“You came,” he said, his voice carrying across the water. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
I set my bag down and approached the edge of the pool. “I told you I would.”
“People say a lot of things they don’t mean.” His blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as he swam to the edge where I stood.
Without thinking, I began to undress. His gaze traveled over my body as I removed each item of clothing, and the weight of his attention was intoxicating. When I was down to my underwear, he reached up.
“Wait,” he said, his voice suddenly serious. Water dripped from his outstretched hand. “There’s something you need to know about me before we go any further with this.”
I paused, confused by the sudden shift in his demeanor. Nerion wasn’t the serious type usually. “What is it?”
Nerion pushed himself partially out of the water, sitting on the pool’s edge. In the blue light, I could see water droplets glistening on his fair and clinging to his freckled skin.
“I’m not...” he began, then swallowed hard. “I’m not a human.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “This is Widdershins, so that makes sense.”
“No, I mean…” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m not a witch either.”
“Okay.” I was getting a little worried now. “So what are you then?”
It took him a moment to work up the courage, each passing moment only adding to my anxiety. Finally, he shook his head and let out a sigh. “I’m a siren.”
I stared at him, waiting for the punchline, but his expression remained deadly serious. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“I wish I were,” he groaned, his gaze anywhere but on me. “But it’s true, though only a few people know it.”
My mind reeled. I should have been terrified, should have backed away and run. But instead, I found myself kneeling beside him. “Am I…” I wasn’t sure how to ask it nicely. “Am I under your spell then?”
Nerion looked at me then, his blue eyes intense. “Have you ever heard me sing?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then you’re not under my spell.” He gestured to the pair of us. “Whatever this is between us, it’s natural. No magicinvolved.” He paused, his jaw working like he wanted to say more, but he remained silent.
“Will… Will you show me?” I whispered.
Nerion’s eyes widened. “You’re not afraid?”
“I don’t know why, but I trust you,” I admitted. “I don’t think you’re trying to hurt me. And…” I hesitated. “I’ve never seen a merman in person before.”
Nerion reached over, grabbing me by the back of the neck and kissing me hard. “If you ever meet a hungry siren in the wild, you’re a dead man. You know that right?” He was grinning from ear to ear. “You’d be so easy to enchant.”
“But you won’t hurt me,” I replied.
“No,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you.” He paused again, his lips close to mine. “But there is one thing you have to understand. This…thingbetween us. It can never be anything more than just friends. The moment it becomes more, I… I’lldisappear.”
I looked up into those blue eyes, a maelstrom of emotions in their depths, far out of my reach. I didn’t know what he meant or why he’d chosen such cryptic words, but I understood what he meant. And I couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
“Okay,” I nodded, sealing my words with a soft kiss. “I understand.”
Nerion smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He was scared of something, though I didn’t know what. And since we barely knew each other, it didn’t seem right to ask.
“So you want to see my true form?” he asked, slipping back into the water. “Scales and all?”
I nodded, pushing away the swirling questions in my head. “Yes. I’d love to.”
“Well, then I won’t need these.” He reached down underwater and slipped off the swimming shorts he’d had on,probably for my sake. Then he wadded them up and tossed them at me playfully. “Take yours off too. You won’t need them.”