by Maira Dawn
Aunt Claire leaned forward. "You know this would be a lot easier if you girls would use this beach in front of you instead of running twenty minutes away."
Devon chimed in, "Why both of you want to hang out in the water so much is beyond me."
Sierra laughed. "Uncle Devon, you're a marine biologist!"
"Yes, among other things, and I learned early on, it isn't all playtime out there, and that is why I switched into research. You could take a lesson in that." Devon gave her a nod to emphasize his point.
Still amused, Sierra smiled at him. "Well, I don't get much ocean time in now that I work in accounting. So you don't have to worry about me. It's Sunny who's going to become a marine biologist like the two of you."
The three of them clammed up, avoiding Sierra's stare. She turned away from them and looked at the sea as she leaned against the porch railing.
This whole college thing was crazy. Her aunt had money, and grandpa retired early but never seemed to have a shortage of funds. They couldn’t help Sunny out? Instead, when brought up, all she and Sunny got were guilty glances. They were holding back.
Sierra smirked. It was a good thing she'd been working on the problem. She had some news for Sunny. The local college had a last-minute change in professors, and when Sierra asked him, the professor said there was plenty of room in the class Sunny wanted to take.
Sierra couldn't wait to tell her sister. She'd be so excited! And for financing, Sierra would swing this class for Sunny so she would be able to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. One way or another, Sierra was determined to see her sister fulfill her dreams.
Twenty-One
Stay Tomorrow
Chapter Twenty-one
Wide-eyed, Sonora looked at Ian as her stomach tied into a knot. She couldn't back down now. "Who says that I'm going home? I do." She swallowed hard as Ian continued to stare at her. Her voice gentled. "It's obvious bringing me here like this isn't something you'd ordinarily do."
Ian leaned against the window frame as he looked back at the water and sighed. "Sunny, you don't know me or what I would do."
“I’ve figured out you don’t normally take helpless women against their will. I see the way you respect your mother. The way you have taken care of me since I've gotten here. You don't want to hurt me."
"Keeping you here will not hurt you."
"It will, and you know it."
Another sigh from Ian, deep and long, as he tried to change the subject. "Tomorrow we will look around the city."
Sonora frowned at him. "Tomorrow you are taking me home."
Ian looked back at her. "I can't take you home yet. You have to stay tomorrow."
Sonora flapped her arms. "I can't. My family will wonder where I am. I can explain one night somehow but not longer than that. They'll be out there looking for me, worried about me. If they find my car just sitting in the parking lot, I don't know what they'll think."
"I'll take care of it."
Her voice rose. "I don't want you to—“ Sonora let out a huff. "I don't want you to take care of it. I want to go home!"
Ian laid a hand on Sonora's shoulder, which she unsuccessfully tried to shrug off. For a moment, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, Ian tightened his jaw. "I give you my word that when you can go home, if you want to, I will take you there."
"When I can? If I want to? Of course, I will want to. What are you talking about?"
Sonora shook his hand from her with a jerk of her body. "You do realize your communication skills are sorely lacking." She took a moment to glare at him before stomping toward the room where he had laid her borrowed clothing.
"Sunny." When she didn't stop, Ian called again, this time his voice sharp. "Sunny!"
Sonora stopped and glanced back at him.
"Come," Ian demanded as he beckoned her with a wave of his hand.
Though still steaming, Sonora could not ignore the picture of the man before her. One muscled arm supported him as he leaned against the side of the picture window. Her gaze trailed his long, still half-dressed, body up to his handsome face. She let her gaze play along it, the cheekbones, the sleek dark hair. A muscle in his solid jaw twitched, and Sonora brought her eyes to his grey ones. Once Ian captured them, he refused to let go.
Seconds seemed to be minutes, and something kindled in Sonora. A feeling deeper than desire, more like a pull to belong.
A bolt of shock shot through Sonora as she realized she wanted nothing more than to rush to him. A gleam of recognition rose in his eyes as she tore her gaze from his. Sonora gave her head a little shake. Geez, put a cute guy in front of her, and she lost all sense.
When Ian beckoned Sonora again, she walked over but kept her distance. She looked only at the ocean as Ian stared at her. And when he attempted to lay a hand on her back, she moved away. Sonora frowned at him. "What? What do you want?"
Ian sagged but pointed out the window. "You see that grid out there?"
"I'm not in the mood for another lesson in your superior underwater technology. Or any of your superior anything. In fact—“
Ian cut her off. "Will you listen?"
Sonora huffed and crossed her arms.
"That grid is to keep our existence secret. For centuries, building our cities in rocky areas was enough. The seafarers naturally avoided them, but as the human's technology grew, ours needed to do as well. So we created the grid. It distorts your echo sounders, so people avoid this area.
"We have it not because we are hostile toward humans but because they are not ready to learn about us. Can you imagine what would happen if they found out we were down here?"
Sonora knew precisely what would happen. News, media, fascination, suspicion, chaos, sadness, and terror. And that was if everything went well. Nothing here would ever be the same again. Murder had already been committed by someone aware of them.
