Waterlocked: An Elemental World Novella (8 page)

“You worry too much. And you’ve already told Mina. She’ll take care of it.” He paused and pointed. “Orion.”

“The hunter. Friend of the moon-goddess.” She pointed again. “Draco.”

“Where?”

“Right there, silly.” She scooted closer. “See? The long snaking—”

“I’ll show you something long and snaking.”

She burst into laughter, bumping her forehead against his shoulder. “So mature.”

“I try. Show me more.”

“Ursa minor. Andromeda.”

“I wasn’t talking about stars, woman.”

“Haha. You have a one track mind. There’s Perseus.”

Terry smiled. “You know them all, don’t you?”

“Yes. And all the stories that go with them. The stars don’t change much. It’s the same sky I saw when I was a human. Odd, really. Everything else changes.” She’d been subdued since he’d risen that night, purposefully keeping their conversations light. They were approaching their home in Spain with every passing night, and Terry hoped he would have enough time.

“Did you ever go to school?”

She shook her head with a frown. “Not as a human. Later of course. Much later. I studied at the Sorbonne shortly before we met. Do you remember? I’d been in Paris. It was because of the university.”

He laughed. “Why?”

She shrugged, looking strangely bashful. “Just because I could, I suppose. Ioan thought I was silly, too. But I liked it. Liked being around all the girls who were so young. So alive. It reminded me of… the past, I suppose. I haven’t been that young or naive in so long.”

“Wise.” He reached over, tracing a finger along the arch of her eyebrow. “My wife is wise. I prefer that to naive.”

“Terry…”

It was working. Slowly but surely, the water was sloughing off the rocky wall she’d built around her heart. He tried not to be impatient.

“Do you remember the first time you kissed me?”

“Right after you’d taken London? Isn’t that the first time
you
kissed
me
?”

“You kissed me back. You were exactly what I needed to see that night. Pulled me back from the edge, I think.”

“You were so angry.”

He reached over and picked up her hand, weaving their fingers together. “Angry, yes. Grieving. A bit mad with grief, I think. I lost Francis and my brother in the same night.”

Gemma’s thumb stroked the back of his hand. This was the piece of them that no one else saw. The little moments they’d shared for years that had made him fall in love with her. She was a caretaker at heart, his Gemma. She had a need to care for others that few understood. If she had to bash heads and kill to do it… well, that just made her an excellent vampire.

“You thinking about your brother?”

She gave a sharp nod and he pulled her closer, silently begging to let him give her comfort. He had that night. The night they had killed her brother’s murderers she’d come to him, full of rage and grief. He’d loved her as she’d needed it. Wild and fierce to remind herself she was alive. Then slow and quiet, to remind himself that she was safe. That she was his.

“Terry?” Her words were muffled against his chest.

“Hmm?”

“Do you—” She hesitated. “Do you love me?”

He let out a slow breath, cursing his luck. He wouldn’t lie to her. He couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

“Fuck.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

Chapter Six

He loved her.

Terry loved her.

He didn’t sound happy about it, but then she could hardly blame him. She hadn’t planned for this.

She had never planned for Terry. In her centuries of life, he was the one person Gemma had never managed to fit into any box. The one who had never behaved as she predicted. A more infuriating, stubborn, arrogant partner she couldn’t have found in all the world. And he loved her.

His voice was rough when he finally spoke. “Listen, Gem—”

“I’m horribly afraid of the ocean.” She lay in his arms, frozen by her admission. “I know it’s not rational, but when I’m on land, everything makes sense. In the ocean, nothing does.”

He paused for a moment, then said softly, “You know it can’t hurt you.”

“I do know that. Rationally, I know that. It’s not logical. Father thinks I had an accident when I was human. There’s much about my human years I simply don’t remember. But I remember the earth. From the first night I woke, I remember feeling it beneath me. The life. The strength. It was…”

“Security?”

“It was everything. To this day, I could be walking through Piccadilly, but I still feel it. Not as strong, perhaps, but there. Always. That quiet hum in my bones. It’s everything. Security, yes. Strength. Power.”

“But on water—”

“I’m cut off. Imagine floating above the earth with no tether.”

