thoughts, “You know that I am right.”
“Maybe…”
I couldn’t help thinking what Barbara said about how they were closing in on Nixie, and I racked my brain for the exact words I’d used in describing her location to Evie. I’d gone over my surfing gear with a fine toothed comb, so I knew that I wasn’t being tracked. Still, I was suddenly afraid, with a haunting feeling that I might be missing something.
“Where is Nixie?” I said in a panicked voice, scanning the water frantically.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t know… It’s just–” At that precise moment a pair of sea lions came zipping through the water towards us, towing a giggly little mermaid with her baby arms wrapped around their necks.
“Whee!” she cried with glee, “Marina!”
Once again I was shocked at the growth she’d managed in the short time since I’d last been out to see her. The sea lions saw our surfboards and melted away into the sea, leaving Nixie hovering in the water a few feet from us. Her olive green eyes flew open wide when she saw Ethan.
“Eeek!” she shrieked in terror, flying into Nerissa’s arms, burying her face in her shoulder.
“It’s alright,” Nerissa crooned soothingly into her tiny shell of an ear. “This one is good. This one does what Marina tells it to do.”
Nixie peeked back up at Ethan, and dove underwater, surfacing behind him. She circled us, studying Ethan from every conceivable angle, and when her curiosity was finally satisfied she launched herself onto my board, wiggling onto my lap and taking my face in her cherub hands.
“This one is why you won’t swim with us,” she said gravely, surprising me with her insight.
I smiled bashfully and nodded, and Nixie turned her head to cast a dimpled smile at Ethan.
His eyes met mine, his eyebrows raised, “Whoa,” was all he could manage.
Nixie looked back at me, “Now let’s go wave riding!”
I looked at Ethan hopefully, “Are you up for a surf?”
He swallowed hard and nodded yes, still speechless.
The mermaids towed us out to the wave break, and as the sky darkened a perfect moon rose on the horizon, casting its glowing light on the mysterious night waves. The mermaids began to glow too, luminous and wraithlike under the water as they twirled all around and beneath us.
“Are you okay?” I asked Ethan, worried by his silence.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky, “This is… It’s just so…”
I reached out and squeezed his hand. I knew what he meant, for there were simply no words that were adequate to describe the otherworldly experience. I don’t think I’d ever felt happier than right at that moment, sharing all the beautiful things I’d been privileged to see with the one I loved.
“Watch this,” I said, lying down on my board as Lorelei took me out to deposit me onto the biggest wave of the set. I surfed with abandon by the light of the moon, getting retrieved at the base of each wave and swiftly towed back to where Ethan sat watching.
“It’s fun… You should try it,” I told him with a smile.
He nodded again, and I could see the whites of his wide eyes in the dark.
“Will you take him out on one?” I asked Lorelei, sensing a beautiful set coming towards us like a slow train. She nodded, grabbing his board and towing him out to the perfect spot.
“Be careful with him,” I called out to her, watching as Ethan popped up and rode a beautiful wave in his own expert way. The moonlight cast its magical spell, and I held my breath until I saw Lorelei retrieve Ethan and tow him back to me.
He was exhilarated, sitting up next to me excitedly “I’ve never surfed in the dark before! That was intense!”
I giggled with joy, for I knew exactly how he felt. He suddenly got quiet, leaning over to give me a salty kiss. I met him halfway, and we rocked in the sea, our arms locked tightly around one another. His lips were warm on mine, the exact opposite of the frigid sea and dark night that surrounded us. All I could think about was how much I loved him; I knew that I’d feel this way always.
Lorelei popped up in front of us, “You’re just like Adria,” she said with distaste, leaping out of the water like a dolphin, and splashing us with an expertly aimed swish of her tail. She went back to tumbling in the water alongside Nixie.
“What did she say?” Ethan