Sinth Salvation - Pearl Tate Page 0,25

I see he’s staring at where I’m still clutching Stefan’s forearm, and he doesn’t look happy. The normal charming smile I’m so used to seeing has disappeared. Instead, a brooding look and twitching jaw has overtaken his features.

Waving him closer, I step back to stand by Nikon. “Nikon, meet Stefan. Stefan and I grew up together. I just met Nikon this morning. He’s part of a special investigation unit, and as much as I’d like to say this is social, it’s not.”

Nodding, Stefan leads us up the gangplank and onto his boat, dropping onto the deck and turning around to look up at us following him. “I figured. If you’d wanted to see me socially, I probably would have heard from you yesterday, right? I heard you were back from your father.”

Why doesn’t Stefan just rub it in a little more? Certainly, he’s forgiven me for the way things ended? It’s been a year, and despite our promises to “stay in touch,” I’d heard very little from him. That’s exactly why I broke it off. Why make promises we couldn’t keep?

My hours in Ísafjörður were crazy. The last thing I needed was to add a jealous boyfriend on top of an already crazy and stressful situation. New town … new job … new life. There was always the possibility I wouldn’t come back too. But once I lost Aunt Margret six months into my reassignment, I knew I’d be back. Really nothing’s changed. I have to take care of Eva and get her out of my Uncle Gunnar’s care.

So far, no great ideas have come to me, but I’m confident one will. I have no other choice. She can’t stay there with him.

“I’m sorry I haven’t called you yet. I spent last night with Eva.” Stefan nods, turning away as soon as we step foot on deck. The slight sway as he bangs open the hold vibrates below our feet.

Stefan doesn’t look at me when I answer, until I add, “Have you heard any weird stories about strange creatures in the water recently?”

“Who told you that?” he demands, whirling around and glaring at me.

Wrapping my hand around a rail, I shake my head tightly and raise my eyebrows. “Told me what?”

Stefan studies me with a piercing gaze before looking away and pulling off his gloves as he sighs in defeat. “No one could have told you because I never told anyone. I’m positive.”

Nikon and I follow him across the deck, watching as he sinks into a seat. “I’m not the only one.” Now he sounds defensive. “Fuck! This is going to sound ludicrous, but you know I don’t make stuff up.”

I nod but don’t bother to reassure him that I’m positive he didn’t imagine it. I’m not sure what the protocol is here, but despite our past, it really isn’t my place to fill him in. Besides, would he believe me? Oh, yeah, Stefan. Guess what? I just met my first couple of aliens today … I can just imagine what all these fishermen are seeing and talking about.

“Well, I’ve only seen flashes here and there in the water … but whatever is out there right now isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill fish. These are scaled, between three and four feet long and quite humanoid with distinct arms and legs—but of course, that’s now. There have been rumors of mermaids now for over a year.”

“Can you give me some names of others around here who we can talk to?” Stefan just gives me a “yeah, right” look at my question. “Alright, alright …” Holding out my hands, I gesture for him to calm down. His ruddy features are flushing in aggravation. “We’ll interview some of the others around here, but just tell me what you’ve heard.”

I know anything Stefan tells me is going to be true. There’s no reason to make anything up for me. But the local fishermen—in addition to being notorious storytellers—are also known to not be welcoming to outsiders. Despite my history here, Nikon doesn’t fall in that category. He’s still wearing a scowl, and I can’t help but wonder where my happy-go-lucky companion went.

“Well, you might want to keep an eye out for Arnar. He said he caught one in his net, but threw it back when he realized he had it. Said it was creepy as hell. But the weirdest story came from Petur over the last week. He said while he was out on just past Skartland, that a slew of strange creatures just came