Page 25
Story: Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda (Heat, Prey, Love #5)
25
E cho walked into the public assembly hall hand-in-hand with Mael. His gaze swiveled back and forth. He’d never seen it so packed. It seemed like the whole of Dolphin Bay filled the room, their harsh stares on he and Mael. He’d been nervous before walking in. Seeing the place filled to the rafters wasn’t making things any easier.
Maelstrom squeezed his hand. He lifted his gaze and did his best to return his orca’s smile.
They approached the front, hearing whispers and murmurs zip through the room behind them.
As he neared the gate separating the council from the audience, he saw Diego sitting up front. He reached out and squeezed Echo’s other hand as they passed. At least he knew he had one ally in the room. It might not seem like much, but for Echo, it was everything.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“I’m here for you. You’ve got this,” Diego whispered back.
“Step forward,” Mayor John Ashbridge said into the microphone as he looked over the rim of his black glasses at them. “Approach the podium.”
The rest of the council looked just as stern as every other face he’d seen. Three sat on either side of the mayor. Echo’s stomach turned again, and he hoped his morning sickness didn’t come back for a round two.
“Echo Fisher, you’re here today because of some concerns we have about the safety of our pod. Those concerns have only heightened after learning that this man you bring into our town is none other than Maelstrom Marino,” Mayor Ashbridge said.
A roar swept through the audience at the mention of Maelstrom’s name. Several hundred people screaming was ear-piercing.
“Quiet down,” their mayor said to the crowd. “Quiet down.”
Once everyone settled, the mayor leaned into the mic again. “I also learned you put one of my officers in a choke hold, disarmed another, and threatened to kill all four of them. They left the scene in fear of their lives.”
Another collective roar rose, the voices so loud not one single one could be heard. It was just noise. Echo cringed.
Maelstrom leaned into the microphone at the podium, his voice ringing out over the roar. “Shut the fuck up!” He turned to glare at the crowd.
Shockingly, they did shut up.
But then, he was their boogeyman.
Mael turned to face the mayor. “Your officers broke into Echo’s home. They did not announce themselves as police. They yanked us out of bed where we were asleep. They tazed me three times because I was trying to protect Echo—who was being tossed about and held captive. They cuffed me and refused to allow us to put on a stitch of clothing. And then he…” Mael pointed to the officer who pushed him. “He pushed Echo down three steps where he landed on the floor.. You’re damned right I put him in a choke hold after he hurt my pregnant mate and threatened the lives of him and our children.”
Silence filled the assembly hall for several seconds.
“Did you just say… your pregnant mate? We are talking about Echo Fisher, a dolphin shifter, correct?” one of the council members asked.
“Yes,” Mael murmured. “Echo is my mate, and he is pregnant with my children.”
Whispers and murmurs raced around the room.
“I fear you’ve been duped, Mr. Marino. Dolphins and orca cannot reproduce together,” Mayor Ashbridge said, glaring at Echo. “If Echo truly is pregnant, it’s not yours.”
“He is, and they are my children,” Mael murmured, staring down at Echo with love in his eyes. He brought Echo’s hand in his to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“We need to base these proceedings in reality, not fantasy,” another on the council said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Excuse me? I may be able to help,” someone called from the back.
Echo turned and saw his doctor approaching.
Dr. Thames stopped beside Echo. “I can speak on your behalf, but I need explicit permission to tell them what I know. And if there’s anything you don’t want me to divulge, tell me.”
“I’d appreciate you sharing if you think it can help—but I don’t want everyone to know my gender at birth,” Echo whispered.
Dr. Thames nodded and smiled. She turned to the council. “Echo is currently my obstetrics patient, and I’ve examined him twice in the last few weeks. He is indeed pregnant, and there are two fetuses. I immediately noticed they are large in size. Larger than any dolphin babes I’ve ever seen. I worried they might have a medical condition they would need to be treated for, so I had my lab run various tests on Echo’s blood sample. Trace fetal DNA showed that the father was orca.”
