They walked through the night toward Doris' home. The air was warm; it was summer. “This is fun,” Nerine said. Her words reached Doris as silent thoughts.

  “I don't like being out alone like this,” Doris said. “It's not safe.”

  “But you came this way without concern.”

  “I was impelled by the ache in my groin. The song made all else barely relevant. Now I am no longer under its spell, and I am aware of the danger.”

  “Danger?”

  “It just isn't safe.”

  Nerine shrugged mentally, not arguing the point. Obviously the woman had her mortal hangups.

  Something loomed on the road ahead of them. It was a monstrous whale-like shape with two huge bright eyes. The light from them illuminated Doris

  This time it was the mortal who reassured the immortal. “That's just a passing truck. Nothing to worry about.”

  Sure enough, the vehicle cruised right past them, whomping them with its blast of air. It seemed that such machines routinely traveled the roads; they weren't monsters after all. Oh, obviously if a person stood in front of one it would mow her down, but it wouldn't pursue her off the road the way a real monster would.

  Other vehicles passed. Then one stopped beside them. “Hey, girl, want a ride?” a man's voice called from inside it. That was another surprise: there were human people inside the machines. That was another difference: when a big fish or whale swallowed a person, it did not let them out; it digested them.

  “No thank you,” Doris called back.

  But the truck did not move on. Instead the man got out and came around it. “I must insist. Get in the cab.”

  Doris shrank away. “No!”

  The man grabbed her arm. “Say, you're a nice one,” he said. He swung her around and pushed her against the side of the truck. “Then we'll do it right here, standing up. Like that better?”

  “Please, no!” Doris pleaded tearfully.

  Now Nerine caught on. This was a man intent on forced sex, otherwise known as rape. An immortal woman could be tricked or coerced into unwanted sex, but seldom actually forced. Evidently it was different with mortals. Doris's concern was valid, even though she was clothed. “Do you want to stop him?” Nerine asked, knowing that only Doris could hear her.

  “Yes!” Unfortunately the man could hear that.

  “That's better,” the man said. He put his fingers on her shirt and ripped it down, opening her upper body to his view. Then he reached down and brought out his erect penis, which was a fair example of its kind, for a mortal. Nereus' member was far more impressive, of course.

  But this was perhaps not the best time for reflection. It would not be good to have another member poking about in the space where Neris was forming. “Put your hand on his penis,” Nerine said.

  “What?” Doris asked, appalled.

  “Do it. Time is short.” Indeed, the man was fumbling to get Doris's skirt up.

  Doris reluctantly obeyed. She reached down and lightly grasped the man's stiff member.

  Nerine invoked her electric eel power. Current flowed.

  “Oooooo!” the man howled, falling back.

  “What happened?” Doris asked, amazed.

  “I shocked him. It will be a month before that member recovers.”

  Doris laughed a bit hysterically as she jerked away from the injured man and clumsily put her shirt back together. “Electrocuted his penis!”

  “That generally does give a man pause,” Nerine said.

  “You nereids are not at all helpless!”

  “Not at all,” Nerine agreed. “We need ways to remain virginal until we encounter the right man. Unfortunately with fifty of us, it is hard to find the right man, and I am at the end of the line. So I'm expendable. That does not mean that I will submit to rape.”

  “Expendable?”

  “Available for inclement assignments.”

  Doris frowned. “Like this one?”

  “Yes.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Do not be. It is an honor for me to nurture my brother. My sisters will be jealous. Meanwhile, I just might find a compatible mortal man.”

  They walked away from the hunched man and his vehicle. “I think I'm going to like you,” Doris said. “I feel safer already.”

  “It is my assignment to support and protect you until Neris is birthed, then to support and teach him the sea culture.”

  “Not to protect him?”

  “He will not need it.”

  Doris didn't challenge that. Actually, Nerine would protect the boy if that became necessary, but she didn't expect to have to.

  In due course they reached Doris's home. “It's a rental, what I could afford on waitress pay. Will you be needing bed and board?”

  “No. Not until I become solid.”

  “You mean, away from me? To stop being a bracelet and resume your regular form?”

  “Yes. But I won't need to do that until Neris arrives. Then I won't need a bed; I will simply revert to bracelet form when not tending him.”

  “That threatens to be a dull life. There is to be nothing for yourself?”

  “Myself?”

  “Like entertainment? Playing games, seeing movies, teasing men?”

  “I don't know about such things. I can't tease men who can't see me.”

  “Well, I need to eat and sleep. You're welcome to do whatever it is you do in your off time.”

  “I will explore the neighborhood.” The bracelet stretched, enlarged, and became the nude nymph that was her natural self.

  Nerine walked to the nearest mirror. She did not reflect in it. Good enough. She walked around the apartment, noting the positions of things. Then she phased through a wall to go outside. The lights were on in neighboring houses. In one a woman was brushing her hair; in another a man was watching a magic screen. No, there was very little magic here; it must be what was called television.

  She returned to the apartment. Doris had eaten, washed, and was asleep on the bed. Nerine become the bracelet and joined her. Sleep was indeed best.

