Page 31 of The Merman’s Betrothal (Outcast Hearts #2)

R ory stripped down to his boxers, leaving the rest floating on the waves towards the shore. Then Fionn dived and Rory followed without a second thought. His gills kicked in quicker than his lungs had, allowing his last breath to leave in a stream of bubbles as he swam after Fionn.

‘Breathing’ through his gills was a weird sensation. A lot like breathing, in fact, but more… sloshy. How breathing would feel if air had weight to it, and the ability to be swirled around by gravity.

Once he’d caught up, Rory stuck to Fionn’s side as they swam. Rory guessed the merman could have shot off at a much faster pace but was going slow for his benefit. He was grateful. The vastness of this underwater world was disorienting.

The water was a little murky in the loch, but as it opened onto the Minch and the silt bed fell further away Rory found his vision becoming clearer.

After blinking multiple times against a discomfort in his eyes, he realised it felt like there was a transparent film clinging to his eyeballs to protect them.

He’d never worn contact lenses, but he imagined this was how it would feel.

The water became an endless haze of shadows the deeper they went. Rory quickly lost his grip on direction and soon waved a hand to indicate that he wanted to return to the surface. Fionn nodded and led the way up.

This time, Rory remembered to wait until his gills had drained before trying to take a breath. Air flowed in, oddly light and insubstantial by comparison.

‘You are all right?’ Fionn asked, his eyes intense with concern.

The coastline was further away than Rory expected. He felt a rush of excitement knowing there was a chance he might not go back. ‘I’m good. Just wanted to… I dunno, needed to check where I was, if that makes sense. It would be easier if I could talk to you down there.’

‘You should try. It is my hope that DeepSong may come naturally to you,’ Fionn said as though Rory should know what he was talking about.

Thinking back to when they’d sunk with Rory’s mouth wrapped around Fionn’s cock— Don’t think about that now! —Rory vaguely remembered musical words that he’d half-heard and half-felt in the water. ‘Is that the weird singing you did before?’

‘It is not weird. It is an ancient language that all sentient marine creatures can understand, and that most can speak.’

‘How am I supposed to do it?’ Rory asked doubtfully.

‘Sing.’

Without giving him space to answer, Fionn ducked below the surface. His hand popped back up, beckoning Rory to join him.

Rory took a deep breath (forgetting he wouldn’t have to hold it) and dropped just below the sweeping waves.

‘ Sing to me, ’ Fionn said, or sang. Rory felt the words enter his ears, muffled and musical, but the meaning of them arrived in his brain like an unspoken thought.

He opened his mouth and attempted to make a sound. All that happened was the air in his lungs burst out in one giant bubble. Blub was not the noise he’d been aiming for.

‘ You must feel the words, ’ Fionn explained. ‘ Allow your feeling to travel through the water. ’

Rory rolled his eyes. A language based on feelings, those things he felt least adept at communicating.

He reached deep for something honest and real to put into words.

‘ You… are… unbelievable, ’ Rory sang. It was stilted and less melodious than Fionn’s, but the words found shape in the water regardless.

‘ You are doing it! ’ Fionn cried, and his delight shone through his song. ‘ See, I am believable—you should believe me! I am right, after all. ’

Rory gave a silent chuckle and tried to form a reply. ‘ I… believe you. But you are still… unbelievable. ’

Was that the flash of a pout from Fionn? ‘ By the end of the day you will not say so. ’

‘ I doubt it. ’ Rory hummed, discerning the way the sound propelled the water between them. Noting the subtle tickle of the current against the hairs across his bare skin. Savouring how comfortable he felt for the first time in weeks.

Finally relaxing, he dared to poke a finger into Fionn’s chest. DeepSong flowed easily now from his heart. ‘ You are unbelievable, Fionn. Unbelievably magnificent. Beautiful. You’re so strong and fucking delicious— ’

He paused to laugh. The rhythm of DeepSong made his words sound more eloquent than anything he came out with on land.

‘Delicious’ certainly wasn’t a word he’d have consciously chosen, but it was very accurate.

Yet the song had also stumbled with a discordant note over the curse word, striving to keep his meaning intact.

‘ What is so funny? ’ Fionn was staring at Rory’s hand, now splayed over his sternum.

‘ I can’t believe that you want me. ’ Finally, Rory felt free to admit it. The voice of his father couldn’t reach him down here. He fancied he could feel Fionn’s heartbeat beneath his palm. It quickened. ‘ I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you. ’

‘ Nor I, you. ’

Rory was giddy. The water wasn’t silent, exactly—there was constant movement filled with odd gurgles and ripples from afar—but it felt like he and Fionn were nestled in a bubble of peace.

