Chapter 4

Four

Just because she hadn't been here for a few days didn't mean she no longer wished to see him.

At least, that's what he told himself every day he showed up in their grove and she wasn't there.

He wasn't a fool. Imber knew whatever was between them was risky. Alys was one of the achromos, and he was one of the People of Water. He didn't even know how they would make this relationship work. She couldn't breathe underwater. He couldn't live on the land. They were the sun and the sea, trying very hard to make something work between the two of them, but knowing that eventually, they had to part.

The moon always rose on the horizon, and the sun always set. No matter how hard the waves tried to chase the sun.

Was it so terrible that he wished to try? He would chase her throughout all the nights of his life. Waiting for the briefest hint of her sunshine, because she made him feel so much better than he did in the pod.

Even the day when his sister, Virago, found him, he had thought to show Alys to his sister. Perhaps his sister would understand his feelings, because she had gone for a much smaller male than the others who had fought for her attention. She wasn't like the other people in their pod. Surely she would realize he'd made a connection with someone without knowing how to stop himself.

But he hadn't been able to put her at risk. His Alys was so tiny, so gentle. Virago would take one look at her and tell him that she wasn't worth being a partner to anyone. Alys wouldn't make strong children, nor could she protect them.

And yet, he still wanted to be the one to help her through it. He still wanted to be the one who defied the odds and protected his children for the both of them. He wanted... her.

A future with her. A life that was filled with the sound of her giggles and the soft touch of her hair stroking against his chest.

He wanted to feel her in his life. To know that every time he returned home, she was waiting for him there. It was an impossible future and yet, he would do anything to have it.

He gathered up his newest gift to give her. He'd been working on finding pearls inside of clams that they usually used for feasts. The clams were all too happy to get the granule of sand out of their shells, and he knew the tricks to getting them out without killing the animal. At least, until they needed them for a feast.

As it was, he had a handful of pearls that he'd woven with the strands they gathered from the thin ocean weeds. But he feared that it wouldn't last long out of the sea. He'd never tried to see what happened to the seagrass when it was dried out. They had no reason to keep anything dry underwater.

But his Alys always seemed to arrive to him dry, and then quickly jumped into the water. He'd noticed that she started coating her hair with something every time she got into the water. It meant her curls that he was so fascinated with were rarely on display anymore.

How frustrating it was that he couldn't talk to her and ask about all the things that piqued his curiosity.

"Brother." The voice made him pause on the edge of their pod home. They were a shallow water tribe, unlike many of his people who lived in the deep depths of the sea. As such, most of their homes were very easy to see into. They all gathered stones and made swirling patterns dug into the sand, like fish nests. Yet sometimes they had coverings over the top, for a sense of privacy.

He, unfortunately, did not have such a barrier.

Glancing up toward the surface, he saw his sister hovering above him. She looked so much like him, although nearly twice as large. Strong shoulders, strong arms, her hair cropped close to her skull. But their scales were the same color, the same vibrant green that graced his belly, also speckled along hers. Even their fin shapes were the same, diamond and ragged as they aged and the thin membranes slowly ripped. Her belly was still slightly bloated after having the child weeks ago, and she kept her daughter wrapped up in thick kelp weeds so the child was tied to her hip at all times.

Otherwise, his little niece was apt to get in trouble. She'd already slipped away more times than any of them could count. Even now, the little one was wriggling her tail, trying to get out of the slippery kelp so she could launch herself into Imber's arms.

He tried very hard not to smile and nodded at the child. "You're going to lose her again."

"Oh for..." His sister muttered curses underneath her breath, mostly all aimed at the child's father before scooping her up in her arms and holding onto the child firmly. "I'm going to start tethering her tail to me. You know she inherited this behavior from her father."

"Most likely."

"She needs to calm down. Maybe once we name her, she'll be able to fit better into the life she's supposed to live." Virago lifted her child up to her face, frowning at the giggling baby. "Enough, for once. I need to speak with your uncle."

The baby gurgled a bit, but eventually quieted down.