“The day will come when we need to approach them, but now is not the time." Ian looked at her. "There are things about us, about me, that you haven’t learned yet. Not because they will hurt you, but because the time is not right." A small smile curved one side of his lips. "I am your grid."
"Oh, ha, ha," Sonora said with a fake laugh.
"You will stay tomorrow."
"And the day after that?"
"Let each day decide for itself."
"No! I'm not—“
"Sunny, you can rail against this all you want, but it will change nothing."
Her anger ignited at his high-handed words, and she struck out at him. Her small fists pounded against him even though she knew she was no more than a gnat he could easily swat away. Still, he stood there and took everything she had to give.
More furious than ever, Sonora stopped and glared up at him, hissing. "I hate you!"
The words did what the blows could not. Ian stumbled back from her with a stricken expression. Sonora's heart clenched. She reached for him. They both looked at her outstretched arms. Sheer happiness covered Ian's face. Bewilderment came over Sonora's.
She pulled her arms back, wrapping them around herself as tight as she could. What was happening? She needed to make him understand she didn't want to stay here even if it did hurt him. Why had she reached out to him?
Sonora rushed to the chairs and lowered herself to teeter on the edge of one. Ian followed her and sank into the chair across from her, looking confused. He pulled a hand through his dark hair, further disturbing it. "I didn't want this."
"I didn't want this. You most certainly did, or I wouldn't be here."
Ian lowered his head. "No, not like this."
Sonora covered her face with her hand and rested elbows on knees. After a moment, she sat up. "Okay so, now what?"
"Tomorrow, I will show you around."
Sonora rolled her eyes. They were right back where they started. "And that will magically do what?"
"Not magically. But the more you cooperate, the faster this will go."
Of course, it would. Sonora shook her head, th
en sighed and sat back in her seat. "And I'm not allowed to know what ‘this’ is?"
Ian raised an eyebrow and grinned. In that moment, it was clear he was aware he'd won. He pulled his fingers through his hair again, this time to fix it. The gesture caused Ian to bow his head and look up at Sonora as his shoulders rolled. "The grid, remember?"
Sonora blew out a puff of air, stirring the hair around her face. "Don't try to be cute. It doesn't help your case at all."
She winced. That was totally not true.
Twenty-Two
Better Than Human
Chapter Twenty-two
Aleena paced back and forth in her high tower bedroom, her son on her mind. Stopping, she faced her husband, the weight of every bad scenario showing on her face. It made her numb. Most upsetting was the inevitable heartbreak Ian would face. Aleena’s heart twisted at the thought of seeing her strong, warrior of a son crushed. Ian had handled his share of danger, and Aleena had learned long ago she needn't worry about his skills in handling it, but a broken heart was another thing entirely. A broken heart often ended an Atlantian.
Of course, there was still the possibility Ian had lost his senses. "It must have been all the time he's spent in the air. All that oxygen must have addled his mind." Aleena started wringing her hands.
Jorah shook his head in disbelief. "You are sure you understood him correctly? He really feels this way about her? I’d hoped it only an infatuation."
Aleena's voice rose as she threw up her hands, "That's what he said. Informed me of his asinine decision and told me it was none of my affair. The news shocked me so much I didn't question him further." Her voice turned to despair. "What is our son doing? He is going to get hurt! This will ruin his life. A human!" Aleena brought one of her hands to her face. "A human."
“Perhaps it will be okay. Ian has always swum a straight line."
"He seemed just as shocked saying it as I was hearing it," Aleena uttered a small wail. "You are aware how these things turn out, Jorah. You know!"
Jorah sought to calm his wife. "There was that one girl. It seemed to turn out fine for her."
"How do we know that? She went off with that sailor and was never heard from again! He could have done anything to her. And her poor family, to go through that!" Aleena broke down. In between sobs, she whispered, "And look at Argos."
Jorah's tone was quick and harsh. "Hush! Never say that name! That will not be our son. And that was a different situation altogether."
“It was over love and humans. The two never mix without trouble."
Aleena sent her feelings to her husband, as Atlantian couples often did. Feeling her distress, Jorah's face fell, and he rushed to his wife, wrapping his arms around her and offering her comfort. "Maybe he will keep her here."
"She will be treated horribly here. Ian needs to take her back to where she belongs."
"He's waited so long for his love, and now this," Jorah muttered.
Jorah prayed it was not as bad as Aleena feared, but he could tell from his wife's pain, she held out no hope for their child. He took Aleena's hand. Their children's welfare had always been uppermost in her mind. She had worried herself sick. Tears came to Jorah's eyes as he imagined what Ian was going through.
Every time Ian left to travel through the ocean's kingdoms to find his Jata Ara, Jorah wished him well, as a good father does. More than that, though, he longed for his son to find his match almost as much as Ian did. Jorah knew a good match could complete a man, make him whole. His arms tightened around his wife. That is what had happened for him, the minute he and Aleena met.
Through Ian's many years of searching, when Ian had returned in despair and defeat, Jorah comforted him, assuring Ian that one day he would find his love. Jorah had been so sure all this waiting meant his son was going to find someone extraordinary.
