Waterfell

by Amalie Howard

  “You watch way too many movies,” I say, starting the engine. “And you know that Jenna would never say anything, slip or not. She’s like a vise.” Speio quirks his eyebrow and I drop the subject. “So how’d you get them? The jellyfish?”

  “Pheromones.” I almost choke at the word. “And it wasn’t easy. You totally owe me by the way,” Speio says. “First of all, I had to swim nearly to China to find the right kind of jellyfish with green bioluminescence to match yours, and then I had to get them excited enough to follow me back here. No small feat, I assure you.” He pauses, his face completely serious. “Just so you know, I now have a harem of Aequorea Macrodactyla of my very own in the bay, so watch out.”

  “Aequo-what?”

  “Jellies with green light.” He pats himself on the back with a smug grin on his face. “Thank you, Speio. You are so awesome, and what would I do without you?” he says to himself with a meaningful look at me. I repeat his words, with admiration written all over my face. His mouth screws up slightly. “I do have to admit that it was kind of gross, though, turning on a completely nonsexy species. I felt a little seedy.”

  This time I can’t hold back my laughter, and neither can Speio. “You’re amazing, you know that,” I tell him, wiping the tears from my eyes. “And you’re right, I wouldn’t last half a day without you.”

  “So anything happen at school today that I should know about?” he says.

  “Not really. I was practically asleep all day.” I make the turn into our driveway and collapse against the wheel. “Seriously, how can you look so chipper? I’m exhausted.”

  Speio smiles in sympathy. “You’ll get used to it. You missed out on a lot. Don’t worry, the first few days are always the worst.”

  A twinge of regret hits me as I think of all the missed time when I should have been training with Echlios and Speio instead of ignoring my duty. “Spey, do you think I’ll be ready?”

  Speio takes a long time before he answers, running his hand back and forth over his head as if he can’t find the right words. “I think you’ll be as ready as you can be. As queen, you can also name a champion in your stead. You don’t have to fight.”

  “I could never do that!” I say.

  “People fight for kings every day.”

  “That’s people. We’re Aquarathi. We fight our own battles,” I argue hotly. I can’t even stomach the idea of sending someone else to fight in my place. Ehmora’s conflict is with me, not anyone else.

  “And that is the pride that will get you killed. Sometimes you need help, Nerissa, and you don’t think to ask for it. You can’t do everything on your own. And you can’t fight Ehmora on your own.”

  “Watch me,” I snap, and walk away, our earlier cheer gone like dust in the wind.

  As grateful as I am for what he’s done with the jellyfish cover, Speio’s superior attitude rubs me the wrong way. Is it because I’m female? Or a princess? We’re not human, and we never will be. As much as I like humans, I know I can never be exactly as they are. I see that now more clearly than ever. I thought being human could be an escape from who I am, but instead I learned to appreciate being Aquarathi more.

  In our society, it’s true that the males are the fighters, but the females are the real leaders. We make the hard decisions. I refuse to let some male fight on my behalf just because that’s the way of things. I need to avenge my father and save my mother. If the rules don’t apply to Ehmora, then they won’t apply to me, either. I’m not a coward, and if she issues a challenge I will face the challenger directly, win or lose.

  I’ll just have to change the game.

  Because one thing’s for certain...if I don’t, I’ll die.

  14

  PAPER WALLS

  The marine center beach is crowded with people who want to see the amazing green jellyfish that showed up hundreds of miles from where they usually live. I have to hand the credit to Echlios and Speio—it’s a brilliant cover. Biologists are coming up with all kinds of theories that the jellyfish migrated following cooler waters or a food source.

  I didn’t think my theory of them having the hots for a certain blond boy would fly so I stayed quiet and kept myself busy. It’s the most action the marine center has seen in weeks, since a whale beached itself a few months ago. Echlios relented to let me do a couple volunteer shifts at the center, especially after I insinuated that people would ask questions if I didn’t at least put in an appearance. It was a total lie, of course, but it worked.

