Spurn (10 page)

“If you want
, I can kill them. That’s what I usually do with monsters.”

I chuckled,
unsure if he was kidding. Upon opening one eye, I could see Lucy and Samuel paused in mid-step, as if they’d frozen there and weren’t sure whether to move forward or backwards.

Reluctantly
, I untangled myself from Brace. I heard him mutter as he reached out to capture my hand, but his words were too low to understand. I’d noticed recently that he was quite the toucher, a bit like Josian, my tactile father. I had never thought I was so physical, but I was starting to think I actually liked it a lot.

“Come on over
. We were just discussing the weather.” I grinned at my best friend.

Lucy bounced over, throwing her arms around me in a hug, not caring about Brace at my side.

She seemed extra bright and happy this morning. And
, like the rest of us, she was wrapped in white mesh.

“
Sammy and I are practically meteorologists, we discuss the weather that frequently.” She nudged me.

Samuel and Brace gave the typical guy
-nod of ‘good morning’. Some of the strain that had been between them since Samuel’s return from Earth was dissipating. And Samuel made no comment at all about me and Brace, but then I hardly expected him to come across the heavy big-brother. He barely acknowledged me at all, let alone played the brother card.

“You and I are due some serious girl
-talk, Abigail,” Lucy said, leaning in close to me.

She clearly
thought I’d been holding out on her.

I
put my free arm around her and gave a squeeze. I was apparently neglecting everyone since they were all trying to book in some talk time. Things had just been so crazy busy lately.

“I’m not sure I’m
okay with you two discussing girl things, or whatever you women do,” Samuel said, looking uncomfortable.

I snickered. “
I’m not sure I care what you’re okay with. And, trust me, I have zero interest in Lucy discussing your weather, its size, shape or ability to rain, storm or hail.”

Lucy cracked up laughing then,
doubling over as she almost fell down. It only took a few seconds for me to follow. We had to hold each other up as we laughed. Eventually, we composed ourselves. Although, every time I saw Samuel’s face and his current shade of red, I wanted to laugh again. Brace’s lips were curved into the smallest of smiles, but he didn’t comment. Instead he reached out to re-capture my hand. Lucy’s eyes followed the movement, but for once she didn’t make a suggestive comment. Instead she turned to Samuel.

“Sorry, baby, you’re just an easy target. You should relax a little.”
She moved closer into his side.

“
I assure you, Lucy. I’m a thunderstorm where you’re concerned. Huge ...” His eyes twinkled. “And I can bring any weather you’ll ever need, want and desire.”

She patted his arm. “Oh
, I know, Sammy. I more than know.”

I shook my head a few times trying to dislodge the mental images our metaphors were bringing.

“It’s a real shame that there’re some things you just cannot un-hear,” I said with a frown.

“Yes, I wouldn’t mind some brain
bleach.” Brace squeezed my hand.

“Here you all are
.” Talina walked into view, followed closely by Lucas.

And as the blond Emperor-to-be smiled at me, I was hit again by the connection between us. If Brace was my destined mate, then what the hell was this tie between me and Lucas? It seemed to intensify the more we were around each other and
, although he kept his distance, he continued to stare in a way that told me he was just biding his time.

The moment Lucas walked
closer, Brace’s smile faltered and his relaxed features hardened. He already had my hand, but he continued to tug me closer. I was sure that was his way of establishing ownership. But I was not a piece of property. I freed my hand before gathering a small portion of self-respect and moving out between the two of them. I wasn’t going to be the rope in their tug-of-war.

“I have arranged some
cucreamer for you to eat before we journey to Silver City. Mother has agreed to let us have our own pontoon,” Talina said, looking relaxed and more confident.

“
I’ll bet she was glad to get rid of us for a few days,” I said, returning some of her enthusiasm.

She smiled
and nodded. “Yes, most definitely. But I do feel we are the winners in this escaping situation.”

I
was suddenly unable to contain my excitement at seeing a city under the ocean. Like what the hell? When would anyone expect that to happen in their life? And if I didn’t think about how much water would be above us, my claustrophobia would stay uninvited, something to worry about only if a crack suddenly appeared above our heads.

After breakfast, Talina and Raror ferried us through the cool water to a smaller flat-bottomed pontoon. I tried not to think of the possible monsters lurking below. Thankfully it didn’t take long to reach the side. Behind us the rest of the Earon convoy continued without pause, forming a long line of tethered boats sailing off toward the horizon.

Using a rope ladder
, I climbed up onto the top deck of the two-level vessel. Almost immediately the heavy water exited from my white mesh wraps, leaving them light and damp.

“
We will be at the tube entrance to Silver City in about four hours. I found a few extra seahorses to ferry us,” Raror said.

He had just launched himself up out of the water and onto the top decking, without any need of a rope ladder.

