Catch of a Lifetime (12 page)

   Mariana zipped up in front of her, and Angel had to stop swimming or bang into her. "I notice you're not too worried, Ang. Luckily we don't need to be. Amelia was flying by when you pulled your little climb-aboard escapade and she had Ernie threaten Harry about report ing him for going after you. Unlike Ernie, I would have just gone ahead and reported it, but, luckily, Harry got smart and hightailed it to bluer waters. Good thing I in tercepted Amelia before anyone else did."

   Mariana shoved her hands to her emerald-scaled hips. "I wish I could say the same for you. Going on an ex pedition? With a Human?
Really
, Angel? After specific orders from Rod to stay put? And
without
a harpoon. Honestly, what were you thinking?"

   Angel mimicked Mariana's stance. Mariana was not going to intimidate her. "What I was thinking is that I'd start with a child and get
him
thinking about taking care of the planet. How does Rod expect his Coalition to get off the sea floor if we don't engage Humans in the conservation effort? Most adults are too ingrained in their ways to be open-minded about anything else."

   Not to mention, they were always up for catching and studying a new species—a fact she wasn't going to men tion since it'd only add magma to the well.

   Mariana shook her head, her red hair swishing out around her shoulders. "You and your Human fixation. When are you going to let it go, Ang?"

   "Let it go? Let it
go?" Angel flapped her tail so quickl
y she churned the water into a small whirlpool and sent a school of silversides twirling off toward the Caymans. "Are you going to let your art go? Stop sculpting?"

   "That's not the same thing, and you know it.
This
is dangerous."

   Angel snorted. "Oh, right. And working with flowing lava is a swim in the reef. How many times have you been burned?"

   "Is that what you want? To get burned?" Mariana shoved her hair back over her shoulder, but with the way the water was churning round them, it didn't stay. "Fine. Go beach yourself on a deserted island and lie out in the sun for too long, but for gods' sakes, don't do this, Ang. You know the penalty for letting Humans find out about us."

   "Logan isn't going to find out."

   It was Mariana's turn to snort. "Oh, right. Like the kid isn't going to say something. Not that it even mat ters. You tell one of them, you might as well scream it from their rooftops."

   "Michael won't."

"Right."

   Angel wasn't giving in on this. Attraction notwith standing, she knew what she was doing here was the right thing to do. It was important to her. To the planet. Mariana wasn't going to win, not now. No matter how many times in the past her sister had managed to come out smelling like a hibiscus, this time, Angel had Right on her side.

   "Look, Mariana. I know what I'm doing. I've studied them for
selinos
."

   "Studying them and living among them are two dif ferent kettles of fish, Ang."

   "You think I don't know that? Do you think I'm clue less as to what Logan would do if he were to find out I'm a Mer? I might not be Pearl, but give me credit for
some
brains, sis. Michael can keep a secret." Unlike the nosy pelican who'd sicced Mariana on her.

   "So what do you hope to gain by this? Michael's a child. One child. He's not going to set the Human conservation movement on its ear or take the world by storm. How is that going to help you?"

   If Angel had had any doubts—and she hadn't, not really, but if she had—Mariana's questions put them to rest.

   She dove over her sister's head, angling toward the sea floor. "Mariana, where would the beach be with out every grain of sand?" She grabbed a handful and let the grains sift through her fingers. "Sure, one little grain doesn't make a difference, but a beach has to start somewhere. Piece by piece, generation by generation, the grains pile up until there's a beach where none had existed before."

"So Michael is a grain of sand?"

"Exactly."

   Mariana grabbed a handful and held it out toward Angel. "It takes a lot of grains to make a beach."

   "Hey, I'm Immortal. I've got time."

   "You're not Immortal yet."

   Which took her thoughts right back to Logan's kisses in the kitchen…

   Angel chose to focus on Mariana instead. "That's true, but I will be, and I have to start somewhere, Mare."

