Spurn (11 page)

“But I won’t give you up
. I don’t even think I can stop ... being with you. I can’t stay away.”

“I
assume you’ve already tried to fight this.” I thought of the time he’d disappeared after our journey to Earth.

He nodded.
“Yeah, I’m not too proud to say I attempted to run like hell. I have so much sh ... unpleasant things in my life, I don’t want to drag you into it. And I don’t like things that are outside my control. Plus, you’re young, with many things to experience. You deserve a chance to grow. But it is what it is, and I’m not strong enough to give you up.”

I look
ed away; I needed to catch my breath. But I found no relief as Lucas captured my attention. For once he watched me seriously, his expression ... intense.

“What
’s the connection there? I’m not sure I understand.” Brace’s words were soft but drew my full awareness.

I could see in
his stare a brutal vulnerability, a sense of helplessness. I didn’t understand my connection with Lucas either, and I didn’t like it. And I had no answers for him.

The rest of the time went quickly. We had lunch of the same old fruit and salty salad. I was really starting to crave meat and flavors of a different variety. Just remembering the foods of First World had my mouth watering.

Talina
eventually announced that we had arrived. We stood on the front deck, waiting for Raror to receive permission to enter.

I turned to Talina.
“You said earlier that your powers whack out of control at times. What exactly are your powers?”

Her brown eyes
crinkled. “I’m not really sure. I try to never use them. But they are definitely water-based. Sometimes, when I’m in danger, they take over. I create waves, whirlpools, water jets. And I’m strong. I can keep anyone out of my mind, and no one can manipulate me.”

“These half
-Walker powers are too unpredictable. How the hell can they expect us to fight these Seventine?” I was frustrated with our lack of information.

No wonder Raror was
holding strong to Talina staying here. He must see we were crawling our way through the dark.

Talina’s face
paled. “I’m excited to leave Spurn, although I’m not sure what to do about leaving Raror. But, to be honest, I really hope the Walkers have a better plan than gathering the halflings, and we will do the rest.”

“Well, Josian, my father, is out finding Walkers
for the battle. Hopefully they have an idea. I’ll definitely ask him when we get back home.”

“Josian will never let anything happen to you, Red
,” Brace said from where he stood beside me. He hadn’t been far from me all afternoon, and I was kind of hearting the hell out of him. “And neither will I.”

“Well, not all of us have a tall, dark, and hot-as-hell-man to watch our back, so I think I’ll keep on worrying.” Talina’s comment was more
like Lucy’s style, who must have agreed since she high-fived her.

“You two have to stop hanging out so much
,” I said drily. “Luce’s starting to rub off on Talli, and one of you is enough.”

Lucy rolled her eyes at me
, sticking her tongue out for extra measure.

“Alright, we
have been granted permission,” Talina said, pointing to where Raror glided through the water.

The pontoon
had drifted close to the tube – a clear round structure that stuck out of the water at a forty-five-degree angle.

“It looks like one of those huge slides that used to be in amusement parks before they all fell apart.” Lucy jumped up and down, her curls
bouncing.

We’d always been sad that we’d missed our chance to go on the roller coasters.

Talina towed Lucy and I across first
, leaving us to hold on the tube edge while she ferried the rest. Raror’s presence was comforting as he waited with us.

As soon as
everyone arrived, he spoke.

“I
t is quite a distance down to the city. The tube has grooves fitted throughout the base, so you should be able to descend at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. I will go first and wait at the bottom.”

W
ith that he launched the few inches out of the water into the open shaft of the tube. And then he was gone.

Glancing up, I gulped audibly. How was my claustrophobia going to hold up in the little
slide?

“Abbs and I will go down together
.” Lucy reached out to hold my hand under the water. “Otherwise I know your butt will bail halfway,” she finished quietly.

I flashed
her a look of gratitude.

“Alright then, move around to the front
, and we’ll boost you up.” Samuel waved his hands; he trod water effortlessly.

I moved first, and Lucy followed as we
made our way around.

Samuel
gripped me on either side of my waist and without any strain lifted me up and into the small opening.

The moment I was
resting on the angled tube I started to freak out. The sensations started. I felt like the space was closing in on me. I breathed deeply as my pulse raced and sweat broke out along my body. I closed my eyes, which helped immediately to quell some of the sensation. Using my hands, I felt the deep, almost ladder-like grooves along the base of the tube. There was no way you could accidentally slide down it. I started my descent slowly, going feet first with my eyes remaining closed.

“I’m right behind you, Abbs
.” Lucy’s voice echoed near my ear.

Since I was already borderline having a panic attack, her voice didn’t scare me at all
.

“You’ll be fine
. Just keep moving along.”

Soaking up her
comforting presence, I continued the slow plunge.

“Open your eyes
.” Her command came after what felt like ten hours but must have only been minutes.

I shook my head vehemently. “
No! Hell, no, Luce. I’ll freak out, and there’s no way for me to escape. I’m sure you don’t want a screaming, fighting, biting Abby on your hands.”

“Just trust me, weirdo. Open your eyes.”

“Well, when you put it like that ... No!”

She poked me in the back, and then continued for the next five minutes.

“Lucy!” I finally yelled, my eyes flying open. My body had decided I needed to see so I could punch her.

I froze.

“Holy sh ... crap in a bucket,” I trailed off.

