Waveborn

25

"Even after all those years with humans, you take to the sea as if you grew up here," Selena said. Cass spun in the water to find her near again. "Can you breathe it?"

"Breathe it? No!"

"Are you sure? You're part Serran. You might have the ability." She scissor-kicked sideways, studying her. "Follow me. I won't go deep." She disappeared beneath the water. Cass glimpsed a flutter of white: her feet, kicking deeper.

Her heart lurched. It felt too close to the last time, when the woman on the beach had ordered her to dive, to kill herself. She wasn't afraid of Selena, exactly. Selena didn't seem like she meant to hurt her and even if she did, Cass couldn't help thinking that the orca-Amak-would stop her.

She sucked in air and dove.

She had to keep her eyes open to see where she was going but, like before, she was surprised to find that the water didn't sting. Her vision blurred for a moment and then cleared, almost as if she was wearing a dive mask. When she raised a finger to one eye, it came away covered with some kind of clear gel.

Light and shadow rippled through the water. Cass twisted in place, sculling her hands overhead to keep her body from floating upward.

As promised, Selena hadn't gone very deep, hovering only ten or twelve feet below the surface. Her hair floated around her like medusa's snakes, with her white face a moon at the center. She reached for Cass's hand. Cass jerked away, but she held her hand out again, insistent.

When Cass reached toward her, the other girl took her hand with surprising gentleness. Then she raised one finger, message clear: wait.

Cass forced herself to stillness, even though her chest had already started to tighten with lack of air. She'd been under less than ten seconds. She could hold her breath another thirty seconds at least, if she conserved air.

Her heartbeat thudded the passing moments in her ears.

Suddenly, Selena shook her hand, showing her something. Her arm. It was covered with a thousand spots of luminescent blue, so faint that even the half-light that filtered through ten feet of water made them almost impossible to see. Cass jerked free, slapped at her skin, and kicked to the surface.

Selena broke through the water beside her. "You are Serra."

"What was that?"

"It's the ocean, inside you. The stars of the sea, the ocean's lights...it has many names. It means that you can breathe the water, like we do."

"But I can't!"

"You already have or your skin wouldn't shine so clearly."

Cass remembered the terrifying feel of water rushing into her lungs and could only shake her head. Had she breathed water?

"You have to let in the water, breathe past the panic." Selena snorted as if she could read Cass's thoughts. "That's the human in you, doubting. Just because you can't explain something doesn't make it not true. Follow me. If you dare." With that, she coiled herself into a ball and dove. Her bare, white feet kicked a moment at the surface and disappeared.

"Shit," Cass whispered. Her heart felt ready to pound its way through her ribs. She looked at the black water. The thought of diving into it filled her with cold dread. Just do it, she thought. Her arms and legs didn't obey. Do it!

She drew her knees to her chest, flipped head downward, and dove.

Twenty feet below, Selena turned to look up at her, her arms carving figure eights through the water. She opened her mouth wide and blew out a stream of bubbles. Then she pointed from her chest to Cass's, her meaning clear: exhale. Like her.