Oceanborn

by Amalie Howard

“Put it this way,” I tell her, grabbing a vacant seat near the back of the classroom. “There are more of us in here than there are of you.”

  “But these are kids we’ve known for years,” she nearly screeches, glancing around in a panic.

  “We mimic, remember?”

  This time Jenna’s eyes nearly bug out of her head. “They’re not them?”

  Grinning, I poke her in the side. “God, when did you get so gullible? Seriously.” I don’t admit that we could indeed mimic existing humans should the need arise. Instead I giggle at her expression. “You should see your face!”

  I glance around the classroom. Speio’s sitting next to Rian near the front, and I wickedly push a small glimmer out, brushing it against the back of his neck. He spins to shoot a death glare in my direction and I wink, mimicking his smoochy faces from earlier. He turns away, his neck now the color of a maroon flag.

  “You’re loving the payback, aren’t you?” Jenna says.

  “So much.”

  “She’s cute. Rian, I mean.”

  “Anything’s an improvement over Cara.”

  “Ah, Cara,” Jenna says, rolling her eyes. “She still slumming in your pudding?”

  “Apparently my pudding is now fair game to anyone with a spoon,” I say drily. Jenna guffaws loudly, which turns into a suffocated bout of coughing. I thump her on the back helpfully, watching her eyes water as she tries to stifle her choked laughter.

  “Don’t do that again,” she gasps, clutching her stomach. “Omigod, I can’t stop.”

  “Glad you find my love life so hilarious.”

  Madame Dumois sweeps into the room and all eyes settle onto her tiny frame. Dumois may be small, but she commands her classroom like a seasoned general. The rules of her class are simple—disrupt at your own peril. I’ve always liked her no-nonsense approach, and the feeling is mutual. She adores me, considering that I’m fluent in French...and Spanish, German, Chinese and any other language spoken in the human world.

  “I’m part French,” I told Jenna once.

  “What about Japanese? You speak that fluently.”

  “Part Japanese, too.”

  “Funny,” she said with narrowed eyes. “You don’t look Japanese.”

  The memory makes me smile. Now that Jenna knows the truth—she can guess how many languages I can actually speak without any invented family genealogy. It is yet another of our early Aquarathi learning requirements—know everything about the humans—languages, cultures, customs.

  A commotion at the door has everyone’s necks craning toward it, mine included. My breath hitches in my throat at the unexpected visitor. Lo’s standing there with a mischievous smile on his face. I frown—he’s not in this class.

  “Oui?” Madame Dumois asks imperiously.

  “I have a transfer note from Principal Andrews.”

  Madame Dumois consults a note on her desk. “Ah, Monsieur Seavon, oui. Welcome, bienvenue.”

  Jenna leans over, a conspiratorial look on her face. “Looks like your pudding’s back in play. Your strategy is on fire!”

  “Not mine,” I whisper back, my frown deepening. “I don’t have that kind of power.”

  With a start, I wonder at the sudden class switch and whether it does have anything to do with me. It would have been something the old Lo would have done just to irritate me, but the old Lo is well and truly buried somewhere underneath that new, preppy Banana Republic exterior. The new Lo would hardly care whether we are in the same classes—he’s just here to learn, or so he says. Maybe the new Lo just likes French.

  I force myself not to breathe as Lo squeezes past Jenna and me to a seat on the far side of the room, but a sudden bolt of pain tears through me, making me gasp. It feels as if someone is electrocuting the inside of my brain. Feeling my eyes water with the force of it, I grip the sides of my desk so tightly that the metal crumples like putty beneath my palm. Jenna’s hand slides over mine and I release the desk with shaking fingers. Her eyes are wide as she studies the curved, finger-shaped marks.

  “You all right?” she whispers.

  I shake my head. “It’s getting worse.”

  “What is?”

  “The biotoxin,” I manage. “It’s spreading and poisoning everything that’s Aquarathi in its path.”

