Not that I was going to tell Kona that. Kicking someone when he was down was much more a Tiamat thing to do than a Tempest one. But when I pulled away, I realized Kona already knew. It was in the sad smile he gave me.
In the friendly way he squeezed my shoulder.
In the kiss he brushed across my cheek instead of my lips.
“Kona …”
“Don’t worry about it, Tempest. We both have a lot on our minds right now.”
“But—”
He put a finger on my lips. “You need to get going. Hailana is probably having a stroke wondering where you are. And I have a kingdom to run. It’s not like I have time to do the whole love-triangle thing right now, anyway.”
Ouch. His words hurt, even as I understood the truth in them. Still, I knew I could fight him. Right now, I could fight this thing that he was doing. I could throw my arms around Kona and tell him I loved him and I would never give him up. If I was ever going to do that, this was the time for it.
But in the end, all I said was, “Are you kidding me? Hailana probably knows more about that fight than you and I do. Her informants are everywhere.”
He agreed, a sad look in his eyes, and I left after giving him another hug. As I got into the water where Mahina was waiting, I vowed to be there for Kona whenever he needed me. He had a terrible, awful time in front of him and he was going to need all the friends he could get. No matter what happened with Mark or Hailana or this whole mermaid thing, I was not going to let him down.
The scene at Coral Straits was just as miserable as the one at Kona’s house. Maybe even more so, as Hailana lingered close to death’s door. I went to see her as soon as I got back and she barely recognized me. She was shaky, weak, almost impossible to follow. In the space of a week, she’d gone from a formidable, if old, opponent to a weak object of pity. It made me feel awful.
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur as I worked tirelessly to help get Coral Straits back in shape. We upped our patrols, trained more soldiers, cleaned up the destruction Tiamat and Sabyn had left behind. And tried to slowly put the pieces of our lives back together.
I was having a hard time with it—partly because I was trying to do the job of a merQueen without ever taking on the actual title. As long as Hailana was alive, it would be hers. When she died, if she died, I would think more about what my responsibilities were and what I wanted to do with them.
I’d been back under the ocean about four weeks when my first chance for a break came. I told myself I was going to hang out with Mahina, go shopping, have fun, but in the end I did what I knew I would do all along. I swam home to San Diego.
I didn’t know what Mark was going to say, didn’t know if he would want anything to do with me, since I’d been gone a month without so much as a word to him, but we needed to talk. Needed to see if the spark was still there. If he still felt for me what I was beginning to think I would always feel for him.
It was night when I came ashore, and I was better prepared this time. I pulled a sarong and tank top out of my waterproof backpack, slipped them on over my swimsuit, then made my way slowly up the road to Mark’s house. He lived only a few houses down from me, and I smiled as I passed the house I’d grown up in. I was dying to see my dad and brothers again, but I had to do this first. I’d traveled the whole world, yet after everything was said and done, I’d ended up falling for the boy next door after all.
I knocked and his mother answered. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me, but she welcomed me in and ushered me to the backyard. I knew exactly where Mark would be—next to the beach, his favorite place to think was a large, double hammock his mother had hung up years before.
Sure enough, he was there, kicked back, arms folded behind his head as he studied the myriad stars in the late-night sky. “I’m fond of Pisces, myself,” I said, pointing at one of the constellations.
Mark jumped at the sound of my voice, then nearly fell out of the hammock. “Tempest?” he asked, climbing to his feet.
“Yep.”
He glanced back up at the sky, where I’d pointed. “That’s Aquarius.”
“Oh. Sorry. You’ve always been better at this than I am.”
He didn’t answer, so we just stood there, staring at each other. “You didn’t come all this way to talk about the stars.”
“I came because I missed you.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. I’m sorry it took so long. Things were … difficult. The merQueen is sick and I needed to be there, to help.”
“I’m sure you did.”
I was getting a little annoyed. I didn’t expect him to greet me with open arms, had figured I’d have to do a little groveling, but … actually, I had hoped he would greet me with open arms, now that I thought about it.
“Is that all you have to say? I came this far to see you.” I got in his face and his eyes narrowed, his hands coming up to circle my biceps.
“What do you want me to say?” Mark asked.
“Tell me what you’re thinking. Tell me what you want from me.”
“I’m thinking that this whole mermaid thing of yours is turning out to be more complicated than I expected.”
I stiffened, backed away. Subconsciously, I’d been expecting this all along. I thought I’d prepared myself for it, but I’d been wrong. I’d really hoped … I cut the thought off before it ever really formed. “I know. I understand.”
He put a finger under my chin, lifted my face to his. “What is it you think you understand?”
“If I didn’t have to live this life, I wouldn’t want any part of it either.”
“That’s not what I said, Tempest.”
“No, but it’s what you meant, right? It has to be, because no one in their right mind would actually sign up for this shit.” My breath hitched on a sob.
He closed his eyes, pulled me against him. “I can’t do this,” he murmured against my hair.
“Can’t do what?”
“I can’t pretend I didn’t miss you every second you were gone. Your life is crazy, I know that, but I don’t care. I never said I wanted you to change, only that I wanted to be a part of your life.” He leaned down and swept his lips gently over mine. “Want to be a part of your life. I love you, Tempest. Even after everything that’s happened. Maybe even more, after what I saw you do down there.”
“It didn’t freak you out?”
“I didn’t say that, especially when you went all, I don’t know, nuclear? But I figure that just means I’ve got a lot to learn about loving a mermaid.” He rested his hand on my cheek and I turned my head, kissed the center of his palm.
“I’m going to have to go back again. I’m not here to stay.”
“I know that. But you won’t be gone so long next time, right?”
I thought of the mess down below, of Hailana and Tiamat and everything I still had to do to help make things right. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He nodded. “Good enough.” Then he paused, stepped back. Cleared his throat and looked out at the fruit trees that lined the edge of his backyard, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his board shorts. “Kona—”
“I know.”