Diary of a Radical Mermaid Read Free Page A

them a Mer-like capacity for appalled attitudes and prissy social judgment. “Just a blog,” I flung at them, and hurried by.
    In her elegant, sun-filled office, Lilith looked up from an exquisite Russian czarina desk Napoleon shipped home to Josephine during that foolish little trek toward Moscow. Josephine was one of us, by the way. Such a naive child, though understandably caught up in owning lovely jewels and gilded etageres. How foolish to fall in love with a Lander in general and a midget megalomaniac in particular.
    My great-aunt frowned at me. I gulped. Lilith looked frighteningly at home behind an empress’s desk.
    “I hear from Tula,” she said, “that you’re writing some kind of computerized journal about us, for the whole world to read.”
    I sank down on an overstuffed French divan with all the drama of a wounded artiste. Me, that is, not the divan. “Go ahead and scold me. Tell me I’ll be in trouble with the Council again.” I swooned on the divan with the back of one hand against my forehead. “Never mind that I’m a serious writer and scholarly Mer historian, not to mention the daughter of your third cousin once removed —”
    “If only you’d channel your melodrama into an acting career, Juna Lee.” She smiled, all shrewd eyes and cool mouth, catlike. “You could be the host of one of those reality shows. I have the perfect name for it. All Wet.”
    I wound a long necklace of pearls into a faux noose around my throat. “So you’ll let me hang in the court of public opinion? You refuse to help me?”
    “On the contrary.”
    I dropped my pearls and lurched upright on the divan. “Really?”
    “Yes. I approve of your blog.”
    “You approve of my blog?”
    “Yes. And I’ll even allow you to post excerpts from my history of Mers.”
    I squealed and applauded. “This is wonderful.”
    “It’s not for your benefit. It’s for all of us. The world is becoming a very small place, Juna Lee. The oceans are shrinking.”
    “You mean . . . metaphorically? Because I thought we had that whole shrinking ocean thing all taken care of with global warming.”
    Lilith sighed at my frivolity. “There has always been a delicate balance between us and the immense Lander population. That balance is becoming more fragile as our worlds merge. Humans in a disconnected world, lost to themselves and each other, encased in vast waters or dry cities, while the planet slowly spins out of control toward a frightening future of sterile and regimented loneliness. I’m seeking to draw the faithful together and create a social revolution of sorts, a quiet return to the water in spirit as well as form. Landers share the waters with us, they always have. They are part of us. And we are part of them.”
    “Only much better dressed.”
    Lilith arched a brow. I was hopeless, yes. “Go and write your computer journal, your blog. Try to spread the good word about us, Juna Lee. See what you stir up and who swims to the surface because of it. You may find a good deal of trouble, but not from the powers that be. I’ll speak to the Council on your behalf.”
    I was stunned. This was much better news than I’d dared hope. I leapt to my feet. “You’ll intervene with the Council? Let’s celebrate! I’ll make a gallon of martinis! And a second gallon for you!”
    My career as a Mer blogger had been launched.
     
     

Crossing Jordan Chapter 4
    I hurried to take advantage of my new status as a journalist. My first interview: Jordan Brighton. I headed up the coast in my lovely little yacht, The Delicious. Destination: the very rich enclave of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Land of fine beaches, multiple golf courses, excellent shopping, exquisite resorts, and Jordan, the most alluring hellion since Rhett Butler (who, by the way, exhibited many of the qualities of your average Mer playboy). I decided I’d wear something expensive, seductive, but very, very strict.
    The oversexed dog fish began singing to me even