Water: The Mermaid Legacy Book One

I looked down, fascinated and afraid, at where my hand disappeared into his.

He grinned at me, his white teeth flashing in the moonlight, his smile lighting up his eyes, his features somehow clearer than they’d been a few moments before.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’ve been following you for a while,” he replied, ignoring my question and watching my face carefully.

“Um… why?” I asked, a slither of fear at his admission popping goose bumps on my skin.

He laughed quietly. “Do you always ask so many questions of a stranger?” he asked. Then he dropped one of his hands from mine and shook my hand formally with the other. “Hi.” He smiled at me.

“Hi,” I replied.

Half of his face was in shadow, but the half I could see revealed a large lash-fringed almond-shaped eye in an open friendly face. He was dressed in a pair of flared trousers, the moonlight glinting off his bare chest.

He was still holding my hand and smiling in obvious amusement at my appraisal. I slowly pulled my hand from his and wrapped it safely around my knees again.

“Err…” My mind scrabbled to remember the questions I wanted answered. “Why have you been following us?” I asked again.

“You,” he clarified. “I’ve been following you.”

“Um… why?”

“I’m a guardian, Alexandra.” He smiled at me as if I should know what he was talking about.

“I’m sorry,” I managed, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

He sighed and shook his head.

“Honestly, Alexandra, I thought your father would have ensured you were better informed before sending you here.”

I went cold.

“Um, well, he didn’t, so could you fill me in?” I whispered, my voice wavering with shock. Perhaps this was why Dad had been so afraid of me leaving the farm. I scrambled for the reason anyone would be interested in following me, coming to the hurried conclusion that it must have something to do with Dad’s work in Namibia.

He glanced over at the boys again and then seemed to sweep the night sky looking for something. Eventually he sighed and shrugged his broad shoulders.

“Well, I don’t see the harm in filling you in. It is after all your destiny.”

I gawked at him, my mouth falling open.

“I’m already in a heap of trouble for saving you earlier,” he continued. “Although I can’t see that she would’ve been very pleased if I’d let you drown; although…” he continued the conversation with himself “… she will probably argue that had I left you a minute or so longer your genes would have done the rest.” He smiled. “You would have been really, really confused if that had happened.”

I shook my head trying to clear it. I was obviously dreaming because in the entire time we’d been talking, “Hi” was all I’d really understood.

“My genes?” I managed.

“Perhaps I should start from the beginning?” he suggested.

I nodded. “That would help.”

“Alex?” Luke’s sleep-drenched voice drifted in the night air. I whipped around to see him propping himself up on his elbow, hair sticking up everywhere, rubbing his face.

“Who’re you talking to?”

“This is, er…” I turned back to where he’d been, my arm outstretched in introduction. A slight breeze and the hint of a chuckle were the only evidence that he’d ever been there.

Chapter 9

Stories

I woke the next morning groggy and stiff from my fall. Luke was already up making coffee which I accepted gratefully, before walking to the lip of the cave and sitting with my legs dangling over the edge, awed at the beauty of the view, running the previous day’s event over and over in my mind. I sighed, rubbing my arms against the suddenly cool air as Luke came to stand next to me.

“So you’re sure you’re OK to stay here while we go to the pool?” he asked.

“Yup.” I was so sure, particularly after last night’s visitor. I was even more curious about my saviour after the visit, but if I was being honest with myself, I was frightened that he seemed to know who I was too.I did not want to have to explain what was going on if he appeared while the three of us were exploring the pool. It would be better for Luke and Josh to meet him there – if he showed up at all – on their own.

The boys packed some food and water, and headed off half an hour later. I quickly tidied the “cave”, rolling up sleeping bags and putting bits and pieces of equipment at the back of the overhang.

I was crouched on a rocky ledge washing the morning’s dishes in the river below the cave when the soft plop of a pebble to my right brought me up short.

“Good morning, Alexandra.” His rich musical voice startled me, making me lose my balance, rocking forward into the stream.

“Uh, hi,” I managed, struggling to think coherently as my mind swung from terror to fascination and back again while I pushed myself awkwardly out of the water.

He sat diagonally opposite from me and he was breathtaking.

My partial impressions of him from the first two encounters had been mere shadows. I took in the warm butterscotch of his skin, stretched over a strong lean frame. His torso was bare while his legs were covered in an iridescent fabric that pooled around his feet as he crouched. His waist-length hair shone in the sunlight framing a strong jaw, high cheekbones and a refined nose. He was younger than I’d first thought, probably just a year or two older than me.

Heat rushed into my cheeks as my gaze settled briefly on his full lips, as the memory of them covering mine and breathing into my oxygen-starved lungs snapped into focus.

He was smiling encouragingly, almost as if he were afraid I would run from him, his eyes sparkling as he watched me.

“What’re you doing?” he asked casually.

I looked down at the forgotten pan in my hand.

“Dishes,” I offered lamely, holding up the pan and sponge I’d been using, and feeling utterly stupid. “The uh… the boys have gone to the pool.”

“I know,” he said.

I nodded dumbly, mulling over how I felt about that.

I sat back feeling dazed as he watched me quietly.

“What’s your name?” I asked eventually as the silence stretched uncomfortably.

“Well, the closest translation in your language would be Merrick.”