Sorry if you didn't get a notification for Chapter 20 that I uploaded yesterday! I'm not sure what happened, but hopefully you'll get one for this update? Fingers crossed! :)
- Sian
"How?" Rowan asked, but Kaerius's low groan distracted him.
Kaerius's face twisted with the pain searing through his arm. "It hurts so bad," he mumbled in the Thalassic tongue. To Rowan, it was a soft grumble of whispery words.
"You'll be okay as long as you're with your soulmate," the old sea mortal replied, and Kaerius's eyes opened wide and sudden.
"Soulmate?" he hissed, confused and sore. When his eyes fell on Rowan, everything unexpectedly calmed like boiling water taken off the stove. "Oh," Kaerius whispered. "Soulmate." The sight of Rowan was like looking at something stuck in time. Ageless, timeless, flawless. His light green eyes staring down at Kaerius called for him to be closer, much closer.
"Ow," Kaerius complained, distracting himself with the pain. He didn't want Rowan to see the longing in his eyes.
"You'll be okay, I think. It's just a scratch," Rowan said with a nervous laugh.
Kaerius looked at Jaiker, who raised a grey and overgrown brow. "Just a scratch?" Kaerius said in the Thalassic tongue. "The spear stuck out of me like I was somebody's food!"
Jaiker couldn't help but smile at that. "Just be thankful that your soulmate jumped in the ocean to save you. He would have drowned trying if I didn't smell your blood."
Kaerius glanced back to Rowan, who listened with fascination. Kaerius wondered if hearing him speak in the Thalassic tongue was like Kaerius listening to Rowan's English. He didn't always understand, but because Kaerius spent most of his childhood listening to human kids, he could understand reasonably well.
"Stupid human," Kaerius said and swatted Rowan's hand away that was still resting on his chest. "Nearly drown. You die, I die."
"Kaerius, I know that which is why I jumped in to save you. I couldn't stand on the rocks and watch you bleed to death."
Jaiker shook his head, and despite Kaerius having a severe injury, he reached over and slapped the side of his face. "Respect soulmate!"
"Not my soulmate!" Kaerius growled, bearing his sharp teeth.
Rowan sat back, picking at the shell bracelet on his wrist. Something twanged his heart. He cleared his throat and turned his attention to the Thalassic Mortal in the sea. "What's your name?"
"Jaiker," the old sea creature replied.
"Well, Jaiker, I'm sorry that I impaled your son's tail the night of the hunt. Is he okay?"
Jaiker looked surprised. "Laiken fine. He scream like whale."
Kaerius tried to cackle, causing a wave of immense pain to stab him across his collarbone. He whimpered, and to his soul's delight, Rowan leaned over him again, giving him his full attention.
As gently as Rowan could, he lifted the t-shirt from the wound. Small amounts of purple blood dribbled from it. It wasn't bleeding like it was before. "If he were human, I would have taken him to the hospital. How do you treat wounds- you know- underwater?"
"Ah!" Jaiker said and sank out of sight.
"Do you have like a first-aid kit or-" Rowan stopped when Kaerius stared at him quizzically with those intense purple eyes.
"First-aid?" he repeated.
"Never mind." Rowan covered up the wound and frowned deeply when Kaerius made a low raw sound. "It's a nasty injury."
"It fine." Kaerius really meant to say that it hurt more than getting caught in a bloom of deadly jellyfish. He wouldn't admit that anything could weaken him. Not in front of a human.
Jaiker suddenly popped above the surface and shoved a slimy yellow looking plant into Kaerius's wound. The twenty-year-old cried out, and Rowan gripped Kaerius's wrist in distress.
"What are you doing!" Rowan gasped, wanting to tear Jaiker's hand away, but also terrified of his poison filled fingers.
"Good plant. Will... um... will vanish in Kaerius. Heal him faster."
"Vanish?"
"Melt," Jaiker said, and Rowan assumed he meant dissolve. The thought was disturbing. Jaiker quickly covered the wound with the t-shirt and patted Kaerius's hand until he settled, and his cries didn't sound so heart-wrenching.
"Human. Your name?" Jaiker asked.
"Rowan."
"Okay, Ro-wan. Take Kaerius to house. Care for him. He heal."
"My house! I can't! My mum- she'll..." Rowan watched Kaerius scrunch his eyes shut and tense all over. It wasn't safe to leave him. He couldn't go back to the sea because Rowan couldn't follow, could he? "She'll just have to deal with it. I'll take him when-" As if Rowan timed his words perfectly, Kaerius's tail split into two and morphed into human legs.
Jaiker froze, and his mouth grimaced. He looked horrified as he shook his head from side to side. "I leave now." He sank quickly back under the water and didn't return.
Rowan had stored the shorts and gloves in a hole in the rocks, somewhere high enough so they wouldn't get wet from the rising tide. Carefully and quickly, Rowan slipped the shorts onto Kaerius and forced his hands into the gloves. They were still damp from when Kaerius jumped in the sea with them on, but at least they covered areas that Rowan felt uncomfortable seeing.
"You're heavy. You'll have to help me." Rowan said with pink cheeks as he slotted an arm under the back of Kaerius's head, feeling his wet black hair against the bend in his arm.
"No," Kaerius whined. "Lie here."
"You can't. It's not safe."