  Next morning Doris went grocery shopping. She took the bus to the shopping center. Nerine was amazed as they entered the vehicle. “It's like being swallowed by a whale!”

  “I can't afford a car. But this is okay. I'm used to it.”

  The supermarket was also a wonder. It was a huge building filled with things stacked on shelves, ranging from lettuce to beer. Doris took a wheeled basket and pushed it around the store, selecting items and putting them in the basket. Then as she drew near the exit she put the items on a little moving belt and there was a series of dings as the checkout girl moved them along.

  Then Doris brought out her wallet and extracted several colored swatches of paper, giving them to the girl. “What is that?” Nerine asked.

  “Money. I'm paying for my groceries.”

  “Money?”

  “You don't know about money?”

  “What is it?”

  So on the way home Doris explained about money. Nerine was amazed. “We have no use for that under the sea.”

  “I suppose with magic you simply conjure anything you need.”

  “Yes. We don't need much.”

  Back at the apartment Doris put the food in her refrigerator and on shelves. “I forget to ask what you eat.”

  “I don't need to eat as long as I am a bracelet.”

  “What about later, when I'm closer to term?”

  “When I turn solid? Then I will have to eat. Some raw fish would be nice, and a bit of seaweed.”

  “Oh, sushi. No bread, carrots, or milk?”

  “What are these things?”

  Doris told her. Nerine was intrigued. A few days later she turned solid and tried them. They were different from anything she had eaten before, but interesting, and she came to like sushi, shrimp, chocolate milk and cookies.

  But the tuna fish was startling. “What's this?”

  “A can of tuna fish.”

  “Tuna are much bigger, hundreds of pounds. One would not fit in this little can.”

  Doris opened the can and showed her the bits of meat inside. “Like sardines. Canning keeps them fresh.”

  “Fresh? This is cooked!”

  “Most things are cooked. You'll have to get used to it.”

  “I will try,” Nerine said distastefully.

  Then there was a complication. Her innards became restless. “I forgot! When I eat, I need to piss and poop.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “But there's no sea current to carry it away.”

  “Use the toilet.”

  “The what?”

  “Haven't you noticed when I use it?”

  “But you're mortal!”

  Doris smiled tolerantly. “Pretend you're mortal, for this purpose.”

  There was no help for it but to do that. Nerine sat on the toilet and deposited her wastes in it. At least when it flushed it was like a sea current. But thereafter she avoided turning solid; it was too awkward when not absolutely necessary.

  They fell into the dull routine, as Nerine learned more of the mortal culture. Doris worked as a waitress at a cheap food outlet, serving customers for low pay and tips. It wasn't much, but then the entire mortal realm seemed hardly better. Nerine coped with it by tuning it out most of the time.

  However there was one aspect that annoyed Doris, and therefore bothered Nerine too. Some male customers like to grope. They would sneak hands under her short skirt, a required uniform, and massage a buttock. They weren't supposed to, but they did, and Doris couldn't protest too firmly lest she be labeled a complainer and lose her job. She couldn't afford that, and the customers knew it, and copped free feels. It was a tacit part of the appeal of the premises. So Nerine took it under advisement, and decided on a strategy that should discourage such behavior without making a ruckus.

  Here came a likely prospect. A big tough-looking man dining alone. “Stand and take it,” Nerine said, inaudible to all but Doris. “It will happen only once.”

  “Don't shock him,” Doris sub-vocalized. “I don't want a scene.”

  “No scene,” Nerine agreed.

  Doris took the man’s order, and his hand went under her skirt and squeezed a buttock. Then it paused. Then it withdrew. That was all. But the man looked troubled.

  “What did you do?” Doris asked as she walked away.

  “He's got an itch where he touched you.”

  “An itch?”

  “A hot itch.”

  “A hot itch?”

  “It's like jalapeno, only on the skin. It develops slowly.”

  “That will discourage him?”

  “You'll see.”

  When Doris brought the man's order he was sucking on his fingers. The fingers were reddening and were clearly paining him.

  Oho. “Are you all right, sir?” she inquired solicitously.

  “Whatcha got on your ass?” he demanded crudely.

  “Jalapeno skin cream. Do you like it?”

  And now the burning was transferring to his mouth. He gulped his beer, but it didn't seem to help much. “Damn you!”

  “Do you wish to complain to the management?” Doris asked, faking concern. “I'm sure my boss will be happy to hear the details.” Of how the customer was pawing an innocent waitress. Officially that was a no-no.

  But for some reason the man elected not to complain. He was soon gone, his meal unfinished.

  A woman beckoned, and Doris went to her. “Where is that skin cream for sale?” Then she laughed.

  Word would get around.

  One other man patted her bottom, experimentally, and paid the price. After that, no one did. That particular problem had been solved.

  Other waitresses were interested, but Doris could only explain that the skin cream had been a gift from a foreign relative and wasn't for sale here. They were disappointed.

  Business did not diminish. Instead it increased. Men and women glanced knowingly at Doris, smiled, and did not touch. They liked the way she had handled a common problem. Even her boss approved, especially because of the added business.

  “But that won't help me when I start to show,” Doris said, patting her flat belly.

  “Why?”

