Page 2 of My Date is a Polymorph (Blind Date Corporation #20)

“My mother was suffering from hypoxia when I was born, and she gave me all she knew, and my elder sister took care of me with items stolen from the mainland in preparation. No help was coming from Hyreno.”

“My mother gasped her last, and my sibling buried her under coral and shells she brought. When I was strong enough, she got a bubble for me and swam me to the mainland, where I was put up for adoption.”

“She and I survived our father, but my mother did not. I stand here asking for the witnessing of his just sentence.”

Her father recognized the story, and he had jumped to his feet with his two brothers. Guards moved to capture them.

“So, I have since learned that his brothers also make use of the caverns to keep sex-slaves until they die of oxygen deprivation, slowly and painfully, unless they choose to drown themselves. Therefore, I carry out the sentence of hypoxia to be carried out over four years. Their minds will not register that they are receiving oxygen, and they will go mad and die.” She used her tendrils of fog to grasp the three men, lifted them, and slammed them to the floor.

“Lelon Vargen, my genetic donor. You are sentenced to death. Lemur Vargen, for the confinement of Bellora and Neekorla and the death of Ambrielle, I sentence you to death. Amelon Vargen, for your repeated confinement and abuse of Corena, I sentence you to death. Enjoy your suffocation. The caves have been scoured, and the survivors are receiving medical treatment. Queen Ledia has destroyed the caverns. No future generations can continue this cruelty. Of course, in Lelon’s case, all of his children will not touch a Hyreno, so his line died here. A delightful legacy.”

She turned to Juro as he watched the men gasp and try to beg for help. “Don’t worry. Once the panic is over, they will be able to talk and eat and everything else. My mother managed for months. Oh wait. Then she died.”

Juro winced. “This is cruel.”

“Well, put them in a room and let them kill each other. I don’t care. I had to feel what she felt, and it made up my initial memories. It is a hard thing to deal with.”

Renz looked at her. “I can remove the weight if you wish.”

She smiled slightly; she linked her mind to Renz and opened the floodgate. He dropped to the floor. “A child knows nothing but her mother, and if her mother is in agony and a telepath, she feels it, and it is all she knows.”

She cut the connection, and Ledia blinked and helped Renz to his feet. Juro’s eyes flickered. “If someone had done that to my partner, they would be dead already.”

“I have to live with it, so they have to live with it.” She touched her belly. “He will be born into a world with one less monster in his bloodline.”

Juro nodded. “Fair. We will confine them. Together, until they are gone.”

“Good.”

Renz was leaning against Ledia. “What is your link to the dream master?”

“Why?”

“He’s on his way here. He just asked for permission to enter the city.”

She lifted her head. “Yahtana?”

“Yes, Cloud?”

“He’s coming.”

“Let’s go.”

Ignoring the royal family, they went to the nearest ejection pod. Yahtana helped her in, tossed in their bags, and hit the close and eject.

There was a jerk, and water rushed around the small pod as it moved slowly away from the underwater city.

Cloud sat quietly as she slowly passed the outer levels of the city, and then a shark that would have chilled her soul if it didn’t have pretty purple eyes, swam by, caught her in its teeth, and booked it. Back to Aksalla.

* * * *

J uro watched Yahtana dive into an exit pool with practice. She swam easily clear of the outside of the building area, and then his jaw dropped open. A megalodon was suddenly there, caught the pod in its teeth, and carefully swam away at an astonishing speed.

Tanso smiled. “That’s my little girl. She was always an excellent swimmer.”

Juro blinked. “You knew she could do that?”

“Yes. She told me last night her eldest half-sister also transforms.”

Renz murmured, “But the metabolic aspect was always a problem for her. They called her walrus.”

Juro frowned. “Who did?”

“Her schoolmates. She got puffy with stored energy from emotional output and had to deplete it with activity. Apparently, either transformation or other specific activity would work.”

Juro suddenly clued in. “Ah. She’s an escort.”

Tanso smiled. “Yes. While I miss her here, I want her to bring her sisters for visits. With my daughter gone, I miss the sound of laughter in the house.”

Juro was going to answer when a black cloud that emanated power approached them. “Dream Master. Welcome to Hyreno.”

The roiling black slowed and faded, exposing the man inside. “She got away, didn’t she?”

“Yes, it seemed choreographed.”