The assembly rose in volume again.
“You knew?” Echo asked amid the screams around them.
Dr. Thames smiled softly. “I knew.” She rubbed Echo’s shoulder and leaned close to his ear. “I don’t know if this helps your case, but now they can’t refute your claim that Maelstrom’s the father.”
“Okay, okay… quiet down!” the mayor yelled into his microphone.
“I might also add that the lab was confused by the findings, so they processed Echo’s DNA, as well. His DNA is ten percent orca.”
The audience went silent.
Echo stared at Dr. Thames in shock.
“Over the years, we’ve had to do DNA testing for many of my patients. Echo isn’t the first I’ve found with traces of orca genetics, but he is the highest percentage I’ve seen. All of this strongly suggests that not only are orca-dolphin matings possible, but that they’ve happened in the past. There’s no reason to doubt that Mr. Marino fathered these children.”
Dr. Thames eyed the council. “If you have any questions, I’d be happy to share what I know.”
“I think that’s more than enough, Dr. Thames,” Mayor Ashbridge said.
Dr. Thames squeezed Echo’s shoulder again. She nodded at Mael and returned to the audience.
Loud murmurs swept through those behind Echo.
“Quiet,” the mayor said into microphone. As the meeting house quieted, Mayor Ashbridge eyed the other council members, looking as if he didn’t know how to proceed. Finally, he turned to Echo and Mael.
“I suppose we stand corrected on the reproductive aspect, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you brought a murderous orca into our town. You have both broken our treaty. You have both jeopardized the safety of this pod.”
“I get so tired of repeating this. The treaty makes no mention of the land, only the water,” Mael said. “I have combed over that document. It lists the geographic locations of the waterline, explaining which is which, and that we are not to cross that line. I come over on the ferry, north of Dolphin Bay, and I drive to Echo’s home. I haven’t swam in your waters. Echo has not swam in ours without permission.”
Echo fought a smile. Mael squeezed his hand.
The mayor lifted a small black item and pressed a button. On the large screen to the left of the council table, dark images appeared that looked like they were from the harbor.
The harbor. Oh fuck!
His boat came into view, careening around and crashing into his slip. Echo watched as he jumped from the boat. Luckily it was dark and the quality not the best, so his nudity wasn’t clear.
Then the dorsal fin came into view and the crowd roared around them.
Echo turned to Mael, his jawline tight as he glared at the mayor.
“Are you going to tell me that’s not you chasing Echo into the harbor, Mr. Marino? Our harbormaster submitted this to us a couple of weeks ago. He worried for the safety of our pod after seeing that dorsal fin in our harbor.”
“I crossed the line,” Echo said. “I’m the one at fault. Not Maelstrom.”
“No,” Mael snapped, his head whipping to Echo. He turned back to the mayor. “No, no, no. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
“I was searching for something I found in my grandfather’s journals in orca waters.”
“Stop,” Mael said, turning to face Echo.
“I was the one who crossed the line. And when I did, I was attacked by two great whites. If it hadn’t been for Mael, I’d be dead. He saved my life… and then escorted me home that night. I was going fast because I was afraid of the sharks. Mael killed one, but the other got away. I thought it was after me.” He turned to eye Maelstrom. “He was my hero that night.”
“Echo… your admission opens you to penalties or exile,” Mael whispered, his hand covering the mic. He lifted his hand. “Echo is mistaken. He was there with my permission.”
Mael’s mother’s voice rung out at the back of the hall. “Only the matriarch can give her permission for a dolphin to enter her waters.”
“Fuck me,” Mael murmured under his breath before they both turned.
Amiria Marino appeared livid as she marched up the central aisle. She sidled up beside Echo and glared at him. She turned to the Mayor. “Echo was there that night under my invitation.”
Echo’s eyes widened. His jaw went slack.