I leaned over the side to examine the seahorses. There were four out in front, just visible beneath the crystal-clear water. They looked a little like a mix of dolphin and octopus, large gray creatures with at least eight legs. Their back four tentacles were attached to small ropes on the front underside of the pontoon. I continued to watch as we started to move.

“They are
strong and amazingly smart. Cacaol is one of my oldest friends.” Talina was next to me; she pointed to the smallest one out on the left.

“Can you talk to them?” I asked, fascinated by their graceful play through the water.

She shook her head. “No, they have no vocal cords to speak, but that doesn’t mean we can’t communicate. They have a form of sign-language that is pretty easy to understand. And they comprehend most of our words.”

She waved to her friend, and I saw two of the long limbs shoot up out of the water. Talina laughed
and blew a kiss down to her.

I smiled
, looking at Talina’s happy face. “Spurn is pretty amazing. Where we’re from, no one could comprehend a world without land. Some people have never even been in the ocean before.”

I was starting to wonder if
, in the end, Talina was another person I’d have to convince to leave. She had more here than she realized.

“I can’t imagine that
. There is nothing comparable to the silence and majesty that comes from dancing through the oceans, riding the currents, seeing the beauty that lies beneath.”

“Stop,” I said with a sigh. “
You’re making me so jealous. I’ll never get to experience that. You’re pretty lucky to have almost the best of both worlds.”

“Yeah, I guess I
’ve never thought of it that way. I’ve always hated my defects, the things that made life so hard for me here.” She looked away, the breeze blowing her emerald hair back in one long thick stream. “Now I have to start believing in that which makes me special, unique. If I’m to accept your story then there’s no other like me in all of the worlds.”

“That
’s it, girl. Embrace your differences, and flip off all those who don’t recognize all that’s awesome about you,” Lucy said, hearing the end of our conversation as she walked up behind us.

Talina smiled. “
Flip off?”

Lucy waved a hand in her direction. “It’s something we do on Earth
, and it basically means go eff yourself.”

“Eff yourself?” Talina parroted again.

I laughed. She was never going to understand Earth slang, and since we had no idea what the Spurn equivalent would be, we couldn’t explain.

“I think that’
s their way of saying take a long dive into a shallow sand bank.” Raror put an arm around his sister.

C
omprehension crossed her features.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be confident enough to tell anyone that, but I’ll
work on it.” She looked petrified at the thought.

We moved as a group to sprawl on the meshy beds spread along the top deck of the pontoon. It was nice to have some down time; it seemed as if life was reasonably relaxed on Spurn. Swimming and lying around.
As I lay back to stare into the pink skies I realized there were no clouds. I was pretty sure I hadn’t seen any since we arrived. Just the pink half-sun days and the four blue moons nights.

“Does it rain here?” I said
, reaching my hands behind me so I could prop my head up.

“What’
s rain?” Talina and Raror asked at the same time.

My eyes widened.
The water planet had no rain. That was weird ...

“When water falls from the sky
,” Lucas answered. “We don’t get a lot of rain on First World. I hear it’s more common on Earth.”

“Water has never fallen from our sky. That would be amazing to see.” Talina’s voice sounded wistful.

How had this world ended up being mostly water? What was their water source?

“You’ll get to see
rain when we leave Spurn,” I said, ignoring the reappearance of Raror’s scowl.

He seemed pretty confident that she wouldn’t
get permission to leave. What did he know that we didn’t?

It didn’t take long for the men to become bored and decide to jump in the water. They were all strong swimmers, and Raror promised they’d be able to keep up with the boat. Lucy, Talina and I stayed to continue the glorious task of getting a tan. The wraps didn’t cover too much skin so we had plenty of the half-sun exposure. It was weak enough that there was no chance of burning.

A
fter an hour I rolled over onto my front, cradling my head in my arms. Lucy shifted next to me.

“I’m going downstairs to check Sammy
hasn’t drowned,” she said, getting to her feet.

Talina nodded, before following
her. She probably didn’t like to be out of the water for too long. I felt better knowing she’d be looking after Lucy in the water.

“Mmm
, hmmm,” I mumbled drowsily into my arms.

My mind drift
ed. The sun felt so good, recharging and regenerating me.

Eventually boredom kick
ed in. I got to my feet. I wasn’t very practiced at lazing around. I was ready for some swim time.

I made
my way down the stairs, and then stepped out onto the open deck area of the lower level. Leaning my head over the side, I expected to see everyone swimming alongside the pontoon. Instead, they were all sitting in a huge side net. Okay, that’s how they were keeping up with the seahorses’ speed.

The net
ran almost the full length of the pontoon with the majority dragging in the water, which was perfect, considering I wasn’t the strongest swimmer. I could just lie back and be pulled along for the ride.

“Just jump in, Abbs.” Lucy kicked her legs out in front, her hands tangled in the side netting so as not to be thrown out accidentally.

With a shrug, I jumped off the side, landing on my butt. The cool water immediately enveloped me and
my weight pulled the netting down. I went completely under. Spluttering, I launched myself above the water level, coughing out the salt water I’d swallowed.

