Page 13 of Welcome to Seaman’s Cove: Part Two

“She’s my scent match. And she’s smart, and so damn determined, and sassy and fucking brilliant.” The words spill out of him like a broken dam. “I said that already, didn’t I? But it needs to be said again. She’s so bright. She was the one who really found Ocearus. She’s doing her dissertation on it. As her advisor, I rejected it at first, but it was only because of my own fears. And now, she’s found it. She discovered what no one else has been able to find for centuries. She’s incredible.”

My heart beats an irregular rhythm in my chest. The back of my neck tingles with awareness.

My old online friend, ocean_omega, the only omega I’ve ever been interested in, is doing her dissertation on Ocearus, too. We’ve never met, but we’ve chatted online and had video calls for over a year. I even helped her translate a few things a while back. But I’ve never asked her where she’s enrolled.

We drifted apart a few months ago after she asked me to help her through a heat, and I said no, but we’ve still talked enough for me to know that her proposal was rejected by the dean of her department.

“W-what does your mate look like?” I ask, unsure if I really want to know.

“She’s gorgeous. Soft curves and long, dirty blonde hair. She’s got the cutest little button nose.”

It couldn’t be. It’s statistically improbable. There’s no way. There are plenty of dirty blonde omegas who are intensely curious about lost oceanic cities, right?

“Oh, wait, I’ve got a picture.” There’s more life in Hunter’s voice as he digs his phone from his pocket. He presses the screen and swipes around. “I shouldn’t have taken it, but I… well, I grabbed a picture of her and Caspian when they were in the quad the other day.” He pinches the screen to zoom in, then turns his phone toward me. “Here she is.”

My heart stops. The sounds around me fade, replaced by white noise not unlike the ocean waves crashing to shore. My entire focus is on the photo. The woman. Her.

Hunter looks back at the screen with hearts in his eyes. “Her name is Madison.”

She’s also ocean_omega. I let out a slow breath and confess, “I know her.”

9

Ireally wish FishyBillionaire47 was with me right now. He’s a genius who made a fortune on technology of some kind. I’m sure he’d be able to figure out how these little discs work.

I’ve been at it for hours, and still nothing. Caspian had to leave before the sun was even up, and there’s not much else to do on this hunk of rock. So I’ve been trying to solve the mystery of the ancient discs, to no avail. Tired of failing, I switch to examining the little harmonica things.

They don’t make music, that’s for sure. But clearly, they have value, since there were so many of them in that shop. I pry at one of them, attempting to pull it apart. Maybe if I can dissect it, I’ll figure it out. But try as I might, it won’t break. It seems to be all one piece.

Just as I’m about to hurl the thing into the sea, a girl’s head breaks the surface. She’s young. Maybe eleven or twelve. Although, I don’t really know if merfolk age the same way humans do. How have I never asked Caspian that? Oh gods, what if he’s 500 in human years, and I’m like every clueless heroine in the fantasy novels?

We stare at each other for a long beat before she lets out a loud squeal and races straight for where I’m sitting on a rock overhang. I hurry to scoot back, but she’s on me before I can get away. She grabs my foot and yanks me all the way into the water.

“S-stop!” I sputter saltwater out of my mouth, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Who is this girl?

Her head is underwater now, and she’s touching my legs, pulling them apart and scrutinizing them as if she’s never seen anything so fascinating before. When she breaks the surface again, she’s laughing and chittering away in that language of Caspian’s that I still don’t understand. I really should have made him teach me more than just the word for the compass things they use to find their cities. I’xal isn’t very useful for me now.

The woman drags her hand up my inner thigh, and I slap it away as best I can in the water. “Okay, that’s enough. I’m not some anomaly to examine or a pet or something. I’m a person.”

I grab her shoulders, trying to keep her above the water. It’s clear she’s stronger than me and could break away if she wanted to, but she doesn’t. Now that I’m looking at her more closely, I can see slight resemblances to my mate. She has Caspian’s eyes, though hers are lighter, the color of an ice floe. Could she be related to him somehow? A sibling? A cousin?

I hold tight and look her straight on. “Who are you? Do you know Caspian?” I over-enunciate, even though that probably won’t help her understand. Then again, Caspian learned my language in a matter of days. And the queen somehow already spoke it. Maybe this girl does too?

She gives me a funny look, which is when I realize that Caspian’s not actually his name. It’s the name he chose for himself in my language. Shit, I don’t know what they call him down here.

“Mate.” I try a different tactic. “Do you know my mate? Could you bring him here?”

Maybe he’ll have an idea about how to work these discs. I never had a chance to show him before we were snatched from the cave. Plus, I miss him. It’s only been a few hours, judging by the position of the sun in the sky, but back at Woodhurst we spent every waking and sleeping moment together after we bonded.

The girl doesn’t answer my question. I let go of her shoulders, but she doesn’t leave. At least she’s not touching me anymore, though the gentle swish of her tail as she keeps herself afloat moves the water in a tickle over my legs. I swim back to the rock formation and climb up.

After squeezing the water from my hair and sitting down, I point to my chest. “I’m Madison.” I point at her. “What’s your name?”

She doesn’t respond. Okay, fine. Caspian didn’t say much at first either once he figured out we didn’t speak the same language. He learned by listening.

“I guess I’ll just have to do all the talking for both of us,” I say out loud. “You wouldn’t happen to know what either of these do?” I hold up the disc and the not-harmonica.

The girl tilts her head and grabs the harmonica, pulling it into the water.