Anne Brown - Promise Bound

A flash fire of adrenaline burned through my body, and I quickly looked away. As much time as I’d spent thinking about a future with Lily, a family of our own had never occurred to me. That wasn’t supposed to be possible for mermen, but then again … Lily was living proof that that bit of mermaid canon law was seriously flawed. The mere possibility of having a baby with Lily made my insides crawl with a combination of anticipation and terror.

“Oh my God,” Daniel said, “if my parents find out about this, they’ll kill me.”

I picked myself up off the ground and brushed the dirt and wood chips from my pants. “Agreed. And I think we can also agree that if you screw this up, they will, too.” I gestured toward the parking lot, and Lily and Daniel both turned to look. “Figure it out quick, lover boy. Maris and Pavati just pulled up.”

Even at this distance I could read Maris’s and Pavati’s faces through the windshield. Their jaws were set, their lips tight. My money was on them sharing my anxiety about history repeating itself.

A new voice boomed through the tense silence. “They here yet?” Jason asked, striding toward us from the parking lot, his view of Maris and Pavati blocked by blue shrink-wrapped sailboats on drydock.

“Dad!” Lily cried out. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought it was about time I met my sisters. I was never able to hear them in the lake.” He turned toward me. “You said that was probably because I’d never heard their voices on land. Time to fix that, wouldn’t you say?”

Lily looked at me in panic.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said, as I studied Maris and Pavati for a second longer. “And it’s always good to have the numbers.”

“You don’t think they’re dangerous anymore, do you?” asked Jason. “To us, anyway.”

I could only speculate based on my years of living with Maris and Pavati, but I felt confident in my answer. “Lily fulfilled your family’s promise to my mother, and Jack paid the price for Tallulah’s death. So, no. I don’t think they’re a danger to you or Lily anymore.”

But I turned to Daniel less certainly. “You, on the other hand … Word of advice, Daniel: Make it quick. The last time we saw them they were severely weakened. They’re at full physical strength now, but their emotional tanks are getting low. Don’t get any closer to the water than you are right now. They need you alive for the baby’s sake, but you don’t want to pose any unnecessary temptation. This should be a quick handoff; then get out of here.”

LILY

So Calder didn’t think Maris and Pavati were a danger to me and Dad anymore? It was nice to know there was at least one perk to my transformation. Besides, they were my aunts, my father’s sisters. I knew what Calder would say about that: they always had been, and that hadn’t stopped their murderous intentions. But still, now that they weren’t trying to kill Dad, or me, now that we knew they weren’t behind the nightmare of last summer, they couldn’t be so bad.

Maris and Pavati climbed gracefully out of a silver sedan—Maris in faded jeans and a black tank top; Pavati in a pink floral dress that was thin enough for her long, toned legs to show through when the sun hit it right. Okay. Truth was, they still gave me the creeps. Especially now when they looked so healthy. I could only imagine at what cost.

Danny let out a long, low whistle and when I glanced over his blue eyes were sparkling. “Have you ever seen anyone so beautiful?” he said to my dad, then caught me staring him down.

“You’re not going to throw yourself at Pavati,” I said. “You’re going to stand by me and man up. She’s not going to have much time for you anyway. Her focus is going to be on giving you the baby and getting herself in the lake. Don’t take it personally.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about this,” Danny said.

“Shut up and be quiet,” I said. “And while we’re at it, get that lovesick-puppy expression off your face, or so help me, I’m going to slap you.”

He swallowed hard. “Right. No puppies.”

Pavati reached into the backseat of the sedan and straightened up, holding a massive bundle of fuzzy blue blankets. Somewhere from inside the jumble, I heard a tiny mewing sound. Intuitively, I squeezed Danny’s hand to hold him in place. Dad placed his hand on my shoulder, while Calder—despite his earlier assurances—moved one shoulder in front of mine in a defensive posture.

Maris and Pavati strode toward us. Pavati kept her pointy elbows slightly ahead of Maris’s arms, as if positioning herself as the new leader of their small band, but Maris did not look resigned to a subservient rank. Seeing the controlled hostility in their expressions, my back stiffened out of habit. I searched their faces to see if the malice was directed toward any one of us, but that did not appear to be the case.

Maris and Pavati had both returned to their natural beauty. Gone was the emaciated, graying look that Jack Pettit had forced upon them. They were both well fed, emotionally and physically. I could see that clearly in the shimmer of light at the corners of their mouths, and in the buoyant way they walked. Maris’s white-blond hair shone in the sun, and Pavati’s thick chocolaty curls bounced against her shoulders. Their arms were soft and supple, and their collarbones no longer jutted out in dangerous angles. They showed no sign of memory or distress about what had transpired here only ten months ago.

The mermaid sisters broke into matching smiles of serenity that gave me a creepy-crawly feeling up the backs of my legs. Danny’s hand softened in mine, and I dug in my nails.

“Thank you for coming,” Maris said. Her eyes were hard and all on my dad.

“It’s so good to see you,” Pavati said, looking first at me, and then glancing quickly at Danny, who sucked in his breath at her brief acknowledgment. Neither Maris nor Pavati spoke to Calder.

I wasn’t sure what to say. Their greeting seemed genuine, yet Calder’s guarded posture made me suspicious of the pleasantries. I did my best not to make eye contact with either of them, unless I should succumb to unwanted hypnosis.

Maris said, “Jason Hancock, I presume?”

“Maris,” he replied.

She looked him up and down. “You look old.”

Pavati held out the pile of blue blankets like she was offering a serving tray in a banquet hall. I elbowed Danny, and he reached out tentatively. I could practically feel his mind’s wheels turning, trying to think of the perfect thing to say. I spoke so he wouldn’t.

“Blue blankets,” I said. “Does this mean—”

Pavati nodded, her pride apparent. “The most beautiful boy.”

Only then did I realize how much I’d hoped it was a girl. Our fear of history repeating itself seemed even more justified with a boy.

Danny held the bundle awkwardly, uncertain if he was doing it right, and I peeled back the blanket, revealing a small cherubic face. The baby had dark hair and caramel-colored skin, just like his parents, and when he opened his eyes to blink at the sun, they were the same brilliant blue as Danny’s. A thick fringe of black lashes lay softly against his cheeks. His lips pouted into the shape of a berry.

An image of Nadia leaning over my infant father flashed in my head as Danny curled his body to shield Pavati’s baby from the sun.

“You will take care of him,” Pavati said, touching the baby under the chin, while a curl of trepidation wormed its way into my stomach.

Danny nodded. “Will you visit?”

“Maybe.” Pavati looked out at the lake, her hands trembling.

“You look good, Lily,” Maris said, and when I steeled myself to look at her I saw that her eyes, too, were on the water. “How did the winter go? I was concerned you three might not make it.”