Her head lifts from my shoulder, and I can see tears still streaming from her eyes, though some small part of me notices that it's not marring her makeup. Even that small movement feels good on my softened tool, and she must notice it too, as she blurs and is away from me in an instant, now fully clothed. My body, where she'd been just a few seconds before, suddenly feels cool despite the early morning heat.
"I can't. . . . We can't do it again. The temptation was too much. I almost . . . made a huge mistake." My heart plummets to hear the sadness in her voice.
A mistake? I'm a mistake? "Angela, I'm so sorry. I don't understand. What did I do wrong?" I stand in the sand and only now realize that sweat is pouring from every pore. It's getting really hot out here under the Saharan sun, and I still don't have any clothes. I'd be tempted to get into the water, if I still weren't so afraid it would devour me this time.
She's back to my side in an instant, her hand on my cheek as she gazes up at me. "Not you, Lyden. Me. I wanted to. . . . Well, it doesn't matter now. It didn't happen, and it should never happen. The temptation is too strong, so we shouldn't be together anymore."
I attempt to place my arms around her, confused and hurt by her words, but she pulls away again, and before I can say or do anything, large bat-like grey wings protrude from her back and she takes to the air.
I'm just about to bring out my own wings and follow her, when I hear a groan from the water and turn to see Brooke start to roll over.
Brooke! I'd completely forgotten about her. Is she okay? I hadn't felt myself get drained when in her mind, and sudden fear that I hadn't done enough engulfs me. I'm still worried about Angela, but for right now she's healthier than Brooke is. My mind tells me that I need to worry about Brooke, but my heart still aches.
I rush to the mermaid's side, even braving the seductively lapping water, to check on my friend.
"Brooke, are you okay?" I ask, placing my hands on her shoulders. Her top half is still human, and covered in the same scale mail that I saw her in when she'd helped save us from the orcs. Only now do I realize that they match the same shade and pattern as the scales of her fish's tail.
"Lyden, what. . . ?" Her eyes open, and she gives a slight smile as she looks up at me.
"How do you feel?" I ask, worry and fear still thick in my tone.
She ponders that for a moment, and I watch in awe as her tail splashes the water a few times. "Better, thanks to you." She looks around in confusion before asking, "Where are we?"
"Egypt," I tell her, "on the shore of the Mediterranean."
"Help me out of the water?" she asks, then does a double take. "Lyden, you're not afraid of the water anymore?"
I give a self-deprecating laugh before answering. "Terrified," I say. "But you needed me more, so here I am."
I watch tears well up in her eyes as I help her to her transforming legs, replete with a blue scale dress, the same material as her top. Only now do I realize that her lower armor somewhat resembles a fish's tail.
Will I ever stop making women cry?
"You really did save my life," she says, and I know her tears are ones of happiness. "Wait, where's your succubus?"
I'm silent for a long while as I contemplate how to answer that question.
"Gone," is the only word I can manage to say. Even so, that single word is filled with pain and anguish.
"Gone? But. . . . Was it because of how you helped me regain strength? With our shared fantasy, I mean?" Confused concern is in her voice as she speaks. I'm still not sure how the fantasy helped her, but I'm not going to dwell on it anymore, either.
"I don't want to talk about it," I tell her a bit more harshly than I mean to.
Brooke flinches and says something under her breath, and all I catch is, ". . . thought we had a deal." Once more I wonder what happened between the mermaid and the succubus whilst I enjoyed TanaVesta's hospitality. Did you catch the sarcasm there?
"How are we going to get home?" I ask, wanting to change the subject, and this is rather important to me. I have no idea how long I've been gone, but I've probably lost my job. I spent about two whole days in the Shadow world, and while it had been the weekend, with the way time varies between the two worlds, I probably can't make it all the way home before Monday, if it's not already well into next week.
"I—" Brooke starts to speak, but a noise distracts her, and I don't get to find out what she'd been about to say.
Looking out over the water, I see it begin to bubble and rise. Whatever is under the surface is getting closer and fear grips my heart.
"It's finally going to get me," I say in terror as I hear Brooke murmur, "He's finally coming to collect me," with just as much fear.
I want to run. I want to live. Somehow my legs have a different plan, and I look at Brooke as she stares back at me. Our fear builds off one another, and I watch her lips move, but I can't hear the words over the sound of whatever is coming out of the water. I don't need to hear them however, as they're easy to read.
"I love you."
I open my mouth to shout something back, but whatever is in the water breaks the surface. I can't quite make out what it is. Something orange and rounded. It only takes a couple more seconds, which seem to take an eternity to pass, before I gasp in recognition of the thing. But how? How did it get here?
The Orange Bubble pulls up next to us, honking happily, and I hear the engine turn off.
Brooke is the first one to break from our stupefaction. "Um, Lyden, what is your car doing here?"
"Picking us up," I say, not entirely sure how the car had gotten here either. I remember it suddenly being outside Becky's house last week, but through town and through the Atlantic Ocean are two very different things.
"I can see that, smartass. I want to know how." She steps back from holding onto me.
"I don't know. Ever since Angela had some Cyclopes fix it up, it's been acting a bit strange." Angela's name on my lips reopens that fresh wound, but I've got other things I know I need to deal with right now.
Why did she go and abandon me?
I shake myself to get rid of the thought, as Brooke takes a tentative step over to my car.
"She managed to get Cyclopes to work on this? They almost never touch anything mortal-made," she tells me in awe. "They're Poseidon's offspring, you know."
"Poseidon? As in the Greek god of water?" I ask, dumbfounded. I thought the Greek gods were myths. Yup, just like succubae, mermaids, trolls, and dragons! When will I quit being shocked or so naïve?
"Or Neptune, as he was known by the Romans. The pompous man was god of the sea, not just water. Of course, 'god' is an overstatement. The ancient gods as they were known, were nothing more than powerful beings that used humans as their pawns. Egyptian, Greek, Sumerian, they were pretty much all just pumped up megalomaniacs." She runs her fingers around the rim of the still dripping door, before looking back at me, her eyes wide and full of wonder. "The succubus must have paid a heavy price to have this done. Cyclopes are not known for being generous. Even though they're the offspring of a sea god, most mermaids avoid them. They can get rather . . . violent."
Again Angela comes up, and again I have to push her away from my thoughts. It's a little harder this time, but I manage after a couple of silent moments. If only my chest didn't hurt so bad at the mere mention of her name.
"How do you think it found us, and do you think it can get us home?" I ask, trying to focus on the present.
"It's your car, so it's probably linked to you. As long as you're on Earth, it should be able to find you. As far as getting us home, yes. It got here, didn't it?" The way she says that so matter-of-factly makes me feel foolish. What other tricks does my car have up its sleeve? Or wheel well, as the case may be?