Free Evergreen (Mer Tales, Book 2) by Brenda Pandos Page B

did it happen?”
    He told me about the dog distracting him, then about the hillbilly kids seeing him finned up. I nearly passed out when he told me one had a gun and wanted to stuff and mount him on their wall. He’d been shot not once, but twice.
    The sobs locked in my throat came crashing out. “I—I thought you’d broken the bond and you were about to break up with me.”
    “What? Oh, Ash…. No.” He let out a sad sigh. “Sh-h-h. I’m sorry. Never. I don’t ever want to be without you.”
    My lip trembled as tears trickled down the sides of my cheeks pooling into my ears. “Good, because that scared me—a lot.”
    “I feel horrible about not telling you.” His voice was pained. “Please… don’t cry. This is killing me.”
    “I’m trying.”
    “Just curl up in your pillows and pretend I’m next to you. That I’m holding you and stroking your hair and kissing your cheek.”
    “Okay,” I whimpered.
    I curled up next to his virtual presence and listened to him breathe. Beyond him, I could hear the wind and seagulls crying in the background.
    “Sing to me in your language,” I whispered.
    His beautiful voice poured out a ribbon and wrapped my heart up tight, my jolly merman bold. I imagined us in his underwater world, swimming together.
    “What’s it like, Fin. Natatoria?”
    “It’s beautiful,” he said, breathless. “Not as beautiful as you, but it’s pretty amazing. The mer songs are always being sung and people are very happy there. And the buildings are covered in gems and precious metals. The light bounces around and everything sparkles. You’d love it.”
    I hummed.
    “I have to go, Ash. But close your eyes. I’ll be thinking of you and wishing you luck on your race tomorrow. I love you.”
    “I love you, too.”
    Exhausted, I drifted off to sleep.

13
    :::
    FIN
    Saturday afternoon, April 16 th
    A shiver jolted my skin as I watched a fly wriggling in the web hanging over the RV kitchen window. Earlier it had been buzzing low circles over my head, driving me crazy. Though I felt sorry for it now, I’d never set it free. I wasn’t afraid of much, but man, I hated spiders.
    My last conversation with Ash kept playing over in my mind, stabbing me in the chest. I’d hurt her, and I felt horrible about it. The moment she arrived, after I kissed her passionately, I’d show her my brand of idiocy etched in my leg—ironically one matching hers. She’d be getting ready for her race and I wished I could watch her swim. I missed my girl.
    We rounded the bend and the Atlantic came into view. I slid open the window over the table to feel the breeze. The salty air clung to my skin and the inside of my nose, healing me in places I didn’t know I’d injured. After driving through ten states in six days, I couldn’t believe we’d finally made it to Florida in one piece.
    We rolled past rows of mansions and I salivated at the water sprawled out behind them, anxious to wiggle my toes in the sand before diving in the water. The shush of the waves played music to my merman ears and tonight I’d finally work out the kinks in my muscles, swimming in the warm current.
    Dad must have known where to go. Once we’d pulled off the highway, he stopped asking me for directions. Beyond simple navigations, he still wasn’t speaking to me, still angry apparently.
    Dad wove down a winding street, stopped in front of a tiny beach house, and killed the engine.
    “Is this it?” Mom’s voice hid nervousness as she opened the RV door. “The safe-house?”
    Dad came around to her side of the vehicle and took her hand.
    “Yes, Maggie.”
    They walked up the small path toward the front door. I limped behind, sizing up the landscape.
    Mansions on either side pressed in with their lofty intimidation as if the meager structure or its inhabitants didn’t belong. White chipping paint on the siding screamed for attention as weeds staked their claim in the flowerbeds.
    How long would we stay here anyway? My parents