Virago sighed, as though soaking in the silence for a few moments before she tied her daughter back to her hip. "Where have you been disappearing to everyday?"

"I've been seeking out new hunting grounds."

"Yes, there are many who might believe that, but not me, brother." The glare on her face told him that she didn't even remotely trust that he was telling the truth. "If you're going to tell anyone, you might as well tell me."

He sighed, raking his claws through his hair. "I have met... someone."

"Someone?"

"She is kind and different, Virago. I do not know where it is going at the moment, so I'm just allowing it to play out as it will." The lie tasted acidic on his tongue.

He knew where he wanted it to go, at the very least. And he knew that the two of them had a connection he'd never seen before with his pod. They were bound, he and Alys, but he didn't know where that was going to put the two of them.

They had a long way to go before either of them figured that out.

Virago's eyes trailed along his face, as though she knew what he was struggling with. As though she could read his mind.

"You are being careful?" she asked.

"I am."

"Then you should be more careful than you are now." Her eyes narrowed even further. "I know you, brother. I can smell her on your scales when you swim by. You are coating yourself in her scent, and I'm not sure you know what that means."

"I know what it means." Imber tried very hard not to bristle at her tone. "I am not a child."

"No, you are my older brother and yet I am the one always reminding you to not take risks." She held out her hand for him, drawing him out of his stone nest and up into the ocean with her. Her child grabbed onto one of his hip fins, giving it a rather painful tug.

"Your words come from a place of caring, I know that." Imber took his time gently unwinding her child's fingers from his hip fins. "She is different, sister."

"Then why have we not met her yet?"

Because she was an achromo. Because she had two tails, and he still hadn't figured out how they worked yet. Because Alys was nothing like his family, and he feared they would take one look at her and see her as nothing more than a liability.

He swallowed all those words down and instead replied with, "I'm not ready to introduce her to you. But when I am, I will make sure you are the first to meet her."

Virago reached for the back of his neck, drawing his forehead to hers and sighing. He could feel the current created by the deep breath through her gills, and he was reminded that this was his sister. She loved him, even if she was a little rough around the edges.

Gripping her forearms, he gave her a little squeeze before moving back. "Keep watch over that child of yours. I don't want to find her at the drop off again."

Virago rolled her eyes. "It was one time, brother! One time. She hasn't gone back to the drop off in ages."

"Days," he scolded. "Days, Virago."

"A long time in the mind of a child. She's long forgotten it even exists."

He rolled his eyes and sped away, listening to the sound of his sister's laughter. That child was a wild thing, but he supposed she had gotten that from her mother.

Speeding through the waves, he made his way to their meeting spot with his heart in his throat. He hoped she was there this time. He knew that hope was dangerous, though. Especially after all the disappointment that he'd suffered through the past week. She had no reason to visit him often. Neither of them had made any promises, but he had hoped they had developed something that she could see. Especially after that kiss.

Oh, that kiss had haunted his dreams every night.

Maybe she'd gotten tired of him. But his twin beating hearts raced with the truth that she would never get tired of him. Not that easily.

Something must have happened, and today was the day he would see her again. He was certain of it.

Imber was breathing hard by the time he made it to the kelp grove, but all that breath left his lungs when he saw her sub. It wasn't settled on the sand as sturdily as normal, either. Little electric waves of nerves burst through his body, lighting up his fins bright green as he noticed that it was almost on its side. Like she'd landed in a hurry.

He frowned, his gaze sweeping to see where she was and if she had been followed. Why else would she have landed like something was wrong? Someone must have tracked her here. Perhaps she was in trouble.

The spines along his back rose, and he could feel his body starting to loosen. Already he could make the slick oil that would cover his skin, giving him even more speed in the water should he need it. Though he was not as large as his sister, he was still a fighter. All of his people were fighters. He could kill anyone who had tracked her to this place, and he would keep her safe.

But her tube of air was out of the shell that she traveled in, so surely she was around here somewhere.