  Well, with Soren’s help.

  Echlios narrowed his eyes and stared at me suspiciously, but then caved when Soren gave him the look. She is quiet, but she has her ways of getting things done. I tried to tell her thanks but she only shushed me and said that I needed to have a breather away from the house—and her husband.

  It’s also been nice to see Jenna outside of school, and, of course, Lo, who has regular shifts at the center. He confessed to me during one of our late-night phone calls that he only agreed to Leland’s suggestion for working there because of me and hadn’t realized that he would end up liking it so much. It reminded him of the work he used to do in Hawaii with his foster dad. He’s now a regular, although he isn’t working today.

  Which is why when he shows up at the front desk where I’m doing some filing to get away from the crowds out back, I’m baffled.

  “Hey,” Lo says.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You’re here. So I’m here, too.” His words could incinerate ice, far less a girl with a definite non-icy heart. I’m hanging on by a thread not to be a puddle on the floor.

  “Oh.” It’s the only word I can translate from my brain to my mouth. Everything else is gibberish. “But you don’t work today.”

  “No, but you do.” And...puddle.

  Lo’s dressed in board shorts and a plain black T-shirt. His sandy hair is a windblown mess that makes me ache to smooth it with my fingers, but I restrain the urge. “When do you get off work?” he asks me.

  “Couple hours.”

  “What do you have to do?”

  “Get more jellyfish samples,” I say with a resigned look. “We’ve got an hour of daylight left so I have to leave now.”

  “Want some company? I’m volunteering my services,” he says, bowing with a flourish. “It’s your lucky day!”

  We check in with Kevin, who is so totally bombarded by questions that he just nods insensibly in our direction, so we take that as a yes and load up the boat. I toss in our scuba gear and we’re off to find Speio’s harem.

  Out in the bay, the sky is such a clear uninterrupted blue that I can hardly tell where it ends and the ocean begins. The wind is cool, whipping into my face as we make our way out toward San Clemente Island, an uninhabited island owned by the U.S. Navy. Kevin’s been tracking the jellyfish patterns, and they’ve been moving steadily out to sea. I’m sure that Speio will be heartbroken that his little lady friends are leaving.

  I’m so focused on getting us to our destination that I don’t notice when Lo comes up behind me. His hands start at my shoulders and move down my arms to slide in over my fingers on the boat’s steering wheel, and then back up again. I don’t even know how I’m still standing. His simple touch ignites a flame in the pit of my stomach that spreads through my chest and into my limbs like wildfire. I’m not even breathing when Lo wraps an arm around my middle and pulls me against his chest. The boat jerks wildly the moment that his lips touch the indentation of my neck just above my collarbone.

  With a shiver at the impression of his lips searing my skin, I steady the boat and slow to a stop, letting it rest in the middle of the open ocean where the slow-rising waves lap against its sides. I twist around only to find myself sandwiched between the steering wheel of the boat and Lo. His chest is a warm wall of muscle. Flashes of the time I’d seen him with hi
s wet suit rolled down around his waist rise up to torture me. If my body can get any warmer, it does.

  “Hi,” he says in a husky voice, his hands falling to my hips.

  I clear my throat. “Hi.” I want to look anywhere but his eyes, those navy-colored eyes that make me feel so unhinged, but I can’t. I’m drawn to them like water.

  “It’s nice to be alone.”

  “Yes.” I can answer only in monosyllables. My hands are trembling so I shove them around my back, grabbing the metal of the steering wheel to steady myself. Being alone with Lo is exciting but terrifying. I’m more scared for him than I am for myself. What if I lose control and he sees things that he shouldn’t see? What if I change?

  What if I’m already changing?

  “The jellyfish,” I blurt out inanely, breathless. Tingles race outward from the place on my hips where Lo’s hands are still resting. I swear his palms will be forever branded into my skin, with the amount of heat they’re generating beneath them.

