Chapter 69

chapter 69

ELLE

Cepharius brought me food to eat, explaining that it was traditional for men to go hunting after breeding—but he didn't have to hunt, he just had to go to the storeroom, which I gathered was like a very nice cave where the eating-fish were kept.

I still hadn't gotten the hang of a lot of kraken habits yet—but it was a good thing I enjoyed sushi.

And he was feeding me—another tradition!—when we felt Sylinda on the 'qa. "Come to the throne room. Both of you, please."

Ceph questioned her, but when she didn't answer he took my hand and tossed the fish we hadn't finished to the anemones on the wall. There were no other kraken in the hallways we took in, a thing that struck me as odd—especially when I couldn't feel any on the 'qa.

"Cepharius and Elle," his brother Balesur said as we entered. He always made sure to include me, but I was still nervous, especially given the circumstances, which were feeling strange.

"I sent everyone else away," Sylinda said to calm me. "Because there's someone here to see you both." She pointed above her head.

I recoiled into Ceph's side instantly. "No. I'm not going," I said, and his arms were around me at once. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Cepharius.

"Who is it?" Ceph asked. "Royce?"

"Your two-legged authority. Complete with the siren again," Balesur said. "I believe he has questions about your last assignment." He then looked to me. "But do not worry, Elle. If anyone tried to take you from my brother, we would meet them with the full power of the ocean."

I calmed down some, as Ceph's hands smoothed against me. "I can go alone, if you'd like."

"No," I said, settling. I didn't want to think about being away from Cepharius's side.

"All right, then," Ceph said, giving his brother a nod. "Come with me, and I will teach you how to rise."

It took the rest of the morning, and I still wasn't good at it. The spaceship had given me the same kind of powers that Ceph had for accommodating pressure changes, but he'd been doing it instinctively his whole life, whereas I had to think about it.

It was like learning how to drive again, while feeling queasy.

"You are doing better than you think," Ceph said, hovering beside me.

"You make it look so effortless," I said with a frown, trying to concentrate on going up, but not too quickly.

"You will get there," he promised.

"You look like a natural to me!" said a voice I hadn't heard before on our 'qa—as someone who looked like a mermaid swam up. I'd seen pictures of them before but I'd never met one in real life—she was gorgeous.

"Siren," she corrected me. "Mermaids are coastal."

"You're so pretty," I thought out on the 'qa, and heard her laugh.

"I like her, Cepharius," she told him. "My name is Omara," she said, introducing herself .

"I'm Elle," I said, even though I knew she could already get it from my mind.

"She also thinks I am pretty, just so you know," Ceph said, putting an arm around me, and giving me a grin. "Her taste is suspect."

I laughed—and then felt a new presence join us. I knew at once he was fully human.

"Doctor Kepzler?" he asked, too loud and very clumsily.

"Royce, of the Monster Security Agency," Cepharius answered on my behalf. "She is safe. I have done my duty."

"I see," he said—as the siren in front of us blinked and her eyes went white.

"And I'm staying," I added, because no one else had said it yet.

The siren's eyes opened wide. "Cepharius...is all of this...true?" she asked—at the same time I could sense her going through our memories, all of the time since she'd seen Ceph last, both in his mind and mine, up until this morning.

"Is she not proof of it?" Cepharius asked, winding a few of his lower-arms around me protectively.

"Wow," the man's voice said with wonder. "That is . . . something else."

I looked up with horror. I was only barely able to make out the shadow of a boat above us. Was he going to tell anyone?

"If you will give me a moment," Omara said, disconnecting from our 'qa, while her eyes were still protected with white.

"What's happening, Ceph?" I whispered to him.

"I am unsure," he said. "All I know is that no force on earth can take you away from me—and no force from outer space, either."

"All right," the siren announced, rejoining us at the same time as the man's mind did—this Royce, that Ceph already knew.

"I'm in a bit of a difficult situation up here, Cepharius. None of which is because of you—I see how things went down. You did the best you could, in an incredibly difficult situation."

"Thank you," Ceph said, while staying tense .

"But—Arcus Marlow wants to know how he spent his money. And it seems like everyone who could've told him that—or what happened to his spaceship—is dead. Except for you, Doctor Kepzler."

I shied away further behind Ceph.

"Do not fear," Omara said, putting a hand out to calm me. "We are decided."

"We?" I asked.

"Yes," the man responded. "But first off, are you absolutely certain you want to stay down there, Doctor?"

"Yes," I answered instantly, and meant it with all of my heart.

"Because there's not going to be any way to come back from this," he went on, but the siren interrupted him.

"Get on with it, Royce. The girl knows what she wants," she said, giving me a smile that revealed a row of sharp teeth.

"Okay. Here's how this is going to go—it turns out you died down there, Doctor. And Cepharius. The both of you. It was an incredible tragedy."

I frowned at Ceph, not entirely understanding.

"And what happens now is you swim away," the siren said.

"But—he knows what happened," I said. I remembered Donna's warning about telepathic species—surely Arcus Marlow could hire some other similar monster to tease this Royce's mind open and figure the truth out.

"Not for long," Omara promised. "Because once you leave, I will erase his memory of this moment ever happening. He will be unable to tell anyone."

I could feel Ceph's astonishment at this. "He would allow you to do that?"

"Honestly, I could give a shit about you two, but not knowing will make my life easier, plus it'll make her happy. For some reason Omara likes to believe in true love." We both felt a wave of strong affection from the human above—but not for us, for the siren. "Just as long as you're sure about this, Doctor. Because once I forget this conversation and Omara tells me that you died, I'm going to take it at face value. Your obituary will be posted before my ship even gets back."

There was no point in hiding my elation. "Tell them I died doing what I loved," I told him, and he laughed.

"Okay. Nice to meet you, and hope I never see you—either of you—again. Omara? Can you—" he went on.

Omara removed him from our 'qa, then took my hand in hers. "I would ask if you're sure, but I already know," she said, smiling, looking between the two of us. "I wish you both the best.