“Adrift.”

She gave a tight nod. “Yes. Smothered and empty, all at the same time.”

They lay silent for a few more minutes, still holding hands and staring up into the night sky. She tried to imagine what expression he wore. Would he be angry? Disappointed? When he finally nudged her to the side, his face was very carefully blank. Not angry, not triumphant at her admission of weakness. Certainly not concerned.

“You know…” He propped his head up in his hand and played with a piece of her hair. For some reason, the familiar habit soothed her. “It’s still there, Gem. The earth. It’s still under the water.”

She broke in. “I know. Rivers don’t really bother me. Or lakes. But the ocean—”

“It’s still there, luv. Underneath all the sea, the earth remains, just as it’s always been. It’s what the water rests on, isn’t it?” He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. “You’re thinking of it all wrong. The ocean flows over the earth, it doesn’t smother it.”

She took a deep, unnecessary breath to calm herself. “I know.”

“And the sand drifts through it. Volcanos press up. The earth… it’s what shapes the water. Gives it direction.”

Gemma felt unexpected tears come to the corner of her eyes. She cleared her throat. “You’re a poet, Terry.”

“Want me to curse again? Just to make you feel better?” He pinched her waist teasingly. “Bugger the ocean. You’re tougher than a great drink of water.”

She couldn’t hold in the laugh.

“Stiff upper lip, old girl. What would the Queen say?”

She punched him. “Shut up.”

Now he was laughing, too. “Dammit, Gemma, are you an Englishwoman or not? You live on a great, bloody island after all. Do your ancestors proud!”

“You’re crazy.”

He grabbed her and pulled her in for a quick, heart-thumping kiss. “Aye. I am. For lots of reasons.”

Like loving me.

“Listen… Terry—”

“Come on.” He was already standing, holding out his hand. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” She took it, and he pulled her to her feet.

“For a swim.”

Gemma dug in her heels the instant he pulled harder. “No.”

“Yes.” He stopped and turned to her. “Do you trust me?”

Did she? Yes. However complicated her feelings for Terry might have been, she did trust him.

She was still hesitating when he said, “You’ve never run from anything in your life. Don’t be a coward, Gemma Melcombe.”

Well, that did it. She couldn’t back down now. Terry challenging her was the surest way to make her stubborn about something, and he knew it. He did it just to be contrary at times.

“Fine,” she muttered.

“What?”

“You heard me.” She punched his arm, but he only smiled. “Where are we going?”

He held up a finger, then stripped all his clothes off before he dove in. He surfaced and said, “I have an idea.” Then he was gone again.

One minute.

Two.

Five.

She knew not to be nervous. Knew it. He was in his element for God’s—

She heard the water break. “Terry?”

“Here,” he laughed, pulling himself up the ladder to peek over the edge. “Just here. Unfortunately, there’s not much out there. I’ll take you to warmer waters some day and swim in the reefs, but I did find something fun.”

She bit her lip. “What is it?”

“A surprise. I’ll not let anything happen. I promise.”

“Are there sharks?”

He burst into laughter. “You can’t be afraid of sharks.”

“I told you it wasn’t rational!”

Terry was still laughing when he climbed dripping over the side of the Conquest. “Take off your clothes and get in the water.”

She hesitated.

He gave her a warning look. “Gemma…”

“Fine.” She pulled at her bikini top. Wherever they were sailing, the nights had slowly become balmy, so the air temperature was more than comfortable. Still, Terry eyed her breasts and they came to attention. Infuriating man. Her body always had a mind of its own when it came to him.

“You know, on second thought—”

She cut him off by diving into the water, surfacing to see him watching her with hungry eyes.

“Is there anything good to eat in here? I’m getting sick of the preserved blood.” She slicked the hair back from her face and deliberately kept from squirming at the overwhelming sensation of emptiness that surrounded her. Plus, the air may have been warm, but the water was still the Atlantic. It was more than a little chilly.

“Sharks.” Terry dove in, swimming underneath her, then sliding up her back and letting his hands run over every curve on the way up. Suddenly, the feeling of emptiness was gone and he was there; his amnis wrapped around her like a blanket as his mouth kissed the curve of her neck. “But then I tend to find the most vicious things delicious.”

