Chapter 37: That Wasn't How Things Worked

Brennan was glad that taking Talori to the movies seemed to cheer her up. She was in a perfectly good mood again by Saturday morning when they met up with Harmony, Castian, and Piper at the marina.

"Do I want to know where you got this boat?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harmony rolled her eyes. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. This is the coven's boat. The one we use to meet with that merman Gar."

"…do you even know how to drive a boat?"

"Why do you think Piper is here?"

Aha. Brennan had wondered since she wasn't usually a part of their little group despite being one of the few at the witch coven who were aware of Talori being a mermaid. Having someone able to drive a boat was important.

Talori had seen boats but had never been on one before. As he wheeled her aboard, she looked around with her usual sense of wide-eyed wonder. "So this is what a boat is like? Wow!"

"Yep. How far out are we going, Harmony?"

"Far enough that no one will see what we're doing. We need to be in the literal middle of nowhere."

"…how long is this going to take? I have another group project meeting at three," Castian said, speaking up for the first time since they all arrived.

Harmony tapped him on the nose with her finger. "Don't you worry about a thing! It only takes about an hour to get to the middle of nowhere and an hour to get back. We started early for a reason, you know."

Castian blinked, clearly not expecting the nose tap. "Right."

Brennan narrowed his eyes at those two. They were certainly acting weird this morning. He had only seen them together twice but both of those times they hardly interacted. It wasn't his business so he didn't say anything but he couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

Harmony and Piper chatted about what they were planning on having Talori do while out on open water, Brennan was answering as many boat-related questions from her as he could, and Castian stood against the railing looking out at the horizon with his hair (hidden by his glamour) obviously whipping around his face based on how he tried brushing something Brennan couldn't see away so many times. Eventually he got annoyed enough by this that he used a hair tie hidden beneath his sleeve to braid it back. Invisible braiding was a new sight.

They arrived before long and there wasn't another boat in sight, just as they had hoped. He lifted Talori up so she was sitting on the railing and could dive into the water. She let out her happy dolphin noises once she came back up.

"Ooh, it feels so good to be in the ocean again!"

"Sorry," Brennan and Harmony said in sync, clearly both thinking about the tiny containers of salt water they had been hydrating her in all this time.

Talori waved them off. "Don't be. Nothing could ever replace the ocean because of how endless it is. I know being on the surface comes with certain limitations. It's just nice to be able to swim again for a little while. What do you want me to do?"

"Anything and everything! I do want to see if you can go that water-grabbing trick with the whole boat to move it from one spot to another but aside from that show me whatever you can. The biggest and flashiest tricks you can think of," Harmony said eagerly.

Piper nodded beside her with a wide grin on her face. Both of their eyes were glowing.

Talori did as they said but didn't provide adequate warning. When the boat was picked up everyone lurched.

Brennan shot into the air out of instinct but no one else was able to do that. Castian clung to the railing for dear life with the most expression he had ever seen from him while the witches hit the deck, laughing in delight.

When they splashed back down everyone got soaked. Harmony and Piper went around drying everyone off with their wands, regaining equilibrium quickly.

Poor Castian wasn't so lucky. His legs seemed like jelly and he spoke feebly. "A little warning would have been nice."

"Sorry, Castian!" Talori cried. "I will be sure to warn you next time!"

You are reading story MerMade For Each Other at novel35.com

"Oh great. There's going to be a next time."

Brennan felt a bit sorry for him. The elf had clearly never done anything like this before. He was used to this sort of thing by now after hanging out with Harmony and Talori. Nothing could faze him anymore.

Castian had agreed to talk to him about business sustainability today but he was willing to bet that he hadn't anticipated being a part of an experiment in the process. If Harmony told him in advance what would be happening, he probably would have been less inclined to agree.

That wasn't all that Talori did with the boat either. At least she did warn them the next time as promised. She ended up making it ride a gigantic wave, created a whirlpool that it spun around in, and made it move as if it was driving itself despite the engine being off.

Throughout all of this the long-suffering elf looked slightly as though he was going to be sick. Harmony was too caught up in writing everything down while she and Piper asked a ton of questions. By the time they finished Castian was on his knees on the deck looking as though his soul had been sucked out of him.

That was when Harmony finally noticed there was something off with him. Her eyes widened in horror and she rushed over to him.

"Castian! Are you alright? Why didn't you say that you get seasick?!"

"…because it's never been a problem before. To be fair, I have never been on such a turbulent boat ride."

"Brennan, help me! He's too tall for me to carry by myself," Harmony said with a sharp look in his direction. She wasn't wrong. She was maybe a foot shorter than him. "I'll take his arms, you take his legs. We need to get him into the cabin."

Brennan nodded grimly before flying over to help. It was a bit difficult getting him down the stairs but they managed to do it and set him up on a couch where she immediately began fussing over him.

It had been a while since he felt like such a third wheel. He excused himself to go get Talori back onto the boat.

She had seen what happened and looked concerned. "Is Castian alright?"

"He should be," Brennan remarked, thinking of how Harmony had been hovering over him and fetching him things when he left. "He just isn't used to stuff like this."

"Elves are such babies," Piper scoffed. "That was amazing, Talori! Don't you worry about a thing."

Talori didn't seem entirely convinced but nodded anyway. Brennan flew over and pulled her out of the water, carrying her bridal-style so he could set her back in the wheelchair more easily. Piper used her magic to dry him off as soon as he had.

Once all of their passengers were aboard the witch headed to the controls and began steering them back toward shore. They all had to put their glamours back on as they got closer in case anyone on a passing ship saw them.

"What did you think of my magic, Brennan?" Talori asked, looking up at him expectantly.

She clearly wanted to be praised. And her magic had been truly impressive so he didn't need to exaggerate at all. He smiled and patted her head since she looked like a kelpie that had just performed a trick and was expecting a treat.

"It was amazing! You're a real powerhouse."

She let out one of her happy squeals and bounced a little in her seat. "Thank you! Hopefully the witches think so too."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. I saw their reactions up close and they were thrilled."

"Oh good. I do still feel bad about Castian though. Do you really think he's alright? Should we go check on him?"

"Harmony's taking care of him. We would only get in the way," Brennan said, thinking of what he had seen earlier and how their relationship seemed a lot closer than it had the last time he saw the two of them together.

What had changed? Everyone knew that elves and witches weren't together in any meaningful capacity. That wasn't how things worked. Maybe she just felt guilty that he wasn't feeling well because he had come out here to participate in her research.

That would make a lot more sense than Harmony feeling any true degree of attachment to the boyfriend whose existence she never bothered mentioning until she happened to bring him along to help Brennan get Talori to the witch coven. Witches didn't get attached. Neither did elves.. It wasn't in their natures.

You can find story with these keywords: MerMade For Each Other, Read MerMade For Each Other, MerMade For Each Other novel, MerMade For Each Other book, MerMade For Each Other story, MerMade For Each Other full, MerMade For Each Other Latest Chapter