Chapter 12

chapter 12

ELLE

Once I felt at one with my body, I wasn't scared anymore.

It was like I'd was waking up from a good dream, when it was still clinging around the edges, before reality caught up—and I remembered the last time I'd been with Lena, before the hospitals, when we'd been sitting on my couch together, throwing marshmallows at each other instead of putting them in our cocoa.

"Elle of the Air?" Cepharius asked. "Who is she? She looks like you."

I blinked and shook my head, as the peaceful bubble of clarity I'd brought back with me popped.

Was that was this was going to be like?

Having someone endlessly look through my life like a photo album?

"It is because you have joined my 'qa," he said, answering my unspoken question. "This is how my people speak. And I apologize for intruding on your thoughts...it's just that you are very...loud."

"Just—don't—please?" I asked him, shaking my head. A piece of my hair had fallen in front of my eyes, and I couldn't brush it back because I was still tied to the chair. "Marcus!" I called out. "Can you get me out of here?" And then, to Cepharius alone. "Just don't go too deep, okay? There's a lot of stuff down there I don't want to share with you. I'm here because I want to be, but that doesn't mean you need to go exploring."

I felt Cepharius's presence lighten in my mind. "I understand."

"You're both finished?" Marcus asked, coming up, looking from me to the blurry figure still looming behind the water-wall. Cepharius was even taller than Marcus was, and much broader across the shoulders.

"Yeah."

Marcus started unlatching the buckles that'd kept me in place—and in hindsight, I was glad they'd been there. "So what are the rules?" I thought out to Cepharius, and saw him tilt his head. I couldn't make out his face though.

"Now that we are bonded, you will be able to call for me, at any time, and I will hear you, so long as I am near. I will also be able to sense your mood and emotions—these are shared on the 'qa whether you like it or not. But while I have the potential to read your mind, yes, and see all of your memories, I swear to you, Elle of the Air, I will not do so without your permission, inasmuch as I am able."

"Thank you." I let go of another breath. "And what will I sense from you?"

"Only what I want you to."

I frowned at that, as Marcus moved down to unbuckle my ankles.

"Do not be upset," Cepharius continued. "You already experienced what it was like to overlap me. You did not like it much."

"It still seems unfair," I thought out at him. "I'll essentially be naked, and you'll be wearing clothing."

I caught a strong, echoing wave of his amusement on the connection between us. "Do you think krakens wear clothing?" he asked, and I had to bite back a grin.

"Are you okay?" Donna asked, coming up to give me a worried look .

"Yeah. So far." I brought my hands up out of the shackles to push my hair back, and then stood, as Donna helped shuffle the chair away. "I mean, it's weird, don't get me wrong," I said with a shrug, knowing Cepharius could hear me. "But it's not...bad?"

I inspected my newly freed wrists and saw where one of his suckers had given me a hickey over my half-a-heart tattoo—and suddenly I felt him rush up.

"Did I injure you?"

His concern slammed into me like a physical thing, and I stumbled beneath its force. Marcus caught me fast and hard around the waist before I could fall into the wall, at the same time as I saw two tentacles lash out of the water behind him, either to keep me from falling over—or to drag Marcus in.

"I'm fine!" I told all interested parties, aloud and with my mind, firmly stepping away from the red zone.

Marcus and Donna hadn't seen Cepharius's tentacles intrude, but I sure as hell had.

"What was that?" I thought as loudly as I could in Cepharius's direction.

"Nothing, apparently," he responded, sounding slightly wounded. "But the marks on your wrist?—"

I inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm the both of us down. "You just broke some capillaries is all. And the stronger line is a marking I chose—" I started, and then decided to not excavate everything in front of him if I could help it. "It's not a big deal. My skin is softer than yours," I finished quietly inside my mind.

"I had noticed," he told me just as quietly back.

I stared into the water and swallowed.

"Earth to Elle," Donna said, snapping fingers in front of my face, before giving Marcus a worried look. "You're going to need to be on your A-game down there, missy. You can't fade off at weird times. Just because you've got a bodyguard doesn't mean the water's safe."

Which brought up a pertinent point. I stared out at Cepharius. "Just what will you be guarding me from? "

He considered this deeply—and I would've sworn I felt the rumble of his thoughts between us, like a purring lion.

"Knowing humans?" he eventually offered. "Most likely yourself."