Page 22 of Where the Current Takes Him (Mermate #1)

Beau

T he Koame-Valhn porch should not have surprised Beau, yet there he stood, staring slack-jawed at the display before him.

A cluster of cheerful garden gnomes in lurid Hawaiian shirts stood guard to the left of the front door.

To the right, a flower box boasted purple pansies and pink tulips.

A plastic lawn flamingo had been jammed into the potting soil, and a crocheted lei hung around its neck.

“This is…” Beau struggled to find an appropriate adjective. “Colorful.”

Loriun snorted. “My jaei has tried every hobby under the sun and my riue puts up with it. She says as long as he’s happy, she’s happy.”

“Well that’s nice at least.”

Loriun’s scarlet-tipped fingers curled around the handle and tugged the front door open without knocking. A loud gasp echoed down the hall.

“Fauos, Fauos . They’re here ,” a feminine voice hissed.

Loriun grimaced as Beau clapped a hand to his mouth to stifle the giggle rising in his chest. The Mer reached for Beau’s hand, took a steadying breath, and led him inside.

The home had clearly been made with Mer comfort in mind.

The floor was a fascinating arrangement of asymmetrical flagstones, but where there should have been grout, shallow streams of water ran.

The air in the home was cool and damp, and the walls had sheets of water cascading from subtle openings along the ceiling.

Little purple plants sprouted here and there from narrow planters in the baseboards.

“Wow,” Beau whispered. “This is beautiful.”

Loriun glanced at him, a soft smile dancing on his lips. “I suppose it is.”

“Loriun, noa’yasi! ” An unfamiliar female Mer in a flowing white kaftan rounded the corner with her arms spread wide.

Zicoi was nearly as tall as Loriun, with scales ranging from deepest maroon to dusty rose.

There was a familiar shade of red accenting her fingertips and fins as she threw her arms around her son.

“Viuo capiue poeinha,” Zicoi said, pulling back to scan Loriun’s face. “It’s been too long.”

Loriun tugged Beau closer. “ Riue , I’d like you to meet Beau, my mate.”

Zicoi’s head snapped back. “Mate?”

Worry creased Beau’s forehead. Apparently their mating was so quick that even Mer were shocked. He peeked up at Loriun. His ear fins flattened to his skull, something Beau was starting to think meant embarrassment.

There was a beat of silence before a wide grin split Zicoi’s face. “Well, Beau, it is lovely to meet you. Welcome to the family.”

Beau sagged against Loriun in relief as a small, russet-scaled male emerged into the hallway. Fauos wore a loose tunic and relaxed smile. He inclined his head at Beau. “It’s good to see you again, Beau. It seems congratulations are in order.”

Fauos reached out and took one of Beau’s and one of Loriun’s hands. “I cannot express how happy I am to hear that you have become mates. This is truly a joyous time in all of our lives.”

“Thank you, jaei ,” Loriun murmured.

Beau hoped a smile would suffice because he had no idea how to respond without sounding like a particularly uneducated buffalo.

“Come, come,” Zicoi said, dashing an arm across her eyes. “Let’s go to the dining room. Your sister is here, too. Making something called alfalfa?”

“It’s falafel!” a third voice yelled.

Loriun grinned and shouted back, “Are you going to poison us with another strange human dish, Oiwen?”

“That was one time!”

The four of them entered the kitchen, where a tall, slim female Mer was standing hunched over the stove.

The markings along her spine peeked out from under a cropped t-shirt.

They looked like Loriun’s, but in a shade of electric blue.

They stood in stark contrast to the deep indigo scales that covered her back.

As they neared, Oiwen shot Beau a glance over her shoulder. “Hey, sorry, give me just a few seconds. If I take my eyes off these, they’ll burn.”

“Totally understand,” Beau assured her.

Her hair was long and curly, like her older brother’s, but in a shade of magenta. Her ear fins were flared in concentration, edged with more of that shocking blue. Several silver hoops pierced the delicate membrane.

Despite her very alien appearance, Oiwen also seemed more human than the average Mer. The piercings, the crop top, even a pair of modified denim shorts laced around her tail.

In a sudden flurry of movement, Oiwen scooped her balls of falafel from the pan and safely onto a plate. She switched the flame off and turned to face Beau.

“So, you must be Beau,” she said with an easy smile. “I’m Oiwen. Nice to meet you.”

Beau took the proffered hand. “Nice to meet you too. The falafel smells amazing.”

It really did. The scent of cumin had his stomach snarling.

“Thanks!” Oiwen seemed genuinely pleased. “My roommate taught me how to make it and I’ve been kind of obsessed since.”

“Roommate?” Beau probed.

“Oiwen is attending the University of Florida’s fine arts college in Gainesville,” Loriun supplied. “She spends most of her time surrounded by humans.”

Beau noticed the female Alpha was sporting a nose ring. “That explains… a lot.”

Oiwen laughed. “What can I say, human fashion is way more interesting than Mer.”

Zicoi rolled her eyes. “I will never understand the human need to prioritize appeal over comfort.”

Beau allowed himself to be ushered to the large dining table at the other end of the kitchen. It sat atop a glass floor, and its legs seemed to extend through the glass, into the pool of water below.

“The dining area is usually submerged,” Fauos explained, gesturing to a seam in the glass. “But it can be raised to floor level. We thought you might be more comfortable eating on dry land.”

Beau flushed. “That’s very kind of you.”

