☽Ⓛ❈Ⓒ☾

I lay in my bed long after I've woken. I stare out of the window at the endless sky, lost in my own thoughts.

Nana knew. She knew what the Pistris are, she knew that we were both partly non-human.

I ask myself why she never told me, but I already know the answer. I was too young. No doubt, she intended to tell me when I turned eighteen.

Neo spoke of not being able to take me before then, perhaps that was the age Nana was waiting for.

Her death had been sudden and unexpected, a stroke that none of us saw coming. I imagine she had wanted to tell me, but was waiting for the right time.

It's strange. After last night, I don't feel panicked or scared or frightened. It's actually relieving to have an answer for what happened in the water five years ago.

This all makes me feel closer to Nana somehow. I know something about her that no one else does.

I guess this means my mother has Pistris blood too, but she has never liked the sea. Never felt drawn to this island the way that I have. Perhaps I should ask Neo about that later.

Because I know that I am definitely seeing him later.

There is no way that I can't. My mind has been opened to a world I knew nothing about, and I can't ignore that. I want to know more.

And beyond that, a part of me wants to see Neo again. Something about half-man, half-fish makes me feel giddy inside.

Who would have thought I'd be crushing on a shark.

I have my breakfast on the balcony, looking out across the water.

Neo confessed to watching me. I scan the horizon, the waves, the rocks, trying to catch a glimpse of him.

Is he watching me now?

After eating, I take a shower, washing the sea water from my hair. I un-plait it and brush out the tangles. Once it is washed and conditioned, I re-plait it into a single fishtail down my back.

Donning a bikini and sundress, I cautiously come down the steps.

I dip my big toe into the water, testing its temperature. It's early in the morning, so it is cooler than it was last night.

I sit down on one of the steps and place my feet on the board a couple steps below it. The water comes to just above my ankles. Hopefully that will be enough.

I wonder how Neo knows that I am in the water.

A horrible thought pops into my head.

What if he can smell my smelly feet?

I shake that idea off. I just showered. If anything, he will smell my coconut shower gel. I look down at my painted toes under the water. My feet are calling a mermaid to my house.

How many girls get to say that sentence?

My skin prickles in anticipation and I glance up from my feet. I'm startled to see the two fins coming towards me, the smaller one trailing the huge one.

On instinct, I move a couple of steps up and out of the water.

As he reaches the bottom step, Neo surfaces and pushes his black locks back from his face. He smiles at me and my fear disappears in an instant.

I move back down to sit with my feet in the water.

'Hello, Marlie,' he greets me politely.

'Hi, Neo,' I respond, albeit more shyly.

He holds onto the bannister of the stairs and pulls himself up onto the bottom step, next to my feet. He leans his back against the bannister and looks at me with interest.

'How are you feeling this morning?'

I rub my lips together and get more comfortable, facing him.

'I'm good, thank you. I slept surprisingly well. And you?'

He smiles, revealing his pointed teeth. He must see me flinch because he runs his tongue over them and, a second later, they are replaced with blunt, human teeth.

'Sorry, I forget that our appearance can be unnerving for humans. I am well, thank you.'

'It's okay, it's just all quite new to me,' I reassure him. 'I have some questions, though.'

Neo smirks. 'I figured you would. Fire away.'

'My mother, she must have Pistris blood too, right? But she hates the sea and the island.'

Neo frowns. 'Sometimes, the magic can skip generations. Even though you mother might not be genetically a full human, she feels no connection to my kind. Your Nana, although she didn't have a chosen one, felt a connection to the sea. You have both the connection and a chosen one.'

I'm silent for a moment, mulling over his response.

'And you're my chosen?'

He nods. 'As you are mine.'

'How does this work exactly? If I cannot breathe underwater and you, well, you can do both. What happens now?'

Neo smiles. 'It's very simple and relaxed, really. Like you said, I can do both. Your great-grandfather chose to live the majority of his life on land after meeting his chosen. But he built this house to allow him easy access to the water. If you wanted me to stay on land with you, I would.'

I'm shocked by his reply. I would have thought that no mermaid would be willing to give up their life underwater. Perhaps these 'chosen ones' really do have a powerful bond.

'But, when we um, consummate our bond, I can bite you. This will turn you into a Pistris, like me. It would allow you to live and breathe underwater.'

Live and breathe underwater.

The idea is incredible.

'Whoa,' I whisper and Neo chuckles.

'Basically, we can do both. You don't have to decide now or ever, really. We can do whatever you wish, I only need to be near you, in whatever form that may be.'

My cheeks heat as I think of a question.

'But, to consummate, surely we have to be in-uh, surely we have to have legs for that?' I ask awkwardly.

Neo laughs lightly. It is a lovely sound that has my heart beating faster.

