CHAPTER SIX
Trevor’s meeting with the Alpha couple and the pod leader went well. They’d all been very interested in his observations of the magical ward and his preliminary sketches of some of the creatures he’d seen. Nansee, in particular, had helped him identify four distinct types of creature that had only slight, but notable, differences. Trevor took notes to clarify his sketches before he showed them to Beth.
Nansee had also been very helpful when Trevor mentioned wanting to go out to the barrier again with some kind of underwater photography gear. She said she knew a someone who could be there by the next morning with all the gear he’d want for both still photos and hi-res video. She made a few phone calls, and suddenly, Trevor’s morning was booked. Which was a good thing. Especially when Nansee insisted he take Beth along with him again.
Trevor wasn’t altogether certain why Nansee insisted on sending Beth with him. Maybe Beth was her informant. Or maybe the pod leader had noticed something between him and Beth and wanted to encourage it. He wasn’t sure what her motivations were, but he was thankful for any opportunity to be near the pretty young mermaid. Something about her called out to him.
He wanted to protect her. He wanted to make her laugh. Above all, he wanted to make her feel safe and lose the fear that seemed to be her near-constant companion.
Trevor left the meeting in town hall with a spring in his step. He went back to his hotel room to work on refining his drawings, in preparation for showing them to Beth later that evening. He also spent a little time typing up his report on the laptop he was using while on this mission. Normally, he wouldn’t use any sort of gear that could be stolen or infiltrated, but his CO had weighed the risks and dropped some of the usual precautions on this mission. For one thing, Grizzly Cove itself provided ample security against enemy infiltration. In fact, if somebody with ill intent somehow managed to get into the town, Trevor wished him good luck getting back out.
Being in this town was almost as safe as being back at the Wraiths’ HQ on a Wyoming mountaintop. Strangers were easily spotted, and there were so many folks in town who were sensitive to magic—between all the bears, the mer, the strega sisters, the shaman and the visiting priestess—that evil wouldn’t stand a chance of moving in with nobody noticing.
Then, there was the ward. That permanent magical barrier that protected the cove also stretched over the main part of town, as well. Nothing evil could cross that barrier—either by land or sea. Grizzly Cove was probably more secure at this point than just about any other place on Earth, even if it was besieged by the leviathan from the ocean.
Trevor made it a point to get to the bakery a bit early that night, opting to get dinner there and just stay and wait for Beth to arrive for dessert. He’d put his afternoon to good use and had come up with some sketches he was ready to send along to his CO as soon as Beth critiqued them. If he’d missed something or didn’t catch some detail correctly, she would know, and he would have a chance to fix it before he took digital images of his art, encrypted it and sent it.
He just hoped Beth wasn’t skittish with him. If she was, he’d try his best not to let it get him down. It seemed like he took two steps forward, one step back with this girl all the time, but as long as they were making progress, he was okay with it. He’d give her all the time she needed. Well…until he had to leave town. He hoped they’d be able to get beyond her fears by then. If they couldn’t, he supposed he would think about Beth for the rest of his life. The one that got away. An appropriately fishy thought for a mermaid.
He was chuckling inwardly when she opened the door to the bakery, setting off the little tinkling bell just above the glass door. It was easy to smile when he saw her, which was an odd feeling for him. Trevor wasn’t known in Spec Ops circles as a man who smiled often—or at all, actually. He was usually expected to growl and cuss rather than smile and moderate his tone and his words. Then again, he was seldom around women in his line of work.
Despite the fact that most of his colleagues probably thought he’d crawled out from under a rock fully grown, his mother had raised him to be a gentleman when dealing with females. Somehow, those old lessons had come easily to the forefront when he’d met Beth. There was something so strong, yet fragile, about her. She was a contradiction—swimming expertly with that sharp trident of hers, yet cringing from a harsh tone of voice. He wanted to know what made her tick. What made her shy away. And what finally caused her to stand up for herself.
He wanted the be the one who finally helped her regain her footing in what must be a world gone mad with the leviathan chasing her from the one place she’d seemed to feel safe. He wanted her to feel secure in all places, at all times. She deserved that, and he wanted to be the one to give that to her.
“I see you already ordered dessert,” Beth said, coming over to his table and eyeing the array of pastries he had on a plate at the center of the table while he sorted through his papers in preparation for their meeting. “Or are those all for you?” She sat with a small smile that made him feel ten feet tall. Maybe they weren’t going backward, after all.
