Oceanborn

by Amalie Howard

  “Tell me more about Waterfell,” Jenna says, interrupting my thoughts. “What’s your room there like? You live in sea mounts, right? Underwater mountains?”

  “Let me guess. You researched?” I ask her, and then I grin, ready to blow her mind with something that the Internet sites won’t tell her. “You’re right, most of Waterfell is located within connected seamounts, kind of like a submerged archipelago. Think Hawaii, only underwater. But my favorite place of all down there is my glass cave.”

  “Your what?” Jenna says wide-eyed.

  “It’s my special place. Only Speio knows about it,” I say. “I found it one day when we were exploring. Thousands of years ago, a submerged volcano erupted and exploded upward. Do you know anything about pillow lava?” I ask her.

  Jenna nods. Of course she does. “When magma erupts underwater, the coldness of the water makes a hard crust form around the lava, so it looks like little pillows.”

  “Sometimes I think you’re the one with the alien brain,” I joke. “Right. So imagine an underwater volcano erupting into an enormous mound of pillow lava. I don’t know if it was the composition of the surrounding sand or the minerals there or gases or what, but for some reason, the pillow kept growing and the lava melted the sand into some kind of volcanic glass. The gases reacted with the heat and expanded.” I pause for dramatic effect. “So basically, the whole inside of it is hollow, like an obsidian cave.”

  “That sounds amazing,” she blurts out, and then frowns. “Wait. Isn’t that dangerous? What if it explodes while you’re in there?”

  “The volcano is inactive,” I say. “The walls are like the inside of a marble, perfectly formed with rivers of red running through the black. I wish you could see it.”

  “Me, too.”

  I sprawl on the bed next to her, folding my palms underneath my head. “Maybe one day.”

  “That would be awesome. Maybe we could borrow James Cameron’s submarine,” Jenna offers brightly. “You know he went there last year, right? The Mariana Trench.”

  “I remember. You have no idea how close he came to being a snack. It was a very close vote by the Aquarathi High Council. We kept an eye on him the whole time.”

  I laugh and stare at my Waterfell ceiling, but then my humor fades. If I don’t do something about Lo, neither of us will have a home to go back to. I glance at Jenna out of the corner of one eye. “So, back to your Bachelor theory, what exactly do I have to do to jump-start Lo’s memory? Besides being utterly charming and unforgettable?”

  “That’s pretty much all you can do,” Jenna says. “From your end, anyway. I still think you have a chance to work the human side of him. Any news from Echlios on a cure?”

  “They’re still working on it. In the meantime, Lo has to undergo weekly psychotherapy sessions to help recover the buried memories.” I take a breath, watching Jenna carefully. I’m not sure I should tell her any more than necessary, but she has more than earned her place in my life. “Echlios thinks they may have a lead to Cano, but I think it’s a long shot. I still think our best option is for me to summon my mother, but Echlios and Soren think it’s too dangerous.”

  “Why?”

  I shrug. “They don’t know if she’s compromised her own cells with the DNA research she and Ehmora were working on. After all, Ehmora can’t have been the only one to have hybrid offspring.”

  “You think there are more of them?”

  “It’s only a guess,” I tell her. “Remember that other hybrid? The messed-up ugly-looking one that you Tasered on the beach? I think there are more of those, but ones like Lo...not entirely sure. I think I saw one at the RUSH competition and then again at Scripps.”

  “Because...” Jenna prods.

  I hesitate, not sure what I’m basing my guess on. “I don’t have any real proof. Just the way Ehmora was willing to let Lo die last year. If he were the only hybrid, she would have cared more to save him. He was...disposable.”

