SEAMONSTER: An Aquarathi Novella (The Aquarathi)

by Amalie Howard

  By the time I walk back to where Anya is lying cocooned in the blanket on the beach, I’m drained. And calm. And in control of myself once more. I grab my discarded t-shirt and mop up the damp areas on my body, although most of the saltwater has already been absorbed into my skin. Anya has spread the blanket on the sand and pulled half of it over herself. I can’t tell if she’s asleep or not, and I’m just about to scoop her up to take her back to the house when she lifts one side of the top layer of material.

  Her voice is roughened with sleep. “Come lie down for a minute. It’s nice out here under the stars. Maybe we could stay a little while longer.”

  “I’m soaked.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  I stretch out on the blanket beside her, pulling the top half over both of us. The length of my arm presses along hers until she shifts, moving her head to the crook of my arm and shoulder, and flinging a cotton-clad leg over mine. I can feel the dampness from my shorts seeping into her pajama pants.

  “Mmm, good,” she murmurs. “Comfy?”

  My left arm curves beneath her neck and I rest my hand on her hip. “Yes.”

  “The stars are so beautiful out here,” she says in a sleepy voice that turns into a yawn. “It’s almost as if we’re part of the sky. Do you think anyone lives out there? In space?”

  I could tell her about a whole other ocean species that lived in a galaxy a gazillion light years away from earth, and how they sought refuge on this planet when their own world grew toxic and died. I could let the bioluminescent lights flutter along my arm and prove that life from other planets doesn’t just exist in fiction and movies. But I don’t. “Sure,” I say with a nod.

  “I wonder what it’d be like.”

  “Probably much the same as here,” I say. “They’d have families and lives and do everything we do.”

  She tilts her head up, her nose grazing my chin. “Do you think there’s maybe another you and another me looking up at the stars in another universe and wondering the same thing about us?”

  “The universe is too infinite for something like that not to be possible,” I say softly. And maybe in another universe, Anya and I could be together for real, not just for a moment like this one.

  She tucks her head back into the crook of my shoulder. “Speio?” she says drowsily.

  “Yeah?”

  “I like you a lot.”

  Anya’s breathing falls deep and even within seconds after her quiet declaration. I stroke the hair out of her face.

  I like you a lot, too.

  Such Deadly Beauty

  The sound of loud barking jolts me awake. My eyelids crack open, my muscles aching from the unforgiving sandy ground beneath me. The first light of dawn is creeping through the sky and the ocean is a glassy purple. Two dogs frolic in at the water’s edge as their owners run along the beach. They wave and I recognize them as neighbors. Waving back, I rub my eyes and stretch, my arm connecting with a warm body beside me. Anya is curled onto her side into a little ball, her hair falling into her face and mouth parted. She looks so peaceful that I don’t want to disturb her. Tucking the blanket around her, I stand and almost collide with an amused Nerissa.

  “What?” I say testily.

  “Nothing, I was just going for a surf,” she says with sham, wide-eyed innocence as she points to her surfboard tucked under one arm. I shoot her a suspicious glance at the laughter in her tone, and sure enough, she grins widely, completely unable to help herself. “So, lover boy, how was your night under the stars … you know, making connections?” she teases.

  Heat saturates my ears. “It’s not like that.”

  Nerissa quirks an eyebrow and stares pointedly at Anya’s sleeping form a few feet away from us. “Sure looks like it to me.”

  “Well, it’s not.”

  Nerissa grins knowingly and I sigh, realizing that she isn’t speculating. She knows. As queen-to-be, she’s tied in to the emotional reactions of her people, especially those on the more extreme ends—panic, fear, delight. We Aquarathi live primarily by instinct and reason. We carry our emotions so deeply that when we feel, we feel.

  The heat blooming behind my ears floods my entire body as I cringe with embarrassment. “You felt it, didn’t you?”

  “I tried not to, but you were pretty delirious,” she says with a grin at my obvious discomfort.