"Yes. Kaerius can."
"No," Rowan sighed and pulled him into the seating position. "You can rest when you're in my room, then I'll phone my dad again because he had something important to tell me. Also, I'll ask him about-" as Rowan started to nervously spew his words. Kaerius managed to get onto his feet. He was entirely dependent on Rowan, and Kaerius hated it. "-Jaiker also said that he found a way to remove the bond."
Kaerius heard that part. "How!" he demanded, moving slowly around the side of the rock. The day was still early enough that there were only a handful of people on the beach, though nobody would see Kaerius unless they were severely sleep deprived.
"I didn't get around to asking how. I can ask my dad, but I doubt he knows," Rowan said, tightening his arm around Kaerius's waist as he struggled across the sand.
Kaerius had started to move quicker from the hope that this wouldn't be his life forever.
When they reached the house, Mandy wasn't pacing the porch like Rowan expected. He didn't see her at all on their successful journey to his bedroom. Rowan shut his door and moved Kaerius to the bed. "Alright," he said softly when Kaerius made a low noise of discomfort. "Lie back if you can." Rowan let him rest on his towel, so he didn't get blood on his bed sheet.
Kaerius laid down, holding onto his arm like it was about to break off at any moment. He controlled his breathing and now that he didn't have to move, the pain stabilised.
"Can I get you anything?" Rowan asked, hovering from one foot to the other.
Kaerius noticed that he had many nervous traits. "No."
Rowan admitted defeat and sat on the side of the bed. "I don't know what to do Kaerius. It feels like I should be doing more. What if you sleep and die or something?"
Kaerius rolled his eyes. He was chary about moving the t-shirt, but he did to show Rowan that he was already healing. The wound was circular, and it hadn't closed, but it had stopped bleeding from the plant. The insides were knitting together and would take a few days. "Heal faster than human," Kaerius said and covered his shoulder again.
"Okay," Rowan said and stood back up so he could pace. "But maybe I should take you to the hospital. No, I can't because your blood is purple. But- no, you have poison in you. They wouldn't be able to see you anyway, would they? Maybe doctors would. They seem pretty sleep deprived. What if your wound doesn't heal properly and you have a weaker arm? That would make it hard to swim, wouldn't it? Maybe not. It might do-" Rowan stopped when Kaerius stuck out his leg, and he tripped over it.
"Silence."
"Sorry," Rowan said and sat on his desk chair. He rubbed his hands together and picked at his nails. "I should phone my dad back. I'll do it later if you want to sleep? I'll just leave the room. Will I feel it if you die, or will I just drop dead too?"
Kaerius stared at him, almost not believing that one human could be so annoying.
When he didn't answer, Rowan took his phone and walked away. He sat on the staircase by his bedroom door and called his dad again, who picked up after the first ring. It was nice to hear his voice.
"Rowan!" Michael said quickly. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Rowan sighed and slumped against the bannister. "Mum was trying to kill the Thalassic Mortal who I'm bonded to. She impaled him with a spear." Rowan could almost hear his father sputtering for words.
"He's not going to die, is he? You'll die if he does."
"No, I don't think so. He seems pretty... alive."
"Rowan," Michael sighed, "it seems like you've got a lot going on. I wish I could come over and help."
"The Thalassic Mortal is in my bedroom. You can't come over," Rowan said then frowned. "Why can't you come over? What's up with that? Are you cursed? Wait, is this family cursed? Is it mum's fault? I bet it is-"
"Rowan," Michael said, knowing his son was stressed. He babbled when he was trying to stop his emotions from spilling over. "When the Thalassic Mortal is better, and you're a little calmer, then I'll tell you. Make some food. Everything will be okay."
Rowan nodded and whispered, "food, fine." He rested a hand on his forehead when he felt a headache approaching. "Everything will be okay," he repeated and said goodbye to his dad. Rowan sat on the stairs for a few minutes, listening to the silence. When it felt a little too quiet, he rushed back into his room.
Kaerius was still lying on his bed. His eyes were now shut, and his face had gone back to the way it looked when he was sleeping. Rowan crept close and rested a hand on the side of his neck. He felt a pulse, and now that he was close, he heard quiet breathing. Rowan's finger gently traced the gills on Kaerius's neck. They felt like fresh scars protruding from the skin. When Rowan felt his heart elevate, he pulled his hand away.
Rowan relaxed and sat on his desk chair. He rested his back against the soft foam. His eyes travelled over Kaerius while he rubbed a finger over the finger that had touched Kaerius's neck. His skin tingled from the contact. Being near him felt like two magnets pulling together. Rowan made himself comfortable, knowing that he was just too stressed to leave Kaerius's side.
Rowan would lie right next to Kaerius if he could. Being close terrified his as well as making him crave more of his scent, his attention, and physical touch. The closer they were, the stronger the bond felt. It felt thicker than that morning, so Rowan resisted, even when he wanted nothing more than to cuddle up against the man lying on his bed.
"What is my life," he muttered and turned to face his desk. It was littered with university work and files filled with the supernatural. Rowan wanted to wipe it all off and watch with satisfaction as his stresses crashed to the ground, but he would wake Kaerius. Instead, Rowan turned back around and watched the sleeping sea creature, telling himself that it wasn't creepy to stare. Their souls were mates after all.