Page 10 of Alien Triton's Prize

A look of sadness passed across her face, and I immediately regretted my question.

“He didn’t live long after our mother died. They were true mates. It’s hard for a surviving mate to keep going once the other leaves the mortal realm.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.”

“It’s okay. It’s been a long time. And you should know, since you’re going to be part of the family now.” Her face brightened and she smiled shyly. “I always wanted a sister.”

Aww, that was sweet. It must get lonely without any other females in her life. Perhaps she had girlfriends, but somehow, I doubted it. According to all the information I’d read so far, most of the remaining females were quite competitive.

“I’m just glad my brother found someone to give his Sweetheart Gills to.”

“Sweetheart Gills?”

“Yeah. That’s what we call them.”

“Why?”

She laughed. “You really aren’t from around here.”

“You don’t say.” I stuck out my foot and wiggled it at her.

She giggled. “Okay, what has my brother told you so far?”

“He told me about that awful war and why there are so few females left. And he told me how scientists devised a way to make the artificial gills out of extra gills on the males so your species can bring in females from above. Oh, and he told me that if I wear this for long enough, it will start to fuse to my body, and I’ll be able to breathe in water all the time. What am I missing?”

“Only the most important and romantic part! Each male has just enough extra gill material to make one—and only one—pair of external gills. It has to be harvested from their body when they are in their prime. Once that pair fuses to a female, that’s it. That’s his one and only chance at happiness. That’s why everyone calls them Sweetheart Gills.”

I gawked at her. “So this”…I picked up the collar-like contraption…“is the only one Cetius can make in his entire life?”

“That’s right.”

“And he gave it to some woman he just met?”

“But you’d been sent from Starlight Brides. They’re really good about making sure it’s a great match before sending females to Aquaria. We’ve been using them for years.”

I decided now wasn’t the best time to tell her that I hadn’t signed up for any of this and had come to Aquaria thinking I was starting a new job. She seemed genuinely happy for her brother, and I couldn’t break her heart, not after everything she’d been through already.

I looked at the gills, I mean really looked at them, for the first time. The frilly bits looked like fine filigree, light pink and delicate. That part must be the gills. Surrounding it was the delicate network of shimmering, iridescent silver that gave the piece structure and made it look almost like a piece of jewelry. The galaxy’s most useful necklace, I thought. When I wore it, Cetius was literally breathing for me.

Pretty romantic, when you put it that way.

He hadn’t told me it was the only one he had. Considering I wasn’t sure I’d be staying for the long term, I decided I’d need to remove it daily so it wouldn’t fuse to me. I wouldn’t want to leave Cetius without another option. It wasn’t his fault Starlight Lottery, or Starlight Brides as they seemed to be known here, hadn’t been truthful to me about what I was signing up for.

I put it over my neck again and grimaced as it latched onto my neck and sent the tendrils up along my jaw to my mouth and down my throat.

“Agh!” I didn’t mean to make the sound out loud, but I couldn’t stop myself.

Cetia giggled. “I’ve heard it feels like having worms crawl down your throat. But once it fuses to your body permanently, you never have to go through all that again. Why don’t you just leave it on? You’ll still be able to breathe air.”

The process of putting it on and taking it off was super uncomfortable, but now that I knew he only had one to give away, I knew I really couldn’t leave it on. Not when I planned to leave in a year’s time.

“Once I’m underwater, I won’t be able to speak,” I warned her. “The healer said I’ll get my voice back eventually, but for now…”

“I’ll try to read your body language. Shake is no. Yes for humans is a nod, right?”

“You got it.”

She giggled. “That issoweird.” She slid off the couch and across the shell-tiled floor before slipping gracefully into the water. I waded in awkwardly behind her before ducking under.

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