Chapter 17 Cetius

I was back inside the healing facility. But this time I was in one of the dry rooms, and Vera was the patient. Then my grandsire pulled himself up over the ledge, along with Lago and our family lawyer.

Behind them was a male in an enforcer uniform. I frowned. Vera had only just woken up, and we hadn’t had any time to ourselves yet, not with the nurse bustling about. Couldn’t they wait to start asking questions?

With our lawyer monitoring the situation, Vera answered a handful of questions, then told her side of the story. Then she asked for her harness. I handed it to her, and she took out her conch.

“I had no signal so I wasn’t able to call anyone, but I set it to record before he came back.”

Moments later, Algrim’s voice filled the room, explaining how he’d talked Nerial into putting out a hit on me. It was pretty damning. That, combined with the clips we had of him as he tackled Vera in front of the carriage, would be more than enough to justify our use of force and to put him away for a long time.

With the enforcer gone, our lawyer handed us the new marriage contract, worded in a way to protect Vera in case anything like this happened again.

I went through it as Vera read the translated version. It was basically what she and I had hashed out on that beach, with some additional clauses. She was to stay with me for one planetary year and, if the currents so chose, bear me offspring. After that, she would be returned to the surface and taken to the human settlement. Should she be pregnant when the end of the year rolled around, she would stay until the child was born.

With my insistence, he’d added that Vera would receive a generous allowance every lunar cycle she stayed here, and if a child was born, the compensation would continue until he or she reached adulthood.

The thought of her leaving at all had me feeling sick, but I couldn’t go back on my word. This was what we’d agreed to back on the island. If it were up to me, we’d go back to the original contract set up by Starlight Brides.

She was frowning, and the more she read, the more her frown deepened.

“What is wrong? You are upset.”

By the currents, I hoped this whole situation hadn’t turned her off the idea of staying in Coral’s Deep. It was my fault. I hadn’t protected her well enough.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again as if searching for the right words. After a moment, she said, “I know the whole contract thing is very common practice in your culture, but it’s still a little strange for me. I mean, we have prenups, which people sign before getting married to protect their assets and make sure each party is well compensated if the relationship doesn’t last. And I guess our marriages are basically contracts too. But they’re not like…this.”

My grandsire, who’d been silent until now, spoke up. “This type of contract is not part of our old ways. It is a relatively new development since the war. You’re not offending anyone by finding it unromantic. The brides that come from Starlight Brides usually rely on the contract they signed there.”

My grandsire knew all about the deal now. He knew that Vera was going to leave at the end of the year. Cetia did too, but that hadn’t stopped her from offering part of her own gills to fix Vera’s external ones. I hated that I’d given them so much false hope.

“This contract here has me leaving for the surface in one year,” Vera said slowly.

I went to her, putting my arm around her as she leaned against my tail. “It was what we agreed on.”

Did she want it to be longer? Or shorter? If I told her the truth now, that I was falling in love with her and believed her to be my mate, it could only end one of two ways. Did I dare risk it?

“That was before I got to know you. But when I saw you being dragged away from that selach with an arrow sticking out of your chest, then finding out that the arrow was poisoned”…she took in a shaky breath…“it made me realize just how short life is. I know we just met, but I really like you. Like, I think I’m falling for you. I want to see where this goes. I don’t want to have to go at the end of the year. What if I want to stay?” She wrung her hands. “Oh god, I’m probably totally scaring you away with how clingy I sound.”

I cupped her cheek and looked into her storm cloud gray eyes.

“You are not scaring me away. Nothing you could do would scare me away. If you wish to stay at the end of the contract, we will simply sign another one. I will keep signing as long as you wish to stay with me. I would have you with me forever if I could.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t know when it happened, but Vera, I believe you are my mate. My true mate. My one and only. No one else is happy listening to my stories. No one else wants to explore the ocean and the islands with me like you do. When I’m around you, I feel alive, like I’d been waiting for you my whole life.”

Her eyes filled with liquid and turned glassy, and for a split second, I worried that something was hurting her eyes.

“I have a better idea,” she said. “Let’s keep the time frame on the contract open-ended and add a clause that it is only between you and me and will never transfer to anyone else. I mean, as long as you’re okay with that.”

“Okay with it? That’s ideal!” I pulled her in and kissed her.

“I’ll get that drafted up right now,” said our lawyer, reminding us that we were not alone.

“I’m so happy my grandson has found a true love match. A real mating! Imagine that!” Cetion exclaimed after our lawyer left. “Come on, Lago. Let’s give them some time to themselves.”

The healer picked up the ripped set of Sweetheart Gills from the table. “I just need these so I can send them to the lab with Cetia’s cells for repair.” He turned to me. “I heard you two are leaving for the islands in a few days. Don’t forget you will need to be monitored after your run-in with the poison.”

“I’ll figure something out,” I said.

Finally, Vera and I were alone.

“Did he just say Cetia’s cells?” she asked.

“Yes, she offered to donate some of hers since that would have the highest chance of success.”

“I’ll need to thank her.”

“When we get the gills back, I think you should keep them on. Once they fuse with you, your body will be able to heal them like it would any other part of your body.” I didn’t give her a chance to protest. “I know that’s my only pair, but I want you to have them. There truly isn’t anyone else I’d want to give them to. And it would make Cetia happy.”

I wasn’t above using the friendship between them to my benefit. I relaxed when she finally nodded.

“And I should let you know, I’m planning on publicly announcing Cetia as co-owner and Iravan as second-in-command on Ebb Tide Trading tomorrow. Cetia finished her schooling earlier this year, and she is better equipped to run the operations here. I have decided that I can serve Ebb Tide best not in the office but out in the world, looking for more acquisitions. With you.”

She blinked up at me as the full meaning hit her. “Wait…we’re going traveling? I mean, after the honeymoon?”

I knew from her excitement that I’d made the right decision.

“Yes, little love. I want to show you all the places I’ve been, and we’ll find even more to explore. I looked into logistics after talking to my grandsire. There are many options to make travel safer, easier, and more comfortable for you. We will only have to wait until the gills fuse first. What do you say?”

“Yes! Yes! A million times, yes!” she squealed before plastering little kisses all over my face.

I captured her lips and kissed her until we were both breathless, a strange sensation I’d never felt before. I’d found my true mate, not just from beyond the sands, but from beyond the stars.

And she was all I’d ever need.