  12

  Monster

  We’ve decided to do Lo’s hypnotherapy session on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Irregular, I know, but what part of what I’m trying to do is not outside the realm of normal? Plus, all of the saltwater tanks at the Marine Center are occupied, and we can’t risk not having somewhere for Lo to transform if that happens, which is a very real possibility. We even discussed doing it here at the house, but the risk of one of our neighbors seeing something is too high. And the truth is, if I’m going to incite the darkest depths of Lo, we have to be prepared for the worst. In this case, the worst means a hybrid that thinks it’s human transforming into a giant, scaled monster and unleashing months of pent-up, restrained fury onto innocent people. Not ideal...so the farther away from civilization the better.

  The beach in front of my house is deserted but for a few people fishing down at the water’s edge and a handful of surfers out beyond the breakers. The descending sun casts a heavy orange glow along the sand, turning my shadow into an elongated black caricature. Studying it, I lean on the white gate separating the beach from the boundaries of my property, letting the slight taste of salt on the breeze fan over me. What we are about to do is more than dangerous, but I can’t think of any other way to reach Lo. I glance back at the silent faces standing in a semicircle behind me, grateful for each of them.

  Apart from the usual suspects—Echlios, Soren, Speio and me—Echlios has also recruited six of my royal guard, including the ones who’ve been here in hiding protecting me. I know them instantly as their waters bow in deference to mine, but it’s a little strange to see them looking so human after so many months of seeing them in Aquarathi form. Two of the human faces I immediately recognize from school, the twins Nova and Nell, but the others have older and less familiar human bodies. In human form, Nova and Nell look as much alike as they do in Aquarathi form with their short, spiky silver hair and pitch-black eyes. Nell’s left ear is peppered in silver hoops, while Nova sports wide black plugs in each of his earlobes.

  They all stand beside Echlios, muscles tightly coiled, faces carved from stone. Any of them would die to defend me...even from my own mate. I hope desperately that it won’t come to that, but if I am in any danger from Lo, I know that they will not hesitate in their duty. For the briefest of seconds, as I eye their stern stances, doubt slides along my spine like an ominous icy prickle. I shrug it away.

  Lo won’t hurt me. Not the Lo I know.

  What if the Lo you know is gone?

  The errant thought disappears like a wisp in the wind, leaving a nasty memory of its existence. If the Lo I know is gone, then we have nothing to lose. My people will protect me at any cost. A strange sensation tugs on the edge of my mind—not a glimmer exactly—but a presence...a familiar one. I turn toward it, catching the pale face peering from behind the screen in my room.

  “I’ll be right back,” I click to Echlios. He frowns but doesn’t stop me as I head toward the house. I close my sliding glass door behind me and draw the blinds.

  “You can’t be here, Jenna,” I say softly, watching as she comes out from behind the screen.

  “I have to be here,” she counters in a quiet voice. “He’s my friend, too.”

  “He’s not human. He could hurt you.” I wave a hand behind me. “And it’s not just him. They would do anything to protect me, and you’re...not one of us.” I know my meaning is clear. They’d kill her if they had to.

  Jenna’s eyes flash blue fire as she slams her hands on her hips. “Well, they weren’t here when
Lo was sick all summer, were they? And I wasn’t one of you then, was I? Where were they?” She eyes me. “Where were you?” she adds more quietly. “You can’t shut me out, Nerissa. Not now.”

  I flinch at the veiled fury in her voice. I’m torn between letting her come along and having to deal with Echlios. He won’t like potentially endangering a human, even if it is one who knows all our secrets. Plus, the others wouldn’t understand. It’s not like they know what Jenna has done for me. But still, the risk is too high.

  “It’s too—”

  “Don’t say it,” Jenna says as if sensing my indecision. “Look, you’re taking Lo out on a boat because you think it’s safer, and that’s smart. But he’s not going to know any of you if worse comes to worst.”

  “He knows me,” I say. “And Speio.”

  “Does he?”

  “What are you saying, Jenna?”

  “Lo knows me more than you right now. You need me, and I know that you can see that. Look, if anything happens, I’ll hide. I’ll stay out of danger so you don’t have to worry about me.” Jenna steps forward, eyes bright and lucid. “But you know I’m right, Riss. Lo trusts me. I’m a familiar face...the only familiar face that he’s known all summer.”

