Conviction's King | Damian Book 1

Chapter 16

Cressa-la shivers. "Can I... get out now?"

"Yeah," I tell her, the glow disappearing almost immediately. "Yeah, sure. Just give me a second."

"Wait!" Cressa-la whispers, grabbing my arm before I duck beneath the water. "I think someone's coming."

I turn my eyes to where she's looking. Voices drift over the sounds of the beach toward us, growing closer.

"Come here," I whisper to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward me. "Show me the back of your neck."

She's hesitant but then lifts her hair. I can see small slits forming, but they aren't formed enough to allow her to breathe underwater. I nod.

"Okay, we have to hide."

"Where?" She whispers, turning toward me. "Oh, man I'm going to be banished, aren't I?"

I grimace. "Stop worrying. THis is my island," I growl, upset someone's coming to interrupt this time I have. Cressa-la stares at me for a moment, taken aback by my tone. I sweep the area for a good spot while Cressa-la begins to glow cyan. It's only a tiny bit, but it's enough to give away our position.

She lets out a small cry and the voices stop.

"Did you hear that?" A voice says. A girl's.

"Is someone down here?" A guy.

I grimace, finally finding a broken raft caught in the sand and a patch of tangled shrubbery at the edge of the beach.

"Hold your breath," I tell Cressa-la, "Your gills aren't formed completely so you won't be able to breathe underwater just yet. Try to keep your emotions in control because that's what makes you glow, and we can't give away our position or we'll be added to the list of people that have been exiled down here."

She nods, her face hard.

I pull her under and wrap my arms around her, trying to keep my mind from wandering as her hair fills my vision. Moving my tail, I swim beneath the raft and break the surface just beneath it, able to see through the tiny cracks in the wood. A guy and a girl from the Wurn Tribe, given away by the braids on their heads, both looking around sixteen or seventeen glance around suspiciously for any life.

Cressa-la's breath is heavy on my neck, giving me goosebumps as she gets comfortable, sitting on her knees. THe water is up to our shoulders while we sit, the slope definitely steep below us. She stays silent, but I have half a mind to tell her to back up a bit because she's distracting me. But she's so warm...

Twice now, I've held her in my arms. The moments came and went so fast I wasn't able to enjoy it or get caught up in it like I'd want, but... she'd probably think that's creepy or something. She wouldn't enjoy it.

"I think we were just hearing things," the girl says.

They talk for just a minute, complaining about the fishy smell and how dark it is down here under the overhang.

Then they sit down in the very back where rock meets sand. I hang my head and groan as they get closer together.

"Great," I mutter. "We found a make out spot."

Cressa-la makes a face. "Right, and you had no idea about it?"

I snort. "Of course not. I have better things to do than sneak away with girls."

She holds in a laugh, peering over my shoulder before leaning back in the water, moving a few inches from me. "Yeah, because I believe that for a second."

"What?" I whisper turning back to her. And then I get what she means.

I snuck away. With a girl. To this spot.

I frown.

"Oh."

She shakes her head and smiles.

"Well how did I know you didn't bring me down here?" I snap playfully, trying to make the time go by faster, blocking out the couple.

"Because I didn't know this part of the island existed and I don't throw myself at guys," she says with a shrug and a straight face. "I don't trust that easily."

A sly grin crosses my face. "You seem to think I'm pretty trustworthy."

There's a split second where she does nothing. Then she scoffs. "No."

Purses her lips.

"Well, since we're here, that means you can tell me about yourself."

I hold in a laugh, our whispers only a fraction louder than the waves.

"You first," I say, leaning on my arm, the water rushing over my scales as it pulls away from the shore and returns.

She shakes her head. "Nope. I have to known why I should trust you. You did say you were evil, after all."

"I didn't say that," I hiss gently. "I said I was supposed to do bad things. I never said I planned on carrying them out."

She shrugs, not taking that as an answer. "I still don't know who you are."

I suppress a smile. "Fine." I shift closer to her so she can hear better over the water. She's startled by this and almost falls over, but catches herself before she can hit the water. "I am fourteen. Get angry easily. Almost killed my best friend. Am being used as a pawn in a bigger scheme by a legendary serial killer banned from ever touching the ocean again. The future king of the Unwea Clan unless I can stop it. I'm honest. Manipulative. Demanding. An all around terrible person."

Cressa-la lets out a slow breath. "Yeah, that doesn't help me want to trust you."

"Yeah, I didn't think it would. But that's okay with me." the words spill honestly from my tongue. "I'm... changing. I've changed. I didn't kill my best friend. I didn't hurt someone important to me. I don't feel... I don't feel Morgiana's hold on me anymore and I don't feel so... angry at everything. I feel like I used to. I feel... normal. And like I'm changing."

Cressa-la studies me, still guarded.

"You talk like you've lived forever," she whispers, her blue eyes trained on mine. I swallow hard. Shake my head.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you why."

She makes a face that says she's going to regret what she's about to say.

"Try me. Right now, seeing you with that tail, and with this glow, I think I'd believe anything."