M.E. Rhines - Sink

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SINK

Copyright 2017 M.E. Rhines

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-63422-240-2

Cover Design by: Marya Heiman

Typography by: Courtney Knight

Editing by: Cynthia Shepp

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I t was the music that deceived me. The fraudulent melody that caught on the currents. Pleasing notes danced across every mermaid who twirled in tune with its harmonious offering. Its magic glided across the smooth, empty floor of the sunken ship we had claimed as our own, and then circled back to me. Each pluck of the guitar strings pulled me deeper into a trance of contentment.

Angelique strummed on the human instrument shed recovered from another of their sunken vessels with suspicious expertise. As I watched the grace of her fingers, I couldnt help but wonder how we could possibly be sisters.

At eighteen, she was only two years older than me, but her body had a shape that would make a merman blushif there were any left in the ocean. The deep brown locks of her hair swayed with the sea every time she bobbed her head to the music she created, and she smiled brightly at the attention her talent brought.

The laughter and innocent chatter surrounding me was enough to mask the treachery that was just ahead. It wasnt until I caught a glimpse of two great white sharks circling beneath the bow of the ship that dread snaked its way up my spine.

There was only one reason they would venture this far into the kingdom of Atargatissomeone had called them for a feeding.

I flicked my shimmering purple tail nervously at Mother, who turned to me with her coal-black eyes that burned into my flesh with a mixture of expectation and pride. We floated above the wheelhouse, our position providing us with a grand view of the entire celebration below.

She tilted her head toward me, nearly tipping off her elaborate, bejeweled crown. Are you excited, Pauline? Her voice was tender and maternal, with just a subtle hint of authority behind ithabit that came from years of being the matriarch.

I want to be, I answered. Poseidon knew everyone else was. My worry had me far too distracted to enjoy the festivities. Whats going to happen?

Mother brought an arm around me and pulled me close. Just wait and see. This is the most exciting ritual in our culture, dear. Its what keeps our race going. Im so pleased youre old enough to experience it with us.

I swallowed against my apprehension. Something dreadful was about to happen, I just knew it.

I moved my attention to the tiny sliver of light the sun cast down from above the waves, creating a perfect spotlight on our guest of honorthe human named Gene.

He held my oldest sister Fawna tightly against his side in the most loving, possessive way. His feet were planted firmly on the deck of what he called a cargo ship, which was recently lost to his people in a storm. Apparently, they used it to carry boxes of supplies from one patch of land to another.

Gill slits on both sides of his neck looked foreign on his skin. His flesh was darker than ours, kissed from the rays of the sun in a way we couldnt manage from the depths of the ocean. But then, all male hosts brought down here had the same alien look about them.

Fawna rubbed her swollen stomach as she spoke with various members of our clan. I couldnt hear them, but I knew what they were talking about just the same.

One mermaid would ask how the pregnancy was going; another would ask if her tail hurt from the extra weight. Fawna would smile and claim that everything was just perfect, even though everyone heard her daily spells of morning sickness.

They would ask her the babys name and ponder the color of her tail. The same sort of meaningless questions that came around every time a mermaid was with child. The one question no one ever seemed to ask, though, was where the human father disappeared to just before birth.

Here, Mother said as she handed me a plate of sliced black-and-white flesh. A special meal for our guest of honor. And you, my dear Pauline, get the privilege of delivering it to him.

I gasped. Beaked Sea Snake? The poison inside this snakes meat was paralyzing. So potent that we only ate it if we were undergoing a massive medical procedure, and then the toxins were filtered out through the gills. Is Gene sick?

Of course hes sick, darling. Hes a human. Humans are filled with parasites and germs. Theres bound to be something crawling about in his body.

I twisted a jet-black curl of hair around my finger. Will he be all right?

Of course. His body is used to the invaders by now.

Then why

Its part of the ritual, Pauline. You are the youngest in attendance, which means you must deliver Gene his fate.

His fate?

Thats right. Her words were cold, frigid even. So detached I mightve thought she meant

No. Impossible. Genes gills worked the same way as a mermaids. They would filter out the toxins.

So then

What is his fate?

She pressed her lips together in a tight, impatient line. Youll see soon enough.

The defiant side of me burned to ask her who we were to decide his fate. I knew better, though. No one argued with Queen Calypso unless they wished banishment upon themselves. It would be foolish to think she might offer me some leniency based on a shared bloodline.

Mother knew no mercy.

So, I offered a slow, obedient nod and set my sights on Gene. The few feet I swam to reach him felt like an eternity, but when I approached, he released my sister and took me in his arms instead. A warm, welcoming hug straight from the heart of a happy, carefree friend.

My favorite sister, he murmured into my hair.