SEAMONSTER: An Aquarathi Novella (The Aquarathi) by Amalie Howard

Author:Amalie Howard [Howard, Amalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RAH MEDIA LLC
Published: 2014-06-17T00:00:00+00:00

A Kiss Is Never Just A Kiss

“Son, are you out of your mind?” Outside on the patio, my father is seething. I shrink back from the fierce anger in his voice. Nerissa is nowhere to be seen and my mother is standing off to the side. She sends me a reassuring look that does little to soothe my nerves. My father rakes a hand through his hair, staring at me and shaking his head. “How could you bring her here? We have no idea who she is, and whether she could be a spy for one of the Aquarathi Courts. Lady Nerissa is vulnerable enough as it is. How could you be so foolish?”

I open my mouth to defend myself, but my mother interrupts me. “Echlios, calm down. It’s the first … friend Speio has brought here. I’m sure he doesn’t intend to put Lady Nerissa in danger, and the girl seems harmless enough.” I shoot her a grateful glance. “We would have sensed a threat if there was one.”

“How did you meet her?” my father asks me in a gruff but more mollified tone.

“When she jumped off of Dead Man’s Cliff.”

My father’s eyes narrow. “For fun?”

“No,” I say. “Not for fun. She’s in trouble with some humans from Los Angeles, and she needed a safe place to stay for a couple days.” I stare at my parents in turn. “Look, you encouraged me to make friends here, and that’s what I’ve done. Now she needs help and I can’t just walk away.”

“What kind of trouble?” my father asks.

“An ex-boyfriend is looking for her,” I say. “She won’t be a worry, I promise. In two days, she’s going to go back to L.A. and you won’t see her again.”

“Two days, Speio,” my father says and stalks off toward the beach.

I sigh and slump into a nearby patio lounger, closing my eyes. My mother comes up behind me, running her hand over the top of my head, and sits on the bottom half of the seat. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I say.

“This girl,” she begins haltingly. “You care about her?”

I don’t answer for a long moment. I don’t know how to articulate what I feel about Anya. Yes, I do care about her, but I know that’s not what my mother is asking. She wants to know whether I have feelings for her.

I swallow hard. “Yes.”

“Speio—”

“Mom, I know.”

“You don’t know, my son,” she says gently. “While our species can have relationships with the humans, it’s often at great cost to them. They may love us and we may love them in return, but it can never be as deep as the bond we would have for one of our own. Nothing compares to an Aquarathi bond, and the feelings you have for this girl are but fleeting.”

“Fleeting or not, they’re still real, and … I can’t just abandon her.”

“No,” she agrees. “You can’t. Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

I’m sure she’s more worried about me being careful with my heart than my life.

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