The Little Rose

Seeking Answers

Talk about a roller coaster of emotions.  Today had been all over the place and in such a quick time.  Compared to humans, the quickness with which supernatural's moved was astounding.  It was easier to face things and accept them when you knew that fate was involved.  Roisin and I weren't just two people who had met and felt a connection, we were made for each other.  Picked by a power higher than ourselves and our souls made to merge.  Yes, Gracie's memory had held me back from accepting the gift that was Roisin, but I had known all alone that Gracie wouldn't want me to wallow in sorrow alone, she would want me to be happy, and I had a feeling she would really like Roisin, they were alike in just as many ways as they were different.

Watching her swim around the lake was eye-opening.  She looked like a completely different person, her red curls had given away to wavy flowing purple, pink, and blue tresses, and her beautiful sea-colored eyes were no longer their blue-green, but pink and purple, swirling together like mist.  Her hair and eyes matched her tail, long and strong and covered in iridescent lavender, pink, and baby blue scales that seemed to change and pulsate with beautiful light.  She looked otherworldly, and in a way, she was.  Life below the waves much be vastly different from our own way of life on land, It explained how pale her skin was as well.

As the storm started to blow over, taking its thundering wrath towards the mainland, Roisin swam back to me, stopping to tread water just in front of me.  Her breathtakingly colorful eyes watching me with a sense of apprehension, so I smiled at her, attempting to put her at ease.

"You are beautiful, Roisin,"  I whispered, raising a hand to cup her cheek in my palm, her skin was so cool against my fingers and those familiar sparks erupted along where our skin made contact.  Roisin sighed happily and pressed her cheek in my palm, her eyelids fluttering closed, her dark lashes fanning her pale cheeks.

"She is more than beautiful, she is perfect.  Gracie loved mermaids, it seems like poetic perfection somehow that our second chance mate in something our first mate loved."  Odin's voice brushed the confines of my mind as he watched Roisin with the same love and pride as I did, and he was right, Gracie had loved the idea of mermaids, so much so she'd wanted to do the triplets nursery in under the sea with mermaids and tritons.

"I agree it's poetic, but I'm not so sure she's a second chance mate, Odin.  I want to get back to the mainland quickly and take Roisin to see a witch.  The voice she was hearing earlier, that worries me.  I've never heard of Siren's having another soul so why is she hearing a voice?"  I felt Odin's silent agreement, as much as neither of us now wanted to leave this island that had become not only our refuge but our own little world with our mate, we needed answers, sooner rather than later.

"Is he talking to you again?"  Roisin's sweet voice drew my gaze out of the clouds and back to her.  I nodded my head and smiled softly at her, but it dissolved a little when she scrunched her eyebrows up and continued.  "I have been hearing my own voice as well... she is as confused as I am and says she knows certain things when she sees them, like you, she knows you."  Her words made my heart skip a beat for a moment, and I held my breath without even realizing it while she continued.  "But she doesn't know how she knows you, and she knew there was something important at the back of the album, though she says she didn't know what it was."

"Only us and Gracie knew the ultrasound was at the back of the book Orion... How would Roisin know?"  Odin's voice was anxious as he listened to Roisin explaining to us what was going on inside her mind, but I knew we were both thinking the same thing.  A voice in her mind and the same scent as our lost mate... could Gracie or her wolf somehow be a part of Roisin? 

"The storm is gone, and if I'm honest, I am really tired.  Want to go inside?"  Roisin asked as she moved closer, putting her hands on my arms, I could feel the water rush around my legs from her tail treading water and I was surprised at how strong the current she was creating was.  I knew Sirens were strong swimmers, but the power Roisin was putting off had me, and Odin, a little in awe.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan, I'm assuming from what happened today that if you're dry your human, and if you're wet your in Mermaid form, so I'll carry you out and dry you off and we'll get you a dry shirt since that one is soaked now as well."  Putting my arm around her waist and on at the bend where I assumed her knees would be, I lifted her in my arms and strode from the lake with her arms around my neck.  The electricity pulsating from her cool skin into mine was enough to drive Odin to distraction and make me question how long we would be able to hold out against the mate bond.

With Roisin in hand, I took us to the cabin and despite her complaints of getting the mattress wet, set her on it.  "No complaining, If I sat you in a chair you'd slide out and hurt your self and if I set you on the ground it would be uncomfortable for you, besides, we won't need the bed again,"  I told her as she tried to complain and grabbed the last two clean towels of the four I owned, handing her one to start drying her hair I kneeled by her tail and started slowly drying the scales, afraid if I rubbed too hard I'd hurt her.

"Why won't we be needing the mattress again?  Do you plan on us sleeping on the ground outside?"  Roisins' melodic voice laughed softly as she eyed me, towel in hand as she squeezed her hair and gently rubbed it dry.  Damn if those pink and purple eyes weren't gorgeous.

"Because we'll be heading back to the mainland as soon as we get you dry and my few items packed and ready to leave,"  I told her, working my way from the bottom of her tail to her waist slowly.

