Page 60 of Between Salt and Serenades
Words evaporated from my mind as Breena’s eyes flew open and her shimmering skin began to grow loose and peel. I wastoo stunned to make sense of what I was witnessing until curly brown hair and a familiar face appeared behind that of a seal, as if Breena had been wearing a mask the entire time. Breena wiggled toned arms out of the flippers we held until her upper half appeared human once more.
It wasn’t until then that she met my gaze, and when she did, a thousand minnows swarmed my belly. Zellia backed up as I moved in closer. My webbed hand found the back of Breena’s head, and I held the half-transitioned selkie in my shaking arms.
My mind flooded with a hundred reasons why I was happy to see her and a hundred more about why I was infuriated she’d put herself in danger by coming here. Breena stared at me, not hearing a single one of those reasons.
Depths, even if she could remain here with me in the Dreslee, I’d never be able to speak with her again. What kind of existence was that, constantly being tortured with the inability to tell the woman of my desires all the ways I saw her beauty, inside and out?
My free hand found her cheek, and I cupped it before bending my entire upper half across hers. I blinked my eyes for a moment, knowing she’d see the pink streaking them once I pulled away, but a voice in my head told me that showing a little emotion didn’t matter. So, I folded further in on myself and let all the thoughts and feelings I’d been holding back erupt.
Breena’s hand found my back, and she stroked my scales in a soothing repetition. I stayed clear of her wound but got as close to her as I possibly could, feeling the need to engulf her so I could never risk losing her again, not without losing myself in the process.
Eventually, I sat back up and peered down at Breena once more. When she’d transitioned, she’d lost the air bubble around her head, and she’d need oxygen again soon.
“Can I take her to the surface? Is she well enough to handle it?”
“The surface? No, Sid, you can’t.”Zellia shook her head at me from the edge of the Kilkov.
“Because Breena can’t, or because you don’t want me to?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters!”
“Yes, you can. Her wound is sealed, but be careful not to knock off her bandages,”Zellia pleaded.
“Thank you, Zel. I think we’ll need a minute?—”
“I’m already out of here!”Zellia cut me off with a flushed face, backing away. Before she dove off the side of the Kilkov, she turned back. “Be careful, Sid.”
With that, my sister was gone, and only Breena and I remained. I pushed back her wayward hair and pointed up to the sky. Breena peered up weakly and then nodded her head. She draped her arm over my shoulder, and I looped my arm around her back as I guided her up to the surface. Her skin glowed the closer we got, though her brown complexion had lost a bit of its luster from the lack of blood in her system. The mere thought of how much she’d lost made my stomach churn.
When our heads broke the surface, I slowly took in air while Breena sucked in a lungful. I could barely get a word in before her lips were on mine. There was nothing on this planet that would have stopped me from returning her kisses. My tail moved side to side to keep both our heads above water as I showed her all the ways I missed her with my lips. Water dribbled down our faces as I pulled her closer into me. It wasn’t until she let out an involuntary hiss and grabbed at her wound that I pulled back.
I whispered a dozen apologies, but all she did was run her nails over my shoulder as she breathlessly said, “It’s not quite the welcome I’d been expecting, getting stabbed and all.”
Resting my hand under her chin, I brushed away the water beads forming there.
“Whatwereyou expecting, little droplet? You know of our past just as well as I do.”
“I know, but I had to take the risk. I had to find you and tell you that our fish are already gone. There was no reason for me to stick around in the cove for any longer, not when I knew Rory’s mother could be at risk.” She grunted as a wave smacked her in the back of the head, jostling her weakened body. I propped her up even more, so the tops of her shoulders were exposed. My tail fin would burn in pain before I let her chin dip back below the water. She was in enough discomfort as it was.
“The fish have all but disappeared from the Dreslee as well,” I admitted. “Rory should already be on his way here. If he listened to my instructions, that is.”
“Bonnet shell?”
“Yeah. I know he received my message, but there’s no saying when he’ll arrive,” I said, my eyes drifting back to her lips.
“Hopefully soon. I’m starving.”
I was too, but not in the way she meant. I refocused on her words, then her eyes, and said, “Have you not been eating? How many days have you been out of fish?”
“I have, I have,” she chuckled, making herself wince in the process. “I’ve been stabbed in the stomach, though. I’m pretty sure everything I’ve eaten over the past few days escaped out of the hole in my gut.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” I laughed, relieved to see she was in good spirits despite being attacked in enemy territory.
“Well, I suppose it’s all the blood loss,” she said with a faint smile. My own smile faded, and I held her just a little bit tighter.
“How are you feeling?”