“I asked Tina for a selection, and she came up with this. If you’d rather have something else, just let me know, and I’ll get it for you. Would you like coffee or tea? Or something else to drink?” He was halfway standing when she waved him back down.
“I’ll start with this honey bun,” she said, taking the confection and its associated sheet of waxed paper and positioning it in front of her. “And we’ll go from there. I might want something to drink later, but I’ll get it. Thanks for setting up the platter of goodies. That was very thoughtful.”
“No problem.” He retook his seat and neatened his papers. Now that the time had come, he found he was a little nervous about showing her his artwork. In this town that portrayed itself as an artists’ colony, his sketches seemed somehow on trial.
Even though Trevor knew the whole artists’ colony thing was just a cover and the guys who were producing sculptures and paintings weren’t really serious about it, he felt a bit of pressure to prove that he had some small amount of talent. It was odd, really. Trevor had always enjoyed drawing. Doodling sketches of the scenes around him had always been a pleasant pastime for him on his various missions around the world.
In fact, he had a whole suitcase full of sketches of different people and landmarks he’d seen in his travels. Being a soldier, and now, a soldier of fortune, meant he spent a lot of time on the road. It wasn’t all action. Sure, there were firefights on occasion, and concentrated moments of absolute mayhem, but most of the time, it was just sitting around, waiting for the action to start. Pre-positioning. Getting the lay of the land. And in his case, working covertly to assess the intel.
Mostly that involved sitting around observing. And how better to observe than with a sketchpad in hand, pretending to be a tourist? Cameras were seen as a threat in many parts of the world, but a guy with a pencil and a tablet of paper was viewed more as an eccentric than any real danger. He’d used that ploy many times to his advantage, and had the sketches to prove it.
He’d drawn everything from the Eiffel Tower to the pyramids, from one end of the world to the other. Looking through that suitcase was like looking through the past, at the entirety of his career and travels. Someday, he promised himself, he’d frame a few of the better pieces and put them up in his home. If he ever made himself a permanent den.
A lot depended on whether or not he ever found a mate to share his life. Of course, if she didn’t like his art, he would keep it all in the suitcase. No matter how much he’d like to display it, the mate’s desires always came first. He knew that from having watched his parents. They were as in love today as they had been from the moment they’d met, and Trevor wanted that for himself. Someday. If the Goddess was kind.
“Are those papers what you wanted me to look at?” Beth asked after finishing a bite of her honey bun. Trevor had been so consumed with his own thoughts, he hadn’t really realized she’d been watching him the whole time.
“Yes.” He fumbled a bit with the stack of drawings. He’d done four in the time allotted, of the four major kinds of creatures he’d seen that morning. He handed over the stack as she wiped her hands on a napkin then held the papers by their edges, so as not to smudge his pencil work.
“Oh, these are good,” she said, at first sight. Her expression went still as she really looked at what he’d drawn. “You’ve got a gift,” she mused as she flipped through the sketches, studying each in detail. “I call this one the streamer because of all the long tendrils that follow after it as it swims.” She pointed to the tentacle details he’d painstakingly drawn from memory. “And I call this one the clamshell because of the shape of its torso. See the way it bulges here. You’ve captured it perfectly. This one, I call the sponge because of the irregular pockmarks on its skin.” She flipped to another page. “Finally, I named this one El Diablo because it was one of these that almost killed me when my hunting party was being chased by them all on the way here.” She shuddered and handed the papers back, averting her gaze as if she didn’t want to see the creatures anymore.
“You fought one of these?” Trevor kept El Diablo’s portrait on top, turning it to face him, so he could study the creature.
“Not really fought. More like ran away after trying to fend it off with my trident. If Jetty’s mate hadn’t come when he did, we’d all be dead.” She looked away and took a mechanical bite of her honey bun, all enjoyment gone from her face as she recalled the close brush she’d had with evil.
“I heard he used some of his personal shield magic to get you all back to the cove,” Trevor said, hoping she might open up to him if he gave her the opportunity.
“He did more than that. He actually fought the leviathan from the deck of his little boat. I’ve never seen anything braver…or more foolhardy. It’s a miracle we all survived, though Sirena was badly injured, of course.”
“She’s mated to the doctor now, right?” Trevor asked, though he already knew the answer. He was just trying to make conversation and keep Beth—touchy as she was—on a friendly footing. Also, reminding her that her friends had found happiness among the bears of Grizzly Cove wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Yes, hard as it is to believe,” Beth admitted. “I wasn’t happy about it at first, but he’s a good swimmer.”
