Page 21 of Fionn
"Feel your green... skin?"
"Greenskin. One word. It measures the current, makes us more streamlined, aids in navigation. It picks up the smallest movements in the water, which aided our hunting ancestors."
He touched the algae hanging from his left arm, then invited me to do the same.
"No, no, no. Backtrack a little. Species?!"
Fionn shrugged. "I don't know how best to tell you. The dating agency did not give us instructions on how to have this conversation. Maybe they didn't think it would happen so quickly. And it wouldn't have been necessary if Kelon hadn't-"
"Kidnapped me? Yes. Where is he anyway?"
"Unconscious somewhere in the ocean." His voice was bereft of emotion.
"Unconscious?" I shrieked. "But he'll drown! Or he has already drowned!"
"No. Finfolk can't drown. At least not in saltwater."
I stared at him as if he'd gone completely crazy. Or maybe it was me. I may have been hallucinating the whole thing.
"Elise..." I loved hearing him say my name. "Elise, we are aliens. From another planet."
Crack. That was my sanity breaking into pieces. I laughed hysterically.
Fionn didn't seem to know what to do. "We really are. We've come here in a spaceship because we're searching for females and-"
I couldn't stop laughing. He'd just described every alien romance novel ever.
This couldn't be real. Maybe I was unconscious, having bumped my head on the way into the cave. This could all be a dream.
"I'd quite like to wake up now," I said just before a huge wave hit me from behind. I was pushed against the log, my head underwater. I squeezed my eyes and lips shut, hoping it would be over quickly. But just when cool air hit my face and I breathed in deeply, another wave crashed over me. The log was ripped from my grasp. I was flailing, up turning into down, and I lost all track of where the surface was. I reached out blindly, hoping to find the log again - and a warm hand clasped mine, pulling me to the right.
Which turned out to be up.
I broke through the water's surface, gasping and coughing. Strong hands gripped my hips and pushed me up, above the waves, so I could breathe. I sucked in a few shallow breaths, then looked down at my saviour. Fionn smiled up at me.
His skin glistened in the sun like mother of pearl. The long stretches of algae - what he'd called greenskin - fluttered in the breeze as he held me aloft. He treaded water easily even as he had me lifted in front of him.
"Thank you," I rasped. I really needed some fresh water to drink.
"May you let me carry you back to the island now? We can talk on the way. You will have questions."
I stared into his emerald eyes. "You really are an alien?"
"Yes. I am. To you. To me, you are the alien." He smirked. "It's all a matter of perspective."
My head was swirling and it was only partly due to exhaustion.
"Tell me this is real," I asked. "Or better still, tell me that it isn't real and that I'm lying in a coma in a hospital bed. This is too crazy to just accept."
Fionn smiled gently. "Would it help to speak to other Peritans? All the staff on the island know about our true identity. Many of them have had dealings with other alien species in the past."
"Peritans?"
"Ah, that's what we call your species. It's the intergalactic term, even though you seem to have a different word for it."
"Yes. Humans. We're humans."
He grinned. "I will use that term from now on, if it pleases you. Now, can I get you back to the island? I'd rather get there before Kelon wakes up."
