Hey everyone!

Enjoy this chapter and as an extra, here's a list of cool ebooks for free this month. There's books in there from some of my (published) author friends and they are giving it away for nothing just this once. You can claim as many as you think are interesting. ^.^

https://storyoriginapp.com/to/J46SpU7

Much love,

Robin

*

Friends and Family

It turned out, that by the time the full moon had lost it's grip on us, it was far past midnight. We didn't want to call people at this point and wake them up and Matt assured me he'd let Thorne know we had the situation under control. So the two of us curled up under a blanket for some well-deserved sleep.

"Is everyone okay?" I know I spoke to Noah on the phone but I was pretty out of it, I never asked if he was injured from the car crash. Or did I? I couldn't remember. Matt tightened his arms around me where I lay snuggled up against his chest. "Noah had a bloody nose and will probably have one hell of a shiner by now. Mariana and Orly were fine, just a bit bruised from their seat belts. Everyone is okay darling."

That was a relief, I hated the thought that anyone had gotten hurt because of this. I mean, rationally I totally understood it wasn't my fault, this was solidly on the Corenth guy's shoulders, but that didn't make me feel much better. It was also hard to think about the fact that two of them had died tonight. That was another burden Matt would have to carry, though I'd certainly had my part in both of those deaths.

"Don't think about it tonight. We'll sleep and then swim out to the Moonfell in the morning. Mom's going to make sure we're all fed." Cocooned in Matt's arms, curled up in our nest of pillows, I could almost believe that everything was done and over with. Would the two Corenths arrested for the bomb try to make trouble? Would the two Corenths currently at the Moonpool and claiming to be innocent still stir things up? I didn't know but Matt was right, we needed to sleep and then just take things as they came.

It was easy to fall asleep again, I think I sank into exhausted oblivion more than anything. Matt woke me a few hours later and I dressed in a bikini top I'd left in the emergency chest. Panties and a colorful wrap we added to a watertight pack to carry with us but we didn't take much else. Before we left, Matt called his dad and in short, low-toned sentences let him know we were on our way and would explain what had happened then.

To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever feel safe and comfortable again in this place, I'd forever remember last night when I came here. I even felt a little shiver of apprehension over getting into the water, last night I'd had far less reservations about jumping in when it was literally clouded over by blood... Matt went first though and I wasn't about to be left behind, not that he ever would do such a thing. I made the plunge headfirst, leaping off the edge and diving in, and feeling how easy my shift came this time. Maybe it was my imagination but it felt like I'd gotten better at it.

Matt lead the way out, and I was glad he'd taken an underwater light with him this time so that I could easily track him in the dark of the tunnels. As a mermaid, my eyes were well adapted to low-light settings but I still needed some light and when there were no algae giving off something... Yeah, right now being able to easily see Matt was a huge relief and I knew that's why he'd done it even if he hadn't mentioned it.

The whole journey out of the tunnels I had this creeping sensation of not being alone, of bodies floating just beyond my line of sight. Matt hadn't been gone very long... When he'd disposed of Gavin and Clay, he hadn't gone far. My far too active imagination was throwing all kinds of creepy icky shadows at me and the brush of my arm against slick rock wall almost had me scream. No, I was never going into these tunnels again.

It was a huge relief to reach the water surface and take in a few deep lungfuls of air after the arduous swim. The sun was just rising and it was a beautiful sight to see it paint the sky in reds and pinks and oranges. Without saying anything, we clung to each other for a moment and simply watched. When we set out for the Moonfell a minute later it was, for me at least, with a sense of relief at last. This was finally over, we could get on with our lives.

As we neared the Moonfell, the unmistakable shapes of Orly and Dev darted out of the opening and raced our way to greet us. Though underwater, both of them reached out to give me a quick hug and Orly circled Matt critically to check his brother for injuries. The silvery shape of his tail was bright and glittering in the water compared to the deep dark blue of Matt's.

In turn, I took in the large welt that striped across Orly's forehead and the array of bruises that covered his chest. He seemed unbothered as he moved but he hadn't escaped that car crash unscathed. In comparison, Dev was completely fine, except his face was still pinched with worry and dark circled below his expressive dark eyes.

