Water Games (Watergirl Book 4)

by Juliann Whicker

  His hand shook and a paper slipped from his fingers. He looked up at me and I knew that he still loved me. A thousand birds sang, the world erupted in joyful overtures. I pulled my hand out of Sean’s and turned to run back to Oliver. When I threw my arms around his neck, he didn’t touch me, but he didn’t pull away, either.

  “Go, Genevieve,” he murmured, but the words didn’t say what his low, throbbing voice meant.

  “Oliver, I dreamed that you came for me. Is this a dream?” I touched his face, his smooth cheek and soft, silky mouth.

  His hands came up on either side of my face. His emerald eyes glittered as he drew me towards him. “Shall we dream forever, never to wake again?”

  “And that’s it.” Sean’s voice was like ice, but distant.

  I clung to Oliver’s shoulders, bare except for the leather straps across his chest and his princely seal. “Please,” I whispered.

  The kiss was as soft as my whisper, as ephemeral as a dream, but the taste of him went burning through my veins, bringing my limbs to life. Then Sean’s mouth was on my shoulder, his hands on my waist, pulling me away from Oliver.

  Sean.

  Oliver.

  Love.

  Obsession.

  I couldn’t resist the pull towards Oliver or my heart’s cry for Sean.

  The room was suddenly filled with men. Francoise took Oliver around the chest, ripping him away from me. I reached out to catch him, but Sean swung me away, carrying me over his shoulder and to the big black bed.

  Chapter 26

  So, Oliver was testing out possible cures on himself, but I was too precious for any of that. I was an endangered species, you know. So special. So ridiculously precious.

  I glared at my reflection in the mirror. Pasty, pasty, pasty. Perfect.

  Spyguy gave me a look but didn’t say anything. I glared at him too. It wasn’t a big deal that Sean let Oliver come to his room while I was sleeping. It wasn’t a big deal that I’d thrown myself at the fish prince and kissed him. It’s not like I’d ripped the city apart or anything, and I’d only been trembling for four hours afterwards, even with Sean.

  I still ached for Oliver. He’d been too sweet, too soft. I’d been craving him more under the water here. Terramore hadn’t been so bad, maybe because of Sean kissing my neck every night, turning me into a mindless Soremni. I didn’t want to be a mindless anything. How selfish of me. How idiotic of me. How utterly silly to think that I could ever actually own my mind, my heart, my soul.

  “It had to be tested,” Spyguy said in a low voice.

  “I know.”

  “Then why are you so angry?”

  I turned and grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him towards me so I was really in his face. “I’m not angry!”

  He laughed while I let him go and stalked into the living room. Helpless frustration and terror were different from anger, weren’t they? I focused on my homework from college then headed to my internship. I fully expected the jerk thief to be a jerk, but he kept his distance. Maybe I communicated PMS or something. That day was actually really cool. We had to listen to three instruments and then compose something for each one. That’s what we did all day, listening to these master musicians fill the water with glorious sound and then really try to write something that emphasized the best parts of that instrument.

  When the big bass started playing my little composition, my heart pounded and I forgot about everything else until that final, drawn-out note.

  “Not bad. Now we’re going to put them all together.”

  My group all turned to Gerveeg who hadn’t shown up since that first day. He collected all the compositions, spent five minutes rearranging them and then had his musicians begin. There were three of them, the bass, a horn that made a tuba look like a bicycle horn, and the big organ. The composition took elements from each of our compositions and wrapped them together into something alive, cohesive, elements from each of the interns that I couldn’t ever see being connected.

  Gerveeg conducted his musicians for real, drawing them out and lowering the sound, everything vibrating and alive until that last perfect note.

  “Dismissed,” he said and then we all headed out, me last. “Number thirteen, goggles girl,” Gerveeg said and I turned to look at him. He studied me for a long time while my heart pounded. Had he found me out? Would he say my composition sucked and I didn’t belong there? “You’re stretching the range. You composed on the lower reaches of each range. If these musicians weren’t so ridiculously adept, it would be a disaster. You need to study instruments. You clearly lack familiarity.”

