Kai

He scares the shit out of me each time I see him. My sisters and I keep our distance in case he wanted to cast a spell on us with his elven magic or something. Thank God, he is away most of the time, busy doing club business.

My uncles like him. My dad likes him very much. He made him the club’s enforcer, after all.

Yet, Ettrian hates my sisters and me like we’ve killed his relative.

He never speaks to me. He will just shoot me his icy cold glance and pass me as though I’m a piece of furniture.

We’re celebrating my eighteenth birthday tonight. Garlands and balloons adorn the bar and candles give the interior a misty yellow aura. The musky scent of wax mingles with the smell of cooked veggies. Bottles clink, cans click, the men’s raspy voices mix with the women’s laughter. Joy simmers in the air, orange like a candy, almost tangible.

The whole family sings for me then I blow out the candles on my birthday cake and all the people clap their hands. My sisters hug me and kiss me on the cheek. Dad crushes me in his embrace, as do my uncles. My mom sniffles and wipes the tears trickling down her cheeks away with her fingers. She’s always so emotional when we celebrate birthdays. Always so loving and warm.

But, I saw darkness in her. That was when I was eleven. She killed three rats in cold blood, twisting their necks. And then she burned their bodies with a wicked smile playing on her lips.

Dad talked to her after that incident for three hours, and they argued for the first time ever. My mom screamed and cried. She cried for a week and resembled Talia when my sister was in bad shape.

My mom sometimes screams in her dream. So does Talia.

Thank God, such an incident hasn’t happened again. My mom is fine and so is Talia.

I raise my eyes and sweep them over my family. My glance meets his. Ettrian’s staring at me like he wants to twist my neck and throw me into a swamp to rot.

His white face shimmers like snow in the morning sunshine, and I shiver with cold like I’m standing outside of the clubhouse, wearing only a nightgown and like it’s the middle of winter.

Ettrian’s long hair is even whiter. He plaits it the same way every day, but I’m always amazed at his creation. His hair forms such a contrast to his cut worn over a plain t-shirt and jeans—he looks like a biker. Like a fierce biker. His unshaven cheeks are very biker-like.

His pointed ears are funny.

No—

I didn’t just think about it.

Ettrian

That mermaid creature pisses me off like never before, but I pull forward and hand her the velvet box I’ve had in the pocket of my cut—my gift for her. Kai’s cobalt eyes widen as though I’m some fucking serial killer. Good. She should respect me. I’m old, she’s young—that’s how things should work between us. I bend my neck and plant a kiss on her freckled porcelain cheek. A thought stirs in my head. I like freckles.

I’ve never paid attention to Kai’s cheeks, yet today I like her freckles for some mysterious reason. My eyes slide over those cute freckles of hers.

No, I hate freckles. They piss me off.

Kai’s face turns corpse-white and her lower lip quivers. I fix my eyes on that lip of hers—her pink lip-gloss shines like a mirror, pleading for someone to rub it away with a thumb. Rub it away so it doesn’t shine.

She shouldn’t have any lip-gloss on her mouth. It’s pissing me off.

“Thank you,” she stutters.

“You’re welcome,” I say.

“Open the box,” Murray squeaks.

Fucking hell. Why do they have to squeak like this?

We, elves, love peace, the murmur of sea waves, the crisp air of the mountains, the smell of the woods. We hate squeakers.

No—

Elves don’t hate anybody or anything, but they learn to hate squeakers when they decide to live in the compound with a group of young mermaid squeakers.

Our ears are very sensitive. We shouldn’t live with a bunch of badly behaved mermaid kids. Yet, here I am, living in the attic of the compound. It’s not that bad. It’s just that the squeakers around me are growing up and squeaking even more.

Kai struggles with the box so I tear it from her hand and open it for her, sticking the red velvet inside under her nose.

Her eyes flick over my gift for her then our glances collide. Her full lips part. Her hands rise and freeze. Her smell hits me hard. My mind clouds like I have stuck my nose into a bunch of lilies. I can smell every particle of her musk. My skin prickles. My ears burn.

“For me?” Kai asks.

“For you,” I say. “It’s your birthday, right?”

Kai shudders. What the fuck is wrong with her? I’m nice to her.

Murray glances down into the box and squeals. “Beautiful. Try it on, Kai.” She turns her face to the side. “Mom, mom. Ettrian bought her a necklace. A necklace. I’ve never seen such a beautiful necklace.”

All the women surround us. I fight my urge to use my elven magic and vanish.

Kai pinches the necklace with her trembling fingers and puts it around her neck. It’s a chain made of white gold adorned with blue sapphires. I thought it would match her eye colour, and I was fucking right.

Kai turns her back to me. “Can you help me?”

I didn’t expect that.

I raise my hand and sweep her long golden hair away to her right shoulder. Her wisps are so sleek to touch like butterfly wings. No, like feathers. Feathers swaying, shining dark golden, white golden, pristine golden. My fingers start trembling for some mysterious reason.

Kai

I can feel his fingers tremble as he fastens the necklace. My heart pounds in my chest. Why on Earth did he buy me a necklace? Such a unique necklace? Like I’m someone special to him.

He buys us books as do our uncles. But a necklace? I didn’t expect that at all. Has he noticed that I’m a person not an insect he wants to crush under his foot?

He chose a necklace like I was his lover.

Heat pours onto my cheeks.

No—

I’m delusional.