“He presented me with pages from his grandfather’s journal that claimed there to be a treasure under our seas that held artifacts of dolphinkind. He asked permission to explore, and I granted it. I sent my sons with him for assistance and protection as well as to oversee what occurred in our waters. Not only did he find an underwater vault holding dolphinkind treasures, but orca treasures as well. From the time soon after our two pods traveled from the South Pacific together and found a new home here. Long ago, when we worked and lived side by side in harmony.” She turned to Echo. “As we hopefully will again.”
Echo felt the sting of tears and worked to hold them back.
“I realize this is a meeting being held to determine if my son and your pod member broke our treaty, but I say they have not. We have no reason to persecute these two and create conflict between our pods. We’ve had enough of that, haven’t we?”
The council members eyed one another, but did not respond.
“Unless you’re interested in a war with the orca?” Mael’s mother asked, lifting a brow.
“No, no… of course not,” Mayor Ashbridge said into the microphone. “I believe we can call this matter closed.”
“But what of the fact he carries an orca child,” one of the older councilmen said. “We do not mix our kind. He cannot be allowed to remain in our pod, mixing the blood of the two.”
“Sir, you are speaking ill of my soon-to-be son-in-law and my grandchildren. I urge you to use caution,” Mael’s mother said, a lethal tone to her voice. “Actually, this might be the perfect time to show you these artifacts Echo located.” She turned and waved a hand. “They may shed light on this very issue.”
Havoc and Tempest appeared, rolling a massive white board.
“Actually,” Echo said, leaning into the microphone. “I located the cave using my grandfather’s journals. He’d claimed for many years that it was there, and no one in this pod believed him. They called him crazy. He wasn’t. It was there all along.”
Murmurs swept the room again. As Havoc and Tempest rolled past, Echo saw the photos she had taken blown up to poster size. He scanned them, fearful all would learn his secret—and saw that the area of concern on both he and Mael has been blurred. Echo released the breath he’d held.
“Echo, with the help of his grandfather’s journals, found several interconnected chambers under our territory,” Mael’s mother announced. “We’re still not sure how they were created or how they’ve lasted this long under the pressure of the sea, but they are there. Each of these small chambers holds a finely detailed mosaic that has been dated to about the year eighteen-thirty to eighteen-forty. Each one tells a story in progression. The first depicts our two pods crossing the sea and living in harmony. The second, our war. And finally the last, two figures—one dolphin and one orca—who we believe to be mates surrounded by their children. This is our story, shown on the walls a hundred and twenty years before it ever happened.”
“More fantasy,” another councilmember said among rumbling from the crowd.
“Some of you remember the tales of the second matriarch,” Mael’s mother said, her voice booming and authoritative. The crowd quieted to hear her speak. “Her ability to see the future in her dreams. It was she who saw the volcanos destroy most of our island and peoples. She was the one who saw that the colonizers would’ve killed off the weakened remnants of our people once they learned what we were. She urged our pod to cross the Pacific to find a new home. She welcomed the dolphin shifters to join us. My ancestors protected your ancestors and ensured their safe arrival here. If not for her, none of us would be here today.” She turned and looked at the crowd. “I believe these mosaics are more of her warnings. She tried to tell us what was coming, but somewhere along the way, these caves and their truths were forgotten, and we fell into the trap of not remembering the past. Our shared past. We warred amongst our own—and turned our backs on one another. At heart we are the same. We are both from the same animal family. We might not be the same species, but we are Delphinidae, just as you are. Our lived experiences in both the human and marine worlds are much alike. We understand the problems and rewards of having a foot in two worlds. We should be friends and allies as we once were.” She waved a hand at the last image. “And we can be.” She turned to look at Echo. “I believe the two on this final mosaic are my son and his mate, Echo. I believe they are a sign that it is time to let go of the past and forge ahead together. In peace. As we once did.”