That must be high praise coming from a mer, Trevor reasoned. “Polar bear shifter, isn’t he?” Again, he already knew the answer. Sven and he went all the way back to their time in the Special Forces. They weren’t best friends or anything, but they’d worked together a few times.
Beth nodded. “They’re better in the water than other bears, I gather. Of course, you did pretty well this morning. If I didn’t say so before, I was impressed with your bear’s ability to navigate the currents.”
“Thank you.” Now, why did he feel like he’d just been crowned king of all he surveyed? This small mer woman had the ability to affect his state of mind like no being he’d ever encountered. A word of praise from her, and suddenly, he felt happiness bloom in his chest. It wasn’t cool. Not for a warrior who prided himself on his badass rep.
No, this wouldn’t do at all. He had to get better control of himself and his emotions around her. He wanted her to feel happy and safe, but his own feelings had to be kept under wraps.
“Nansee tells me we’re going out tomorrow afternoon with some high-tech gear to try to capture images of the creatures beyond the ward,” she said, changing the subject.
“Yeah. I hope you don’t mind that she volunteered you for the job.”
“Mind? No, not at all,” she said softly. “I’m not crazy about getting too close to the ward, you understand, but as long as we stay at the distance we were at today, it’s all good.”
“I don’t plan to take any chances,” Trevor assured her.
The bell above the door tinkled as the last of the patrons left. It was only them and Tina left in the bakery. Trevor supposed her mate would be along to see her home safely—not that there was any crime in Grizzly Cove, at the moment, but mates tended to want to look after one another, from what he’d observed of his own parents’ bond.
That meant Trevor and Beth should probably be leaving, as well, so Tina could close up and go home to spend time with her mate. Loath as he was to end the evening, Trevor began stacking the few plates they’d used, to help Tina clear the mess faster, as was only polite. The pastries had all been finished a while ago, and he and Beth were down to their last sips of coffee.
“I guess she’ll want to lock up soon,” Beth said as she watched him organizing the used dishes.
Was it his imagination, or did she sound sort of…forlorn at the prospect of leaving? Trevor tried to hide his pleased reaction.
“Can I walk you home?” he asked, then a thought occurred to him. “Where are you staying?”
Beth lowered her eyes. “Like most of the pod, I’m sleeping in the cove for now. That’s why there’s such a building boom going on. We want places to rest on land, as well as in the water, since we’re coming out of the cove regularly now to dine on shore and go shopping. The sea lifestyle isn’t practical when you start accumulating objects like clothing and art that can’t remain submerged. Now that we’re here, we need land dwellings. The lockers at the boathouse are sufficient for now, but they’ll quickly fill up as we begin to acquire things.” She stood, and he followed suit, taking the used dishes back to the counter for Tina.
“You’re actually being of great service to us, working on the construction projects around town,” Beth went on. “I’m hoping to get a room at the boarding house that’s nearing completion, or maybe even spring for one of the hotel rooms you’re finishing, if I find I don’t want to wait that long. It’ll depend on how much it costs, though.”
She lowered her eyes again at the mention of money, and Trevor frowned. The hotel wasn’t that expensive. The owner set a special rate for shifters.
“Are you short of funds?” he asked in a low voice, not wanting to embarrass her, but needing to know if she was in trouble financially. He had to help her, if he could. It was an imperative he didn’t understand, but instinct demanded that he heed it.
Her gaze shot up to meet his, a bit of fire returning to her expression. “That’s really none of your business.”
She made to turn away, but his hand shot out, grasping her upper arm as gently as he could to stop her from fleeing. “I’m sorry, Beth. I just…”
He let her go and moved away, realizing he was probably scaring her. That’s the last thing he wanted to do. Thankfully, Tina was somewhere in the back of the bakery and hadn’t witnessed any of this part of their conversation.
“I can help you,” Trevor tried again. “If you need it.” He could feel her drawing away, and he didn’t like it.
“My pod is helping me,” she answered stiffly as she turned and started walking toward the door of the bakery.
Trevor saw Tina poke her head out from behind one of the ovens, and he waved to let her know they were leaving. He had to catch up to Beth, who was already at the door. When he heard the little bell above the door chime, he knew he was out of time. He had to straighten this out.
