Page 12 of Fionn (Starlight Mermen #1 | Starlight Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

Fionn

K elon didn't join us for breakfast. We had our morning meal on board the Tidebound, surrounded by other crew members.

The atmosphere was loaded. Everyone had been disgruntled and angry ever since Kelon had announced that only him and the three of us were allowed to disembark.

Even Captain Maggnus had to stay on board.

Him and Kelon were chiselled from the same coral, haughty and arrogant, but if this situation continued for much longer, I could see the captain switch sides.

Kelon had been worried about a mutiny from the very beginning. Maybe he had been right.

I didn't know what side I'd choose if it came to it.

Kelon had shown his true colours in the past few sunpasses.

He had no respect for females, no matter if finfolk or Peritan.

The only person in the universe that he cared about was himself.

Maybe that's why he'd been chosen for adoption by the matriarch. He'd make a good politician.

Rainse pointed at a group of finmen huddled around a table on the other side of the galley. "They're plotting something."

I nodded. "We shouldn't stay here for much longer. I really want to follow the dating agency's plans, but it isn't safe. If they all decide to leave the ship, there's no way of stopping them. We're outnumbered. Kelon must know that."

"Have you seen him at all? He was very broody when we returned here last night."

"Isn't he always. I think I'll have a chat with Pam today. Maybe there's a way to accelerate the process. Add the other males' details to their database so they won't feel left out."

Rainse frowned. "I don't think some of them should have females. They're behaving like spoilt hatchlings."

"That's not our decision to make, though. They should have the same chance as us, don't you think?"

"I don't. Maybe there's a reason why our species is in decline. Maybe it's not just down to climate change, maybe we deserve it."

I put an arm around his shoulders. "Even if that were so, you deserve a female, my brother. And you will find the one for you. I feel it in my greenskin."

A twinkle appeared in his eye. "My greenskin felt a lot of things when I listened to Elise last night. If all Peritan females have that effect on me..."

Something cold and sour suddenly appeared in my chest. "She's not yours."

Rainse looked at me curiously. "Do you think she's yours?"

I knew it. Felt it. But how could I put that intense feeling into words?

The urge to protect her no matter what, the desire to wrap myself around her, our bodies touching, becoming one, feeling her lips against mine, our souls linked until the end of time.

.. Yes, she was mine. No doubt about it. I didn't need a DNA test to know that.

"If she is, you should act, brother," Rainse said softly. "Before Kelon does."

Whatever I was about to say was lost when Thallus, one of the more reliable crew members, came rushing into the galley.

"There's a Peritan outside with an urgent message!"

The room fell silent. Everyone seemed to be looking for Kelon. In his absence, I decided to take charge.

I stood, facing Thallus. "I will deal with it."

I ignored the murmurs of protest and hurried to the closest airlock. I knew Rainse would hold the fort until my return.

Paul stood outside along with a Peritan female dressed in a skintight black outfit that covered her entire body, even her head. She had a strange contraption on her back and a set of flippers in her hand.

"We have an emergency," Paul said breathlessly. "Everyone on my team is already starting the search, but I thought you might be able to help as well."

"What happened?" I asked. But I already knew. I felt it in my greenskin. She was in trouble.

"Elise, the lady you met last night, has gone missing. She was out diving with Maelis here, but..."

"She just disappeared," Maelis interjected.

"One second she was right behind me, the next she was gone.

It wasn't her first time diving so we went deeper than I usually go with clients.

I wanted to show her what the locals call the dragon-egg-cave.

I could see she was an experienced swimmer so I didn't babysit her too much, but maybe I should have. .."

Her voice trailed off. Her eyes were lined with red.

Paul reached out and patted her back. "Don't worry, we will find her.

As you said, she's a strong swimmer. She may have just got distracted by a pretty fish or coral and not seen where you went.

" He turned to me. "I've got everyone who owns a boat out searching for her.

I've also asked for the helicopter on a neighbouring island to join the search, but it will take a while to get here.

Can you use your... your spaceship to locate her? "

He clearly struggled with the concept of such advanced technology.

I wanted to run to the sea, dive deep and find her, but I forced myself to remain calm in front of these Peritans. "I will instruct them to scan the water for her. Can you tell me where exactly this cave is?"

I activated my holoband and opened a map of the area.

The two Peritans gasped as it appeared in the air above my arm, but Maelis recovered quickly.

She pointed at a spot south of the island, not far from where I'd been swimming last night.

A coincidence or was the universe trying to tell me something?

"I will go there now," I promised. "I am fast. I will find her."

I sent a quick message to Rainse and Cerban with the coordinates and the request to make Captain Maggnus scan the area, then ran across the beach.

The sand was still cool and wet from high tide but it was starting to warm.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky. A beautiful day - except for that lingering fear in my chest.

And where the fuck was Kelon? I swore, if he returned and then complained that I'd taken charge and he hadn't been informed... I'd need both my clutch-brothers to restrain me.

The ocean welcomed me like an old friend.