  “What about them?” he says, kissing along my hairline to my temple.

  I should push him away but I can’t. I’m utterly helpless, at his mercy. Every touch of his lips burns into my skin, imprisoning me even more. I can feel the metal of the steering wheel behind me bending under the force of my fingers. It’s the only thing holding me to reality even as every kiss threatens to pull me away.

  My unexpected weakness makes no sense but I can put it down to only one thing...Dvija. It’s starting, I can feel it—the tides inside of me rushing and receding, growing ready to find that perfect mate. In May I’ll turn seventeen. Maybe Dvija isn’t that far behind, so it’s logical that I’m on edge and so responsive to Lo. No human could make me experience feelings as powerful as these.

  Or maybe I’ve just never experienced what humans call being in love. Humans choose their mates, even if it’s not the right choice. It’s a matter of will versus genes. Bonding for us is more primal, more a case of genetic compatibility than something based entirely on feelings. Maybe this is a mind over matter phenomenon...a natural part of human life. Or maybe humans my age fall this deeply every time.

  Lo moves his hands to my cheeks. “What are you thinking? I can see your mind whirring in there.”

  Flushing, I study the faint freckles bridging his nose. “Nothing.”

  “It’s definitely something. You have these lines just here—” he rubs the space between my eyebrows “—that show up when you’re thinking about something.”

  “They do? How do you know?” This time Lo’s the one to flush darkly. “Oh, so Jenna is right. You do stare at me when I’m not looking.” Lo smiles and rests his forehead on top of mine. A cool ocean breeze blows between us, lifting the hair off my face and fanning it into his.

  “I stare at you all the time,” he confesses in a whisper.

  “Why?”

  “Because you intrigue me. There’s something so different about you. You’re not at all like any of the girls I know.”

  “You mean like Cara? That wouldn’t be a stretch.”

  Lo laughs at my cynical expression and leans backward. “Cara is just misunderstood. Underneath all of that makeup and bravado, there’s actually a really nice girl.”

  I take advantage of the opportunity to disengage myself and check on the scuba gear. “We will just have to agree to disagree. We used to be friends once, you know, Cara and me. Until she decided that she didn’t like anyone showing her up.” Lo doesn’t say anything, and I take a breath. “Now we’re like oil and water. Some things never mix, no matter what’s going on underneath. She puts on a front for you that you’re obviously falling for.” I don’t know why my voice sounds angry but it does. I should never have brought Cara up.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about her,” he says, and a shadow crosses his eyes. “And I’m not falling for her. I should think that would be obvious.”

  “Why is that obvious?” I snap, now irrationally angry and throwing scuba gear around as if taking my frustration out on them will help.

  “Because I’m falling for you.”

  “Oh.” That got me.

  Lo leans against the side of the boat, his arms across his chest. “Why is that so hard for you to believe? You’re smart, you’re funny and you’re cool.” I snort and blush at the same time. “And you surf. That’s just a bonus.” He pauses, watching me carefully as if weighing what to say next—trying to find that middle ground of saying just enough without giving too much away. “You intrigue me because you’re such a contrast of opposites. You’re so aloof and uncoordinated sometimes, like you don’t quite fit in.”

  “Thanks,” I blurt out, laughing. “I think.” But I’m left wondering whether he’s just perceptive or whether I’m more of an outsider than I think I am. The princess versus the teenager...the metaphor of my life.

  Lo shakes his head. “No, I meant that I don’t really fit in, either. We’re so similar, you and I.”

  I blink, savagely squashing my immediate negation. If only he knew. Lo and I are nothing alike. He’s human...and I’m a giant alien monster. We are entire worlds—universes!—apart. He’s falling in love with a mask, a fake human version of me that will only break his heart. As he will undoubtedly break mine. We are a romantic tragedy on an epic scale, doomed to disaster.

  Literally.

