My Online Alien Merfolk is Real novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: Breath
"Yes," I said.
Velun's hand clamped around mine. "Sorcha. No."
"I'm not asking you. I'm asking her. When does the tide turn?"
"At midnight," Sethra said. "The ebb carries you down the trench in a few hours."
"And the court?"
"It sits at the next slack water, at noon. You will have until dusk to speak."
"Dusk is when the breath fades."
"Yes. It leaves you little room."
"Then I'll use what I get."
Sethra looked at me for a long moment, and something in her flat gold eyes shifted.
"I will be in the water at midnight," she said, and she slid under the surface without a ripple.
Velun stood in the shallows with his fists closed.
"I told you I would not ask this of you," he said.
"You didn't. I volunteered. You can be furious with me while we do the dishes."
He made a sound that was half a laugh and half a growl, and I kissed him before it finished.
Maya was standing in the kitchen when I came up the path, holding a spoon.
She had heard enough through the open window.
"No," she said.
"Maya."
"You hate the ocean. You get seasick on the ferry."
"I know."
"The pressure alone can kill you. I've seen what a bad dive does to a lung."
"His people say it won't."
"His people also say they'll cut his name out of a song!" Her voice cracked. "I just got you back, Sorcha."
I took the spoon out of her hand.
"I lied to you for two years because I was scared of being looked at," I said. "I'm done being scared of that."
"That is not the same thing as swimming to the bottom of the sea."
"It's exactly the same thing. I have to show them my actual face and say what I want."
She stared at me, and her eyes filled.
She wiped them with the back of her wrist, like a woman who had cried in a lot of hospital corridors.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of My Online Alien Merfolk is Real are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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