Deep Water Read Online Free PDF Page A

else? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind coming to your condo for sessions,”
she suggested.
    The other Nereid shook her head. “I don’t
feel comfortable bringing the mers into a human
settlement. Things are tense enough between them and their grotto as it is. I
don’t wish to add more stress if I don’t have to.” She gave her sister a wry
look. “I’ll just have to bite the bullet and accept that I may have to talk to
Poseidon now and then. It won’t kill me, after all.”
    “Yes, one of the benefits about being an
immortal, I suppose,” Hyacinth said, taking a quick nibble of her cookie. “Of
course, it might not be a bad idea, you know.”
    “What?”
    “Talking to Poseidon. I think the mortals
call it ‘getting closure’.”
    The temperature in the small office dropped.
“I don’t see how I could achieve closure with Poseidon,” Amphitrite said.
“Unless he did something really spectacular, such as immolate himself in a
volcano.”
    Hyacinth winced. “ Ammie ,
you know I’m on your side with this. What he did was horrible. But that was
also thousands of years ago. At some point, you have to let it go, for your own
sake.” She gentled her voice. “Tell me truly—do you even remember what she
looked like?”
    The other Nereid’s face clouded over. “I
will always remember how she looked,” Amphitrite said softly. “She had large, light
brown eyes, like those of an owl. Her nose was elegant, but with the tiniest
snubbing at the tip. When she laughed, the entire room seemed to light up. And
even though she was small she always stood up straight, modest and attentive,
the perfect handmaiden.”
    Hyacinth’s heart ached at the ancient
grief in her sister’s eyes. “Forgive me, Ammie . I
didn’t mean to dredge up the past.”
    “You didn’t, Hy .
That’s the problem. I carry it with me always. It’s my penance for failing her
the way I did.” Amphitrite pressed her lips together, Hyacinth assumed to mask
their trembling. “And that is why I cannot achieve closure with Poseidon. If I
forgive him for what he did, it feels like I’m betraying her.”
    “Even though you miss him?” Hyacinth regretted
the words the moment they slipped out.
    But Amphitrite simply nodded. “Even though
I miss him. He’ll always have part of my heart, the same as she does. But every
time I look at him, I see her in Athena’s temple giving me a look of loathing that
still tears at my soul. And it makes me so angry, both at him and myself.” She
blinked once, hard. “And I’m so tired of being angry. But there’s no way either
of us can fix this. It’s best if we just stay away from each other.”
    Hyacinth had to wonder if that was true.
But she couldn’t think of a way around her sister’s marital conundrum and the
gaping hole at its core. All she could do was offer another cookie and pray to
the Fates to ease the other Nereid’s heart.
    ****
    Poseidon guided the powerful sea horses
through the cove opening, landing next to the coral field. After making sure
that they had sufficient grazing, he put away his trident and headed into the
shallows.
    The deep purple tint of the water
indicated that it was evening, but with an unaware mortal now living on the
cove he couldn’t simply emerge from the surf like he used to. It was possible
to open a portal directly into the cottage, of course, but doing that while
under water tended to bring a certain quantity of liquid along.
    Invisibility it
is. Adjusting the air molecules around his body to refract light and render him
invisible, he stepped out of the water and headed to his sons’ cottage.
    The porch door was open, as was the back
door to the cottage proper. The building itself, however, was empty. Annoyed,
Poseidon stood in the kitchen and wondered what he was supposed to do now.
    “Father?”
    He turned. Aphros stood in the back
doorway, wearing his preferred mortal clothing of a garishly patterned tropical
shirt and cargo shorts. “I didn’t know you