  He waved me on my way before turning to say something to the horn player. Was he blowing air through them? How would that work? No, it was more like the organ, but not air, water?

  I shook my head and left the auditorium. I should have felt embarrassed for being called out, but that’s what I get for composing with synthetic instruments my whole life, also for being raised human and not knowing anything about underwater ones. That would change. I actually felt more cheerful as I headed to my room. I had a solid excuse to stay away from Sean’s room.

  I wasn’t avoiding him. Even though I barricaded the cocoon rollercoaster with the couch, it wasn’t him I was keeping out of my room. How had I sensed Oliver through the soundproof room?

  Sean called me while I was studying Soremni instruments. It was so cool, the holograph stuff that you could rotate and enlarge to get a closer view inside of things. Soremni tech was just too much.

  “Are you coming to dinner with me tonight? It’s a good restaurant you’d probably enjoy.”

  I didn’t hesitate. “No. I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. Have fun. Will my Vashni double be there? Sorsha?”

  “I’ll send her with Owen if you don’t want to go. We can order something in. What would you like? You’re the expert on Soremni cuisine.”

  “You know, I think I’ll hang out here tonight. I have a lot of stuff to catch up on. I know that you have tons of work to do, and I’d hate to distract you so you couldn’t get to sleep until way late again.”

  “You’re sleeping there?”

  I swallowed while my stomach knotted. Could I possibly sleep without him? Ugh, I was so pathetic. “Yeah. That’s why I have a room and a bed and a blanket.”

  “Do you want me to sleep with you there?”

  I closed my eyes really tight. Of course I did, but also, no. Yes. No. Yes because I loved him and he made everything better, no because I loved him and had kissed someone else last night. In front of him. Like I didn’t even care about him. Having him there should have been enough, but it wasn’t. My hands shook at the memory of how idiotic and stupid I’d been, reaching for Oliver when Sean and I had just put our links on the wall.

  “Okay, Gen,” he said when I took too long to answer. “If you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

  Yep. I hung up and put my face in my hands. I breathed in and out, in and out until I could straighten up and get back to my studies of all things Soremni instrumental.

  I slept okay if staying up all night working on a composition is okay. I had to redo Terramore with everything I knew about instruments. Which still wasn’t enough. In the morning, I did the basics of my homework assignments, but English essays and history papers weren’t nearly interesting enough.

  Gertie sent them back all marked up with how I could do better. All marked up. She suggested I rewrite the entire thing before it was due tomorrow. Whatever. I hurriedly got dressed in a green pastel jumper and headed to my internship. We had the same assignment but with different instruments.

  I’d happened to study two of them, so I was fairly confident when I worked on my composition. I caught myself humming a few times but quickly silenced the music beast inside me. The thief jerk came close for a second, but other then sending me a slightly amused glance, left me alone.

  I wasn’t really alone. Junie wasn’t there most evenings because she was covering whatever Takeo was doing, but she ap
proved of me being a strong female who didn’t need a man. Not like she wasn’t talking to Dean whenever she was in the apartment.

  Music. That’s all I needed. I lived on music for the rest of the week until Friday came and with it, a trip to Siren Rock, where I’d sing and sing and sing until I got it out of my system for another week.

  I unbarricaded the cocoon rollercoaster and took a deep breath, clinging to my black music box on the quick trip to Sean’s room.

  Sean was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt, but he had shoes on. It was good, not sad that I couldn’t stare at his feet like they were the most beautiful things in the world. I hadn’t seen his feet for days. What was wrong with me, avoiding such adorable feet just because… My stomach twisted from guilt. I shouldn’t have begged for Oliver.

  I gave Sean a bright smile. “Hey, Takeo. Are we ready to roll?”

  He nodded. “You should get changed. Your clothing is on the bed.”

  The bed. “Okay. I’ll be quick.” I grabbed the jeans and t-shirt, tugging on the red top and ignoring how low it swooped. I didn’t have to wear a decal, just sunglasses.

