The Merworld Water Wars - Finned Part 21

Like a flash of brilliant white lightning, a man, his arms outstretched, soared astoundingly fast down a sparkling golden path from the heavens. With barely inches to spare before hitting the wall, he cupped me in his arms. I hid my face in his grayish robes, too terrified to see my final moments. I waited for the finale of my life to ring in my ears, but nothing came...no striking sound, no pain, nothing.

"You're safe, sweets. Open your eyes." His tone and heavy Australian accent sounded playful and, admittedly, very s.e.xy.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking around the elaborately decorated room.

"The dreadfully musty study of Hambury House. Could use a little sprucing."

"Who are you? Where are you?" I asked, rubbing my watery eyes.

"Manakel, an angel of the ocean. And I'm directly above you, Bluey."

"Oh!" Floating above me was a being so beautiful, I could hardly breathe. His skin s.h.i.+mmered like new fallen snow, his eyes glowed like amber, and the lushness of his auburn hair beckoned to be touched. His face was a work of art, chiseled to perfection. "You're an angel...with gray wings."

"What keen observation skills you do have," he said, his dazzling wings fluttering behind him.

"Since when are angels snarky?"

"Different levels of angels, Cherry Blossom, and I'm not exactly heaven sent."

"Whatever. You saved me. Death by wall wasn't exactly my ideal way to bow out, so thank you."

"Ah, yeah, I'm just the knight in s.h.i.+ning wings, aren't I? I woke up from a fantastically satisfying dream to save you from a wily little cartoon death. How the angels of death must quiver."

"Hey, if you didn't want to save me, why'd you bother?"

"I had to save you, Marina, the Siren Savior," he said. "You see, Savior, we have a future, you and I."

"Future? What future? You're dead."

"Watch a little more sci-fi, sweets. Even the dead can live...and feel."

"So, what's this future you say we have?"

"It's Mystery Myth Theater for us, Savior. Could be friends, maybe enemies...or something more closely resembling a satisfying sweat."

"Aren't h.o.r.n.y angels against angel law or something?"

For an angel, he certainly had a devilish smile. "I should go. Your friends are coming, and I don't fancy a wing-to-fin row tonight."

"Wait! Please, don't leave." If I so allowed, panic could easily take over my body at the thought of him leaving. It must be some angel energy thing.

"Yearning for me already? Thought it would take longer," he said, diving down by my side. "You might be happy to know that your little dolphin ride has been recovered by its maker, Bobby Boring Bubblestone. He'll restore him to form." Manakel ran a finger down my jaw. "I'll be near."

With a caress of his hand against my cheek, he left, soaring straight through the ceiling. I absentmindedly touched my face; I could feel the warmth of his hand still on my skin. Quite lost in thought, I heard the creak of a floorboard nearby.

"Who's there?" I asked.

Before he could answer, I saw a man, maybe in his early forties, with dark brown hair and eyes, staring at me from an open bookcase.

"You promised to learn the truth. Heart before hormones. You didn't see me. I don't exist," he warned, disappearing behind the bookcase.

No sooner did the strangely familiar man close the hidden pa.s.sageway than did Troy storm through the door. Cuts and bruises covered his face.

"Marina!" He fell to his knees by my side, kissing every inch of my face.

"What happened to you?" I asked, gently brus.h.i.+ng my hands over his wounds.

"Little monster take down."

"Are you okay?" asked Airianna, taking a pillow from the couch to put under my legs.

"Happy-happy, without the joy-joy. I knew there was a reason why crabs make me puke."

"I need to treat your wounds. Those thorns have venom that can slowly..." Troy stopped suddenly when he hiked up my jeans to survey my wounds.

"Okay, look of unsettling horror can disappear any second now," I said, alarmed.

"Your wounds...they're gone."

"It must have been Manakel," I said.

"Who did you say?" The fear in Airianna's voice startled me.

"Manakel. He saved me from a wall-induced brain crus.h.i.+ng. I think he caught me and we ghosted right through the wall, if that makes sense. Why the freaked out frowns?"

"The sea angel hardly ever appears to humans," whimpered Airianna.

"So what? I mean, sure, he's a little c.o.c.ky, with a sprinkle of snark, and a downpour of h.o.r.n.y, but...he saved my life," I reiterated, expecting some sort of grat.i.tude from my boyfriend for the angel who saved his girlfriend's life.

"He only appears to humans under three circ.u.mstances," said Airianna, as though reciting from a handbook. "First, if the human has been chosen for a future quest, the angel shall rescue. Second, if the human is marked for a specific death other than the one threatening him or her at present, the angel shall rescue." Airianna looked worriedly at Troy.

"And third?" I inquired.

"If the human is the breathing destiny of the angel, said angel shall rescue," said Troy through clenched teeth.

"Breathing destiny?"

"It means the angel marks the human as his living soul mate," said Airianna.

Chapter Fifteen.

Under the Sea.

April: Spring is in the sea Monthly Life Caption: Going Deeper Mood: Dumbstruck.

Eating: More of the same-junk.

Music: Indie.