“That sounds like Cloud.”

Ledia looked at him. “You are the baby’s father?”

Tanso growled. “The one with the fiancée.”

He exhaled and rubbed his face. “It was a family arrangement. It is over. My mother and sister are willing to grovel at Cloud’s feet for what they did and said.”

Ledia narrowed her eyes. “What did they do?”

“Slapped her and called her a whore. Tampered with her food and tripped her.”

Ledia scowled. “If that were me, they’d be dead or a lot flatter.”

Renz chuckled. “Dream Master, she has gifted me with a message for you.”

The man was wary. “What is the message?”

Renz winced. “Don’t be so fucking thick. She’s not going back to the stick in the ass citadel that you call a library. Her baby will be born and raised in Aksalla, and you can walk on.”

The shadows flared, and he pulled them in. “That does sound like her but with less profanity than she usually uses.”

Ledia chuckled. “It’s a shame you chased her off. I would have liked to chat with her a bit. She sounds fun.”

Juro sighed and watched the man absorb the insult and the information. “Don’t sound so impressed, Ledia. If you had spoken to me like that...”

She looked at him and put her hands on her hips. “You would what? I broke the last four sets of cuffs you tried, and I shape stone with my fingers. You are lucky I am good-natured, buster.”

Juro looked at her and snorted. “Yes, my queen.”

“That’s better. Just because he is radiating upset, don’t take it to heart. He’s just irritated at Cloud.” Ledia sighed. “She is insisting that she’s not going to be the other woman and sticking to it.”

The shadows huffed. “That was my mother’s idea. She betrothed me without my consent.”

“And she struck her. She struck a pregnant woman,” Renz muttered.

The shadows swirled and firmed up. “She is sorry and wishes to express that to Cloud.”

Ledia snorted. “Easy to say after the impact has happened.”

The shadows huffed. “Fine. I will find her again. Is she safe?”

Juro remembered the megalodon. “It depends on what you mean by safe.”

The dream master ran a hand across his hair, and he nodded. “If I didn’t have to register my entry to countries, this would be so much easier.”

Renz looked at him. “You know why.”

“Yes. I know why. Well, this has been interesting. I will be on my way.”

Juro paused. “You don’t even want to know why she was here?”

Ledia piped up. “She sentenced her bio-father to torment for what he did to her mother.”

The shadows stilled. “What?”

Juro explained about the caverns and their use for keeping mistresses and children from the wives.

“Oh, no.” The shadows started moving again.

Ledia nodded. “She was born in one, and her mother gave her knowledge as an infant. Her mother also suffocated there as the oxygen depleted.”

“She didn’t say any of that.”

Ledia looked into the shadows where the head should be. “Did she have a chance? I am guessing you two coupled, and you left.”

He paused. “I returned.”

“And we can guess at what happened there.” Ledia shook her head. “Thank you for visiting the city. You can go now.”

He bowed. “Thank you for speaking with me. Many just scream and run.”

Ledia snorted. “I am not built for cross-country.”

Juro laughed and slid his arm around her. “You are built for anything you choose.”

Ledia grinned. “And now I don’t want to smite you. Well done.”

He kissed her, and the dream master sighed and returned to the entrance. Renz went with him and notified them when he was gone.

Juro lifted his head long enough to give direction to the guards to take the gasping and crying men to a detention facility.

Psychics would try and break the lock, but after seeing what Renz passed on, it was fair, if brutal.

The ladies had carried out the sentence that they thought was appropriate, and Juro didn’t see that they were wrong.

Transferring knowledge to an infant didn’t happen often because it caused broken psyches.

Cloud seemed perfectly intact, but there was something terrifying about her.

With the dream master arriving and seeking her, it made sense.

* * * *

C loud got Yahtana’s bag and handed her a dress as she walked out of the surf. “Well, that felt good.”

Yahtana chuckled. “It certainly did. Grandma and Grandpa have already invited you to come back. The invite came while we were travelling.”

“They are lovely, and I wouldn’t mind. But now I have to get a visa to enter Hyreno again.”

“Ah. Right. Well, Juro isn’t his father, so you might have a chance. Ledia seemed to like you. You scared Renz.”

They walked up the beach with Yahtana supporting her. An automated transport pulled up, and they got in. Time to head home and eat some popcorn. Cloud’s mother could rest at last.