'No, my kind can mate with tails,' he replies simply.

'How?' I ask and then I quickly put my hand over my mouth. 'Sorry, personal question.'

Neo shakes his head. 'You can ask me anything, mea lux. But to answer your question, when we become aroused, the scales part to reveal...genitalia.'

My mouth drops open. I don't think I was this shocked when I found out mermaids were real yesterday. This is more shocking than that.

'Mermaids can have sex?' I blurt and he chuckles.

'Yes, they can.'

I lean back against the step, shocked into silence.

Well I'll be damned.

'Any other questions for me, mea lux?' He asks lightly.

I shake my head, still unable to find the words.

Slowly the shock fades and my brain can function again. I don't know how long Neo and I sit in the water like that, talking and talking and talking.

I understand more than ever what he means about the bond. He is like the male version of myself, our humour, thoughts and opinions align completely. I cannot believe I haven't known him my whole life.

My stomach rumbles, giving a clue as to how long we've been sat here.

'I forgot about lunch, I should probably eat something,' I announce and stand up. I look down at Neo in the water. 'Do you want to join me?'

He smiles wryly. 'You're inviting a shark into your house?'

I grin at him. 'Perhaps, but he seems to be a particularly well-behaved shark.'

He chuckles and lifts himself a few more steps out of the water. 'When I want to be, yes.'

He dries his body off with his magic glowing hand and I hurriedly grab a towel from the balcony. I hand it to him whilst keeping my eyes on the sea.

Neo chuckles at my shyness and covers himself up.

'I'm sorry, I don't have any male clothes. The best I can offer you is an over-sized hoodie,' I tell him when we enter the house.

He shrugs. 'The towel is fine with me, I am not cold.'

I nod tightly. I offered the hoodie more for myself than for him. His body is divine, muscular and primed to perfection.

I make us some sandwiches and we sit on the balcony and eat them.

'So, you can eat human food?' I ask as he practically devours the sandwich I made.

He nods, his mouth full of bread. He chews quickly and swallows before talking.

'We can either hunt fish in our shark form, or eat like humans, it makes no difference to us. Although, I do have a certain fascination for human food.'

'Do you ever come onto the island?'

Neo nods again. 'We do, but we tend to attract the attention of the locals, as they don't recognise us.'

'I know, they're obsessed with strangers.'

Neo smiles sympathetically. 'Cape Mare island is the only place where we can truly stay human. We cannot visit the mainland, because our human form doesn't last. We turn back into our shark form after a few hours. The island is magic, it maintains our human body for us.'

'So, you can never travel?'

Neo shrugs. 'I can visit places from the water. Venice might be ideal, I guess? But, I have no desire to travel. Most sharks have hunting grounds that they like to protect, we are the same with our waters, we are territorial.'

'Wow, that's...rough.'

'Not to us, we are happy where we are. As long as I am with you, that's all I need.'

He's mentioned it before, but it doesn't stop me turning the colour of the tomato in my sandwich.

Neo stays all afternoon, soaking up the sun with me and telling me about his life, growing up underwater. The Pistris are close, they stay in groups called shivers.

One day, Neo wants me to meet his parents. It's a shame I can't say the same about mine.

Afternoon turns into early evening and Neo looks out at the water.

'I should probably go, I have taken up a whole day of your time,' he says and stands from his chair.

I stand too, feeling unbearably disappointed. I don't want him to go.

Neo notices my crestfallen expression. 'You want me to stay?'

I don't miss the hope in his voice.

'I don't want to keep you, if there's something you need to do, but, if you can stay...I'd like you to.'

Neo grins, obviously pleased with my admission. 'I'd love to stay. I didn't want intrude, that's all.'

'You aren't intruding!' I say hurriedly and we both chuckle.

Both of us trying to be polite to the other, when we both want the same thing.

'Would you like to go into town for dinner?' Neo offers.

I think of Billy and Mike and grimace.

'I don't want to bump into those men from last night. I imagine they think that I am dead, I daren't imagine what they would say about you. They would probably tell the whole island what you are.'

Neo's eyes get this dark, evil look. One that would scare me, if I didn't know that it was intended for me.

'Don't worry about them, mea lux. I will take care of the fishermen.'

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆✥⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

My face when my boss asks me to take on more work:

Trying to figure out where I'm going to find the time but also needing the money 😅

How I feel when I finish even one chapter nowadays:

Me, at 3AM, when I can't sleep but suddenly think of a new story idea:

Me, so grateful that you haven't all got pissed off and left me, even though I took down some of my work:

I promise to always keep posting new stories for free on Wattpad!

I will not be one of those authors who just ditches Wattpad and makes everything paid (I've lost so many favourite authors because of that 😢).

Thank you for being the best readers a girl could ask for. L x