"But why so soon?  Is there a rush?"  Her eyebrows pulled together in concern.

"No,"  I answered hurriedly, but a raise of one of those pretty eyebrows had me frowning in thought.  "I mean, there isn't really a rush, but I want to get there as soon as possible.  A storm just blew over which means we shouldn't get another for at least the night, and we don't want to be out on the water during the day.  Not only is it hot as hell but the sun will bake your alabaster skin like my sister's easy bake oven burnt their cookies when we were six."  The way Roisin raised another eyebrow made me chuckle and shake my head.  "I'll show you when we get there."

Just as I began to run the towel over Roisin's tail again the air around her shimmered and sparkled like diamond dust, her hair and tail seeming to glimmer for a moment before her tail shimmered into two beautiful, sleek, and very naked human legs and her hair faded quickly into damp red curls.  Her eyes soon followed fogging over for a moment before they became her beautiful large sea-colored orbs once more.  She was gorgeous in any form.

"Your hair is still damp, so the magic must wear off when your tail is dry.  Alright, good to know, now we just have to find a way to keep you dry while I get you to Tennessee.  That shouldn't be hard in Florida, it's totally known for its predictable weather."  I was talking sarcastically to myself under my breath and when I glanced up at Roisin again she was grinning at me like she didn't understand me.  "What?"  I questioned as I stood to go grab her another t-s**t and a pair of boxers.  Clothes were definitely at the top of the priority list when we got into town.

"It's just that you are so different from this morning is all, it seems an exceedingly short time for someone to change so quickly,"  Roisin observed as she pulled the soaked green shirt over her head, I managed to turn around before she had it off and shortly after the sound of her giggling drifted around me.

"It's not that I've changed, it's that I am acting more my self I guess?  This is me just as much as the brooding asshole is a part of me.  Two sides to one coin, though I'll try to only show you the good side."  She chuckled again and I smiled, I loved that sound, her laugh in any, shape or form was perfect. 

"I'm dressed now."  She said and I turned around to face her, in a sky blue shirt and boxers I wasn't sure 'dressed' was the word I'd used, but at least she wasn't soaking wet and naked.  I watched as her nimble fingers brushed through her tangled curls and haphazardly braided her hair over her shoulder as it had been earlier, the braid had come out while she'd been swimming in the lake and her gorgeous tri-colored hair had been a sight to see all spread out around her in the water.  "So, are you going to change as well or just drip all over the floor?"  

Following her gaze, I noticed the puddle under my feet for the first time and looked at her with a grin of my own.  "Yeah, I should do that.  Once I get dressed it won't take me long to pack up what little I have, and then we'll go to the boat and head to the coast of Florida."

"How long will it take to get there?"  

"The entire night, if not longer,"  I answered as I pulled a dry pair of shorts out of my bag and my last clean t-shirt.  "With my wolf strength, it's easier to get there and back."  I started changing, keeping my back to Roisin as I did so, even so, I could feel her eyes on me and it took everything in me not to rise to attention.

"Oh, so it's a rowboat?"  Her voice was husky and I fought Odin down as he tried to pull to the front in perverted fascination.

"Yeah, gasoline wouldn't be any good if it sat in a can here for a year, so there was no use in bringing a boat with a motor."  I turned to face her as I pulled a shirt over my head catching her staring at my abs as the cloth fell over my skin, I cleared my throat and her eyes flashed to mine, I would have expected her to blush and look abashed, but instead, she smiled at me and shrugged.

"It's a nice view, you can't blame me."  Damn, if she kept saying stuff like that we weren't going to get off of this island anytime soon.  Turning away from her I focused on packing up my clothes, throwing the wet ones in with the dirty dry pieces, I'd just wash them all when we got to a human town anyways, right after we got decent clothes for Roisin that was.

It didn't even take half an hour to get everything packed together and loaded in the little boat I had tucked away at the north side of the island, facing the direction I needed to go. By the time the moon and the stars were the only lights in the night sky to guide us the island was no longer visible, I knew we were still hours away from our final destination.  Roisin and I had talked off and on, her asking questions, me telling her stories about my childhood with my sisters and my mom, which just gave her more questions.

It was around 1 in the morning when I heard splashing near the boat and my senses went on high alert.  Calling on Odin's sight I looked through the water slowly, cool-colored objections swam past, and seconds later I saw something pop upside the boat, relieved when it was a curious dolphin.  It was looking right at Roisin and squeaking happily. 

"Well hello to you as well."  Roisin giggled, holding a hand out for the Dolphin to run its head under as it circled the boat.  The dolphin continued to click away happily and Roisin was watching it intently as if she were understanding the creature.  "What is it?"  She asked curiously, leaning forward in the boat, putting her hands on the edge.  I watching her nervously, wanting to reach out and wrap my arms around her so I could pull her close.  

"Careful Roisin,"  I said anxiously, as the boat rocked to the side slightly.  

"Sorry, Orion."  She said sending me a sweet smile as she leaned back to her seat, her eyes still sealed on the Dolphin as it continued to circle the boat, its eyes glued to my mate.  "She said that something is coming."