I swam as fast as I could, piercing through the waves, my long hair slapping against my back.

My greenskin kept me on course, adjusting my swim direction ever so slightly when needed.

I passed a large mammal which looked at me curiously from dark, intelligent eyes.

I doubted my translator implant would work for Peritan animals, otherwise I could have asked it to join the search.

It didn't take long to reach the cave entrance where Elise had last been seen.

Jelly creatures floated in the water, moving majestically on the current.

If I'd not been here to search for a missing female, I would have stopped to admire the sight.

But a sense of urgency filled me. I knew Elise was in trouble.

She hadn't just got lost. I didn't know how I could be so sure, but I would have sworn anything on it.

She needed help. Now I just had to find her.

I stilled my greenskin and listened to the sounds of the ocean.

I closed my eyes, straining to hear anything out of the ordinary.

I was glad I'd been for a swim last night to familiarise myself with this planet's ocean.

I knew now what it should sound like. No matter how hard I focused, I couldn't sense anything that would give me reason to suspect it was Elise.

So much for that plan. I could wait until the Tidebound scanned the sea, but no. I had to do something.

The ache in my chest was growing deeper. For a moment, fear for Elise clouded my judgement and I simply swam, as if pulled by a thread attached right to my heart. Then I stopped. It was silly. I couldn't just swim in a random direction and hope for the best. I had to be strategic about it. But...

It felt right. Instinctively, I knew where to go. That pull told me.

I was a rational finman. I'd always preferred to think and strategize rather than rush into action. But Elise was in danger. Maybe it was time to throw caution in the wind and listen to my instincts.

So I swam.

I became one with the sea, taking advantage of its ripples and currents, moving faster than I ever had before. My muscles ached, my gills hurt from lack of oxygen, but I kept swimming, drawn by the invisible thread pulling at my chest. It was leading me to her. My female. My mate.

I heard them before I could see them through the hazy water. A familiar, cold voice that carried far.

I balled my hands into fists. What the fuck was Kelon doing out here? Had he stumbled across Elise by accident? Or was her disappearance his fault?

Either way, he shouldn't be alone with her. It wasn't safe. He'd made it very clear what he thought of females.

I grit my teeth and increased my pace even more until my muscles burned in protest. There they were, two shapes swimming close to each other.

Kelon held steady in the waves, his greenskin stabilising him as it should, but Elise was being pushed around, struggling to stay afloat.

He didn't reach out to help her. He simply watched.

I was going to kill him.

I dove deeper in order to catch him off guard. When I was right underneath them, I swam up fast, grabbed his ankles and pulled him down. He shrieked in surprise but it didn't take him long to recover. He kicked back with his right foot, narrowly missing my head, but I didn't let go.

"Let go!" he shouted, his sharp voice an ugly contrast to the beauty of the ocean.

"What did you do to her?" I yelled, still pulling him down further. "Did you hurt her?"

"I was just going to have some fun," he growled. "Let me go, Fionn! You're going to regret this."

"There's no way I'll let you go back to her. You've done enough damage already."

"Damage?" He laughed. "She's mine. I can do with her however I please."

I let go of his ankles, swam up a tiny bit and kicked him in the stomach. He cried out and bowed over.

"She is not yours!" I shouted. "She will never be yours!"

To my surprise, he laughed. "And you think you can have her? A lowly guard, penniless, unworthy, the scum of society? You will never have a female. Not here, not on Finfolkaheem, not anywhere."

I could no longer think. Fury ruled me. I put my hands around his throat and squeezed. A lowly guard? I'd done two mooncrossings of training. The same training soldiers did. I was a warrior. I was stronger than him.

He tried to speak, tried to defend himself. His fingers clawed at my face, ripping through skin. He kicked me, again and again. But I didn't let go.

He'd threatened my mate. I could not let him go.

If it hadn't been for my holoband vibrating urgently, I don't know how far I would have gone.

The vibrations were just enough to push through the haze of anger to make me see what was happening. Kelon had stopped fighting. He was still breathing, short struggling breaths, but he was out cold.

I let go of him, disgusted with both him and myself, before taking the call.

"We've got a lock on her," Rainse said without preamble. "And I see you and Kelon are close by. Want me to bring you all on board?"

"No." My voice was harsh and raspy. I didn't recognise myself. "Kelon will make his own way back. And I will take Elise, unless you see any injuries?"

"None that our scanners could find. Are you sure about this, Fionn?"

I set my jaw. "No. But I will do it anyway."

I let Kelon sink into the depths of the ocean.

Finfolk couldn't drown. He'd swim back when he regained consciousness.

It would give Elise and me a head start.

What we would do once we reached the island.

.. I didn't know. Kelon would be furious.

Best case scenario, he'd leave my brothers and me on Peritus as castaways.

I didn't want to think about what else he might do to us. Or to Elise.

I'd keep her safe. It was the one and only duty left in my life.

With one last look at Kelon's prone body, I swam upwards, towards Elise.