That evening, after Dr. Emerson had left for the night, Kieshala was as good as her word and began training us to use our magical abilities. The only one of us who was close to consciously using her ability was Kara but the auras she sensed only appeared infrequently and she couldn’t hold the connection to a person’s aura for very long when it did. She couldn’t actually consciously summon the ability though.

Jenny had used her ability once, but she hadn’t been consciously doing it. She had seen that Kieshala was injured and her instincts had kicked in but her aetral had basically used her rather than her using it. Kieshala told us that if we wanted to master our gifts then there were two things that we needed to do.

Firstly, we needed to find out what it felt like when we used our aetral so that we could not only use it on command but control it to do exactly what we wanted it to, and how much magic we used to do it. The magic itself was the other side of the equation. We had to find the weave of magic inside ourselves and summon it consciously. We wouldn’t be able to use it much or for very long at first but our magic was like a muscle and exercising it was important to our development. The more that we trained at summoning our magic and directing it, the stronger our magic would get and the longer we would be able to summon it.

Kara and Jenny had already used their aetral so they had a general idea of how to use it. I hadn’t yet, so the plan was for me to try to trigger it by singing. From what Kieshala was able to tell me, Soulsingers like me focused their ability through singing or humming. Our physical voices are made for that, which was why mine was so naturally clear and musical. She literally just had to hear me speak to know what my aetral was.

She didn’t really know much more about my aetral than that though because Soulsingers are rare. Having one in your clan could elevate the clan’s status but Moonreef Clan hadn’t had one for ages. So she couldn’t offer me any advice except to sing or hum as much as I could get away with until I could accidentally trigger my ability. Healers like Jenny were nearly as rare but at least she had an idea of what using her aetral felt like. The pair of us would be a huge boon to Clan Moonreef if we could ever get free and stay alive long enough to find them.

As for finding the weave of magic within ourselves, that was basically just assisted meditation. We had to feel for the warmth of the light inside ourselves. This was easier said than done. I had never been good at the whole meditation and introspection thing. If I had been good at it, I would have probably figured out that I was a girl inside without having to become a Naethari first. So, it came as no surprise to me when I didn’t find it that night. The only one of us who had was Jenny.

As we all curled up together on the bottom of the pool to get some sleep, I tried singing lullabies. I was the last to fall asleep, but probably not because of any magic or anything. At least I didn’t feel anything that could have been magic. I was pretty sure that we were all just tired from a very long day. It wasn’t long before I joined the others in slumber.

For the next couple of days, we settled into a pattern of sorts. We would start the day by eating our breakfast while Dr. Emerson observed our behavior and then ‘play’ with her until lunchtime as she socialized with us and tried to teach us various games adapted to playing in the water. After we ate lunch, Kieshala would take us back to the bottom of the pool to work on tail and fin exercises, and meditation, and then we would alternate between working on our swimming and trying to extend the time that we could summon our magic and use our aetral.

Dr. Emerson would then return in time to give us dinner and then observe and socialize with us for a while until it was time for her to leave. I wasn’t sure what she was doing with the off-time in the afternoons. She could have been writing a book about us or running errands for all that I knew. I think that she was trying to give us some time to just socialize and play with our fellow Naethari though. It was like she didn’t want to overwhelm us with too much human interaction until we were comfortable with her and our environment. Especially since Kieshala was making it obvious that she was trying to teach us things.

Every lesson under Kieshala was spoken in both Naethari and Porpoise so that we were learning the new language as well as whatever else that she was having us work on. I was actually starting to understand a bit of it and she was encouraging us to try to speak it as well. We were getting better with our fins and tails each day too. I just wished that the lessons on how to use our aetral were going as well.

Both Kara and I had managed to find our magic on that second day of trying but I was still no closer to triggering my gift than I had been when we had started. I was getting a lot of singing practice though and I found myself really enjoying that, especially now that I had a voice that I didn’t hate. I could only really practice when we weren’t under observation though, and underwater as well, to try to avoid any possible cameras or listening devices in the room.

We were also getting to know one another and becoming more comfortable with each other. Kieshala was kind of like a mother hen and quickly took on the older mature sister and teacher role. She was almost motherly, though it was hard for us former humans to think of her like that since she looked around the same age as me and Kara. Jenny was quickly becoming the kid sister I had never had but always secretly wanted. She was a sweet girl and could be so energetic and playful at times when she was relaxed. She was even starting to show that side around Dr. Emerson once in a while.