Friday afternoon: Official start to spring break. Ever since the fair and Manakel's little cameo, Troy hasn't wanted me to be in plain view of the clouds. In an effort to keep me an indoor girl, he has quite literally used every excuse imaginable, even inventing some along the way. After his last attempt to hold me under house arrest-when he pretended to have a concussion after faking a fall off the top of the cliffs near the lagoon-I demanded to know why he was so bothered by the winged one.

Cuddled together in our cave on a particularly blah day, Troy reluctantly agreed to tell me about Manakel.

"Manakel's officially known as the angel of all seas," said Troy. "He's saved many lives, including those of fellow merps."

"Saving lives doesn't exactly scream bad guy."

"I don't trust him," he said flatly.

"He's an angel! If you can't trust an angel, who can you trust?"

"You met him. He's not a heavenly angel, Marina."

"I'm pretty sure he came down to me from the clouds, Troy. Isn't that home sweet heaven?"

"Yes, but he doesn't live in heaven exactly. You've heard of earth angels, I a.s.sume?"

"Ooh! Ooh! It's like the song from my favorite time travel movie where Michael J. McAwesome plays the guitar and starts going all invisible man and...I'll shut up."

Troy smiled and shook his head. "Manakel is an earth angel. Earth angels travel between heaven's waiting room and earth."

"So he lives in, what, the luxury hotel of the puffy white clouds?"

"Basically, yeah. It's all a little mysterious, but they exist to help humans. Occasionally, they'll love humans, sometimes too much."

"Meaning what?"

"If an earth angel finds his or her earthly soul mate, they may claim the earthly soul as theirs. If that happens, the angel will either become human to be with their soul mate, or allow the human to die."

"You mean an angel would let their human soul mate die, just so they can be together in heaven? Kind of lessens my regard for hotel-dwelling angels."

"There are conditions. Higher powers won't permit an angel to watch their chosen human die unless the human is marked for a horrific ending on earth. So, in a way, the angel would be sparing the human a lot of pain and fear," he said, stroking my hair.

"So, which is it? Have I won a trip for two to a luxury cloud getaway, or did the wheel of misfortune spin me a horrific death?"

"I don't know. I mean, the more he sees you, the greater the chance he will choose you. I don't want him taking you from me," he said.

"I'm yours, Troy. And I don't favor feathers-they tickle. Besides, I'm pretty certain the physical aspects of a relations.h.i.+p with an angel would go against heaven's rules."

"Actually..."

"No way!"

"Because they're not permanently in heaven, and could possibly return to human form, they can engage is some physical acts," he said, curling his lip. "This is why I need you to come away with me for spring break."

Whoa! Where did that come from? "Go away with you? Where? We can't leave the borders of Saxet Sh.o.r.es, can we?"

He grinned slyly. "I can."

"I'm intrigued," I said. "But, really, what difference would it make? He's an angel. He can see me wherever I am."

"If you're in his sight. Spring break is an ideal time for Manakel to lure you outdoors, watch you, contact you, try to decipher if you're his soul mate. You're on the forefront of his mind. I can sense it."

"How can you sense it? Is this some Jediism quality, only in fin form?"

"It's hard to explain. Because my feelings for you are so intense, I can feel when other non-humans are interested in you. It's not clear to me exactly how they're interested in you, whether it's innocent or not. But I can feel it."

"Wow. I so feel like a vampire's girlfriend right now," I sighed. "Okay, where do we go?"

"I'll work all of that out. You just need to convince your mom by tonight."

Fabulous.

Friday night: Mom was freaking with double the freak. Trying to convince my mom to let me go away with my boyfriend for spring break has not gone well at all. Her eyes were literally popping out of her head.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to let you, a girl, go away with your boyfriend, a boy, for a vacation that just happens to fall during spring break?"

"Well..."

"I'm going to point out a few key words, and you're going to guess what I'm thinking." c.r.a.p. It's the key word drill. "Girl. Boy. Away. Vacation. Spring. Break. Now, guess what I'm thinking," she said, pacing back and forth in the kitchen.

"You're worried we'll...have the s.e.x...and...the drink...and...do the crazy stuff."

"BINGO!" she yelped.

"Mom, it's not like that with Troy."

"Oh, you're not hot for him, I guess?"

"I'm actually stifling hot for him."

My mom's face softened a bit; now she looked more like a gossiping girl than a mean mommy. "He is pretty hot, Marina. UGH! But, that's exactly my point!"

"Mom, you raised me right. We've had the talks. I know everything I need to know. I'm not ready to move in that direction, and he hasn't pushed me at all. We just want to be together."

My mom flopped down on the couch next to me. "I trust you completely, I really do. Troy's a nice boy, and Mr. Gibbs always speaks so highly of him. Sixteen is just so young, especially for a vacation with your boyfriend."

Troy had prepared me for this part of the conversation. "Airianna will be there. Troy's family will be there, too. It's more like a Tombolo family getaway. He's got a whole school of fi-amily." Grr. I hated lying to my mom. She would be so disappointed if she knew I had no frigging idea where he wanted to take me.

"Well, if you had told me that from the get-go, I wouldn't have channeled my mother. Frightening experience. Now, where are y'all going?"