   "Perhaps you ought to start with becoming Immortal before you worry about your metaphorical beaches, Ang. Have you made any progress on that front?"

   Angel swam to the reef, skimming above delicate sea fans and avoiding the fire coral.

   Progress? It depended on what Mariana wanted to call progress.

   And with
whom.

   She wended around the sea plumes, startling a school of blue chromis who were searching for dinner, then caused a few dozen anemones to close up shop. She wished she could clam up, too. She didn't want to have this conversation.

   "Or are you hoping this Human is your ticket to Immortality?" Mariana asked in her I-know-everything voice, catching up to her. "That's a really bad idea, you know. There are only three of us left to keep the blood line a hundred percent Mer. I'm happy for our brothers, but we can't go around courting Humans. The magic would die out of our race in a few generations."

   After seeing the dazed look on Logan's face when she'd sung, Angel wasn't so sure that would be a bad thing. She wouldn't expect Humans to want to do business with a race that could enthrall them with their voices.

   And she wouldn't expect herself to want to be involved with a Human who'd
been
enthralled with her voice.

   And yet, she was actually considering it…

THE NEW ANGLE OF THE SUN THROUGH THE WINDOWS WOKE Angel too early the next morning. Unlike this bright, burning hit to her eyelids that jarred her awake in an instant, sunlight arrived differently in Atlantis: filtering through crevasses in the undersea cavern containing the city, bouncing off the golden walls and marble build ings, mixing with the refracted light of glowing magma to seep between her lashes and coax her awake.

   The early-morning chirpings of robins outside her window didn't help matters either.

   Stretching her legs and flexing her toes, Angel sat up on the bed with a yawn, realizing from the birds' startled looks that she was naked.

   Again.

   Blushing, Angel searched for the sheets to cover herself but had to settle for a pillow when she saw the twisted pile of bedding on the floor.

   Why was she naked? Again?

   Slowly, last night came back to her. Coercing coop eration out of Mariana had taken longer than she would have liked. It'd been catch-and-release there for a bit. Her sister was as tenacious as a game fish on a hook. Add in time she'd needed to dry her tail out to legs, and she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. She'd been so bone tired, she'd hardly been able to crawl into the bed.

   Her nudity had nothing to do with that dream she'd

had of Logan covered in seawater and nothing else— well, except her.

   Yeah, and she had some dry land in Atlantis to sell, too.

   Angel got out of bed. Time to face the day and Logan. Now that the effects of Siren Song had had time to dis sipate, things could be normal between them.

   At least, that was the hope.

   After a quick shower—not quite the same as a waterfall—Angel donned a set of new undergarments. She made sure to wear a bra this time and chose a pair of white capri pants—made in China, not Capri, which made no sense—a silky, Mediterranean blue, flouncy, half-halter top, and a pair of matching sandals. How much more fun it was to wear a full set of Human clothes than just the tops she normally wore. Maybe she ought to think about pajamas.

   Once dressed, Angel headed up the stone path to Logan's lanai where another set of problems awaited her.

   Should she go in the house? They hadn't covered this in her job description. What if both Logan and Michael were asleep? What if they weren't? What if this was something any other Human would know and she ex posed herself by making the wrong decision?

   "Well? What are you waiting for?" A flamingo raised her head from behind a hedgerow of hibiscus. "The kitchen's just inside and I watched him bring the grocer ies in a couple of days ago. He's got a few packages of prawns in there I wouldn't mind getting a hold of. What say you get me some of those and I'll keep your location a secret from your brother?"

   "Ginger?" Great. Just what she needed. The lazi est and most opportunistic flamingo in the Eastern Hemisphere had just glommed onto her case study. And as for Ginger keeping a secret? Notsomuch. "What are you doing here? I thought birds of a feather flocked to gether and all that."

   "Those Orlando chicks are too cliquey. Sometimes it's nice to be the only flamingo around." Ginger twirled her black-tipped beak, striking a pose that was ineffec tual on females and downright ridiculous for anyone. Even a flamingo. To add insult to injury, the bird looked down from the back corner of her eyes. "So, what do you say? Prawns for silence?"

