“It doesn’t matter if you don’t accept that. It’s the truth. Going home is not an option.”
I turn away from him, clicking the emerald-green doorknob and pushing the door open. But when I see what's beyond the doorway, I quickly lose my momentum.
A huge convex window fills nearly my entire eyeline. The room I'm in is on the second floor and overlooks a large room below. It’s the roof to what I can only assume is some grand alien ballroom. Blue and purple lighting hits some of the most ornate and jewel-encrusted appliqués I’ve ever seen inlaid in walls made of shiny black stone.
Looking up again, my mouth agape, I realize the window isn’t made of glass. It ripples and undulates and is made of some jelly-like material. And beyond the window, an ocean scene. Rainbow-colored coral reefs provide a backdrop for creatures of all shapes, colors, and sizes that flip and swim through the currents.
“We’re…underwater?” My voice catches.
“My name is His Grace, Duke Raf’ere, Ruler of the Liin’gan Reefs. The reefs in the Liin’gan sea have been my family’s home for eons.” He walks us toward the banister. “My species, the fi’len, embrace a less landlocked lifestyle than yours.” He raises a finger to his neck, pulling down a ruffled collar. It's the first time I see the duke's gills.
Suddenly, despite everything I’d seen before, it hits me that the man standing next to me is actually an alien. His skin is gray, he’s gotta be over seven feet tall, and he has fucking gills. Even if you ignore the pointed ears and four-fingered hands…Raf’ere is out of this world.
I turn my eyes back to the expanse of water beyond the gelatinous window. My breath catches in my throat, and my pulse quickens. I should fear the monster at my side, but the enormous block of water in front of me scares me more.
I never learned to swim. The fear of water is as constant as my father’s seclusion of me from the rest of the world.
Although supposedly for safety, both of those reasons have still held me back.
When I look up at the undulating waves, I am struck by the immense power and vastness of the water just over my head.
Shuddering, I imagined the crushing weight of all that water and the feeling of being submerged, unable to reach the surface, if that delicate-looking jelly were to collapse.
My throat tightens, and I can’t stop myself from saying, “I can’t swim.”
I feel stupid as soon as I do, giving information that could hurt me to my captor. It’s like I’m letting him see all the ways he’ll be able to control me.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
As the panic washes over me, my breaths come in short gasps. My breathing becomes shallow and rapid.
Imprisoned beneath the ocean’s depths, I am at the mercy of an alien stranger.
1 Italian: (vulgar) a pissed off woman
CHAPTER4
?YOU GOT A FUCKING PROBLEM WITH THAT??
?RAF’ERE
The weak humancan’t even swim.
I wish I could be embarrassed, but I’m worried instead. This silly girl could get hurt and put me into a world of trouble.
Marta, a name I’ve only just learned, and it’s like a melody that plays on repeat in my mind. I will have to teach this ill-equipped human how to survive on my planet.
Before I can stress about our future much more, I realize something is wrong with her.
She can’t tear her eyes away from the biofilm bubble that covers the ballroom, her gaze distant and unfocused. I can feel the moisture on her palm as her fingers lace tightly between my own.
I hate that I enjoy the feeling of her, but I allow myself this momentary contact. When I scent her fear, though, my urge to protect her spins into overdrive.
“What’s wrong?”
She inhales shallow and frantic breaths, her chest rising and falling in erratic patterns.
When I tug on her hand, her feet are stuck to the floor. She’s panicking, of course she is—she just admitted to me she can’t swim and here I am presenting the entire ocean over her head.