  “Because waitresses are supposed to look young and sexy, or at least available. Pregnancy ruins that.”

  “I will take care of it.”

  “How can you? You're not the one who is pregnant.”

  “Your belly will not show.”

  “How can it not show? I refuse to wear a corset to try to conceal it. That would not be good for the baby.”

  Nerine hastened to agree. The baby had to be protected at all costs. “Illusion. I can maintain it as long as I am in contact with you. As long as you don’t touch anyone, you will be safe.”

  And as time passed and Doris's belly expanded, it did not show to anyone else. She looked svelte and virginal. “The more I learn of magic, the more I appreciate it,” she said.

  But as more time passed, and the baby drew close to term, there was another problem: “Once I deliver Neris, there will be no hiding him. They'll know, and my job will be gone. Anyway, I'll need to stay home to take care of him, and a job would prevent that. How am I to live?”

  “It is time to use the lucky charm,” Nerine said.

  “I told you, I don't dare enter and win a big lottery, so the amulet is of no use to me.”

  “That was my mother you told. And she told you that I would be able to help you with it, being more familiar with magic.”

  “How?”

  “Just ask it to lead you to inconspicuous wealth, then follow where it indicates.”

  “Just like that? I don't trust this.”

  “You must trust it, if it is to help you.”

  “Okay, lucky charm: you heard her. Lead on.” Doris plainly didn't believe it. “Oh!” For the bracelet had tweaked her arm with a gentle shock.

  They followed its signal to a neighborhood yard sale, one of many in the area. And to a dull dirty painting stacked behind several others. “How much?”

  “Oh, you don't want that,” the woman protested. “It's been moldering for years. We have lots better ones.”

  “I have faith,” Doris said. “I'll try to clean it up. I think there's a quality picture under the grime.”

  The woman shrugged. “As you wish. We're glad to get rid of it. Five dollars.”

  “I am no antiques expert,” Nerine said silently. “But I suspect it is worth many times that. It's a real bargain.”

  “I think it is worth far more,” Doris said. “I'll give you ten.”

  The woman laughed, then sobered as Doris gave her the ten. “I think you're crazy, but I like you. Come back anytime; you now have a five dollar credit.”

  “Thank you.” Doris took the dull canvas.

  “Why did you give her more than she asked?” Nerine asked.

  “I didn't want to cheat her. She's another woman like me just scraping along.”

  “You're a nice person.”

  “I try to be. It's not always easy.”

  “That purchase is the first stage,” Nerine said, impressed anew by this woman.

  “I hope the charm knows what it's doing,” Doris muttered as they returned home.

  “Take it to an art shop. A particular one.”

  “It makes a difference?”

  “Yes. You need one you can trust.”

  They took it to the indicated art shop, which was not the biggest or flashiest. The proprietor squinted at the painting. “I'm probably wrong, but this is reminiscent of a Kronkerson piece. Probably a rip-off.”

  “Verify it,” Doris suggested.

  “That will take a few days. You'll have to leave it here.”

  “I trust you.” She departed, leaving her phone number. Then, to Nerine: “I hope I haven't just wasted ten dollars.”

  “When you learn to trust the magic, you'll feel easier.”

  She got the call. “That painting is an original lost Kronkerson,” the proprietor said, amazed. “Worth at least a hundred thousand. Where did you get it?”

  “At a yard sale. Five dollars.”

  “Such things happen. It's yours now. Will you keep it, or do you want me to put it up for auction?”

  “Auction it,” Doris said. “Take a fair commission on the sale and give me the money when you have it.”

  “You are a trusting soul!”

  “There's magic in my nature,” she said, smiling at the phone.

  The painting brought almost a million dollars at auction, and Doris, the anonymous seller, got most of it. She took it to the bank and a particular financial consultant, guided by the bracelet, and arranged to have it suitably invested to produce five thousand dollars a month without diminishing the principal. She also got competent health insurance, which she could now afford. She was now quietly set for life, and none of her neighbors knew it.

  “I am getting to like that bracelet,” she confessed. “And you, Nerine.”

  “You are coming to believe.”

  “In magic? Yes, I suppose I am. Your presence is a constant reminder.”

  The due date was looming. Nerine knew that Doris could not afford to have the baby here, where she was known. She arranged to rent an apartment in another city and gave notice to her boss.

  “But you have been doing so well, and you have been good for business,” he protested. “If it is more money you want--”

  She smiled. “No, it's that I have to move to another state. It's a family matter. Maybe I'll find equivalent work there.”

  He sighed. “We are sorry to lose you. If you ever return--”

  “I suspect I won't, but thank you.”

  They moved to the new location just in time. Nerine halted the illusion and Doris showed her full girth. Now she came closer to resembling the grape shape she had imagined at the time of the insemination. They settled into the fresh apartment, which was much nicer and roomier than the former one, with many conveniences. It was a relief for them both.

  Next day Doris bought a compact hybrid car so she could get around more readily. That impressed Nerine; she had adapted to the whale bus rides, but somehow she hadn't quite realized that cars were not limited to lustful men. “Actually, you should learn to drive,” Doris told her. “Just in case. I'll teach you.”