Page 34 of Lost Treasure

“Can you put medown?”

Kekoa shrugged.“No. You are not strong enough.”

She exhaled.“That’s true.”

He walked tothe porch that surrounded the huge three-story home, and Alohi wasnext to him. An older couple and a woman in her early twenties cameto greet them. They kissed Alohi, hugged him, and stopped when theylooked at Haravin. She whispered, “Put me on my feet so they canhug you.”

The young womanraised her brows. “You give the king orders?”

Haravin sighed,and Kekoa carefully set her down. She stepped aside, and his familyhugged him. His sister bumped her, and Haravin stumbled back,hissing in pain.

She saw aservant at the back of the entryway and walked up slowly. “Where isthe fastest path to the ocean?”

“There is apath down the hill, and it leads to the lagoon.”

She nodded andmoved slowly out the back and down the hill. There was a greetingritual from the household, and they weren’t going to miss her for awhile. She really needed to soak in cool water, and there was onlyone way to do it.

She made it theforty feet from the house to the water, turned to gold, and walkedinto the water until she was twenty feet deep and watching fishgoing by.

She had made itto her new home, and now, she just had to find out how to navigateit. It would take as long as it takes.

* * * *

Kekoa sat next to Alohiat dinner, and he smiled at his sister. “How did Haravin enjoy thetour?”

She paused.“What tour?”

“You said youwould show her around.” He frowned. “You hugged me and said thatyou would take care of her.”

Kira shruggedand smiled. “I did. She’s gone, right? Now it is just family.”

Kekoa froze.“What do you mean?”

“Well, youdidn’t need a beta from the mainland; you have Alohi.”

Alohi blinked.“She fucking called it.”

Kekoa’s fatherfrowned. “I don’t understand.”

His mothersaid, “I mean, betas are fun, but they aren’t for keeping.”

Kekoa lookedaround. She wasn’t marked, so he couldn’t track her.

Alohi put ahand on his arm. “Stop panicking. She isn’t going to put herself indanger. She wants to rest and be quiet. Where would you go if youdidn’t want to be too far from the house?”

Kekoa noddedand bolted out the back door and down the pathway to the lagoon.There was no sign until he got next to the edge of the water, wheredeep feminine footprints were in the sand. He transformed andwalked into the water, looking left and right to find her. Hesighed in relief, letting a stream of bubbles rise. A glint of goldsitting on the edge of a rocky outcropping showed Haravin lookingat the bright fish with her gemstone eyes.

He walked up toher, and she grimaced and mouthed Sorry.

He held hishand out to her, and she took it, floating gently to the floor ofthe lagoon as he walked them up and out. His family was waiting forthem, and Alohi rushed up to hug Haravin when she appeared.

His family’scollective mouths were open at Haravin’s appearance. He pulled herin front of him and wrapped his metal arms around hers.

Alohitranslated. “This is Haravin. She is ours. She was meant to beours. As you can see, she and Kekoa have a lot in common, but wehave to go slow as she is recovering from a procedure that I don’twant to go into.”

Haravin reachedout and touched his arm, nodding.

He shrugged.“Right.” He explained in blunt terms what had been done to her andhow recently it had been discovered. “So, that is why she was beingcarried. She got a treatment on the plane.”

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