Chapter 14

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Rowan absentmindedly swayed his feet back and forth in the water as he flicked through the file. He kept forgetting that Kaerius was next to him. Occasionally, the Thalassic Mortal would splash his tail on the surface, and Rowan would jump.

"I can't believe it doesn't say anything about removing a bond," Rowan sighed. "Maybe there's no way of removing it."

Kaerius scowled. "Kill bond," he muttered. "Must be."

"What if there's not, and we're stuck with each other." The boys looked at one another, both feeling the chills from such a thought. "Wait, what if we just reject each other? So, maybe the bond will go away on its own?"

Kaerius shook his head. "Stronger. Here," he said, resting a hand on his chest. "Stronger."

"If we ignore it, it'll only get stronger?"

Kaerius nodded. From when he first connected the bond to now, the pain in his chest increased. Through the night, his heart ached to see Rowan again, and when he did see him, Kaerius couldn't control the excitement. He had an excellent poker face, but soon, he would struggle to keep away the affection that was getting harder to tame.

"So, we're on a tight limit to get rid of this thing?" Rowan ran a hand through his blonde hair. "How long do we have?"

"Ask father," Kaerius said and pointed to Rowan. He then pointed to himself. "Ask uncle."

"I can't ask my dad," Rowan said with a worried frown. "He might suspect something."

Kaerius rolled his eyes and started swimming backwards. "Ask," he said, and with one last glance at Rowan, he dipped underwater and didn't resurface.

Rowan paused and stared at the water where the Thalassic Mortal was just swimming. "Kaerius?" he hissed before standing up. "Kaerius?" The sea creature didn't return, and Rowan's chest tightened. As the Thalassic Mortal swam away, Rowan's headache returned almost instantly. He was hit with fatigue as if he just consumed a large meal.

Rowan stood helplessly on the rocks, still trying to capture his rationality. His emotions didn't lie when his head and his heart screamed for a creature to return to him, so Rowan could touch his skin and feel his presence, and hear his deep voice and his broken English, and stare at his beautiful tail and into his enchanting purple eyes. Rowan wanted to be the reason Kaerius smiled and laughed and enjoyed life. Yet, Rowan didn't know the Thalassic Mortal, in fact, he was raised to hate the species. The creature had tried to kill Rowan last week, and he had tried to kill Kaerius.

There should be nothing drawing them to each other, but Rowan remained by the oceans side, desperate to see Kaerius again. His soul already wanted him, and it terrified Rowan to his very core.

If Rowan was to get rid of the bond before it was too late, he had to go to his father. Rowan had to keep his faith close to his confidence and hope that his father would help him, and not cast Rowan away like he was sure his mother would do.

* * * * *

Kaerius had a hard time getting Rowan's smile out of his head as he swam to the kelp beds and the underwater caves. Multiple Thalassic Mortals were grouping together, discussing their route west, and precautions, and contingencies. Kaerius gulped away the lump of sadness as he thought about how he couldn't go with them. He had been with that group since he was young. They were like family to Kaerius, despite him denying it out loud.

"Laiken," Kaerius said, slapping his uncles tail with his own to get his attention. Laiken turned, and his long hair drifted in his face.

Laiken had a fish in his hand as he looked Kaerius up and down with narrowed eyes. "Have you eaten?" he asked and shared some of his food. He watched Kaerius take it and eat it like he hadn't eaten all day. "Where have you been?"

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