Was this what it would be like to accept every part of himself?

To say fuck it, I love a merman, and move on with his life?

Oof. Too much. Rory gave himself emotional whiplash with the rate at which he pulled away.

Fionn had been reaching to take his hand and now blinked at Rory, baffled, now floating several feet away.

‘ Let’s swim, ’ Rory mumbled, trying to ignore the tone of embarrassment inflected on his song. Fionn nodded and led the way.

They continued at a leisurely speed. Rory had always been a strong swimmer, but it was curious how his muscles didn’t seem to be getting tired. Moving this way was easy. Like everything underwater seemed easy.

As they headed further into the ocean strait, more sounds, like echoes, reached Rory’s ears. In the far distance, a low hum of DeepSong undulated across the expanse.

‘ I… Am… Here. Child… Is… Here. Follow. Follow. ’

It repeated in a slow loop, a calm mantra cycling through Rory’s brain. He caught Fionn’s arm, pulling them both to a stop. ‘ What is that? ’

Fionn cocked his head. ‘ A whale mother and her calf. She is calling to other nearby mothers. ’

Rory hung in the water with his mouth wide open. Listening. Revelling in the sound.

Fionn nudged him gently. ‘ Are you well? ’

‘ It’s incredible. ’

Fionn’s concerned expression melted. He waited with Rory for a few minutes more, giving him time to soak in his awe. ‘ May I show you more incredible things? ’

‘ Please. ’

‘ We shall use the current, if you are willing. ’ Fionn opened his arms, gesturing for Rory to fold into them.

Gingerly, he did so. Fionn’s solid arms closed around his back.

Rory needed a moment to swallow back his desire. He was wearing even fewer clothes than the last time they’d done this. His chest was flush with Fionn’s. He could feel every firm muscle there. If he wanted he could just bend his head forward to taste—

Fionn spun, rolling Rory to be lying on top of him, which was even worse. Now Rory’s face was pressed right against Fionn’s collarbone and his hips rested over the merman’s kilt.

Then Fionn began to sing. The water spiralled around them, became a rushing tunnel. A familiar surge of momentum told Rory they were being carried very fast. Then Fionn made a deft twist—jostling Rory a bit too pleasantly—and exited onto calmer water.

‘ This is my home, ’ Fionn sang into his ear, sending a shiver down to Rory’s toes.

Rory turned in Fionn’s arms and at first glimpse didn’t make sense of the scene that greeted him.

The water shimmered strangely, like air in a heat haze.

One moment Rory was certain he was looking at a barren patch of dark seabed, and the next he swore it was some giant monument, or a tower, eerily lit with a greenish glow.

The image vanished and reappeared as he turned his head, like some strange optical illusion.

To Rory’s left was a gigantic standing stone embedded in the sand. Several yards to his right was another. And then Rory realised there was an enormous ring of these stones surrounding the shimmering space in the middle.

Fionn reached beyond Rory. His hand parted the mirage like a curtain. ‘ Come. You can pass through with me. ’

‘ Is this… also magic? ’ Rory couldn’t believe he was uttering the suggestion. Despite having accepted that colour-changing mermen and who-knows-what other monsters were real, the prospect of actual magic had never crossed his mind until today.

But there was surely no other explanation for what he was witnessing. As Fionn guided him between the stones, the shimmering water turned still and revealed the true image of what lay beyond.

It was a tower of some sort. But it looked organic, more like a termite mound or a deep-sea vent rising from the seabed.

It sprawled wide at the base, pockmarked with many holes which might function like tunnels, gradually narrowing as it rose into a cylindrical spire reaching for the surface world that glimmered overhead.

‘ The palace, ’ Fionn announced grandly, and it was clear he felt Rory should be impressed.

Rory was too preoccupied taking it all in to offer any validation. It was busy down there.

Blue mermen popped in and out of the tunnels around the tower’s base.

Some carried nets and baskets; others went empty-handed but with no less sense of purpose.

They all had long hair like Fionn, worn loose or tied up in braids, except theirs was dark blue instead of silver.

Some were covered head-to-toe in tattoos, while others were nearly bare.

All wore kilts and the occasional bit of extra strapping like Fionn’s to hold tools and pouches.

There was an odd omission in the scene that caught Rory’s attention. ‘ Where are the women? ’

‘ What do you mean? ’

‘ There are mermaids as well as mermen, right? ’

‘ No? ’