Chapter 15

Fifteen

Her father worked as quickly as he could. All the replicators were firing constantly, so much so that she could smell the molten metal most days. It still took months. Months on end while she hid in his home and pretended that she wasn't listening to all the builders who came and went. That she didn't care when they spoke about the progress they had made on Alpha.

Eventually, even she had to admit they had built something grand. An entire city encased in glass that would never leak. It was impossible to damage what her father had created. Three different bubbles, all encircling the city. If one was damaged, it was easy to fix without endangering the city. And even if they didn't know how to fix it, there were still three shields between them and the world.

The oxygen remained stable. Everything grew quite well underneath the natural sunlight and also all the UV bulbs that they had throughout the entire encasement. Even on cloudy days, Alpha saw the sun.

They rushed the next project, already having her father working night and day on yet another iteration. This time, it would be Beta. The city that was made like skyscrapers, all exposed to the ocean. They wanted a city to put the riff raff. The people who would fix everything they needed, the blue-collar workers who didn't need to be with the people who had already built Alpha.

In less than a few months, they created a new world and segregated everyone within it.

Her father worked so hard. First to make her a home so she didn't have to live with his mistakes, and then for his people to have somewhere safe to go after Alpha decided they were no longer necessary.

He lived, ate, and breathed work. Sometimes she went into his secret office in the water, trying to get him to eat something. But he didn't often eat.

Most of the time, he spent his minimal hours enacting his promise to his daughter. She didn't know if that was because he loved her so much, or if he felt guilty for what he had done.

There were only so many hours in the day, though. And his guilt ate at him.

Eventually, he finished. He came into her room late at night, like a ghost of himself. Pale and staggering, he braced himself on the frame of her bedroom door and nodded. "It is done."

"I will start packing."

"Everything you need is already in there," her father said, his voice crackling with age and exhaustion. "You have to go now."

Alys stood, clutching her shawl around herself. She was in nothing but her white nightgown with a pale yellow shawl to keep her warm before bed. He really expected her to leave like this?

"Why?" she asked, furrowing her brows in confusion. "What is going on?"

"They're coming to help pack the house. They want me working in Alpha from now on." He looked around the room, then grabbed a photograph of her mother, her father, and Alys. "Keep this, at least. The rest you can leave."

"Dad, I don't know what's going on."

"You have to go, now. They're going to be here very soon, and they will see what I have built. There's no time for us to talk, Alys." He drew her in for a tight hug, his chin on top of her head and then the briefest press of a kiss to her skull. "I will miss you, my girl. But maybe there will be a way for us to send messages to each other. You never know."

"I'll try my best." She squeezed him tight as well, trying to press into him how much she appreciated all his work and how much she would miss him, too. For all that he had done, he was still her dad. And he still had done his best to make sure that he not only got her out of this place, but that she was happy and where she wanted to be.

The future waited for her. Soon she would see Imber again, and all the creatures that had made her fall in love with the sea. She would live and breathe with them, even if her life would be a little different than before.

She'd thought she would be elated at this moment, but there was a bittersweet sadness to it.

"I love you," she whispered against her father's shoulder. "I really do, you know?"

"I always know." He drew back and framed her face with his hands. Holding onto her as he looked. Just looked. Like he didn't want to forget the sight of her face and it made tears sting in her eyes. "Just like you will always know that I love you, my daughter. The best thing I have ever made was you. And will always be you."

A single tear dripped down her cheek before they both burst into movement. She held the photo tightly as they sprinted out of the house toward the abandoned dock where her father had been building. No one came over here. No one ever even looked at their house, really, but they needed to make sure she was gone long before anyone else came.

Opening the top hatch, she clambered in before sticking her head out. "Dad!"

He looked back at her, an old man standing on an old dock, his shoulders curved and his body weighed down by time. "What is it?"

"How will I find them?" Neither of them had seen Imber or any undine in months. Not since the last time she'd seen him.

Her father grinned. "I think he'll find you."

She wasn't sure how he was so certain of that, but... Well, she wasn't going to question it. Alys slipped into the pilot station at the head of the massive ship he had built her. And really, it wasn't a ship at all. It was a home.

She hadn't gotten to explore the entire thing, but soon she would. And then she would be free. Really free.

Firing up the engines, she turned her new home away from the old one and set off into the sea. Alys didn't know where she was going or how far she would need to travel to find him and the others. So she just... explored.

For weeks on end. Piloting her ship through all parts of the ocean she had never seen before. Endless darkness below her, wild creatures like whales and sharks and jellyfish that didn't care when she moved through their masses. She saw perfect, glistening white sand, and so many forests of kelp and greenery that it seemed like they turned into emeralds in front of her eyes. So many creatures and plants that she'd never seen before. And she cataloged it all.

She spent most of her time cataloging all the things she found while she traveled. Alys had always wanted to have free rein of the sea and to go wherever she wanted. But she'd never thought it would come in the form of a pod that was her home as well.

Her father had done a miraculous job. It was large enough for her to walk from end to end most days around thirty times and feel a bit like she was getting some form of exercise. There was a bathroom with a small shower that filtered the salt out of the sea. The central area was mostly taken up by a large moon pool, but she rarely opened that, anyway. So it felt like there was a big empty space in the middle with three branches off of it.

