Page 16 of Cerban
That cave had nearly killed me. The bubbles gave me a reason to go back. A way to make the fear mean something. To change a painful memory into something positive.
I drained the last of the tea, set the mug aside, and whispered into the quiet room, “Next time, I’ll be ready.”
10
Cerban
I paced back and forth in my room, which suddenly appeared far too small for a grown finman. How long had it been? How many sunpasses had it been since I'd left her with the medic? It felt like an eternity. Rainse had been my only visitor - and without him, I would have long left the finmen's quarters and gone in search of Maelis.
I missed her - and yet I didn't even know her. If I'd been allowed to talk to human staff, I would have interrogated them about her. Because I couldn't, Rainse was on a mission to find out everything he could about Maelis.
Now he lounged on the edge of my bunk, watching me pace like a caged predator. “She’s stable. That much I know.”
I stopped, gripping the doorframe until my claws scored the wood. “Stable is not enough. She nearly drowned. Humans are fragile. What if her lungs fail? What if she worsens in the night?”
Rainse tilted his head, studying me with that infuriatingly calm look. “You already told me she’s your mate. So, act like it. Protect her by not making things worse with Pam and Paul.”
My gills flared wide, aching with the stale air of my confinement. “Patience does not keep her safe.”
He smirked. “No, but breaking out of quarters will only get you shipped home in chains. You want to keep her? You’ll need a smarter plan.”
I growled low in my throat, frustration clawing at me. “Smarter plans do not ease the ache of being kept from her side.”
Rainse grinned, unbothered by my temper. “Then maybe this will.” He pulled a folded scrap of paper from his belt, holding it between two fingers. “From your human. A message.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. “Give it.”
He handed it over without fuss. “She wanted to thank you. Properly. Not through doctors or rules. Just… thank you.”
I clutched the note, her uneven script alive beneath my fingertips. Every letter was proof: she was thinking of me too.
Rainse leaned back, folding his arms. “So, brother. What’s your next move? Sit here and pine? Or find a way to prove to her – and to everyone else – that she’s yours?”
I stared at the note, pulse thrumming. There was no choice. There never had been.
Cerban,
Thank you for saving my life. I wish I could have spoken to you properly, but Paul wouldn’t allow it. I don’t even know if this note will reach you, but I had to try. I hate lying here with nothing to do but think – about the cave, about the storm, about how little I know of the one who carried me out of both. If you ever want to talk, I’d like that. Maybe when I’m allowed to leave this bed.
Maelis
I read it once, twice, then a third time, committing every word to memory. Gratitude, yes. But also regret, and a door left open for more. She wanted to talk. To see me.
The ache in my chest eased, replaced by a surge of something brighter, fiercer. Hope.
Rainse watched me with a raised brow. “Well? Are you going to smile all night at that scrap of paper, or are you going to tell me what she said?”
I folded the note carefully, reverently, and slid it into the pocket over my heart. “She wishes to see me again.”
Rainse chuckled. “Then maybe there’s a chance for you after all.”
“A chance?” I growled softly. “No. A certainty. She is mine, and one day soon, I will be hers.”
"I've asked around the humans - the males, that is. No female is allowed anywhere near one of us finmen. Thanks for that, brother."
I growled again. "Not funny."
"Most of the staff aren't in the Hot Tatties database. They have the option to join, if they want, but most don't. I guess if you work with aliens every day, they don't seem all that exciting and alluring any more. Before you ask, I didn't ask if Maelis joined the dating agency. It would have been too obvious that I was asking on your behalf."