  I frown. “That’s only a little disturbing.”

  Nerissa shrugs, sticking the base of her board into the sand. “Hey, it’s part of my princess duties to know how my people feel, especially the ones closest to me, and you’ve been so unhappy for so long that this was kind of an anomaly. And don’t worry, I didn’t feel every little thing. It was more like flashes of light. I’m happy for you, Spey.”

  “Thought you didn’t want anything to do with your so-called princess duties,” I say grumpily. The thought of anyone, even my future queen, feeling any part—no matter how small—of what I felt last night with Anya is mortifying.

  “Doesn’t mean I don’t care about you,” she says evenly.

  I look over to where Anya is starting to stir, a long arm coming up to cover her face as she shifts to her back. “Well, either way, nothing can come of it,” I murmur to Nerissa. “Soren said it’s not good for them, and I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She says they can fall hard for us, but we can never return the depth of their feeling.”

  Nerissa’s eyes narrow. “Does it feel like that to you?”

  I think about the explosive kiss we’d shared and the unhinged response of my body. There’s no way I don’t feel the same as she does. “No,” I reply honestly.

  “Then, there’s your answer,” Nerissa says. “For the humans, the biological and the emotional are two distinct things. Just because you can’t bond with them doesn’t mean you can’t love them.”

  “I never said—”

  She stares at me. “I know what I felt last night, and it wasn’t just about the physical.”

  I don’t argue because she’s right. There was a lot more to it last night than just kissing. Kissing is such an intimate thing—most humans don’t realize how intimate. Most other living species don’t kiss. They mate, and the circle of life continues. But kissing … it’s a culmination of all the five senses into one single moment—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. And if the chemistry’s there as it was last night between Anya and me, a mere kiss can evolve into so much more. Kissing is the first dance of two like-minded spirits.

  “Have you ever …” I trail off, unable to finish my sentence.

  “Been with one of them?” Nerissa asks, and I nod. “Not all the way, but I’ve come pretty close. It’s about fun for me. I don’t want to bond with an Aquarathi. I just want to be … free.”

  My brows knit. “But you have to bond with someone. That’s the way it is for us. When you go through dvija, it’s inevitable.”

  “If and when that happens, I’ll figure it out, but for now, I just want to be.”

  “You can’t pretend to be human forever, Riss.”

  For a second it seems like she’s not going to answer, but then she hefts her board in one arm. “I’m not pretending. I’m reinventing.”

  “You’re running away.”

  And just like that our conversation is over as she walks toward the surf without a retort or a backward glance. Talking about my apparent love life is easy. Talking about why she doesn’t want to be queen and claim her birthright is something else altogether. I shake my head. Maybe there’s something more to ruling that I don’t get, but who wouldn’t want to be a king or a queen? I know she’s afraid of failing or falling short of expectations, but how can you fail if you don’t even try in the first place?

  Anya still hasn’t moved, so I jog up to the house and grab a couple pieces of fruit and a bottle of water. My father’s frown above the lip of his newspaper is so pronounced that his eyebrows look like a unibrow, but I pretend I don’t notice. “That g
irl is the center of a lot of media attention,” he says in a low voice that makes me freeze at the door. “Anya Delmonico? I looked her up last night. There’s a trial tomorrow for her father’s murder.”

  “I know,” I say quietly. “I’m trying to get her there safely.”

  “I hope you know what you are doing,” he says and goes back to his newspaper. Is my father actually giving me a pass without a four-hour lecture on Nerissa’s safety being our only objective?

  I hover uncertainly in the doorway. “Me, too.”

  Running back down to the beach, I see that Anya is now in a sitting position, staring out to the breakers where Nerissa and a few other surfers are catching some waves. I plop down beside her.

  “Hungry?” I say, thrusting an apple into her lap.

  She blushes. “Can’t believe we fell asleep out here. I mean, we did sleep out here, right. You and me?”

  “Yes, and my back is still complaining.”