The first branch had small stairs that went up to the bedroom with a glass dome over her mattress. She'd already started painting a mural around it, so it felt like she was sleeping in a bed of flowers.

The second branch went to her piloting area, which was mostly functional with many panels, buttons, and gadgets.

The last went to a massive garden. Or a greenhouse, she supposed. It also had a large glass dome surrounding it, so the plants got as much natural light as they were allowed. The rest of the UV light the pod provided. Already she had a ridiculous amount of food available, and she'd been spending her evenings canning vegetables and fruits, while also learning the fine art of drying herbs for flavor.

Who would have thought propagating plants was so interesting? But she found her new life to be thoroughly thrilling. She was the only one who could keep herself alive, and strangely, she had risen to that challenge with vigor and hope.

Of course, that hope wavered slightly the longer it took for him to find her, but... She was still holding on.

Tucking herself in at night was the hardest part. She settled in, pulling the down blankets up over her shoulders and staring up at the stars. She'd parked herself on a small rise tonight, a swimmable distance to the surface. For some reason, she really wanted to see the stars.

Tonight felt like she needed it. And it was a clear night, so why wouldn't she see the beauty of the sky above her?

But this time, a dark shadow passed over the stars as she looked up at it. A shadow that wasn't quite right for any of the whales and dolphins she'd seen before. It was... different.

Sitting straight up, her hair tumbling around her shoulders, she held her breath as the shadow got closer and closer.

"Imber," she whispered at the same time the dark night sea lit up with a thousand sparkling emeralds.

Bolting out of bed, she got tangled up in the sheets and fell straight onto her face as she raced for the moon pool. Untangling herself as best she could, she dragged half of her bedding with her before she could slam her hand down on the level that opened the moon pool.

"Come on," she muttered, jumping up and down as she waited. "Hurry up. Hurry up."

She didn't even think it might be another undine. She knew Imber. And her soul knew him, too.

The moment there was enough space for him to slip into the room, he was there. His dark head cresting the water and a wicked grin on his face that made every fiber of her being light on fire.

He stayed there, floating in the water with his hair plastered against his head, looking like a sea god waiting for her. That grin never budged, and his eyes never moved from her. "Alys," he said, that deep voice sending shivers down her spine. "You finally came home."

With an ear-piercing shriek, she launched herself into the water. Right into his waiting arms. His laughter echoed through her room, but she didn't want to hear him laughing. She wanted to kiss him.

So she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and did just that. She kissed him with all the desire and waiting that she'd felt for months. It had been such a long time since she'd seen him, and it didn't matter if he had found someone else or he'd moved on from her. She didn't want to know.

Not yet, anyway. Right now, she just wanted to feel his soft lips against hers. To feel the bite of his sharp teeth and the strange sensation of his bumpy tongue against hers. She wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anything and she would have him.

His arms tightened around her and he kissed her like he'd been counting every single day until he could kiss her again. Maybe he had. It certainly felt that way as he pressed months of despair and hope and agony against her tongue.

She had no idea how long they kissed. All she knew was that they could take as much time as they needed.

For the first time since knowing him, there was no clock. No time for them to keep track of. No reason to hurry. They could explore each other, love each other, in every way, shape, and form. It didn't matter.

There was no one waiting for them this time. It was just the two of them.

And so, when she felt the prick at the side of her neck as he drifted with her under the water, she didn't stop him. Her nightgown floated up around her waist and that was okay, too. She didn't need it. He would keep her safe, and right now, she wasn't all that worried about safety in the slightest.

She wanted him. He wanted her. And it had been months since they had last explored each other's bodies.

There was no rush in any of their touches. Just long sighs and deep breaths as they relearned every inch of the other's body. Imber had new scars, a few on his shoulders and one rather large one across his abs. She had gained a few pounds, but he didn't seem to mind in the slightest.

And when he sank inside her, she felt her soul heal from all the times they'd been apart. She had missed him. So much. Now they were together, and it was overwhelming how happy she was.

Eventually he swam her back up to the moon pool, his arms still tightly wrapped around her as he set her on the edge.

He stayed between her parted legs, his hands on her face as he traced all the parts of her that he loved. His fingers lingered on her lips, her cheeks, her collarbone, like he couldn't stop touching her.

"Alys," he said again, his voice little more than a low murmur. "I have missed you so, my wave song."

"I missed you, too." She caught his hand to press a kiss to his palm. "How is everything?"

"We have a new home. There are more people who have come with us, others displaced by the work of the achromos. But soon it will be done, and we will be safe again."

"I'm glad to hear it. I cannot leave this ship as often as I'd like, but I can visit with you. Visit them, if they'll have me."

"I think they're happy on their own, love." His eyes seemed a little distant, sadness bleeding into his gaze before he shook it free. "It would be best if it was just you and I."

Though it made her sad, she understood. The undines had their own way of life and her people hadn't made that way of life any easier. It was hard, but it was the right choice.

Nodding, she toyed with the ends of his hair. "Will that make you happy? I don't want to isolate you."

"Oh, you are my love, my mate, my everything," he breathed. "I would not survive being parted from you again, Alys. Not even in death."

When she drew him in for another kiss, Alys knew that maybe he was right. Maybe they were meant to be together forever. It certainly felt that way. But no matter what, their life would always be an adventure.

And there was no one she would rather adventure with than him.