  Goldie was waiting at the ship dock, where the wall opened and the skin held out Cierdeep’s water. I walked past Sean and climbed in Goldie without touching him.

  “How is your Terramore composition coming?” Sean asked as he settled into the captain’s chair beside mine.

  “Good.”

  “Play it.”

  I stared at him. “It’s not ready.”

  He tugged my bag out of my hands and pulled out boxie. “You’ll have to prove it.” He hooked it up to the ship’s speakers and there was my composition while Sean edged through the busy traffic of Cierdeep on a Friday afternoon. The thunderous bass was something I’d tweaked until it almost sounded real.

  When it finished, we were on the outskirts of Cierdeep, leaving the glowing ways behind us. “Have you shown it to Gerveeg?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “You should be getting something out of this internship.”

  “I am. I’m learning about instruments and…” I trailed off reliving the amazing concert Gerveeg had given us, a spontaneous thing combining all of our messes into something mesmerizingly whole, the musicians coming together magically under the hand of a master composer and conductor. How could I explain how much I was learning? Everything. Absolutely everything.

  “You’ve been working hard. Gertie said that your papers are much better.”

  “Did she? That’s nice.”

  “Does it seem like I’m spying on you? Maybe I’m intruding. You’ve been very quiet for the last few days.”

  “We’ve talked every day.”

  “You call, say good-night, and then hang up. That’s not talking.”

  “Sorry. I haven’t noticed you doing much talking, either.”

  He took a deep breath as he pushed the lever forward, accelerating the ship. It hummed cheerfully in response. Goldie was such a happy little ship. “I’m sorry. Haverre has found two new trainers to help with Piper. One is a human male, twenty-one who you would call ‘cute.’ I hope that she makes friends with him. Junie isn’t a very sociable human. I can’t keep her hours reasonable. She’s always on a new angle, a new photo op. She’s kind of a monster.”

  “Then she definitely belongs on our team. How is the cure coming?”

  “Oliver has some possibilities that he’s testing.”

  “Cool.” My heart pounded at the thought of Oliver while my stomach twisted from guilt.

  “Otto himself has been struggling. He’s not happy with the new arrangement, new trainers, none of you.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. He’s perfectly fine, just protesting in Cluverai fashion. They have toxins in their tentacles that can cause paralysis and lack of oxygen. Owen was concerned about you. Have you had any headaches? Vomiting? Dizziness?”

  “Not from the Cluverai.”

  “That’s a relief. I’ll tell Owen. He asks me every day.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  “Is it? I’ll be sure to let him know you think so.”

  I frowned at him. He sounded slightly icier than usual. “Does that bother you?”

  “I suppose it’s only fair. Girls are always extremely irritating about me towards you.”

  I half-laughed. “You think that Owen likes me? That’s silly. He doesn’t know me.”

  “Are you saying that I’m silly for perceiving Owen’s clear interest in you?”

  I frowned at Sean. He frowned at Goldie’s console. “You’re never ridiculous. Ever. It just seems strange.”

  “It does. If I were interested in a female, I probably wouldn’t talk to her husband about her.”

  “Right. That’s the weird thing.” I poked his arm.

  “You’re going to make me crash.”

  I looked around at the open ocean on all sides. “You really are talented, or is that me? Probably me. It can’t bother you that one of your employees might possibly like me when…”

  He shot me a glance. “When what?”

  “Well, when I’m licking slime off Oliver as often as possible.”

  “You make it sound incredibly attractive.”

  “Ugh. Nausea, dizziness, I think I’d rather have a Cluverai to blame it on.”

  “The obsession?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. I’m just so sick of it. Are you going to fight in the next game? Are you going to fight another monster?”

  He shook his head. “Yes. I’ll fight another monster next week. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “What kind of monster?”

  “A Firlup. You’d call him a green frog guy.”

  “You’re fighting him? The guy who used to be on your team?”

  He smiled and my stomach lurched.

