Free SEAMONSTER: An Aquarathi Novella (The Aquarathi) by Amalie Howard

much more. Kissing is the first dance of two like-minded spirits.
    “Have you ever …” I trail off, unable to finish my sentence .
    “Been with one of them?” Nerissa asks, and I nod. “Not all the way, but I’ve come pretty close. It’s about fun for me. I don’t want to bond with an Aquarathi. I just want to be … free.”
    My brows knit. “But you have to bond with someone. That’s the way it is for us. When you go through dvija , it’s inevitable.”
    “If and when that happens, I’ll figure it out, but for now, I just want to be.”
    “You can’t pretend to be human forever, Riss.”
    For a second it seems like she’s not going to answer, but then she hefts her board in one arm. “I’m not pretending. I’m reinventing.”
    “You’re running away.”
    And just like that our conversation is over as she walks toward the surf without a retort or a backward glance. Talking about my apparent love life is easy. Talking about why she doesn’t want to be queen and claim her birthright is something else altogether. I shake my head. Maybe there’s something more to ruling that I don’t get, but who wouldn’t want to be a king or a queen? I know she’s afraid of failing or falling short of expectations, but how can you fail if you don’t even try in the first place?
    Anya still hasn’t moved , so I jog up to the house and grab a couple pieces of fruit and a bottle of water. My father’s frown above the lip of his newspaper is so pronounced that his eyebrows look like a unibrow, but I pretend I don’t notice. “That girl is the center of a lot of media attention,” he says in a low voice that makes me freeze at the door. “Anya Delmonico? I looked her up last night. There’s a trial tomorrow for her father’s murder.”
    “I know,” I say quietly. “I’m trying to get her there safely.”
    “I hope you know what you are doing,” he says and goes back to his newspaper. Is my father actually giving me a pass without a four-hour lecture on Nerissa’s safety being our only objective?
    I hover uncertainly in the doorway. “Me, too.”
    Running back down to the beach, I see that Anya is now in a sitting position, staring out to the breakers where Nerissa and a few other surfers are catching some waves. I plop down beside her.
    “Hungry?” I say , thrusting an apple into her lap.
    She blushes. “Can’t believe we fell asleep out here. I mean, we did sleep out here , right. You and me?”
    “Yes, and my back is still complaining.”
    “It was worth it,” she says softly, leaning her body into my arm as she bites into the apple. “Nerissa’s a really good surfer. She looks like she belongs on the wave. I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, even the great surfers wobble or shake when they pop up. She’s so fluid, it’s almost like the wave wants to be perfect for her. I know that sounds dumb, but she’s surfed a couple and they’re all the same. Perfect.”
    “ Not dumb at all,” I agree, eyes widening at her description. The future queen of the ocean does have a certain command of the sea, that’s for sure. But it’s not like any human has ever noticed it or expressed it so eloquently. “Do you surf?”
    “I did in Hermosa back in L.A. but I’m nothing like that.”
    “ Come on,” I say, hopping to my feet and holding a hand down to her. “Quick session and then we’ll head up to L.A. It’s early enough and no one’s out except for the surfers.” Her eyes cloud over at the mention of heading to Los Angeles, but she nods and stands with a groan.
    “Ouch,” she says, working the kinks in her legs. “I’m warning you, I’m not that great.”
    After we grab a couple of boards from the house and Anya gets changed into a borrowed pair of boardies and rashguard from Nerissa that make my stomach do a weird backflip thing, we paddle out to the other surfers. Nerissa is straddling her board, her dark blond hair hanging in a wet clump down her back, her eyes