  I hesitate. A part of me knows that involving her will mean putting her life in danger from others like me. Again. But I also agree that she has been a constant in Lo’s life ever since he became sick. If things go badly, she could be the only real person he’ll know. Sighing, I click for Soren, who appears immediately. Her green eyes widen as she looks from Jenna to me and back again.

  “No,” she says in a decisive voice. “Your guard will never allow it. Echlios will never allow it.”

  “The guard obeys my wishes, Soren. Including Echlios,” I remind her. “Jenna has to come. What if we can’t reach Lo? Jenna is the only person he still knows. She’s a human fail-safe. And she is the only human we trust. It makes sense.”

  Soren’s mouth is a tight, uncompromising line. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “The guard—”

  “I’ll deal with them.”

  “They won’t trust her.” Soren exhales a long breath. “They won’t trust you.”

  “I’ll make them.”

  Soren bows to the steel in my voice, her mouth tight, as I open the patio door and step outside. The sky has morphed into a fiery orange, but the wild beauty of it is eclipsed by the thunder on Echlios’s face. His eyes—and the eyes of all the others—fall on Jenna’s slight form behind me. Their bodies are bristling, their faces fierce. Nova’s and Nell’s eyes widen as they recognize Jenna. None of them know just how much she knows. And I’m about to tell them that I’ve broken one of our cardinal rules—trusting a human with our secret.

  Staring at them all in turn, I force the ridge of bones and fins to push outward from my human brow, shimmering gold-and-green lights rippling down my shoulders and forearms. Even in my human form, my crown is fearsome to look at—corded, razor-sharp coral points interspersed with brilliant fronds fanning my forehead—a medieval monster of the deep. Burnished scales shimmer along my sharpened cheekbones as I halt my transformation in its tracks. The protective membrane that mimics human eyes flips back from my eyelids, and my Aquarathi eyes burn jeweled fire. They demand obedience. Each Aquarathi before me bows to stare at the ground.

  “This is Jenna,” I say in my language. My human lips shape the clicks and pulses. “She knows what we are. I have allowed this. She will accompany us. You will protect her as you would me. This is my command.”

  Nova’s head lifts. “But, my queen, she is human. The law—”

  “She saved my life,” I say. “Twice.”

  “My lady,” Echlios begins. I cut him off with a meaningful stare.

  “She comes.”

  Despite my unbending words, I can still feel their worry, and their fear. They will obey me because I’m their queen, but I know they won’t trust Jenna, not as I do, and her presence will be a distraction. I sigh. Only one thing will work to convince them, and that is to make them see the truth.

  I push a glimmer outward to touch each of the guards and connect them to me, framing my memory of the day I’d stupidly tried Sanctum with Speio in human form and paid the ultimate price. Jenna had found me, shriveled and on the brink of death. She’d brought me home to Echlios, despite not knowing what I was even though it’d been obvious that I was anything but human. In quick succession, I push my other memory into the glimmer—the one where Jenna had Taser-gunned an enemy hybrid spy of Ehmora’s who had been about to kill me and Speio. She had saved us both from capture and certain death. I hide nothing from them.

  “Now you see,” I say, snapping the glimmer back into myself. “You will accord this human the respect she deserves.”

  “My lady,” Soren calls from behind me. “He’s here.”

  Nodding, I retract my crown, feeling the bones shift and dissolve back into their human shapes. The rest of my guard melts into the growing darkness along with Echlios until it’s just Speio, Jenna and me. Soren has gone back into the house, presumably to get Lo. Speio clears his throat and I turn to meet my wide-eyed best friend.

  “They’re like silent ninjas, your guards. No wonder you said I couldn’t see them at school. You weren’t kidding, were you?” she says, an apprehensive look flitting across her face. “Seriously, who would have thought the Goth twins were one of you?”

  “I know. Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask her.