  “Are you going to hurt him?”

  “I’m going to tear him apart. That’s what the queen is waiting for. Your mother is going to perform next time as well, not as Morganagh, but as a Claudel. She’ll have tusks to go with her tentacles, also more fins on her wrists and ankles filled with toxins.”

  “Sounds unnecessary. Who will she fight?”

  “No one you know. The name is Gordu. She requested him. Apparently knows him. He’s on the king’s team.”

  “Great. Lucien was amazing.”

  “He did well.”

  “I was worried he’d start flirting with the pizza girl.”

  “If he did, it would be to throw her off balance.”

  “I don’t know. He’s my brother. You know how emotional and idiotic I get.”

  “He’s Haverre’s son. I think you both take after your fathers.”

  “Are you calling my dad emotional and idiotic?”

  He laughed, a half-snort that eased my stomach for the first time in days. He put a hand on my knee and warmth spread up to my stomach, tangling it in a different way. “I’m saying that your brother is incredibly cold-blooded and honorable.”

  “Those are a weird combination of traits.”

  His hand was still there, touching me unnecessarily. “He will follow his own code and over-calculate every decision he makes.”

  Is that what Sean was like? Of course, so why did he still have his hand on my knee? “I don’t think so. I showed up at his house and he was ready to come with me in ten minutes.”

  “But that’s you.”

  “Exactly. Don’t you think that pizza girl is a little bit like me? Kind of zooming around in an unpredictable way?”

  “No.”

  I frowned at him. “You don’t think I’d make a good gladiator, do you?”

  “You’d be terrible. You’d destroy the entire stadium, the entire city.”

  I pulled my knees up to my chin so his hand fell down. “That’s probably true.”

  “I was joking. I think you’d actually be a fine gladiator with more training.”

  I frowned at the dark denim covering my knees. “My mother would kill me fi
rst.”

  “She would be irritated.”

  “No, she would kill me.” My voice was kind of, I don’t know, empty.

  He gripped my hand. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, not even her.”

  I stared at his hand, the way it swallowed mine. “Thanks.”

  “How do you know your mother would try to hurt you?”

  “Kill me. She said so. Sean, aren’t you tired?”

  “She said that to you?”

  “She thought I was asleep.”

  He muttered something under his breath about killing her before he said, louder, “I am tired, Gen. Are you finished torturing me?”

  I lifted my head to stare at him. “I try. All the time I try to control the obsession and the destruction, but I can’t ever promise you that I’m done.”

  He sighed and kissed my hand, slow, taking his time like I was his Soremni mate. “That isn’t torturing me. Barricading the door with the couch so I can’t snuggle my squiggy fish, that’s torture.”

  “Oh. So you still aren’t sleeping very well without me? That’s annoying.”

  “It is annoying, or did you mean annoying for you to have such a needy fake Vashni husband?”

  “I meant for you. I’ve missed you.”

  “I know. I could tell by the way you called me every night like I was your probation officer.”

  “You didn’t call me.”

  “You were clearly calling me so that I wouldn’t call you. That’s why you said, ‘I’ll call you tomorrow’ at the end of every call.”

  I sighed and tugged my hand out of his. “I’m sorry, Sean. But, maybe it’s better this way.”

  “If you say so. If you want a cranky fake Vashni husband, feel free to continue to avoid me indefinitely. I warn you, I will not reciprocate.”

  I shivered at the intensity in his voice, at the ice in his pale blue eyes. “I’m not avoiding you. Okay, I’m avoiding you. It’s just so crappy for you to be with someone who is obsessed with someone else.”

  “It’s worse for you. I think I’d kill myself if I were obsessed with Oliver.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “And if you were obsessed with me?”

  He smiled at me humorlessly. “My character is along the lines of my genetic makeup. I’m a control freak. Being out of control to that level would quite literally drive me insane. The control issues go with my immunity. If you need space while you deal with my betrayal, letting Oliver come in range of your mystical senses, I understand that, but don’t punish yourself for something you can’t control.”