Read SEAMONSTER: An Aquarathi Novella (The Aquarathi) for Free Online

respond for a long minute. I’ve never opened up to anyone, and a part of me still wants to keep my secrets secret. But another part wants to let them out … or at least one of them. “I don’t want to be here. We’re not from around here, either. This isn’t where I belong and I want to go home.”
    “Where are you from?”
    “The other side of the world,” I say.
    “ I don’t understand. Why can’t you go home?”
    “It’s … safer for us here.”
    Anya doesn’t say anything, but then she smiles. “I’ll try to be here tomorrow. Thanks for everything, Speio. It was nice talking to you, too.”
    After Anya leaves, I don’t watch to see which house on El Paseo Grande she ’s walking toward—at least, not overtly. I walk down toward the water’s edge and form a glimmer, pushing myself outward, and follow her up the beach. The house she enters is modern and cream-colored with a pool on the front deck. She looks back a couple times to where I’m standing, but I don’t turn around. She doesn’t go inside, sitting on the pool deck instead, and opens her notebook on the lounger. She writes my name beneath the drawing of me on the beach, and fills in some areas with shadow before closing the pages and leaning back on the chair. I wish my glimmer could tell me what she’s thinking, but only Nerissa has that kind of power.
    I dissipate the glimmer with a thought and walk down the beach until I’m out of Anya’s sight. I swim out to sea, through all the breaking waves until I’m well past the surf zone. I don’t shift fully and let myself morph just enough so that I can breathe underwater. By the time I reach my house, my human arms are sore, but it’s a good kind of ache. I feel invigorated, and it’s a feeling I’d almost forgotten. That feeling of restlessness prickling under my skin like a constant reminder that I don’t belong here in this world has faded. I wonder if it’s because of Anya.
    Nerissa is lounging in our saltwater pool. Her eyes are curious, but she doesn’t ask where I’ve been. Instead, she throws me a long measured look and closes her eyes. I know she can feel whatever I’m feeling, and while a part of me resents the inherent intrusion, I welcome the fact that it’s a shared burden. That’s the power of the heir to the Aquarathi throne. I sense her silent invitation and join her in the pool.
    “You seem happy,” she says quietly. “Not as … upset.”
    “I guess.”
    One eye flicks open. “Is it because of the girl? The one from yesterday?”
    “Maybe.” I’m not sure I want to put what I’ve experienced with Anya into words. It feels too fragile , as if it’s somehow going to disappear when I talk about it.
    “Did you—”
    I preempt the question. “She doesn’t know anything.”
    “And the drawing?”
    “She has a vivid imagination. It’s fine.”
    Nerissa closes her eye and relaxes into the water beside me, bright gold lights flickering along her skin. The silvery gold lights beneath mine flicker in automatic response to the royal call of hers. “That’s good,” she says. “It’s nice for you to make connections with people. This is our home now, for better or worse.”
    For once, I don’t feel an angry retort rise to my lips. “She’s human, Riss.”
    “So?”
    “We can’t bond with them. There’s no point in making connections .”
    Nerissa is quiet for a moment, and I know she’s thinking about dvija . “That doesn’t mean you can’t get to know her. Look at Jenna. She’s a human and she’s my best friend.”
    “That’s different.”
    “Spey,” she says, a trace of irritation creeping into her voice. “Just accept it for what it is, okay? If she seems like a nice girl, then be nice back. It’s not all that hard. Everything isn’t about bonding or not bonding. Human relationships are inherently complex. It doesn’t have to be sexual to mean something.” Nerissa takes a breath and immerses her entire body beneath the water,