  Jenna rolls over and props her head up on one hand. “But we’re talking about a crazy ex-queen with world domination on her mind—her son isn’t going to factor into that if he’s become a liability or your supporter. He was disposable because he wasn’t loyal to her anymore. He was loyal to you.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  Jenna’s phone buzzes loudly, making us both jump. She slides it from her pocket to read the text and sighs dramatically. “Crap. I’m so sorry to bug out right now, but I have to go. Mom needs me for some dinner party she’s having for her work people, and I promised I’d help out.” She leaps up, grabbing her denim jacket and her backpack off the armchair in the corner of the room. “But seriously, on the Lo thing, scuba is the way to go. With no one around, it’ll be perfect—just you and him. Remember, Riss, he already knows you deep down. Don’t let go of that. Anyway, I’m really sorry I have to bail on you. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

  “No, go,” I tell her.

  “Okay. I’ll call you later. See you at school tomorrow.”

  After Jenna leaves, I decide to go for a swim to clear my head. The sun has nearly descended into the horizon with shades of purplish twilight dappling the evening sky. I pulse softly to Soren, letting her know what I’m doing, and walk past the pool down to the beach. The sand is soft and crumbly between my toes, the wind a whisper against my cheeks. I walk down to the water’s edge and sit on the damp sand, letting the waves curl over my feet. Breathing deeply, I soak up the water and the salt like a sponge, feeling it spread through my insides in a velvet rush.

  The beach isn’t deserted, but I’m not planning to go full morph or anything. I just need space to think—to figure out this thing with Lo. Plus, I’m not alone. I can feel Soren’s eyes on me from the house. She still doesn’t trust when I’m alone that I’m not going to run off and do something stupid. Truth is, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it. That’s my nature. Jump first and think later, but if I’ve learned anything from last year, it’s that my people come first. My responsibility is to them. And even though my heart may say one thing, I have to listen to what my mind says, too. Emotion must be tempered by logic, or so Echlios says.

  Lo is your people, a voice whispers in my head.

  I shrug it away. Jenna’s right. The only way I can help Lo right now is to try to jump-start his human memories. If the biotoxin is inhibiting the Aquarathi side of him from healing his human side, then I have to think outside the box. At least until Echlios finds Cano, which could be weeks away. I sigh and lean back on my elbows, watching the fading light glint off the tops of the waves. It would be so easy to summon my mother to me. She’d know where Cano is and we wouldn’t waste any more precious time. But I promised Echlios.

  The sound of laughter behind me draws my attention. A couple is walking their dog along the upper part of the beach, a large black Doberman. Without warning, the dog rips off its leash and barrels in my direction, teeth bared and spit flying from the corners of its mouth.

  “Prince, get back here! Prince, no!” the woman shrieks.

  The dog pays her no attention. He has sensed a threat, and as dogs do, is running head over heels to confront it. In this case, me. I sit up just as the dog jerks to a stop a few feet away from me, growling ferociously and barking his head off. I study it—all the dog wants to do is protect his masters, defend them from me. I almost smile.

  A guttural sound escapes my throat—half growl, half command—and the dog’s ears flatten atop his head. He stops barking immediately, as if confused. I am a far bigger threat than he anticipated. Prince bares his teeth, reconsidering his options. I have to admire his gumption. I growl again and flare my eyes. Cowering on the sand, he whines just as his owners reach us, panting with exertion. The woman who shouted out earlier looks at her dog, still crouched on the sand, and her face goes from fear to anger.

  “Prince, you okay,
boy?” she says, and glares at me. “What did you do to my dog?”

  “I didn’t touch your dog,” I say, bristling at her accusatory tone. “He was about to attack me, if you didn’t notice. I haven’t moved from where I was sitting and minding my own business.”

  Indecision plays across her face. She knows what she saw, but she also knows what she’s seeing right now—her fierce dog crying and whining as if it’s scared out of its mind.

  “Sorry,” the man behind her says, bending to grab a hold of the abandoned leash. “We don’t know what came over him. He’s a bit unpredictable, which is why we only walk him at night when the beach is empty for the most part. Do you have a dog? Maybe he smelled something on you.”

  “No,” I say. “I don’t have a dog.”

  The man clears his throat uncomfortably. “Well, sorry about that. Prince is only a year old. He’s...temperamental.”