"Something coming?  What kind of something?"  I demanded, looking at the dolphin as if I'd understand it when it spoke.  Then I fully realized what she'd said, and my gaze pivoted back to Roisin.  "Wait, you can talk to it?"  The dolphin made an angry-sounding noise that had me glancing over at it with a raised eyebrow only to feel oddly chastised when I turned to see it glaring at me.  I hadn't even known that dolphins could glare.  "What?"  I asked the dolphin, Odin laughing in my head at not only me pissing off a dolphin but finding myself talking to it.

"I talk to you and you're basically an animal so shut it,"  I grumbled at him.

"She said she has a name and she doesn't appreciate being called 'it'."  Giggled Roisin reaching out to gently pat the dolphin's head again. 

"Alright, I'm sorry,"  I muttered rolling my eyes mentally at having just apologized to a dolphin.  "What is your name?"

The dolphin began squeaking louder and my eyes grew wide when I realized Roisin and her were both watching me intently.  "I'm sorry, I don't speak dolphin, and if I attempt to repeat that I may just end up cursing her out on accident."

Roisin dissolved into a fit of giggling and if the sounds her little friend was making were any indication, I had a dolphin laughing at me.  "She said her name is Adrella of the Golden Ring Clan."

"Golden Ring Clan?  Dolphin's live in clans?"  I asked incredulously and glanced between the sea creature and my mate, honestly shocked. 

"Apparently,"  Roisin added with a shrug.

"Okay, I have so many questions, but later, what is coming?"  I leaned towards Adrella now as well, anxious to know why she felt the need to warn Roisin.  How could I possibly have enemies in the ocean?  Unless a shark was stalking us?  Did they do that?  As far as I knew sharks generally left people alone.

"She says there are others following us, and she was sent ahead to warn me to..."  Roisin paused a moment and looked back at Adrella before asking softly.  "What was that last part again?  Oh, okay, she said she was sent ahead to tell me to prepare?"

Roisin and I exchanged a confused look right before Adrella ducked back into the water and swam away.  I felt the hairs on my arms stand up and Odin push to the front, using my eyes to search around us for any threat.  I felt them before I saw them, but it didn't matter, there was no time,  seconds later our boat was overturned, I reached out to grab Roisin as we tumbled into the water, my fingers wrapping around her arm as she was pulled violently out of my grasp.  When I splashed into the water I tried opening my eyes and looking around me, but it was impossible, the water was too dark to see anything, switching to Odin's thermal vision I searching through the water frantically finding nothing, which should be impossible, she should be here.

"Down!  Look down!"  Odin yelled through my mind.  

My gaze flew down and sure enough, I saw four thermal signatures, colder than the warm gulf water around them.  I tried swimming down as fast as I could, drawing on Odin's freely given strength to push through the water.  But I was no match and I began to run out of oxygen.  

"Go to the surface, we can't help her if we pass or die from lack of oxygen!"  Odin growled unhappily, he didn't want to leave her any more than I did, but he was right, if we passed out then we were no good to our mate.  Cursing myself and whatever had taken her I switched directions and swam up.  When I broke the surface I gasped for air and looked around frantically for the boat.  Finding it a few yards away, I cut through the water, it was bobbing upside down, but at least it hadn't sunk.  Flipping it back over took a few tries since I was now exhausted from trying to follow my mate into the black depths of the ocean. 

I grabbed the paddles that were bobbing on the surface of the water, thankfully I had tied them to the boat or I would have had to find them.  My duffle bag was also tied to the boat as well, so what few belongings I had were safe.  I pulled myself into the boat and laid on the bottom breathing heavily, though if from the soul-crushing failure filling me or actual exhaustion I wasn't sure.  

I had one job,  protect my mate, and once again I had failed at it.  She was gone, deep beneath the water.  

"Odin, I won't be able to survive this a second time... I want to go after her, even if it kills us."  I spoke allowed to my wolf, as I had many times over the years we'd been alone on our little island.

"What if she needs us and we are not able to help?"  Odin asked though I could tell he agreed with me.  Live or die, Roisin was our second chance and we'd follow her into whatever fate she met.

"I'd rather die trying than live never knowing what happened Odin."

"I agree... go after our mate.  I'll push every ounce of power I have into you."  

I stood, stripping off my shirt and pulling my hair back at the nape of my neck to tie it out of my way, and with a last deep breath, I dove down into the water, using Odin's thermal vision to find my targets, they were harder to spot now but I found them, and I began cutting through the water through them.

"What about our powers?  Can we pull them towards us?"  I asked as I pushed through the water, trying to close the distance.

"I already tried, it doesn't work in the water apparently."  He answered, sounding as frustrated as his words made me.

I didn't get very far when a flash of white-hot light shot through the water from where my mate and her abductors were, coming straight for me.  In the water, I wasn't able to move as quickly and I was unable to dodge, the lightening from below me struck through my shoulder, and seconds later I was passing out, the pain unbearable as it coursed through my system, but it was forgotten as all I questioned was if I'd see both of my mates in the next life.