We were about halfway down the tube, but I didn’t have to worry about my claustrophobia
. I definitely didn’t feel enclosed. I was floating in an endless sea, as if we were part of the ocean, the clear plastic providing no visual barrier. It was well lit, even this far down. I felt as if I was sitting in the center of a fish tank. There were creatures everywhere, and even more fascinating were the many Spurns, mostly blue-haired ones, but a few of the other colors were present as well, racing through the waters. Others drifted lazily in the currents, their amazing hair flowing behind them in a graceful arc.

“Hey, what’s the holdup down there? Keep moving
.” Samuel’s impatience jolted me.

Lucy turned around
and yelled something back. I was pretty sure it had four letters. I began to move again, my eyes never leaving the beauty of the scene before me. The light started to wane the further we traversed from the surface. But there were these floating jelly blobs everywhere. They glowed, illuminating vast areas around them.

“This has got to be the most amazing thing I
’ve ever seen,” I said, my voice drifting behind me.

I was sad to see we were coming to the end. I wanted to sit there for at least another twenty hours.
Sticking my legs out, I dropped a small distance to land in water. It was only calf-deep, like a moat, creating a barrier around the impressive construction before me.

The dome was large enough to just cover
the Silver City, which was not really a city; it was more like one large building, combining wood for the structure and growths of coralline for texture. It wasn’t huge, probably about fifty square feet, and appeared to have two levels. The shape was square, with coralline formed turrets and huge towering wings off either side of the building. It had an open plan, no proper roof or covered-in walls. But considering there was a huge clear sphere protecting the entire city, there wouldn’t be much weather down here.

I
turned to Raror. “What exactly is this bubble made of?”

It look
ed like plastic, but I wasn’t sure they had that on Spurn.

“It’s water. When it was created the monstrones formed molecular bonds between water and carbon molecules, creating a solidified structure. And that’s the secret to its survival: it’s water, and it exists in water. It cannot be destroyed easily.”

That was a relief.

Raror was better informed than I
’d expected. I had to stop thinking they were less intelligent because of their animal halves. In fact they seemed able to create far more than humans had ever dreamed of.

I took a step forward, moving through the
clear waters of the moat to step up to the large front entrance. The water continued through the building, ankle height, and the floor still moved as it had when we’d stood on the pontoon. We weren’t anchored to the floor, but since under our feet was covered in sand I couldn’t see below.

“I think I’m dreaming. I
’m pretty sure my theory long ago in the alley where we both died and were living in an alternate universe actually happened,” Lucy said, standing next to me. “Nothing has been the same since then.” She tore her gaze from the view to smile at me. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

“How
amazing is it to see the ocean surrounding us.” We couldn’t be too deep; there were lots of Spurns swimming outside the protective tube.

How much water pressure could their bodies withstand?

I was suddenly thrown forward as something hit me from behind. I landed on my hands and knees in the shallow water
. To my right, Talina sprawled next to me.

“Oh, damn, Abb
y. I’m so sorry. This place does it to me every time. I feel like I’m drunk on sea wine down here,” she said as Raror reached her side to assist her up.

He kept an arm tightly around her.

Lucy reached down to help me. She was surprisingly strong for such a small person.

“It’s probably from your water powers
,” I said to Talina, who looked mortified. “If your affinity is water, possibly this much around you throws your energy out of whack.”

I reached down to rub the pain out of my knees. As I straightened
, a firm hand landed on my back and gave it a gentle stroke. The warmth and leap of desire in my belly told me immediately that it was Brace. His magic hands stroked away the hurt where Talina had hit me.

Did he
realize that he was creating an entirely different set of aches? This chemistry was going to drive me insane. I wondered for the first time what it would be like to hear Brace’s thoughts. I wasn’t too keen to have anyone in my head. It was the last security I had and I loathed letting it go. But to hear his thoughts ... I had a sudden craving to know what he was thinking.

So I dropped
the energy around my mind.

I shivered at
the feeling of exposure, almost as if I suddenly stood there naked. Ignoring this, I projected a tentative word toward Brace.

Hello.

Everyone around me, except Lucy, groaned and clutched their heads.

“Aribella
, put your energy back around your mind,” Samuel wheezed next to me, holding his forehead with both hands.

I quickly yanked it back up.

“What ... what happened?” I said. “I was testing my telepathy.”

“Well
, we heard you loud and clear,” Lucas said drily. “Your ‘hello’ echoed around my mind until I felt like my head would explode.”

Whoops.

“Maybe don’t try that again until Josian can tell us what just happened. It was like you projected energy along with the word. It was not pleasant,” Samuel said, looking dazed.

Lucy shrugged.
“Sometimes being a little old Earthling has it benefits. I didn’t hear a thing.”

Samuel
’s expression shifted. “Just because you’re from Earth doesn’t mean you aren’t affected by energy. It’s very odd that you seem to be immune to all this.”

It was at this moment
that I had a horrifying thought. One I should have had long before. Lucy, being from Earth, would be bound by the evolution of that planet, which included a lifespan of at most a hundred years. I would outlive her and I couldn’t do that. That was not cool with me. There had to be something that Lallielle or Josian knew that could change Lucy’s fate. I pushed my sudden nausea and horror away for now. There was nothing I could do until I spoke with my parents.