Trevor left the bakery and caught up with Beth a short way down the street. Unsurprisingly, she was headed toward the boathouse. He figured she would probably change there and then enter the water and stay there for the night. If he didn’t fix things between them before then, he’d have to wait until morning, since there was no way he’d ever find her if she got into the water now.
“Let me apologize, Beth,” he said quietly as he matched his steps to hers. She moved fast when she wanted to, even on land.
“No need,” she replied tersely, still walking. He fell into step beside her.
“Look, honey, I didn’t mean to insult you or pry. I just want to make sure you have what you need to get by.” He sighed. He’d never really been good at the emotional stuff that women seemed to excel at.
She stopped short and turned to look at him. “Why?”
“Because I care about you.” He hadn’t been prepared for her question, so he’d said the first thing that came to mind.
She seemed as shocked as he was by his words. Their gazes caught and held for a timeless moment, and then, as if drawn together by some unseen force, they moved closer…and closer…until finally, she was in his arms, and their lips joined.
The kiss was unlike anything he’d experienced before. There was something sweet and poignant about having Beth in his arms, kissing her lips. It was innocent and, yet, carnal at the same time. It was as if light poured down upon him—through him—a light of purity and passion that he’d never experienced before with any other woman.
She tamed his wildness. She calmed his inner beast. She soothed his soul.
Breathing hard, he let her go. The emotion whirling through him was too much to take in. Too much to understand in a single moment, though somehow, it felt as if his entire life had just changed.
He’d have to think about this... Later.
Right now, he had to get away from her to sort through what had just happened, but he couldn’t just leave her standing there on the street. He had to see this thing through and escort her to the boathouse, where she could enter the cove in safety.
Luckily, she seemed as stunned as he felt, and she didn’t object when he put his arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the other side of the street, where the boathouse waited in the growing dark. They didn’t speak as he escorted her into the building. There were a few of her people around, most heading for the water at this time of night, so Trevor paused with her at the door to the locker rooms.
“Will you be all right from here?” he asked, unable to help himself. An instinct was driving him to see to her safety, and it would not be denied.
She smiled faintly. “I’m with my people. I’m fine. Thanks for dessert.” She looked downward, seeming to be a bit shy.
He couldn’t resist. He tipped her chin upward with his thumb and brushed a soft kiss across her startled lips.
“Goodnight, sweetheart. Rest well.” He drew away, holding her gaze. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He left her there, watching from outside the door until she joined two other mer women on their way into the locker room. She’d be all right with them, he reassured himself. Much as he wanted to go with her right to the water’s edge, he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
He had to carefully consider how wise it was to get even more deeply involved with her. After all, his life was in Wyoming, and on the road with the Wraiths. He didn’t really have room in his current way of life for a female of any kind, much less a mermaid who probably needed to be by the shore at all times. He didn’t think any mer would willingly move to a Wyoming mountaintop where there wasn’t even a large pond to swim in.
Trevor didn’t know how this was all going to play out, but his inner bear didn’t want to hear why it wouldn’t work. No, the bear was all about making the mermaid his, whatever the circumstances. The bear was getting downright possessive over her, and Trevor’s human side wasn’t that far behind.
It had all happened so fast. He hadn’t intended to get involved with Beth, but the more he saw of her, the more he wanted. She intrigued him on every level and brought out all his protective instincts.
Trevor went back to his hotel, walking along the side of the street closest to the beach. He kept looking out to the waters of the cove, hoping to catch a glimpse of Beth. He knew it was crazy, but the bear inside him whined, wanting to be near her again.
Soon, he placated himself. They’d be together soon.
Trevor filed his report, using his phone to take images of the sketches he’d made and send them along. He thought his superiors would be pleased with what he’d learned so far. Nothing was actionable at this point, but Trevor knew from all his years in the field that time spent gathering first-hand intel was never wasted. The more they knew about the enemy, the better off they’d be when the final confrontation occurred.
He’d already learned more in one day of swimming with Beth than he had since he’d been here. Tomorrow, he hoped to capture the first video and still images of the creatures. All in all, things were progressing nicely. He’d renewed and strengthened friendships among the founders of Grizzly Cove, and he’d begun to make friends and connections among the mer, as well. So far, so good.
Now, if only he could figure out what he was going to do about Beth. He was very much afraid he was beginning to have deep feelings about her, and he wasn’t sure where they would lead. Things could get tricky fast, and for once in his life, Trevor didn’t have a plan. Goddess help him.