Fauos waved him off. “You are not the first human to visit our home.”

“Yes, Oiwen keeps bringing them back here on weekends and summer vacation,” Zicoi added. “Very interesting people.”

Oiwen snickered. “They keep asking me how I got security clearance for so many humans, but a magician never reveals her secrets.”

By the time everyone sat down, the surface of the dining table was barely visible. Grilled tuna steaks, expertly sliced sashimi, tangy seaweed salad, salted kelp chips, Oiwen’s falafel, and a few violet-colored vegetables Beau eyed with suspicion.

“They are safe for humans,” Loriun said, depositing a spoonful of the Usoi tubers onto his overloaded plate.

Beau picked up his fork and prodded them.

They seemed to have the texture of a potato, but wetter, which did little to add to their appeal.

Just as Beau was gearing up to stick a chunk of the alien vegetable in his mouth, he realized that none of the Mer had begun eating. He hastily set his fork back down.

Zicoi cleared her throat. “Yusivo’sa Agith,” she said in a low, reverent tone.

“Yusivo’sa Agith,” the rest of her family murmured. Everyone then picked up their utensils and got to work on the feast before them.

Beau’s eyes darted around the table, utterly bemused. As far as he knew, the Mer no longer practiced any form of religion, but that had felt awfully like saying grace at a southern table.

Loriun looked down at him. “Eat, luae . My riue is just a little superstitious.”

“What were you all saying?” Beau asked, retrieving his fork.

“ Yusivo’sa Agith. It means ‘Thanks to Agith,’ the old goddess of life.” The Alpha shot his mother a look. “The old religions have mostly died out, but some cling to old habits.”

“You listen to me, Loriun,” Zicoi retorted, leveling a fork of tuna in his direction. “It hurts nobody to thank the goddess for our bounty, but it just might hurt if I don’t.”

“What happens if you don’t thank her?” Beau asked. Without thinking, he popped a piece of purple tuber into his mouth. It tasted like a waterlogged carrot, fished out of the ocean after several months of stewing in the depths. Beau fought to keep his face neutral.

Oiwen, sitting across from him, was watching him with amusement.

“You can spit it out,” she said, grinning. “Humans aren’t usually big fans of the flavor.” She handed him a napkin, which he snatched and held to his face, spitting the mystery vegetable inside.

Loriun tilted his head. “You do not like it?”

Beau coughed. “Um. I think… Maybe it’s an acquired taste.”

“Good luck acquiring it.” Oiwin held up a forkful of the sea-carrot in a toast and tossed it into her mouth.

Zicoi shook her head at her daughter. “To answer your question, Beau, the old religion teaches us to thank the gods and goddesses for their gifts. If we fail to do so, they will take back that which they provided in retaliation. Just as any being does not wish to be taken advantage of, so, too, do the gods and goddesses.”

Fauos was watching his mate with a dreamy expression.

“Agith is the goddess of life, so we must thank her for the food we eat, lest she bring disease or famine,” Zicoi finished.

Fauos sighed. “I do love to hear her talk about the old ways. I was raised in a more modernized home. I feel as though I was denied a piece of my culture, particularly here on this alien planet.”

For obvious reasons, Beau was not the biggest fan of religion as a whole, but something about the Mer’s old way of life fascinated him. Perhaps it was easier for him to distance himself from traditions of another species.

“How many gods and goddesses are there?” Beau asked, now cutting into a much safer tuna steak. Smoky, crispy, flaky… He had to actively restrain his eyes from rolling back into his head.

“There are four, one for each sex,” Zicoi answered. “Agith, the Alpha goddess of life; Noivux, the Alpha god of currents and sea; Xui, the Omega god of the sky; and Turys, the Omega goddess of the depths and afterlife.”

“Turys is badass,” Oiwin interjected. “If I had to pray to someone, it would be her.”

Fauos winced. “I do not think we should refer to the ancient deities as ‘badass.’ ”

“And you are an Alpha,” Zicoi scolded. “Your allegiance would be to Agith.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Oiwen leaned down to shovel an entire fish head into her mouth.

Beau watched in disgusted admiration as his mate’s sister crushed the fish skull between her teeth and swallowed. She was an Alpha, like Loriun.

Does that mean her cock is the same size as—

“Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Beau?” Fauos said. He was neatly working his way through a bowl of seaweed salad: a stark contrast to his daughter.

Beau felt his face heat up.

Well I definitely wasn’t thinking about both of your children’s dicks, Mr. Valhn.

“Oh, um.” Beau struggled to think of something to say that wouldn’t open Pandora’s box. “Well, I’m the only child in my family. My mom is Cuban and my dad… Well you’ve probably heard of him.”

Loriun’s parents exchanged confused looks.

“Did Loriun not mention this?” A nervous laugh escaped him. “My father is Ashford Montgomery. The head of Interspecies Relations in Gainesville?”

“Ah.” Zicoi’s face darkened. “Yes, I know of him. He is… quite successful.”

“Yeah.” Beau shifted in his seat awkwardly. “Uh. Anyway… So I’m their only son. I’m twenty-four, and I graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Public Relations.”

“Public Relations?” Oiwen wrinkled her nose. “No offense, but UF’s art college is way better.”

“It must have been an interesting field to study,” Fauos said politely. “Given your father’s career.”

Beau scoffed. “I hated it. Barely got my degree. It was my dad’s idea.”

“So…” Zicoi hesitated for a moment. “Your father…”