as it pierces my ear drums, so I’m not surprised when, in response, the crowd immediately shifts and parts slightly as heads turn curiously in our direction. She waves her hand in frustration at them.

“Yo! Out of the way,” she shouts as I elbow another person out of my path.

Several people closest jump at her order but they rapidly back pedal, drawing others back with them. It doesn’t provide a lot of extra room but just enough. I shoot her a grateful smile and we barrel our way through to the center where everyone has formed a large ring around Ro. He has once again curled around himself, but I’m not entirely surprised by that.

“Huh,” Adiele murmurs. “I guess we just grab him?”

“No!” I bark before she has the opportunity to touch him, recalling the painfully red pinpricks on the hand of the last person who touched him. I feel a little guilty with the way she jumps back as if a snake bit her and I give her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. He is in a defensive position so it’s not a great idea to touch him yet. Give me a second. Ro?” I call out, edging closer to his tail while trying to maintain a safe distance from its long spines, especially the long stinger just above his fin.

He shifts, his tail uncurling from around his head and peers up at me. “Keri... you are back,” he whispers in relief.

“Of course,” I reply. “I’ve brought Adiele, but I need you to relax so that we don’t get punctured when we move you.”

Ro glances over at her for only a moment and nods. Uncurling from around himself, his tail extends out and his scales shimmer for a second before flattening once more into a shimmering, smooth pearlescence. Exchanging a look with Adiele, I gesture at his tail.

“If you can grab him there, I will get him from this end. Be careful. He has a stinger several inches above his tail fins,” I point out.

Nodding in reply, she moves into position over his tail. Ro immediately flattens it in response so that the stinger is pointing safely toward the ground and points to a higher midpoint along his tail.

“Lift me there,” he suggests. “I will be able to balance my weight and avoid accidentally hitting you with my stinger or fins.”

“Gotcha,” she murmurs, moving up higher along his tail. She squints up at me through the rain as another roll of thunder threatens overhead. “Where are we taking him?”

“Over to the harbor,” I shout over the storm.

She gives me a doubtful look. “Are we going to be able to carry him that far by ourselves?”

“We can put him in the flatbed of my truck,” the one called Paul offers from a safe distance.

A look of suspicion crosses Ro’s face but I shake my head at him in warning before shooting Paul a grateful smile. “That would be great, thanks. Adiele and I will ride in back with him to make sure we can get him safely into the water the moment we arrive.”

He nods in reply and hurries over to his truck parked on the other side of the street. It only takes a moment before I hear the engine roar to life before the truck pulls away from the curb. The look of suspicion doesn’t ease from Ro’s face as we watch it make a U-turn and come back down the street toward us.

“Keri, I am not sure...” he begins.

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