Reaching out a long arm, Brace hauled me over to sit on the edge with him. We were
on the opposite side to everyone else, and with the sound of water rushing past, it felt semi-private. I could see Lucy and Samuel laughing together, and Lucas flirting with Talina, a skill which seemed as easy to him as breathing.

“You know I can’t remember the last time I got to relax and just have fun
,” Brace said as he lay back, letting the water run over his body. “My life is family obligations and following orders. I’m about ready to walk away from that for a while.”

“I know what you mean.” I
was trying really hard not to plaster myself to his warm skin, but the bumpy water kept throwing me into his side. “Earth was just training and survival. Having fun was not on our schedule. Until an hour ago I’d never sun-baked. I’m eighteen years old and that was my first chance to lie in the sun.” I looked up at him. “Want to tell me how old you are?”

Although
he’d mentioned being twenty-two before, something told me that was not entirely accurate.

He ignored me, flashing one of those brilliant smiles.
“It’s about time you acted like a teenager.”

H
e hauled me into his arms and threw me across into the deep center of the netting. Once again I found myself submerged under the water, but at least this time I’d closed my mouth first. I was about to propel myself up, ready to kick some butt, when I was distracted by the scene before me. My vision under the water was almost as clear as above, and the world below was incredible.

G
littering and shifting beneath us were creatures: at least a hundred different fish species. One of the smallest drifted close to me; it looked like a black puff of cloud. I could have reached out and touched it.

There were also huge beasts,
with lots of teeth, gliding lazily along. Those I definitely did not want to touch.

I
would have sat there for hours observing the diverse ecosystem, watching the different species interact and chase each other. But I wasn’t a Spurn, so I couldn’t breathe under water and eventually my burning lungs forced me to rise above the surface.

Brace grinn
ed at me from where he was perched. “I wasn’t sure if you’d decided to live under the sea or if my skills had scared you a bit too much, Red.”

Without thought I launched myself at him,
practically landing on his head. As we wrestled in the water, I was determined to dunk him. Our scarcely clad bodies touched everywhere and there were far too many electrical jolts running between us. Our play was sexy and tempting in all ways, but more than that it was fun. I’d never roughhoused with anyone before. It wasn’t Lucy’s style; she hated her hair getting messy.

M
y competitive side couldn’t let him win. Although with his strength and limb-length advantage I wasn’t having much luck, even when I utilized all my speed and flexibility. Brace captured me a few times, but I always managed to free myself. After a while we declared a truce. We lay back side-by-side, letting the water cool our heated skin.

“You
’re deceptively strong and devious, Abigail.” Brace glanced sideways, his brows raised. “You’d have made a good ninja.”

I laughed.
“Don’t let Lucy hear you say that; she thinks she’s a ninja.”

As I relaxed against his side, I couldn’t believe how comfortable this was. Of course it was
unbelievably nerve wracking and the electrical current continued to buzz, but I felt a strange sense of contentment. As my body relaxed, so did my brain.

“Do you think we
’ve had the dreams, and feel this connection because we’re true mates?” As the words fled my mouth I realized what I’d said.

Had the f
ilter between my brain and mouth suddenly become defective?

I was about to han
g my head in shame and sink beneath the water to escape his probing gaze when my pride kicked in. No ... No way was I hiding. I might not have meant to put that out there so soon but I deserved to know. Or, more importantly, I needed to know. I’d fight for anything that was real, but I had no time to waste on games.

“I think it’s slightly more complicated than that, Abby. But
, yes, I think there’s a high possibility you are my mate.” He smiled then, his serious expression lifting. “A term I’m coming to enjoy.”

I really loved it when he smiled.

“You’re kind of pretty when you smile,” I said, unable to stop myself again.

“
Tough and manly, Red,” his brow furrowed, “I’m manly.”

I patted his arm
in a placating manner.

“So where do we go from here?” I couldn’t tear my eyes from his. This was the conversation I neve
r believed I would have. “Do we have a choice in this mate thing?”

“Do you want another choice?”
he asked as he flicked his gaze toward Lucas.

I followed
his direction and noticed a pair of icy blue eyes watching us both closely.

“I want
...” I shook my head.

“You want?”
he repeated.

I want
you.

I almost blurted it out. What the hell was with my mouth today?
I attempted to cover the awkward silence.

“I
t’s a lot to take in when I’ve basically been raised in a world where soul-mates and one-true-loves don’t really exist,” I diverged.

“
Nice segue, Red.” He smiled. “You can try and fight it, and you can run if you want.” He touched my face, his expression almost reverent.

I was lost again. He really was the most beautiful man I had ever seen
. He should make me feel insecure, make me wonder what he wanted with someone like me, but instead I felt powerful and strong around him. Like I could do or be anything. When he locked me in his gaze I felt the perfection. He continued speaking, unaware of my thoughts.