• Vol. 08
  • Chapter 07

Here be Wyrms

It really is not going to end well – especially if Mum ever finds out. He promised to stop the affairs if she gave him one last chance. Again. All lies – he is incapable of being faithful to the one lady to survive his scaly embrace for more than fifteen years. The nameless, half-naked woman sits there, all unsuspecting. She lied about her age, taking shocking liberties with the truth, but that doesn't matter – she is not destined to get any older. Her legs kick with a childish glee, the pink silk scarf flapping in the salt-edged breeze. Might as well enjoy her last few hours on Earth. He whispers sweet nothings, his voice bypassing straight into her cerebral cortex. She was looking for love and romance. He just wants dinner. Does that still count as cheating?

Technically, Dad is supposed to be teaching me all about predator – prey dynamics. Easy for a twenty feet long sea serpent with a fake profile on five different websites and a stash of sunken gold. Only the top half of me can pass as human and I am rather short for my age. My lessons in casting a glamour camouflage to hide my true form are not getting any better. He is not a patient teacher and shouts a lot, says that I do it on purpose. Mum tells me to give it more time but what does she know? She has no idea what it is like to be a teenager with scales and a tail, awash with raging hormones from not one but two very different species. Just once I would like to go for a paddle and feel sand squish between toes I will never have, instead of undulating sulkily in his wake. Just for once, I want him not to play with his food and start listening to me. Is that really so much to ask?

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