It was as if I could feel his heart breaking.
“Morgan, I love you. I know it sounds stupid for me to tell you this, but it is true. I would never hurt you or lie to you.”
“You’d never lie?” I asked.
His eyes met mine. “No.”
“Then tell me why I am able to bring The Fire? I asked with finality.
He didn’t look shocked.
“You’re able to bring it because I think you’re The Link.”
“The Link?” I nearly cried. “What like, the missing link?”
“You’re the only Halfling ever to have such a power. Once Halflings choose to become merpeople, they don’t have special powers. They can only breathe underwater and once in a while, they have a tail. Rarely do they have both, and they most certainly don’t have any powers beyond that. You’re different.”
Thayde looked out toward the sunset. “Our histories speak of this Link bringing peace and order to our kind. In all the tales though, the link was a merman.”
Suddenly, I recalled my conversation with Geiruna. She had said something about the Dartmoth’s trying to create a special Being. She was talking about The Link. It all seemed beyond rational.
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering me, he opened his car door. Walking around to my side, he held open my door and his hand.
“Walk with me?” He offered and I let him pull me out of the car.
He led me to the beach a few yards away and once we reached the water’s edge, he kicked off his shoes and let the water cover his feet.
“Do you feel it?” He asked, staring out to sea.
I looked in the direction he was and shook my head.
“Feel what?”
“All of us are drawn to the sea. It’s a yearning that’s a part of us. When we’re not near it, we get sick.” He looked back at me. “It makes us who we are.”
“I guess I don’t have that yearning,” I said and sat down on the sand, away from the surf. Sure, I liked the water, but it wasn’t as if I hadn’t survived without it before. Maybe it was because I was a Halfling.
Thayde eased next to me and took my hand. My heart fluttered.
“Morgan, I know you’re strong. I know you don’t like people telling you what you can and can’t do. I know all of this has been overwhelming.” He frowned. “If you don’t like me, I’ll leave you alone.” He paused, seeming to think about what he was going to say next. “I know I’ve come across a bit too eager, but it’s only because I’ve been waiting for you for so long. If you don’t want to be with me, I’ll back off.”
I started to feel sick again. This was definitely not what I wanted.
“Thayde,” I started, praying he’d understand what I was going to say, “Everything has happened to me this past month. I’ve lost my dad, found out that merpeople are real and that I’m one of them, discovered that I’ve got a sister and witnessed stuff that I’ve always known to be impossible. It’s been really hard. But the only thing that kept me going through all this was knowing that somewhere in my dreams was this guy. This guy I’d never seen before, but somehow I knew. It was you.”
The next part was going to be hard.
“When Akin did what he did, it was humiliating, and you saw it. That was not how I imagined us meeting and I’m so ashamed.” I stopped talking because I couldn’t go on. The guilt of everything that had happened was too much.
Thayde pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “None of that was your fault. I should have been there sooner. I’ll never forgive myself.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it,” I said.
“I could have, if I’d been there sooner.”
What could I do? Argue? He was going to blame himself for this for the rest of his life. I pulled back and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Thank you,” I said, “for saving me.”
He touched the bridge of my nose and took my face in his hands. “You’re welcome,” he whispered and softly kissed me.
Have you ever felt like you’ve melted into someone? That first kiss was from a dream. His lips were silk. When he pulled back to see if it was ok that he’d kissed me, I opened my eyes. A feeling of warmth and energy surrounded me. Again, he lightly kissed me, and when his sweet breath touched my skin, it raised goose bumps.
I leaned into him and passionately, he pulled me close. The warmth and energy continued to surround us and I felt lost in his love. My arms entwined themselves around his neck and head and I was pulling him back with me. I held onto his shoulders as I lay back into the sand and it was then that he pulled away, a breath of pain separating us. When I looked at his face, his jaw was clenched.