  “What just happened?” she says slowly as if trying to find the right words. “I mean, at first they were all looking at me like I was the enemy when I came out, even Echlios. And now they’re not...” She trails off, flushing uncomfortably. “What did you tell them when you spoke in your language?”

  “I showed them what you did...how you saved me.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t worry. No one’s going to hurt you, Jenna. Not when you’re with me.” I smile tightly and squeeze her arm. “You sure you still want to come? You can still change your mind. I’d understand.”

  “No. I want to. He’s my friend, too.”

  We both turn to greet Lo. The breath hitches in my throat as every drop of water in my body rises to meet his. My fingers tighten on Jenna’s arm and she winces.

  A slow grin eases its way across his face. “What is this? An intervention?” he jokes. Jenna’s eyes widen.

  “No,” she blurts out. “We’re just hanging out.”

  “I’m just kidding, relax,” he says, grin widening. “Soren said Nerissa was going to join us today. She thought it would help with my session—to try something different.”

  I toss a reassuring smile at Jenna. It’d been surprisingly easy to convince Lo. Soren had suggested maybe recreating a date with me during their last therapy session to see if it would stimulate any memories. Lo had been skeptical at first, given that he barely remembered who I was, but apparently Soren had been quite persuasive in her argument. Coloring at the thought of Soren’s intimate knowledge of my love life, I don’t even want to know what she said to him.

  “You guys know Dr. Aldon?” Lo says, nodding to the tall man dressed in blue slacks and a brown cashmere sweater. “He’s a shrink, helping with the memory loss.” Lo says all this as if it’s matter-of-fact, but I can sense that it’s not as easy for him as he’s making it out to be.

  “Cool,” I say in a calm voice, ignoring the deep ache his easy smile has opened up in my stomach. “Nice to see you, Dr. Aldon.”

  “And you.” His dark eyes are appraising. He, of course, knows who I am. I meet his gaze with an unflinching one of my own.

  Dr. Aldon and I have met several times before via Soren to discuss Lo’s progress. He is one of the select few who are privileged to know of our existence. As is the Aquarathi way, we keep our finger on the pu
lse of human activity—in every field of study, in every area—monitoring developments that could affect our way of life. Dr. Aldon, like several other prominent human scientists and doctors before him, went through a rigorous approval and security process with Echlios and his men before he was allowed into the inner circle. Dr. Aldon understood the risks and knew that if he broke the circle in any way, he would pay the price with his life. Like the others, in return for his discretion and occasional services, he receives unlimited grant funds for his research.

  Jenna is different because I made that decision on my own, and to the Aquarathi she is no one of consequence. Her knowledge of my true form and my species was a secret until now. Convincing my guards was easy—convincing all the other lower courts of Waterfell will be another matter entirely. I shiver to think of the consequences, but still, Jenna’s unwavering loyalty to me, and to a species not her own, has to count for something.

  “Shall we?” I say. “Jenna’s going to come along with us, Lo, if that’s okay with you.” I want to put him at ease, but it’s not like he’ll have any choice in the matter.

  Lo nods, with a half smile that makes rivers unwind in my stomach. “Sure, it’s not like she doesn’t know what’s going on with me.” I stifle a gulp. Right now Jenna knows far more about him than he does, not that he’s aware of that, of course.

  Piling into the waiting town car, we drive in silence toward the marina where Dr. Aldon’s ninety-foot yacht is docked. Notwithstanding his good fortune with the Aquarathi, Dr. Aldon comes from old money, and this is just one of the fleet of private yachts his family owns. Suppressing a grin at the boat’s name—Sea Queen—I climb aboard and am greeted by Aldon’s welcoming crew. They leave the minute we are all ensconced on the yacht. Aldon prefers privacy in case anything goes wrong.

  “Neat digs,” Lo remarks, taking in the luxurious vanilla-colored leather seating and the plush carpeting inside the main cabin.

  Aldon glances over his shoulder, waving a well-manicured hand. “There are five staterooms, laundry room, full kitchen, gym, mezzanine, entertainment center, the works. Make yourself at home.”