But this? Jorah couldn't imagine how this could be anything but a troublesome match. He cringed at the thought that his family line would no longer be pure Atlantian. How would that affect Ian's prospects? Would his son be eligible to take over Jorah's seat on the council?
He spoke softly to his wife, "I will speak with our son. But he is right, Aleena, a mate is one's own decision to make, not his family's. And if he insists on this, well, just remember we are human too."
Aleena recoiled. "We are Atlantian!"
Jorah's words came out sure even though they sounded wrong to his own ears. "Which are human."
"Which are better than human,” Aleena laid her head on her husband's shoulder.
"Yes, of course, my dear," Jorah smoothed a hand over her hair. "Of course, we are, but we are undeniably connected to them, and they to us. We are charged with helping them. And though we may not know the outcome of that particular situation yet, perhaps we can, somehow, do our part to help this human girl.”
Twenty-Three
Breathe
Chapter Twenty-three
Sonora woke to the smell of cooking food. She put her hands above her head and stretched, surprised, but happy she'd had a restful night in Ian's guest bedroom. Sniffing once, then twice, Sonora frowned. Nothing smelled familiar. She raised an eyebrow as she threw a glance out the window. Who knew what would be on the menu?
Sonora searched through her borrowed clothing and slid a dress over her head, arranging it the way she'd seen Cascadia wearing hers. After finger-combing her hair, Sonora looked at what she could only call a magic mirror. The wall appeared the same as the others until she pushed a button and a mirror seemed to pour down the wall. No matter how many times she made the mirror appear, Sonora still didn't understand how it worked.
Sonora walked to the door and stopped. Her family would have already missed her. Maybe they would think she stayed at a friend’s house last night, but when she didn’t show up again today? They were going to be so worried. Sonora tried to shrug off her concern. There was nothing she could do about that. Instead, she’d think about how she would handle Ian today. She wasn't happy with his decree that she stay, but she didn’t have much choice at the moment. Playing along seemed to be the best way of finding a way out of here. And, if she was stuck, she planned to make the most of it. Never, in a million years, had she dreamed of anything like this, and she wanted to learn everything possible.
Sonora followed her nose to the kitchen and found Ian hard at work, and wearing more clothing than yesterday. He'd added a shirt to his shorts.
His face brightened as soon as she entered the room. "Good morning, breakfast will be done in a moment."
"Can I help?"
"There really isn't anything left to do." Ian studied Sonora. "You look beautiful."
Sonora stared at Ian for a moment. It meant more to her than she wanted to admit. He hadn’t tried to be sexy or romantic, just said it as if he’d said the sun was shining. It was perfect.
She blushed and turned her head away. "Thank you, but the dress is too long."
Ian smiled at her reaction. "I can have something altered for you."
Sonora waved her hand at his suggestion. "No, it’s fine. I wasn't complaining." She glanced from his face to his shirt. "You look nice too."
When they sat for breakfast, Ian explained each dish. Sonora recognized nothing, except the strawberries, which were grown in an unusual garden that Ian promised to show her. Sonora enjoyed it all, rejecting only one slimy dish, which she shoved back at Ian. He eagerly downed it with the same exuberance he seemed to have for all food.
While they ate, Ian answered Sonora's questions, explaining how they harnessed the ocean's internal waves for power and the geothermal energy for heat from below the ocean floor.
Sonora nodded. "Waves certainly have immense power. That little wave had me swirling so fast I wasn’t able to see anything." She smirked. "You know, on the day I met you."
"You mean the day I save your life."
"You mean on the day you kidnapped me."
"Sunny… You do remember I save your life, don't you?"
Sonora sat back
in her seat and crossed her arms as she stared at him.
Ian raised an eyebrow. "You do not remember me reaching out to you?"
She glanced at the tile floor. Oh, she remembered. Sonora would never forget it. Nothing but dark water swirling around her. Tumbling like she was in the middle of a waterspout. She'd been terrified before she’d seen him.
Sonora unfolded her arms. "I do. And I thank you with all my heart. I just don't understand the rest of it."
Ian took her hand, folding it into his. "We'll talk about that soon."
"Soon?"
"Tonight, but for now, I have a surprise.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little breather. "Would you like to learn to use this?"
Sonora almost bounced in her seat. "I would love too!"
Ian gave her a demonstration, explaining the need to pull the air as deeply into her lungs as possible. "You will be like a child at first, but over time, you will be able to hold your breath for longer periods."
Sonora ignored Ian's assumption she would be here that long. "Like you?"
Ian chuckled. "Probably never like me, but we shall see."
Determined to succeed, Sonora didn't give up even when the first try blasted her in the eye and the second did nothing but raise the side of her hair in a violent spin.
Ian was almost bent over the table in laughter. "You have to breathe the air in when you push the button," he choked out.
"Stop laughing at me!" Sonora yelled through her own giggles.
"You are worse than the little ones, Sunny."
Sonora slapped Ian on the arm. "Now you are just being rude."
"No. It is possible be much ruder."
Sonora tried to appear angry but lost when she exploded into another fit of laughter. "Oh my, this thing is impossible. There is so much pressure."