He hadn’t let go of her hand once. Gemma swam through the dark sea, finally becoming accustomed to the water that filled her unmoving lungs. Once she had overcome her initial panic, she discovered Terry was right. Allowing the water to fill her airways was far more comfortable than trying to hold breath that didn’t need to be held. First they were under for only a few minutes. Then a few more, but the longer Gemma stayed beneath the surface, holding Terry’s hand, the more comfortable she became. He didn’t push her, allowing her to swim at her own pace as they slowly moved farther away from the boat.

Despite the cold Northern waters, life was everywhere. The ocean teemed with it. Fish darted away from them in massive silver schools. Sharks, which panicked her at first, fled from them instinctually. Terry had only smiled. From one predator to another, it seemed that the sharks knew what was best for them.

Finally, she pulled him up to the surface and coughed the water from her throat, trying not to gag.

“What—” Cough. “—were you trying to surprise me with again?”

He ran gentle fingers through her hair, tucking the wet strands back behind her ears as he looked around. “They’ve moved off. I suppose it was odd to see them here anyway. They’re usually much deeper.”

“What are you talking about?”

Just then, a tiny light caught her eye. Then another. And another. The moon was full, but the seas were completely dark, except for the tiny rainbow flashes. She looked to her husband, who was grinning.

“Moonjellys.”

“What?” She pulled him closer. “Jellyfish?”

“Not exactly. No stingers on these little beauties. They’re not jellyfish, just called moonjellys.” His hand passed near one, which lit up with tiny lights and moved away. “These fellows are usually drifting far deeper. Caught them earlier tonight and I wanted to show you.” He continued to move through the water, pulling her behind him and every nudge of the water lit up more of the tiny creatures. They rippled and pulsed in the water, flowing around them in glowing currents.

“They’re beautiful. Like stars in the water.”

“They light up if you get close, spread your hand out.”

She did and laughed when she saw the tiny riots of color.

“I’ve never seen a mass of them like this,” he said. “No idea what’s going on. Maybe they just wanted to say hello.”

Gemma looked down till her nose was almost in the water. “Hello back, ocean.”

Without warning, she was enveloped in a tight embrace. Terry wrapped his arms around her and she felt his amnis call to the water around them, holding their bodies buoyant as he swept her into a joyful kiss. She could feel the smile on his lips when he pressed them to her lips, her cheeks, her forehead. He was boyish in his affection. Gemma couldn’t help but smile back.

“Thank you,” he said as he smiled. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“As long… well, as long as you hold my hand, I feel safe.”

“Then I’ll never let it go.” He smiled again and tugged her back toward where the boat must have been. “At least not off shore.”

“That’s highly impractical.”

“I don’t care.”

“Really Terry—”

He dove at her, wrapping her in his arms as they plunged beneath the water and he took her breath away with his lips. Terry rolled in the waves, spinning her in the cloud of moonjellys as they lit up the dark water and surrounded them with tiny rainbows.

He loves me.

He loves me.

He loves me, too…

She broke away with a gasp as they surfaced.
Too
?

Did she love Terry? What did love even mean to someone as old as she was? Was she even capable of it anymore?

She felt a sudden ache in her chest and blinked away tears.

“Gem?”

“Can we go back to the boat?”

“Too much.” He frowned. “Sorry. This is too much, isn’t it?”

“I’m fine. I’m just… it’s all a bit overwhelming.”

“Of course.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled Gemma up on his chest as he lay back in the water. “Relax now. Let me show off a bit. I’ll have us back in no time.”

“Really?” He sped off, but she would have sworn he didn’t move at all. There was no kicking. No effort. Terry simply moved through the ocean, cradling Gemma on his broad chest and stroking her back. She finally relaxed and tucked her head under his chin to enjoy the ride.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

“Surprisingly yes.”

“We’ll go someplace warmer and explore a reef someday. The cold water doesn’t produce the brilliant colors. The Tropics are fun.”

“Is that why you’re always trying to convince me to go to the Bahamas?”