  “It was worth it,” she says softly, leaning her body into my arm as she bites into the apple. “Nerissa’s a really good surfer. She looks like she belongs on the wave. I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, even the great surfers wobble or shake when they pop up. She’s so fluid, it’s almost like the wave wants to be perfect for her. I know that sounds dumb, but she’s surfed a couple and they’re all the same. Perfect.”

  “Not dumb at all,” I agree, eyes widening at her description. The future queen of the ocean does have a certain command of the sea, that’s for sure. But it’s not like any human has ever noticed it or expressed it so eloquently. “Do you surf?”

  “I did in Hermosa back in L.A. but I’m nothing like that.”

  “Come on,” I say, hopping to my feet and holding a hand down to her. “Quick session and then we’ll head up to L.A. It’s early enough and no one’s out except for the surfers.” Her eyes cloud over at the mention of heading to Los Angeles, but she nods and stands with a groan.

  “Ouch,” she says, working the kinks in her legs. “I’m warning you, I’m not that great.”

  After we grab a couple of boards from the house and Anya gets changed into a borrowed pair of boardies and rashguard from Nerissa that make my stomach do a weird backflip thing, we paddle out to the other surfers. Nerissa is straddling her board, her dark blond hair hanging in a wet clump down her back, her eyes sparkling.

  “You surf?” she asks Anya.

  “A little. I warned Speio that I’m nowhere as good as you, but he insisted. Thanks for the gear, by the way. He also said you wouldn’t mind that I borrowed some.”

  “No one’s as good as Nerissa,” I mutter, pulling my legs over the side of the board and sitting upright.

  “You’re just as good,” Nerissa says to me and then turns to Anya. “And of course about the clothes. I don’t mind at all.”

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Anya says.

  The sun has just started to rise, turning the water into a shimmering oasis, and I nod, agreeing. “Sunrise and sunset, best times to surf.” I splash some water toward her, making her squeal. “Now, let’s see what you got, L.A. girl.”

  To my surprise, Anya is a pretty decent surfer. She got worked a couple times on her first runs, but once she gets up on the wave, she can hold her own. I surf a couple waves, feeling the exhilaration build in my body, before paddling back out to the lineup. I watch as Nerissa and Anya paddle furiously past me vying for the same wave—this one’s a monster—and grin as Anya glides forward, popping up a scant second before Nerissa. As per the unspoken rules of surfing etiquette, Nerissa pulls off the wave instead of dropping in on Anya, and paddles over to me.

  “She’s pretty good,” she says.

  “Yeah,” I agree. “Did you let her get that one?”

  “No. She worked hard for that wave. She totally deserved it. I’m heading in after this one so I’ll catch you later,” Nerissa says over her shoulder as she eyes an incoming wave. “Aldon says you can borrow his yacht later, by the way, to head up to L.A. Echlios says it may be safer than driving. It’s the Sea Star at the marina.”

  “Wait, how did you …”

  But she’s already gone, sprinting fast and dropping down over the lip of the wave. I shake my head at what she’d revealed. Even though my father was angry that I’d gone and brought a stranger to the house, he still wants to make sure that I’m safe. Dr. Aldon, a neurological expert, was a longtime acquaintance of the family—one of the few humans to know about our existence as sanctioned by the Aquarathi High Council. The Sea Star is one of the many vessels in his fleet.

  I wait for Anya as she paddles out one last time. She pulls up next to me, panting heavily but bright-eyed. Our boards are top to tail and she’s facing me. “How is it that you’re not even tired?” she asks with a grin that makes her eyes sparkle in the sunlight.

  Because I’m not human and I have six times your lung capacity is what I want to say, but of course I don’t. “I’m tired on the inside. I’m just trying to make sure you’re suitably impressed. Is it working?”

  “It totally is.”

  She looks so cute with drops of saltwater beading on her skin that I lean over and kiss her right there. The taste of salt on her lips is my undoing, and I lean in, craving more. It’s a mistake as my weight tips both of our boards over and we fall into the ocean with a splash. Laughing and sputtering, we surface and tread water facing each other.