Things with Kara were complicated though. I liked her and I could see us being great friends. She was smart, thoughtful, caring, and goal-oriented. She had actually wanted to study marine biology when she started college the next year, which explained some of the observations that she had made about Naethari biology. We probably would have been best friends if I wasn’t so attracted to her. It was making me act awkward at times and I was sure that everyone could see right through me.

To make it worse, she would sometimes say or do things that would have made me think that she was interested in me if I was still a guy. I had no idea how girls our age interacted with one another either, so that wasn’t really helping things either. Three mornings in a row I awoke with her arm around me and I just felt so safe and wanted while in her embrace that it was making my feelings for her even worse and I was crushing on her big time.

When she awoke in that position it made things awkward for me because I couldn’t dare tell her how I felt. Trying to look like I hadn’t been enjoying it too much made me feel and act awkwardly because she was obviously embarrassed by it and that just made her act awkward as well. For her sake, I tried to just wave it off as girls being girls.

It wasn’t really a surprise when I woke up in her embrace on our fifth morning of captivity. This time though, I managed to slip out without waking her and put some distance between us so I could start on my fin and tail exercises. A sad look passed over her face and she reached out in her sleep as if for a lost teddy bear. I so wished that it was something more than unconscious reactions making her reach out for my absent form like that.

I managed to put it out of my mind briefly while I exercised and then did a few laps. The others were all still asleep when I heard the door opening and, expecting that it was breakfast time, I gently woke them. They were all rising sleepily to the surface to join me by the time breakfast was served.

Things went about as normal as our new normal was until mid-morning. Dr. Emerson had been playing catch with us but she was getting a bit tired and was sitting out for a bit while we continued to play. Kieshala was having us use our tails and fins to try to keep as much of our upper bodies out of the water as we could and it proved to be a very good exercise for us and was helping to develop our strength, stamina, and fine control over our new lower bodies.

Kara had gotten a bit too exuberant with a lob and it sailed over my outstretched hand to land on the tiles at the edge of the pool and bounce away. It got about twenty feet away from the pool before it had rolled to a stop. I decided to climb out of the pool and made my way over to get it and was most of the way there when Dr. Emerson noticed what I was doing and laughed. “You know, I could have gotten that for you, Melody.”

It was about then that I heard footsteps and men’s voices approaching from outside the room, though I couldn’t make out most of what they were saying until the lock clicked and the door opened. I turned my gaze there, wondering what was up. An Australian accented voice was saying, “… don’t understand all the secrecy, mate. I’m used to safety waivers in my line o’ work, but confidentiality agreements?”

“Mermaids,” the other voice replied. “They’re terrifying though; fangs and claws, and poisonous spines coming out of their arms. I saw one of them kill a man before he even realized what was happening.”

That was when one of the guards that I thought was ‘Joe’ entered the room with an unfamiliar man dressed in board shorts and a muscle shirt with deck shoes on his feet, and a tranquilizer gun and cattle prod hanging from his belt. He was tanned with short brown hair and looked like he worked out too much, having a physique closer to a bodybuilder’s than a swimmer’s. “Crikey! You must be puttin’ me on, mate.”

That was about when Dr. Emerson stood up and called out, “You must be Trevor Dane, our new trainer. I’m Dr. Natalie Emerson, the girls’ primary caregiver, and doctor. This is Melody, one of our mermaids. I’ve been working on building trust with them, so if you take some time and let them get to know you, hopefully, your job will be a lot easier.”

He was staring at me and it made me really uncomfortable. It was taking everything that I had not to bare my fangs and hiss at him. I was about to drag my naked self back to the water when the man let out a derisive snort. “Listen, love. From what I’ve been told, that there is a predator. I’ve worked with a lot o’ predators and I’ve never gotten anywhere by playin’ nice with 'em. What you need is a display of dominance, show ‘em who’s boss.”

“Now, listen here. I’ve been observing and interacting with them. I know them better than anyone,” Dr. Emerson countered, trying to keep her voice calm and level.

The Steve Irwin wannabe wasn’t listening as he stomped toward me threateningly. I barely had a chance to try to back off before he drew the cattle prod from his belt and jabbed it into the still wet flesh on my left side ribs. “Get back in the water!”

I think that I may have screamed as I fell to the ground like a limp noodle and started convulsing. ~ Naiya! ~ the other Naethari called into my mind in concern.

~ I’m going to kill him, ~ Kara practically snarled. She was the last one that I expected to lose control and I would have been worried about her actually doing it if I hadn’t just gotten electrocuted.

