This is Book 1 of the Arcelia Series.* Book 2 is in the works!
*Can be read as a stand-alone
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Malik Jackson needed help. After being exiled from the ocean, he washed up on the beach covered in injuries and missi...
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~ ~ Malik ~ ~
I looked between Xander and Virgil, the latter still standing in the doorway. He gave me a smirk and a thumbs up. I then looked back at Xander, frowning as I processed what I was feeling. "I'm nervous," I concluded. "I don't know what'll happen, I mean what if you decide it's not worth it for being disowned, and you reject me anyway? What if-"
"Shut up," Xander cut me off with his sharp voice, sending yet another wave of shivers down my spine. "I'm not rejecting you, get that out of your head. I've been waiting for you so I could stick it to my parents that I'm not pretending to be gay. So take my hand, okay?"
I still wasn't convinced. I wanted to make sure this was exactly what I wanted. I knew it was, but part of me still had doubts. "But your parents, they'll hate you because of me.."
"Don't give yourself so much credit, this is because of their close-minded opinions. Besides, I don't care. They're hardly my parents and I'm hardly their son. This will just be making it official so we can stop pretending to be a family. Now take my hand, idiot."
I nodded, steadying myself with a deep breath before I reached out and slowly placed my hand in Xander's awaiting palm. The effect was instantaneous and intense. We stared deep into each other's eyes, the world fading away while emotions surged and flowed between us, connecting our minds and hearts into one. My hand erupted with little electric tingles, flowing up my wrist, to my elbow, and into my shoulder. I shivered, pulling my hand away as the feelings settled in my chest. I seemed to gain a new understanding of life at that moment. Everything up to this point was meaningless, like my life began right here.
Like everything that my soul didn't even know it was missing just clicked into place.
"Well that was dramatic," Xander gave me a small half smile, tilting his head as he seemed to take in all of these new emotions.
I had to agree with him, it was a lot, and very strange. "It felt nice," I finally decided.
Xander nodded in agreement with a soft hum, and I stared at him as he looked over at Adrian. "Am I free to go home?"
"Mhm!" Adrian nodded happily. "You are officially relieved of duty."
"Great," Xander turned back to connect our eyes. "Come home with me."
I opened my mouth to reply, but was cut off by Virgil. "Sorry, Xander. We need to take a look at his tail before we can release him. I noticed some injuries, and it must be uncomfortable. You're welcome to stay and watch, of course."
"Right, I've been meaning to ask about that," I nearly forgot that my legs were itchy and sore. I absentmindedly rubbed my ankle as I thought about my torn tail fin. "I'm missing some scales. They were torn off in the ocean, and I can't just heal them. If I could find them, I can reattach them. But I can't go back."