I was relieved to have gotten that first greeting over and done with already, and happy to see both of them alive and well. It would be a little less overwhelming when we met up with the rest waiting for us inside the Moonfell. They urged Matt and I to go in first and when we surfaced inside the pool, like I'd expected, we were immediately swarmed.

Mariana and Clara splashed into the water and came to hug us with no regard for their clothing. Thomas was there to pull us to the edge so we could sit, but he paused to hug Matt and then me as soon as his wife let go of me. Mitch launched himself at me with an excited scream and held on for as long as he could, until Dev pulled him off me. I couldn't help but tear up a little at the warm greetings from them all.

Once they'd let go of us and stopped talking one over the other to let us know how happy they were we were back, I had a moment to take in who were there. It was then that Thorne yanked me into a bear hug, huffing in a husky voice that he was glad I was back, when he let go he gave Matt he same treatment.

Thorne and Noah were both sitting on the edge of the pool, in the cave and like Matt had told me, Noah had one hell of a shiner. He also had a bandaged up leg, with blood dotting the bandaging and what remained of his pant leg partially cut of and shredded nearly all the way to his hip.

Eyes wide I nudged Matt's shoulder, "What the hell? Fine except for a black eye? That's not fine!" Then I pushed myself onto the ledge so I could scoot in and hug Noah. The guy was laughing as he accepted the hug, silver-gray eyes twinkling. "It's just a broken leg from the crash, Mrs. McLaren set it already and I'll be right as rain next week. I heal fast."

Which meant that when I'd spoken to Noah on the phone last night, he and Thorne had been speeding to the island in a dingy while his leg was untreated. Noah was not a diver so he'd likely only been there to control the boat while Thorne got ready to dive to my location if necessary... Still, he'd never let on for even a moment while we were on the phone that he was injured.

Clara was climbing out of the Moonfell right next to me, clothing soaked to the skin and she smiled gratefully at Matt when he lifted a hand and dried her right up. "Thanks son, always so handy that," she murmured. Then she wagged a finger at Noah, "None of that Mrs. now please, just Clara. I'll have another look at your leg now."

When she started unwrapping the bandage I could tell the stoic and cheerful Noah was a little sore after all. His tanned face went a little gray and the corners around his mouth tightened. To respect his tough guy image I turned around and looked at the others in the cave again.

Not just Thorne and Noah had been welcomed into the Moonfell as it turned out. I spotted Josh and George too, the first sitting nearby with a relieved expression on his face and a tentative smile when he saw me look. The later... George was at the edge of the pool, as far away as he could be from all of us. He was in clothing, sitting on the ledge, knees drawn up all the way to his chest and a bandage wrapped around his head.

I couldn't help but think that he looked utterly devastated, and completely lost. No wonder, tonight both his brothers had been killed while doing something horrendous. His father and grandfather had been arrested by the coastguard and would likely be prosecuted in a rather public way; planting a bomb was not the most common of crimes after all. If that wasn't bad enough, he'd defied them and nearly gotten killed himself and now he was sitting here among people who had directly caused the fate of his family and cause to dislike him too.

Maybe I had it in me to forgive George for his part in things after all, he was certainly paying the price and he was barely eighteen. When Dev and Mitch saw my look they shared one between them of their own and then Mitch gave me a thumbs-up. The two headed to the dejected merman and I felt certain they'd do their level best to give him the support he needed.

Which left me to notice the last person in the cave, a total stranger. Skin as black as onyx, with his hair tightly cropped to his skull and cut in intricate patterns, he made a very striking figure. Not to mention the fact that he was as wide as a barn door, with bulging biceps barely contained by the soft gray shirt he wore. Or that his tree trunk thighs were hugged by the cargo pants, emphasized by the heavy utility belt with at least three knifes strapped to it.

"Fletch! I'll be damned!" Matt exclaimed, having noticed the stranger at the same time I did. He pulled me off the ledge beside Noah and Thorne, guided me through the center of the Moonfell and then to the nearest free spot on the edge of the pool where Fletcher stood. "Matt! You idiot, why didn't you wait until you had your own waterdragon for back up mate?"

To which Matt let out a strangled sound, "What fucking waterdragon mate?

*

So yeah... I couldn't resist tossing in a final supernatural creature xD What do you guys think?

Much love,

Robin