"Oh, it eats loads of them. Entirely families falling to its voracious appetite." He nodded solemnly. "The fish are just a distraction, so it can lure us into thinking it's perfectly innocent."
As her hand tightened, his eyes flickered down to it and then back up to her face. He had steered them towards the lake and he drew her to a stop near a copse of trees, where they could watch the water and perhaps see a merperson struggling for its life.
"You were horribly cold hearted," he agreed, eyes on hers and the slightest trace of a smile curving up his mouth. When he smiled he looked like a different person. "And foolish. I would have probably done anything to get back in your good graces, you realize. Think of all the possible upper hands lost." When she continued speaking he tried to determine what she was saying, his hand squeezing hers back in encouragement.
"Knew what? I watched your house a few times, you know. Walked by it. Couldn't help myself."