Page 13 of Surface Pressure

What had she just agreed to?

Because this went against everything that Autumn wanted.

She wouldn’t fall in love with an alien.

She wouldn’t fall in love period.

But fuck, she wanted to taste those salty lips.

5

“Mother?” Soulara whispered the word, though she didn’t have to. The telepathic link between the two of them had always been strong.

“Over here.” Milan radiated the beauty Soulara had always known and had mostly inherited. She sat by the edge of a grotto. Her hands pressed flat behind her while she leaned back with her head tilted to the bright sky that dappled through the treetops. Trees fascinated Soulara, and she had no idea why.

Light sparkled from the pool where her mother’s tail lazily moved back and forth in the water. Soulara hadn’t learned how to control her magic with such precision yet. To be able to keep her fluke while still being partly out of the water would have been unbelievable. But she had seen her mother in this state on several occasions now. She had been assured that she too would be able to master this state of control, but her doubts lingered and her fear of never quite measuring up to both her father’s and her mother’s expectations gnawed constantly at the back of her thoughts.

“Hello, Soulara.” Milan smiled as she turned her head toward her daughter and opened her eyes.

“I heard your call.” Soulara drew closer, suspicious of the pool that held no other life but for her mother’s dark blue fluke.

“Sit, sit, child.” Milan stroked the earth at the edge of the pool and sighed. Something weighed on her. Soulara could sense it under the surface of every movement and word, a slow easing into the problem like she always used when she worried about Soulara’s reaction. “Are you well?”

“Yes.” Soulara looked down at the sparkle of her own legs as they moved back and forth in the water. This was the game she had to play, the tug and pull of their relationship as they each relearned who the other was. They had missed so many years together when Soulara was young. “I’m well.”

The silence settled over them, and after a few minutes of staring intently at her legs, Soulara gave up. She had never struggled with much in her life. Well, truth be told, this was the only thing she had ever failed to master. It irritated her and made her mother give those small tsking noises.

“Relax, Soulara. Magic must be seduced slowly, not forced into behaving.”

“Why can’t I do it?” Soulara’s fingers clenched hard into a fist, her chest constricting with pent up anger.

“You’re still young. You have plenty of time left.”

Soulara swallowed the lump in her throat. Not if what Autumn Walton—no, Autumn, just Autumn—told them was true. And Soulara knew Autumn wasn’t lying. She didn’t need to question it, it radiated from Autumn’s eyes as clearly as if she had opened her heart and let Soulara look inside.

“What’s wrong?” Milan’s smooth and calming tones wrapped around Soulara in a warm embrace. Her father had denied her this relationship for too long, and Soulara had longed for it.

Soulara looked up and met her mother’s worried gaze.

“What troubles you?” Milan reached out, brushing her fingers along the top of Soulara’s hand.

Soulara forced down the lump in her throat. She didn’t know Autumn, not really. And she didn’t owe Autumn anything, especially when the lives of her tribe and all those that lived under the sea were at risk. But Soulara hesitated, forming and discarding words on her tongue before she spoke them. “I’ve met a strange creature. She lives on the land, and she says she and her soldiers are responsible for taking the water.”

“Ah.” Her mother nodded.

“Ah?” Soulara blinked wildly in surprise. This wasn’t the reaction she expected, even with her mother’s normal serenity. She expected some kind of panic or annoyance or mind-blowing realization. But this? This wasn’t normal. “That’s it?”

“That’s why I am up here.” Milan’s lips curled upward into a smile, her tail flicking water across Soulara’s thighs. “I’ve been looking into these humans.” Her mother spat the last word as though it were a foul taste in her mouth. “And you’re correct. They are the reason our water’s disappearing.”

“So she’s the enemy.” Finally an answer. If Autumn was the enemy, then Soulara would know what to do next.

“Who’s the human who has you so tangled up?” Milan’s eyes glittered, as if she knew a secret Soulara wasn’t privy to.

“I’m not tangled up.” Soulara closed her eyes and bit back the groan. “I mean, I’m shocked that these humans could do this without caring about the lives they endanger.” That’s it. Focus on the anger and then she wouldn’t have to think about the soft looks Autumn had given her.

“What’s your human’s name?” Was that a tease in her mother’s voice?

Warmth spread up Soulara’s cheeks, but she hoped if she ignored it, perhaps her mother would too. “Autumn Walton. But she told me to call her Autumn.” Her name still felt foreign on Soulara’s tongue.

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