His mother walked to the gate, closer to the audience. “If my son found his mate among you, who else might find theirs, too? Not only are we weaker apart, but we are turning our backs on fate. Would you want your child to live a life alone instead of with their mate, just because they were orca?” She turned to Echo. “When I first learned Echo was Maelstrom’s, I did not want to hear it. I was cruel and diminished what they felt for one another because I was taught to hate the dolphins across the bay. I’m sorry I did that, Echo. I wasn’t ready to listen. I wasn’t ready to see that my son has finally found happiness about nearly two decades of pain—all because of a bias built from our own blindness. We have spent over seventy years oblivious to what could have been. I do not want to spend another seventy doing the same.”
“But how can we trust the orca?” a dolphin shifter asked, rising from the audience. “When you have one there that killed his own brother. How are we safe from a murderer in our midst?”
“He is not a murderer!” Echo roared, spinning to face the crowd. “He was a child, when the unthinkable happened. He faced a decision not even an adult should have to face. He was a sixteen-year-old boy who was traumatized by what happened and what did we do? We demonized him and turned him into a monster through half-truths, lies, and rumor. I have only seen Maelstrom Marino try his damnedest to protect those he loves and give his all to protect those who cannot protect themselves. In just the few months I’ve known him, not only did he save me, but he swam halfway across the world to save an abducted six-year-old, along with his brothers.” Echo turned to Mael, noticing the shine to his mate’s eyes. “I know him to be loving and kind. He is incredibly strong, much stronger than I am, but he has never made me feel powerless or weak. He towers over me, but he has never made me feel small. I only hope I give him as much as he gives me.” Echo fought tears. He spread a hand down the swell of his stomach. “One thing I can give him is a family. Sons and daughters who will grow to be as kind and generous as he is. I love you, Maelstrom Marino. And I will until the day I die.”
Mael took a step forward and pulled Echo into his embrace. He kissed Echo’s forehead. “I love you, too, my little dolphin.”
“I think it might be a bit premature to rush into a reconciliation,” Mayor Ashbridge said.
A member of the gallery rose and booed the mayor. Several others joined him until nearly the entire audience booed the council.
“Alright, alright, we hear you,” the mayor said. He looked at Mael’s mother. “If we agree to sit down with the orca and discuss negotiations for a new treaty, will that get your approval?”
“As long as you’re truly willing to listen and be open to it,” Diego yelled. “Don’t agree to this in name only to appease the crowd and then turn around and make it impossible. The Matriarch has come and shown us what our future could be like. Don’t you dare thwart our chances at peace.”
The entire audience clapped, cheering Diego’s words.
“There are more of us than there are of you. If you wish to remain on this council, do your jobs,” another dolphin rose and said.
“I also think an investigation on your officers who raided Echo’s house and assaulted us is in order,” Mael said into the microphone, glaring at the lead officer who’d pushed Echo down the stairs. “One needs to be charged with the attempted murder of our calves.”
“I did not push him, nor did I know he was pregnant!” the officer yelled.
“He was naked,” Mael roared, lifting Echo’s top enough to show his swell. “You have eyes, don’t you? You knew he was pregnant, you called him an orca whore, and then you pushed him down the stairs and could’ve killed our children.” Mael eyed the council. “Hold him accountable, or someone will.”
“Is that a threat?” the officer asked.
Maelstrom chuckled, the sound sending chills down Echo’s spine. “You’re damned straight it is.”
“We’ll look into the actions of our officers when they entered Echo’s home,” the mayor said. “If there’s no more business to be presented, I will hereby call this session over.”
“Are Echo and I free to go?” Mael asked, lifting a brow.
“Yes, yes,” the mayor said. “Echo Fisher and Maelstrom Marino are free to leave. There are no charges pending.”
“And we’re free to live as mates? Together?” Echo asked.
Mayor Ashbridge eyed the council before turning back. “Given that you’re already with child, I think it’s a bit late for us to interfere.”
The mayor banged his gavel and rounded their chamber table, headed straight for Mael’s mother.
Echo lifted his face to Mael and smiled.
“Well that went a lot better than I anticipated,” Mael murmured, smiling.
Echo barked with laughter.