Page 18

“Oh.” Autumn hadn’t considered Soulara might not be like every other mermaid in the sea. When had she thought there was more than one? Were there armies of them? “Well, I suppose that makes sense.”

“Does it?” Soulara shuffled closer, the warmth of their arms pressed together. Autumn didn’t feel as stifled by Soulara’s closeness this time. In fact, she had been yearning for the touch without realizing it.

“Humans aren’t all the same.” Autumn offered, wondering if that would be a segue into more information from Soulara about what lived under the sea.

“That’s a pity.”

“A pity?”

“Well, if you were the template, I don’t think humans would be so bad to all be like you.”

For a moment, they stared at each other. A fleeting look of worry or panic danced over Soulara’s face. It made Autumn smile. Was this perfect specimen nervous about the compliment?

“Thank you. I think.” Autumn chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“You’re very interesting.” Soulara ran one finger over Autumn’s arm again, and that touch sent another shiver of arousal through her.

“Is that like a science experiment?” Autumn bit her lip. She just had to know what Soulara’s game was.

“Experiment? No, I would never experiment with you.” A pink washed over Soulara’s cheeks. “Well, maybe in some ways, but nothing you wouldn’t agree to beforehand.”

Autumn recognized the sexual tease for what it was, and it relieved her. They weren’t as far off the same page as she’d thought. Not that she should be on that page, but at least she and Soulara were having the same thoughts. “My world is very hard. There’s little softness in the land, or in the people.”

“The people?” Soulara asked.

Autumn nodded and pulled her eyes away from Soulara’s. She looked out over the sparkling water but saw none of the beauty in front of her.

“I’ve never met anyone, in all the worlds I’ve visited, who I would consider soft.” With a small tug on her lips, she looked at Soulara from the corner of her eye. “Except maybe you.”

Soulara laughed and nodded, encouraging Autumn to continue.

“Living was a day-to-day thing. Without water on our world, everything started to die long before even my grandmother was born.” Autumn’s shoulders relaxed as she told the story, her hands scooping the sand and letting the granules slip through her fingers. “And not just the living things. Grandmother would tell stories about her own grandmother. There was once beauty in our world, created by people. Music and art and stories. Some of the stories have been passed down but the waterless world was also ravaged by time. That’s what many think about our home world now. We heard it named that far more than the name it once had.”

“What name did it have?”

“Earth.” Autumn chuckled. “I have no idea where that name came from. Waterless World does seem a whole lot more appropriate, but sometimes I miss hearing its real name being said.”

“Then I shall always think of it as Earth, and never call it anything else.”

“Thank you.” Autumn was overwhelmed by the sweetness that another person could ever care about something as trivial as her own feelings toward a name.

“Do you have parents?”

“Yes, my father and mother.”

“Only two? How strange.”

“I think having any more than that would have killed me, or sent me off in the ships far sooner than they did.”

“Your parents sent you away?” Soulara was horrified, and Autumn didn’t quite understand the look. Many of her comrades had been sent with tearful goodbyes and words of pride and encouragement from their families.

“Not technically.” Autumn pursed her lips, trying to work out how to frame a life that had been her normal for such a long time. “It’s considered an honor to serve our world and collect the necessary resources for our people. I’ve not met anyone who hasn’t been given a fanfare when they leave for duty.”

“An Honour?” Soulara smiled, a small chuckle tinkling in the air.

“Honor is funny?”

“Oh no,” Soulara shook her head. “I don’t know really. It’s just. I have a friend, and her name is Honour.”