At the moment all that I could do was spasm and watch though as Dr. Emerson reacted faster than any of us expected, especially Crocodile Dumdee. Her face was a mask of fury as she snatched the prod from his hand and gave him a taste of his own medicine, right between the legs. As he went down twitching, she snarled, “Was that dominant enough for you, Asshole?!” Then she turned her glare to the guard. “Joe, get him out of here, he’s fired.”

~Jenny, wait here, I do not wish for you to get hurt if this gets violent and we cannot risk you healing Naiya in front of the humans, ~ I could hear Kieshala saying.

“But Mr. Pierce…” Joe started to argue with Dr. Emerson.

“I know that Mr. Pierce hired that idiot. But since I doubt that Mr. Pierce wants this project to fail spectacularly, I’m firing him. I’ll deal with Mr. Pierce,” she told Joe flatly.

Joe seemed uncertain for a moment but then quickly grabbed the spastic man by the arms and dragged him out of the pool room. It could have had something to do with the two very angry Naethari that were now out of the water and gathering protectively around me. “Idiots,” Dr. Emerson muttered bitterly. Then, seeming to realize that she was still clutching the cattle prod, she tossed it toward the doors and looked cautiously toward us. She held out her hands and tried to make no sudden movements as she moved slowly toward the deck chair she had been seated in before this started. “I need to get my medical bag so I can take care of Melody.”

Kieshala watched Dr. Emerson carefully. ~ I knew that we couldn’t trust these humans. ~

Meanwhile, Kara took my hand in hers and tried to make soothing sounds as she looked down at me in worry. ~ Are you okay, Naiya? ~

~ It only hurts when I breathe or try to move. ~ I answered, though it was taking a bit more concentration than usual to form the words in my mind through the pain. ~ We can’t trust all of them, Kieshala, but I think that Dr. Emerson is one of the good ones. Did you see what she did? ~

~ Yes, I did. It is the only reason that she is not dead now.~ the elder Naethari said, trying to calm herself.

~ She’s going to try to treat Naiya’s injury, we should let her approach, ~ Kara suggested as she gripped my hand in hers and gently stroked my hair. When Dr. Emerson approached with her medical bag, she and Kieshala made a point of being protective but they let her approach after scenting the air.

Dr. Emerson knelt down beside me and winced as she looked at my side. “He really jabbed it in there, didn’t he? That’s a nasty electrical burn and I don’t have anything to treat that. It’s not something that you see often with marine animals around here. He could have stopped your heart if he had jabbed you any higher. The best that I can do is bandage it, keep an eye out for infection, and hope that your natural regeneration helps to heal it properly.” She got a large piece of gauze and placed it over the burn, quickly securing it in place with medical tape.

She listened to my heartbeat with a stethoscope and checked my head for any possible injuries, once she was able to convince Kara to give her the space to do it. As soon as she finished treating me she went to her chair to extract her cellphone from her purse. Then she walked nearly to the doors, probably to give us some space before making a call. I assumed that she had called Pierce because she had to wait quite a while and then the conversation got really heated. She wasn’t close enough for me to hear Pierce’s side of the conversation but we could all definitely hear her side.

“Mr. Dane will not be staying on this project… Because I damned well fired him!” she snapped angrily. The woman had a backbone, that was for sure. “He was here less than five minutes and he probably set back any progress that I’ve made here by a week or more! …Well, he damn near killed one of your precious mermaids just to stroke his own goddamn ego! …Check the security feeds if you want, I don’t care if you believe me… What? None? But you said…”

There was a short pause from Dr. Emerson before she sighed and started speaking again. “I know, you want them to be friendly, cooperative, and gentle. Melody has displayed all of those qualities and we were making real progress, and then he came in here, didn’t listen to a word that I said, and electrocuted her for no reason while she was being social with me. Now I need to regain their trust! …No, I’ll look into a new trainer myself so you don’t need to worry about wasting your time. I’ll have a shortlist for you by the end of the week.”

When she was done she placed her phone back in her purse. Then she cautiously approached us once more before checking my heart rate again. “I’m so sorry, girls. I should have been faster. I’ll make sure that your new trainer is trustworthy, I promise.”

What I did next was probably impulsive and reckless but as she removed the pad of the stethoscope from my chest, I reached up to take it in my shaking hand, pulled it up to my lips, and spoke so quietly that only the other Naethari would have been able to hear it without assistance. “Thanks, Doc. Please… don’t say anything… or react visibly. We need your help, and I need to borrow… your tablet.”