Page 17 of Derius

“And we both agree we felt it when we first met on Ballenger Two.”

“Yes but⁠—”

He held up a hand. “So you’re my fated mate. And you were going to drown because the capsule saved you initially but it was leaking and sinking. So my gift activated and I…changed.”

Leonie puzzled over the statement for a moment, forehead wrinkled. “Like a shifter?”

“Exactly. I became a—a sea creature and I dove to find you. When I got to the capsule I was able to catch it and bring it to the surface, where I tore it open and extracted you. I was carrying you toward the shore when the rescue party arrived.”

“And I’m so grateful but how did you manage all that? What kind of sea creature has hands and is strong enough to tear into solid metal?”

And here was the crux of the matter.

Derius released her hand to hold his out, palms up. There was a brief disturbance in the air and golden sparks flew and his hands morphed into a nonhuman form. “Not hands. Tentacles.”

“I must have hit my head harder than they’re telling me. Now I’m seeing things.” She switched her focus from his perfectly normal hands to his face. “Oh, sweetheart, just tell me. Whatever the truth is, I’ll be fine with it. You’re still you, the man I love even when you’ve shifted. I mean obviously because you saved me. So what do you turn into?”

Taking a deep breath, he said, “A forty-five foot tarakhan.”

She seemed unsure if he was joking. “All right, but I’ve never heard of that um animal before.”

“One of the rescue flyers took a holo while we were getting you out of the water. Do you want to see it?” He was concerned she’d be distressed at seeing herself lying limp and broken, not to mention the reality that was him in his changed form.

“Yes.” She nodded affirmatively and took his hand again.

Awkwardly Derius got his handheld out of his pocket and cued up the holo, which actually was high quality. The scene projected into the empty space beside the bed and there he was in all his shiny black, tentacled glory. Leonie watched in complete silence until the holo ended with Derius the man being helped onto the rescue boat.

“I knew,” she said a little brokenly. “I knew you were there, taking care of me. I remember wondering what the hell kind of lumpy bed I was lying on but I could sense you all around me. I guess you literally were.”

“I was,” he affirmed. “I was heading to shore with you when we met the boats. My tarakhan form has a system of water jet propulsion and I can go forty miles an hour in bursts. The body comes with two hearts, one for circulation and one to power the biological propulsion mechanism.” Derius smiled a bit crookedly. “Quite of a few of my family members have gained the ability to shift over the years so I knew what to expect if it ever happened to me.”

Leonie indicated for him to run the holo loop again, which he did and she studied his form closely. “But how can you transform into something so huge? I mean, you’re magnificent and I can see how suited the body is to moving through the ocean, but you only take up this much space as a human, admittedly a large muscular human, and then you change into a creature 45’ long? How is it possible?”

He shrugged. His family had asked themselves the same questions since time immemorial and found no good answers other than the one he was about to utter. “The ancestors were aliens, with technology and abilities we’ll never understand. They left no records and no explanations, just the genetic gift for some of us. I’m beyond grateful since it enabled me to save your life. When I get home to Ardanna I’ll make a pilgrimage to the family tombs and thank the ancestors.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said. “I’d love to see you transform but obviously it’s not possible here and now.”

He surveyed the small medbay room. “I wouldn’t fit. There’d be tentacles in the halls and through the walls and I’d be like a tiny fish in a can.”

“Can I watch sometime though? Maybe back on Ardanna?”

Happy and relieved she was so accepting of his other form, Derius gave her a resounding kiss. “Of course you can. I’d be proud to show off for you. In fact, my family has an annual reunion where those of us who can shift do so and swim in a pod way out in the ocean. I used to be so jealous. The legend is that at least a few of the ancestors may still be out there, living deep in the trenches on the ocean floor but there’s no record of a sighting, not even anecdotal. It’s a good story though.”

“Wait, will our children change into these tarakhan?” Her eyes were wide at the mere idea.

“There’s no way to know. People have tried doing genetic testing but whatever it is that powers this ability hides itself well until the right time arrives, if it ever does.”

“Like magic,” she said seriously.

“I guess the alien science is magic to us,” Derius agreed. He put away the handheld and reached into his other pocket, taking out a small black velvet box. “Leonie⁠—”

“Wait, you’re going to propose to me now? When I’m in a hospital bed, in a damn gown, looking like this?” She was laughing but there was an underlying bit of truth to her reaction.

He went down on one knee. “No better time. I love you and it’s been the struggle of a lifetime for both of us, getting back together. I almost lost you again when the wave hit and I’m not waiting for some nebulous gauzy romantic moment. Will you marry me?”

Her reaction everything he’d hoped for, Leonie gaped at the massive diamond, in a setting resembling tiny ocean waves. “Of course I’ll marry you. And the ring is gorgeous. You didn’t have to make such a dramatic statement. As long as I’m getting you for the rest of my life the ring is immaterial.”

He plucked it from the velvet and placed it on her finger. “I had Delain send it up here. I want this relationship properly sealed, set in stone as it were. I promise to propose again on Ardanna if you want, on a private beach my family owns, with the moon above to be our witness.”