It took a few moments of tracking for him to pick up the air tube and follow her as long as it could go. And there she was. Not smelling of blood or anything else dangerous. She sat on the very edge of the ledge that disappeared into blackness, staring down into the darkness like she was thinking about swimming down and exploring it.

Unlike the first time he'd found her here, he wasn't so concerned about startling her. Instead, he curved wide around the ledge, diving into the darkness before she could see him.

Then he let all the lights on his body flicker to life. Bright green and emerald, he floated out of the darkness and drifted toward her. He could see her so clearly. The way her eyes widened in surprise and the delighted smile that spread across her face.

He'd done that. Just by showing up in front of her.

"Imber," she said, his name a breathy whisper as he approached her.

He'd do anything to hear her say his name a hundred times over. And maybe that was moving too fast. Maybe he was immature because he was so obsessed with her.

A part of him feared that all of his interest was wrapped up in her merely because he'd never seen anything like her before in his life. Every day, he worried that the newness of her would wear off. That he would wake and be less interested than he was the day before.

Maybe that day would come. Or maybe his twin hearts in his chest knew something that he did not.

He reached for her, his hands brushing aside the billowing layers of her skirt and drawing her against his chest. She wrapped herself around him so easily, twining her twin tails around his waist and tucking her face into the hollow of his neck. He breathed her into his gills, letting her scent ease the nerves that had plagued him since he'd had to say goodbye the last time.

Running his hands up and down her body, he soothed his worries by feeling that she was all in one piece. She wasn't injured, and that was good. He could hold on to that.

But she drew back all too soon. Babbling in that language that he couldn't quite make out. She spoke in such short, clipped words. Like the dull echo of stones clicking against each other, buried beneath the weight of the sea.

Then she thrust something into his hands. A small box made out of the same hard shell as her ship. Frowning, he lifted it up, trying to see what it could be.

"I have a gift for you as well." He hoped she liked the necklace he had woven. He hoped it wasn't too big, in fear she might lose it on her ride home.

She was backing away, though. Before he could reach into his bag. Before he could take anything out, she was already moving away from him. Shaking her head as though she didn't want to listen to him speak.

He held out his hand, frowning, hoping she would reach forward and slip her fingers into his. "Alys."

Something sparkled in her eyes, and it made him sad to see the expression before she spun and used the rocks below to yank herself away from him.

The box in his hand hummed. "Gift. Speak."

"I don't think we'll ever be able to learn each other's language," he muttered before realizing the box had talked.

Horrified, he dropped it.

As it careened down toward the darkness, he had two lightning quick thoughts. First, she'd given him some kind of abomination that could speak. And second, that it was the only gift she'd ever given him and he would be an idiot if he lost it.

Darting after the box, he got lucky when it hit a rocky outcropping before it would have plummeted far beyond his reach. Catching it in his hands, he leaned against the stone wall for a few moments, breathing hard and squeezing his eyes shut.

"I have you," he said, his voice ragged. "I have you."

"Gift. Special. Gift. Language."

He had no idea what it was trying to say.

It was a special gift because she had given it to him, yes. Perhaps she thought they could speak through it, but it clearly knew very little of his language. Lifting it up a little higher, he tried to peer into the faint blue light that emanated from a thin line around the top. "You do not know as much of my language as you think, little friend."

"Language. Learn."

"You..." It all hit him at once. "Did she give you to me to learn your language?"

"Yes."

She was... she was trying to learn how to speak with him. Not a gift, but a tool.

His hearts thundered again, beating against his ribs at the mere thought of speaking with her. He could talk to Alys. Actually talk to her. Listen to what she had done and where she had come from. He could tell her about his own adventures and see her eyes shine with happiness when he told her stories that were so detailed, she would never question the truthfulness of where they came from.

"How?" he asked. "How do you learn my language?"

The blue light glowed a little brighter. "Speak."

"All I have to do is speak to you?"

Another pulse of blue illuminated the water around them. "Speak," it repeated.

If that's all it took, then she had given the right person this box. He would speak until his throat went raw and his gills bled, if it meant he could converse with her.