Free Girls Day Out: A Syrena Legacy Story by Anna Banks Page A

ring. I showed it to Rachel and she just couldn’t believe someone would do that. She thought maybe they didn’t mean to, but I told her I saw them do it. It was a man and a woman, and they took it off her finger, threw it into the ocean, and laughed when it hit the water.”
    “Celebrating a divorce, probably.”
    She turns to me. “A what?”
    “A divorce. It’s when humans who are married decide they don’t want to be married anymore.”
    “An unsealing then.”
    “Pretty much.”
    She nods, referring back to the computer screen. “So that man must have been her new mate, you think? Oh, here’s one that sailed yesterday from Charleston, going to the Bahamas. We should hit that one.”
    “We? Are you inviting me to come along?”
    She ignores my question, and points to the screen which now displays a map of the Atlantic Ocean. “According to their itinerary, they should be about … here. We could get there within a few hours if we catch the current.”
    I’m already texting Galen, telling him I’ll be home late tonight.
    He texts back: Should I be worried?
    Probably, but admitting that would just complicate things, so I just explain: Going to hunt down cruise ships with Rayna.
    Galen isn’t happy: Toraf is going, right?
    Me: Ummmm…
    Galen: Give me the odds.
    This is the short way we use to end a potential argument. He simply asks me what the odds are that I can be swayed to not do whatever it is we’re talking about, and if I give him too high a figure, he’ll usually drop it.
    I try not to be too pushy, but I don’t see the harm in this outing. I mean, Rayna does this a lot and she always comes back in one piece. Why can’t I just follow along for fun? And everyone knows Galen is just a tad overprotective, which is probably all this is right now.
    He doesn’t really not want me to go, he would just rather I went with him. Which isn’t an option, because this is the week he chose to bust some guy’s lip open at school.
    Me: I really would like to go .
    Just when I think we might have to actually argue, he gets back to me: Have fun, angelfish. Be careful.
    Sweet . “What should I bring?” I say, struggling to pull myself up from the butt-gobbling seat cushion. We’ve needed a new couch for a while.
    “I’ve been taking a pillow case.”
    “I’ll get one from the spare bedroom.” Mom’s not going to love that, but I’ll put it back after. If all goes well.
    *   *   *
     
    Rayna swims over to me looking like a U.S. Marine with a fin. Seriously, the only thing she’s missing is heat-seeking missiles and camouflage war paint. She’s got a rope-o’-goodies slung over her shoulder. The first thing I notice is that two homemade spears are secured to it with complicated-looking knots. I wonder if she dipped the tips in lionfish venom like Mom showed her. If so, how does she expect to give me a piggyback ride with lethal weapons dangling everywhere? Um, no. Also, what the crap would we even need those for?
    Plus, she’s brought along snorkeling gear. Two sets, complete with masks, snorkels, and flippers all hitched together with rope laced through them. A mermaid. With a snorkel set.
    Finally, there’s a freaking dead fish flapping behind her, tied through the tail, staring at me with frozen horror and shock, all mouth open and unblinking eyes and loosely swaying body. Obviously a snack, but for real? A dead fish is going to be slapping my arms every five seconds while we travel? This is where I draw the line. “Eat the fish now or lose it forever.”
    “I’m the one swimming for two here. What if I get hungry?”
    “I assume that’s what the spears are for.”
    She shakes her head. “What if we come across sharks? Boats always throw their chum overboard. It attracts all sorts of predators.”
    “Hi. I’m Emma. I have the Gift of Poseidon. Possibly you’ve heard of it?”
    Rayna crosses her arms. “Sure, you could just order the sharks away. But wouldn’t you rather spear