Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
I didn’t know how far we were from shore, but it must have been a distance because it didn’t take long for me to hear what sounded like moaning—no, it was like a song without words. Like an opera singer who kept raising their octave to the music of a symphony, and when I turned to see what could possibly be making such a beautiful sound, I was met by ten sperm whales. There were eight of them so big that they looked like sunken ships, while the other two smaller ones were still relatively large, but they were the babies. Just as Theseus had said, like all the other sea creatures, they did not seem concerned with us. Like all of them knew that we were not their predators. They swam past overhead, blocking light from the surface, and when I swam closer, I was sure one of them met my gaze as I could see my reflection in its round eye.
And just like that, they moved on. Sensing Theseus beside me, I faced him, far too excited and grinning wide, and he grinned, too. We couldn’t speak underwater, so I indicated for him to go up before I swam to the surface as fast as possible.
However, I shouldn’t have. Or at the very least, I should have checked around the waters more because I broke through the surface of the water only to hear the gasp and the racing heart of a human.
He wasn’t directly above me, or I would have seen the shadow of the boat, but he wasn’t that far away, either. He stared at me, mouth wide, from the surface of his fishing boat, and I stared back, shocked any human was out this far.
He began to yell, almost tripping over himself as he ran back into the boat. Feeling hands on my legs, I was gently pulled back down under the waters. Coming face-to-face with Theseus, who gave me look like he could not believe I could be so foolish. Taking my hand, we swam farther away from the boat toward a rocky ridge in the distance before breaking through the surface.
“Young one,” he began his lecture almost immediately.
“What are the odds of a human being out here catching me in this big sea!” I said quickly in my defense.
He pursed his lips. “The odds would be much slimmer if you first listened to your surroundings.”
“You live and learn?” I said sheepishly.
He chuckled as he turned to face the boat in the distance, where the man had returned to the deck of his boat with a few other men. I could hear him speaking but did not understand what he was saying.
“And this is how the tales of the mermaids spread.” Theseus shook his head as he listened.
“They believe I am mermaid?” I grinned, not sure why that made me so happy. But it did.
“Well, the one who saw you is certain. While the rest of his crew believe he is drunk,” Theseus said, and I listened to the man trying desperately to explain what he had seen to his crew.
“Wait,” I said quickly, realizing what this meant. “How the tales of the mermaids spreads? As in they are real?”
“Yes, of course,” he said as if I were silly for even asking.
“Mermaids are real?” I gasped in amazement. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”
“How would this conversation begin, and how would it be relevant?” he questioned, eyebrow raised. “The mermaids are simply a failed Wiccan experiment. Most only live weeks at most before the magic breaks, and the creature dies.”
I frowned, all the excitement building in me shattered to pieces by his words. “I always wanted to be a mermaid.”
Theseus looked at me confused, not at all pleased. “Why would anyone desire to be half fish? Wiccans always wish to test the limits of their powers. As humans have scientists, so do they. I fear if you, by rare chance, ever see a true mermaid, you would never wish such a fate on yourself.”
“So, you are saying they don’t look like they do in the movies, with long hair that is never ruined by the water and pretty tails moving through the ocean with all their colorful sea friends.”
“They are the things of nightmares, not fairy tales.”
“Some would say that about vampires,” I challenged.
“True,” he replied, placing his palm on the side of my face. “However, I can vouch for our beauty or, at the very least, yours. For either on land or at sea, you are a sight none can dare compare to.”
I was a sight? Did he not see himself? Did he not see how the water glistened off his hair and ran down the muscles of his body? How his eyes glowed like the moon, even on this moonless night. He was the sight that would cause any woman to shiver with lust, especially me. And I assumed he noticed as his palm dropped from my face and moved to my waist, drawing me through the water and closer to him. When our naked bodies touched, he leaned over and kissed my shoulder.