  “Smooth, right?” I joke.

  “Very smooth,” Anya agrees as she wraps her arms around my shoulders. “So smooth that you get another chance to prove yourself.” And then we’re kissing again, the kiss made even more intense by the soft eddying of the sea around us. Every cell in my body is tingling and alive, and all I want to do is lose myself in the moment. So I do.

  Anya breaks away, eyes wide, as she stares from my shoulder to my face, and then back again.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “You didn’t see it? The shimmer?”

  “Shimmer?” My stomach sinks, but I force an incredulous look to my face. “You imagining things again, Anya Delmonico?”

  “I swear to God that your shoulder lit up from inside or something.” She frowns. “When we kissed, it was like bright golden glitter.” Her fingers trail over my skin, making my flesh prickle with goose bumps in their wake.

  “Maybe the sun was in your eyes,” I say brightly. “Then again, it’s kind of cool to know that I can make a girl see starbursts.”

  “Speio—”

  “I like it when you say my name. It makes me want to kiss you.”

  I kiss her again, silencing any other protests with my mouth even though my stomach is churning that I’d let myself go so much before that I’d gone bioluminescent in broad daylight. How could I have been so reckless? By the time I’m finished, Anya is well and truly speechless, although I can see the remnants of uncertainty in her eyes. Her gaze slides to my shoulder and then above it to where the sun is a bright disk looming over the horizon.

  She shakes her head firmly and squints into the light. “You’re right, the sun was probably in my eyes and it was glistening off your skin.”

  I fake a bright smile despite the relief pooling in my belly. “Darn it, and I was just getting excited about my new starlight kissing super powers!”

  “Why don’t you show me your super powers and beat me into shore?” Anya challenges with a grin and paddles off toward a slow cresting wave.

  By the time we get back to the beach, we are both laughing like idiots—the odd moment of sparkling skin forgotten. I’m relieved, but I know that it was a near miss. I shouldn’t have been so careless. But I’d been so caught up in the moment, and the combination of Anya and the ocean had been too much to handle.

  After Anya thanks my mother and father for their hospitality, we’re on our way to the marina. I glance at my watch. It’s nearing ten o’clock. I keep a sharp eye out for Frank, but I don’t see the tinted car anywhere in sight. Anya wouldn’t have told Marco who I was, and I
hadn’t mentioned my name. Even if they asked around trying to find out where I live, I look like every other surfer boy in San Diego—blond and skinny with a skateboard. That alone should buy us some time. Nonetheless, I’m not taking any chances, staying off the interstate and taking the back roads, instead.

  When we get to the marina, the Sea Star is prepped and ready for departure. We walk down the deck toward the majestic looking yacht.

  “Wow,” Anya says and then shoots me a mischievous grin. “Almost as big as the one my dad gave me for my sixteenth birthday.”

  I shake my head, surprised. Anya doesn’t flaunt her wealth and is so down to earth that I forget she must be used to an extravagant lifestyle. “What’s her name?”

  “Belladonna.”

  “What does that mean?” I ask. “Beautiful lady?”

  “Deadly nightshade.”

  “Oh.”

  Anya is still laughing at my expression when we cast off and start heading north. The weather is beautiful and the captain tells us that the trip will be less than a couple hours. Anya and I relax in the backbench of the stern.

  “So, L.A. by water?” she asks.

  “Actually,” I admit, “it wasn’t even my idea. It was my father’s. And Nerissa’s, too, I think. They thought it would be safer than taking the roads.”

  “Good thinking,” Anya says, leaning back into the plush white leather and making herself comfortable. “By the way, I left you something in your room.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  Despite my efforts to get her to reveal said surprise, Anya remains like a vice.

  “Nerissa seems nice,” she says to change the subject.

  I can’t help smiling at her ploy. “She’s okay.”

  “I noticed a little tension between the two of you,” she says. “You give in to her a lot. So do your parents.”