  So what? my inner voice argues. Is losing your heart so bad? You’re both willing participants, and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. That’s life. Human life. It’s what you signed up for. So live it. Who knows how much time you have left here? Or at all?

  “Why does my inner voice sound like Jenna?” I mutter, but my decision has been made. I look up at Lo, who is still studying me from the other side of the boat. I smile at him, tremulous. Every beat of my heart is in that look, and I hold nothing back. “I think I’m falling for you, too.”

  “Well, then,” Lo says with an unsteady smile of his own as he walks toward me. “If you’d gone the other way, I would have had to pull out the big guns.”

  “And what are those?” I’m completely unprepared when he flips up the end of his T-shirt to display his impeccable rock-solid abs, but I somehow manage to find my voice, ears aflame. “I’m not that shallow, but yes, those aren’t bad.”

  “Not bad? Come on, I saw you checking me out the other day when we were surfing. You enjoy the Lo show?”

  “The Lo show? Really?” But I can’t help grinning at his over-the-top expression. “You are such an ass! Seriously, how do you go from saying the sweetest things to the most douchy things in the space of a breath?”

  “Part of my charm?” he offers.

  “Not so much,” I say in a dry voice. I gesture at the gear now strewn all over the deck. “So you want to suit up or you prefer to stay out here?”

  “Let’s just go in.”

  “It’s like fifty-eight degrees in there, and the sun’s already set,” I tell him. The cold water won’t make a difference for me, of course, but I don’t want him passing out from hypothermia or something.

  “We’ll be fine. It’ll only be for a minute, anyway. Plus, it looks like both of us could use a cold shower,” he says with a wicked grin.

  “Maybe you do,” I shoot back. “I’m immune to your charms.”

  “Oh, really, shall we test that theory?”

  In answer to his mock threat, I strip off my shirt and shorts, grab a face mask and dive into the water. An answering splash tells me that he has done the same.

  The sky is already a darkening blue, its edges tinged with pink and gold from the thin sliver of sun that is nearly sunk into the sea. All I can think is that Lo’s eyes are the exact color of the ocean right now. Jellyfish surround me, firing at my touch. I spin my hands in a slow circle, watching as the spot where we’ve both dived into the water lights up with green star-sh
aped fireworks bursting outward.

  Lo surfaces, his eyes lit with reflected green light, and dives underneath the surface. I meet him halfway as he grabs me around the waist and spins us both in the water, our movements causing a flurry of green lights to burst all around us. It is more than magical—our own private wonderland of lights, shimmering all around us at every touch of our bodies.

  I break away and dive down into the mass of jellyfish, stretching my fingers outward, twirling my body and leaving a trace of vibrant emerald effervescence in my wake. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lo doing the same, and I laugh underwater, throwing my head back and forgetting to breathe like a normal human.

  I am foolish and in love and unhinged.

  Lo’s fingers catch mine, drawing me to him, fiery green light igniting all around us. The moment electrifies as Lo holds me close, my body wrapped against his. I let my hands slide over his shoulders and let the magic transport me to another world where Lo is like me, and he is the one I’ve been seeking all this time. The lights are mesmerizing, and I’m a willing fool, falling for my own lies as he turns me, weightless, in his arms and surrounded by radiance.

  Our lips meet underwater and the fireworks inside match the ones on the outside, explosion for explosion. And everything inside of me falls into willing, hypnotized, beautiful silence.

  * * *

  For the rest of the weekend, I’m walking on air. Even Speio shoots me these random odd looks but I guard my secret closely, holding it like the prize it is. I know I will eventually have to tell Echlios and Soren about my decision with respect to dating Lo, but for now, I just want to pretend that the information is mine alone. I want to savor it and appreciate it just for myself, if only for a few days. Truth is, it has given me new strength because either I’m getting stronger or Echlios’s training is getting easier. It’s likely the former, but I know deep down that it is because of Lo. I feel alive, more alive as a human than I’ve ever felt. Being with him makes me feel invincible...untouchable.