nightsinger

08 - midnight

CALISTA AND MARSHALL watch Jameson from afar, his silver tail flashing violet beneath the moon. Their nightsinger clutches something in his hand while he slices through the water. His seconds in command drift closer together to watch as he returns to the human girl who's captured his power. Tonight, the water is colder than usual—icy, almost. The wind whips against the surface tension of the waves.

"He feels different," Calista says softly, her head leaning against Marshall's. She copies what she's seen from the world above. "My words fail me, but my thoughts run rampant."

Marshall tugs on a strand of her aqua-green hair but doesn't look away from Jameson. "He does," he agrees. "But he is still vicious. Larina hasn't spoken a word since he sliced her jaw with his nail."

"Among other things," Calista says. "He smells of sunshine instead of moonlight. Like the land."

"Is it such a displeasure to you?"

Calista instantly shakes her head. "Of course not," she says, mouth tilting up at the corners. "I have always asked him to see the human world with me when the water grows cold and the shores are not as populated. He's always refused."

Her podmate hums. "I think," Marshall says, "the word you're looking for is that Jameson seems more human."

"But why? Is it the bond he has attached to him?"

"Half-bond," Marshall corrects. "But I'm unsure how long it will stay that way."

"How does it turn whole?" Calista asks, tilting her head. Around them, the currents whistle past her ear. "She is human, and he is not. I don't know how that would technically work. It seems like it will only result in disaster."

"Their bond is temporary, but it's still a bond," Marshall says, turning to see Calista already watching him. Her gaze resembles the stars. "Whatever the human girl feels, Jameson does, too. Even if he was unfamiliar with human emotions before her, his soul is tethered: it is growing accustomed to her presence, her thoughts, her desires. It's a half-bond right now, but as time goes on, his magic will draw her closer. It's natural—magic unifies." He sighs. "But I believe Jameson is choosing to ignore it."

Calista snorts. "For someone so powerful and whose magic is almost as old as the sea," she drawls, "he needs to realize that I've never seen him look so excited to leave our pod in the decades I have known him."

As Marshall laughs, Calista turns back and swims towards the younglings presenting their coral collection to the others. "He is likely in pain," Marshall comments. "Leaving your bondmate apart for so long will impact his body. I would imagine that mortal tolerance is significantly less than our siren forms."

"She'll be alright," Calista assures, waving a hand. "No harm will come—I can guarantee it."

"How do you know?"

She tugs Marshall along by the elbow and the two of them swim off together, as fast as the current will carry them. The ocean zips by in their own aquatic bullet train and paints the world in aquamarine. It is glorious.

"Because it's the sea goddess. There is nothing she treasures more than Jameson."

***

Iris Monroe is prone to mistakes. This is nothing new.

In middle school, she forgot to turn the stove off before she'd walked to school. When she came home, her father gave her one of the scariest scoldings she'd ever received, saying that the whole house would have burned down had he not caught it in time. A few years later, she'd accidentally caught the prom queen hooking up with someone in the bathroom and slammed her head against the tile before escaping. She'd ended up in the hospital with a nasty concussion and a semester-long pass for gym. There was one date she went on where she thought he was trying to ask for a long term relationship, and when she'd interrupted him, it turned out that he tried to tell her that he didn't wish to see her again. Iris hasn't gone on a date since.