   Angel tossed a swath of hair over her shoulder—so hard to get used to it hanging against her body instead of floating around her like kelp on a current. "I say that blackmail is a filthy practice, and if you're going to try it, you should first have a clean background. I know what you're doing with Roger, by the way. I think everyone except his mate does."

   That took the stuffing out of the bird. Ginger deflated back to normal size and quickly set her plumage to rights. "Fine. You don't have to get snippy about it. I just wanted some prawns. Humans have taken all the good ones around here and I'm not a big fan of fish fry. It gets boring after a while."

   "I know all about Human fishing practices, Ginger, among other things. That's why I'm here, and I'd ap preciate if you'd keep quiet so I have the chance to make a difference."

   "You don't want your brother to find out, do you?"

   "I'd prefer if he didn't, but I'm a grown Mer. I'm allowed to live my life. If he does, I'll deal with it. But until then, I'm going to try to accomplish something."

   "Oh? Is that what they're calling it these days?" The flamingo clacked her beak. "I
accomplished
something just last night."

   Angel didn't bother dignifying Ginger's innuendo with an answer. She turned back to the door to decide what to do.

   The decision was rendered moot when Michael came running toward her. "Hey!" he said, unlocking the door, Rocky dangling from his hand. His hat slipped backward, but he caught it before it fell off. "You still have legs!"

   Angel glanced into the kitchen. Thank the gods Logan wasn't in sight. "I couldn't very well visit you with a tail, could I?"

   "Sure you could. We could go swimming." Michael tugged her hand, and she had no choice but to follow him in. "Can you teach me to surf, Angel? I think it'd be cool. Rainbow said I'm too little, but I bet if you helped me, it'd be okay. 'Cause you can swim and all. And I beat Billy in the beststroke at the Y. It was in deep water, too. So? Can we? Go surfing?"

   "Let's try something a little less dangerous today, okay, sport?" Logan said what she'd been trying to as he entered, his hair wet from his shower.

   There was an image to make a girl's knees weak.

   Then she got a good look at his toned legs beneath sand-colored shorts, the way his biceps stretched the sleeves of his navy T-shirt, the sexy way his hair swept against his collar, and realized she was in deep water. A few hours apart hadn't stemmed the tide of attraction she felt.

   Thankfully, Michael's elbow bumped her and she refocused as the little guy turned the rim of his cap to the front before facing his father. "So what can we do, Logan?"

   "Well, first, why don't we have breakfast before you go running off? You did just get here, you know." Logan pulled out a chair at the breakfast bar and motioned for her to take it without any of the sexy, hooded-eye thing from last night, nor a single hint that their intimate body parts had had a passing acquaintance with each other. Good. The Siren Song had worn off. She could breathe a little easier.

   "I know I just got here," Michael replied. "But I didn't want to get in your way. Rainbow said you worked re ally hard to keep this house and I shouldn't make you lose it."

   Angel didn't have to look at Logan to know how those words hurt. What mother would say such things to her child? What had Logan ever done to her to make her think that? Anyone could tell the man was thrilled to be a father just by looking at him.

   Which she was determined not to do.

   Being up close and personal as she'd been last night had been more than enough. Then there was that dream she'd had—

   "So, what's for breakfast?" Probably not the best idea to invite herself to eat, but she caught the relief on Logan's face as the conversation changed direction. Then there was the smile he sent her way, and, well, best not to dwell too long on that.

   Luckily, the meal wasn't all that different from what she was used to, but she shied away from dunking cereal in milk. She could have watered-down food any time at home, so she opted, instead, for the wonderfully fresh fruit Logan served and her first taste of bacon. Hot and crunchy, it became her newest second favorite thing about the Human world after wet, hot kisses…

   
Focus, Tritone.

   She was trying to. Really trying to.