It’s my eighteenth birthday so everyone will give me an adult gift. Such a tradition. Ettrian is scary, but he respects our traditions as one of us.

I can feel his hot breath brushing against the top of my head and chills go down my spine. His scent engulfs me—earth, wind and resins with a pinch of elven magic. His magic is neutral—grey like dawn in the mountains, scented with danger. Ancient like the volcanoes that stretch along the bottom of the ocean.

Suddenly, I feel hot like I have a fever and I take a deep breath. Ettrian’s fingers brush against my cervical spine and a tingle spreads across my skin. My legs wobble.

“Beautiful,” Adva says, folding her hands as if praying. “It matches your eye colour perfectly, Kai.”

I turn towards Ettrian, but he’s too close and my head bumps against his shoulder.

I’m so small compared to him. He’s like a tower, and I’m like a dwarf.

He grips my arms. “Careful.” His face is a perfect mask as always, eyes shining icy blue with a few purple flickers I’ve never seen before. It’s like an eerie dance—the flickers glimmer and fade alternately.

“Sorry,” I murmur.

He leans slightly forward, his fingers digging into my flesh. Causing me pain. His eyes start to burn. His irises turn deep navy like the midnight sky, then violent navy with hints of sliver and purple, mysterious navy, never-ending navy. I sense untamed menace from him.

“You like it?” he rasps.

“It’s perfect,” I say.

“I’m not that uncivilised and hostile, huh?” he says as one corner of his full lips crooks up.

He has very kissable lips.

Fuck. I didn’t just think about it. It’s inappropriate.

“Hostile?” I wink at him. “Yes. Uncivilised? I don’t think so.” My hands travel to his wrists and I barely realise it. “The necklace is beautiful like some chivalrous knight has bought it for me.”

Fire incinerates my cheeks. I didn’t just say that. My God. He will kill me.

His eyes bore through me then he bows his head at me and backs up. Theo and his little boy come closer to hand me their presents and I lose sight of Ettrian.

Ettrian

I drop onto the bench at the wall of bushes and put my elbows on my thighs. The cool night’s air envelops me like a piece of satin. An owl hoots in the distance. Life and death hum below the grass. Foxes growl and hunt rodents.

Nobody squeaks.

Nobody squeals.

Nobody pisses me off wearing a dress that’s too short and shows off too much of a cleavage.

I open a can of beer and cherish the moment of peace. Then my ears fish a delicate sound. It’s the sound of female footsteps. The mermaid creature emerges from behind the metal shed where we keep our bikes, and she moves closer to me, carrying a plate with a piece of cake. Her slim legs wobble as her high heels dig into the ground. She shouldn’t wear them. She can twist her ankle and then I’ll have to heal her.

I stretch my neck muscles. Blood thumps in my ears and heat surges through me as I imagine my hands on her leg.

“Kai, you know, I don’t eat cakes.”

“It’s my birthday cake. You have to try it.”

Fine. I will eat that fucking cake and then force her to eat a bowl of raw nettles on my birthday.

Kai leans towards me and hands me the plate. “Why are you here all alone?”

“I don’t like noise.”

“There is a lot of noise in casinos, yet you seem to enjoy being there.”

“There are very beautiful women in casinos.”

Kai’s chin trembles and she takes a sharp breath. “You always return so drunk from the casino that I doubt you can even notice any women there.”

That’s fucking unbelievable. That creature dares reprimand me. I feel the urge to do something horrible to her. Instead, my arm shoots towards her, and I grab her wrist, pulling her onto the bench. She sighs as she sits down, with her legs stretched out. Her hip touches mine, and a jolt of electricity courses through me. My ears are burning so fiercely it hurts. My heart hurts too and I don’t fucking know why.

I bite into the cake and try hard to ignore the nauseating sweetness of the icing.

Kai huffs out. “It’s a shame that S’Ylla chose to leave us.”

My sister wasn’t born to be a wife or a mother. Her choice. Theo is slowly getting over this and his boy has the whole family to love him.

“Why did she do that?” Kai questions.

“She didn’t love them, that’s all.”

“Rebel is her son. For fuck’s sake—“

“We’re elves.”

“So you’re incapable of love or what?”

“I can love,” I growl.

She’s really pissing me off, making me say things I have no intention to say. Elves don’t chat. Certainly not about personal matters.

I want to watch animals. I want her to go away. I want her to stay. I want to hurt her.

“Oh really?” She glances at me with her thick eyebrows arching like seagull wings. “Have you been in love at least once?”

“No.”

“You see. How old are you? Like one million?”

“I don’t count.”

My heart hammers in my chest. Why does she think I am so ancient? I’m not. I’m a grown up elf, that’s all. I’m not a granddad. I’m a man. Women like me. She should like me.

No, she should respect me. No, I don’t know what I want from her any longer.

Kai snorts. Yes, snorts like an offended squirrel.

Suddenly, I feel urged to explain her why I am who I am.

“I’ve seen things in life, Kai, wonderful things, dreadful things. I’ve seen empires rising and falling. I’ve seen wars, diseases killing millions, natural disasters killing thousands, civilisations advancing and dying. That was pretty fucking absorbing.” I put the plate on the bench beside me and stretch my legs out. “Elves love travelling, learning, and observing. We are the guardians of the balance and humans have been disrupting it more and more. Animals need elves more and more and there’s been nobody of my kind, except S’Ylla and me to help them. I was very fucking busy before I joined the club.”