  I force a smile, relaxing my face. “It’s okay. It happens. He was doing his job, trying to protect you. He’s just loyal.”

  “We’re not exactly in any danger from you,” he says with a pointed look. I imagine how he must view me—a slender, completely unthreatening girl sitting on the beach. “I guess we’re not quite finished with obedience school.”

  “Maybe he sensed something else,” I murmur. I stretch out my hand toward Prince. I make a slight sound that only he can hear, watching the fear slip from his chocolate-brown eyes. He creeps forward until his cold, wet nose touches my fingertips and then curls his entire sleek head into my palm. I stroke his glossy, short fur, feeling barely audible growls of pleasure emanating from his body. He’s happy but still scared, fascinated yet terrified.

  “We should go,” the woman says to her partner. “It’s late.” Her body is rigid, her face a mask, but I can tell that she, too, is as nervous as her dog is. The man obediently tugs on the leash, but Prince makes no move to leave the comfort of my hand.

  “Go,” I whisper to him gently.

  As they walk down the beach, the woman turns once to look at me, and then whips back around, recoiling as our gazes collide in the darkness. Sometimes—just like animals—certain humans can feel things about us. Not often, but there are a few who can sense that we’re not quite who we seem to be. That we’re something more.

  I stare at my fingers, recalling the sensation of Prince’s fur. Dogs and Aquarathi don’t really mix, but I’ve always liked them even if they’re petrified of me. Prince was fierce and loyal, defending his owners with every fiber of his being, regardless of the risk.

  Loyalty.

  I owe Lo the same. Don’t I?

  Pushing aside the immediate twinge of guilt for disobeying Echlios’s wishes, I stand and walk to the water’s edge where the tide has receded. Nearly invisible in the darkness with only the lights reflecting from the homes along the shoreline, I gather my strength from the ocean, feeling it rush into me with a force far unlike the gentler sensation earlier. I am the queen of the sea.

  Clouds roll in as thunder cracks in the distance, and I sense someone running toward me from the house. I breathe out slowly. I knew she would try to stop me. Soren is so in tune with me that she would have felt what I was doing the second I started amassing my strength.

  “My lady, no,” Soren shouts. “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

  “I know,” I say in a calm voice. “It is my duty to protect my people. And Lo is bound to me. Neither of us can afford to wait for Echlios any longer.”

  “What if she’s not bound to you?”

  “Then she won’t hear my summons and she won’t come. And we will have lost nothing.” I turn around, my body trembling. “We can’t not try, Soren. Call Echlios, if you must, but I am doing this tonight.”

  Soren’s face is worried, but she knows better than to argue with me in my frame of mind. She turns to nod at Speio, who is now standing a few feet behind us. “Go,” she tells him. “I’ll stay with her.”

  Shedding my clothing in the darkness, I dive into the ocean and strike out until I get beyond the breakers. I swim fast and hard, diving deep enough so that my light won’t be seen from the surface. The energy coils into my center, bursting outward as I shift into Aquarathi form, wincing at the push of sharp bones against my thickening skin. I probably could have summoned her in human form, but I want the summons to be felt, no matter where she’s hiding. And my full power is in Aquarathi form.

  I close my eyes and picture my mother’s faces—both human and Aquarathi—the soft curve of cheekbones, the golden eyes, the ridge of her brow, the lustrous purple fins shimmering over her buttery flanks. I see her as she is and as she was. I see every part of her. I hold the image and then I slam it into me, into the very core of my being...commanding her to come to me. The force of it blasts outward into the water in a golden spherical ripple until it disappears from my sight.

  It is done.

  Making my way wearily back to where Soren is waiting, I nearly collapse into her arms at the edge of the beach. She wraps a towel around me. I’m shivering so hard it feels like my teeth are going to shatter inside my mouth.

  “Do you think she’ll come?” I manage after a few seconds.

  “I’m not sure,” Soren says. “She may not be bound to you, but if she is, she will have no choice but to respond. None of us would have the strength to ignore your call.”

