A Mermaid's Ransom Read Free

Goddess had given her the gift at all, because the only way it seemed useful was to make people feel happy-fuzzy being around her. In short, she could give a moment's breather to a girlfriend experiencing the blinding agony of being jilted by a guy, or stop someone from jumping off a building. Everything in between needed to be hands-off. Since she couldn't switch off either ability, they drew people to her.
    She didn't really mind that. What was frustrating was that the same light that sent out a "come hither" feeling also had a "too good to touch" vibe when it came to males. Unconsciously, they remained at arm's length, keeping their hands off.
    Alexis scrubbed her face. "At least the guy in my dream was different, even if he was sort of a hellspawn, scary demon-vampire type."
    Clara slid an arm around her, a reassurance Alexis gratefully accepted, along with her friend's cautious but teasing smile. "Tell all, girlfriend. Was he hung like a moose?"
    "Oh, Goddess." Alexis rolled her eyes. "Is that all a guy needs?"
    "No, of course not. I expect intelligence, a sense of humor, an enormous bank account and a great body coupled with a decent but manly fashion sense. The well-hung component only becomes requisite if we get that far. But in dreams you can assume those things are given and jump ahead to the good parts. Literally."
    Alexis tried to laugh and instead drew a deep, shuddering breath, thinking of the man in her dream again. While she could feel his emotions, for the first time in her life, they'd been so overwhelming they were mostly incomprehensible. Maybe because it was a dream. Just a dream. When she pressed her face against Clara's shoulder to stop the spinning, the girl closed both arms around her, rocking her.
    "Take it easy, now," she murmured. "I got you. You're such a strange friend, Lex. I don't think I've ever loved anyone more, because you love back like it's the easiest thing in the world, and you have enough for everyone. But you also worry me. Sometimes you're way too alone, even though everyone adores you. It's as if you're pulling away, toward a destiny that's kind of scary. I don't want to lose you."
    Okay, here was one of the reasons having a clairvoyant friend was not fun. Clara's observations always held truth. Since Alexis had the same lingering feeling, her anxiety swelled, tempting her to tell Clara everything. But that was one of the rules that couldn't be broken.
    Over twenty years ago, a huge apocalyptic battle had happened. Humans had briefly seen angels in the sky, even fought beside some of them to push back the tide of Dark Ones unleashed through a rift. After that, for reasons known only to the Goddess, the angels had been commanded to disappear from human sight again, leaving humans to wonder whether they'd experienced a spiritual revelation, a visit from outer space or some mass hallucinatory trip brought on by sunspots. Budgets to investigate extraterrestrial life had tripled in all developed nations. As accounts varied, life returned to normal again, angels and other paranormal creatures remaining speculative fantasy to all but the select few humans ready to handle the truth.
    So Alexis hugged her, straightened and pushed Clara's straight red hair away from her forehead, touching the delicate diamond and gold ring she wore in the right nostril. "I already told you, you're going to lose me one day. I'm going to run away with the circus. I'll free all the lions, tigers and elephants, and take them back to Africa on a raft I make out of wishes."
    The shadows cleared from Clara's gaze. "There you are. Doing that thing you do."
    "What?"
    "Talking like a kindergarten teacher, while all of us eat it up like five-year-olds."
    Alexis made a face. "By the way, he was well-hung. I didn't see it. I felt it."
    "Yuck." Clara giggled and shoved her away, throwing the Tigger so it bounced off Alexis's shoulder. "I never imagined my kindergarten teacher wrapping her fingers around anything except a