  “What happens now?”

  “We wait.”

  I pull on my discarded shorts and T-shirt, and sit on the sand. Soren lowers herself beside me. I’m grateful for her company. I wonder if my mother will come and whether she’s still a part of the Gold Court. Even if she’s on the other side of the world, she’ll have to find me. But I suspect that she and Cano aren’t too far away. How could they be? They lured me here by making Lo sick. A tiny part of me hopes that Soren’s right...that maybe she won’t come. But if that happens, then we have nothing to go on to help Lo. I lean into Soren, feeling her soft touches on my hair, and close my eyes.

  * * *

  “Well, well,” a velvety voice says. “Isn’t this cozy?”

  I wake from slumber and swipe at the drool from my cheek with my forearm. I must have passed out. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I focus in the darkness to see my mother completing her transformation from Aquarathi to human and stepping out of the waves. She is nude, but still as beautiful as I remember. The last time I saw her, her head had been shaved—no doubt to prove some point when she and her lover had flayed off her crown and sent it to me as a message. Now dark blond hair like mine hangs in deep gold strands across her shoulders and breasts.

  “Neriah,” Soren says, grasping my arm and pulling me up.

  My mother eyes us, an odd emotion flashing in those honey-colored eyes for a second before disappearing. Her face hardens. “I see you’re still trying to take my place as a mother, Soren. Pity you never had your own daughter to smother.”

  Soren doesn’t rise to the bait, remaining silent instead. There’s no love lost between the two of them. Soren was the one to discover that my mother had bonded with Ehmora—queen of the Ruby Court—before she could consummate the union with my father. She bore the brunt of my mother’s rage for years. Still, I can feel her body clenching beside me.

  “She’s been far more of a mother than you ever were,” I say in an even voice, throwing my discarded towel to my mother. It falls to her feet. She stares at me, an odd expression glimmering in her eyes, before raising an arched eyebrow.

  “What do you want?” she snaps.

  “What did Cano do to Lo?” I ask.

  She smiles coldly. “Nothing that can’t be undone.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why, Nerissa.”

  I shake my head. “For what? To bring me here? You can’t kill me. You could never be queen of Waterfell. You’re a traitor and everyone kn
ows it. Whatever you’re planning won’t work.”

  “We’ll see,” my mother says cryptically. “Are we done?”

  I step forward so that we’re nose to nose. Her eyes burn into mine, so many things racing across them that I can barely keep track. I keep my own emotions in close check. “You will tell me where Cano is. And you will tell me how to fix Lo.”

  “Oh, will I?” she laughs. “I’ll just hand over the serum because you want me to, is that it?”

  I refuse to show the relief on my face at her words that there is a cure. “You came here at my summons. I am your queen. You will obey.”

  My mother’s laugh transforms into something terrible, making my stomach feel like it’s suspended in midair. “Nerissa, queen or not, you mistake that you are my queen. Or why I came. Of course I felt your summons—you are powerful and we will always be forever linked, but I am not bound to obey you.”

  The world falls out from beneath my feet as she turns her back on me and walks toward the ocean. I step forward to stop her, but Soren’s gentle fingers on my arms restrain me. I opt for words instead. “Where is Cano?”

  A smile tossed over her shoulder. “Closer than you think.”

  “Why did you even come if you didn’t have to?”

  “Because, my darling, I wanted to see the queen you have become.”

  “And?” I say.

  She stops, silent for several seconds. “You are as formidable as I imagined.”

  Her softly uttered words make the breath catch in my throat, but I can’t allow myself to feel anything but indifference toward her. “Why are you doing this?”

  “I tried to tell you months ago, Nerissa. This is bigger than you or me, or Waterfell. The hybrids are the future. Lo is the future.”

  “So Cano’s breaking him?”

  “No, my love,” she says, her face shimmering with burnished golden scales. “He’s breaking you.”

  11

  Braving a Glimmer