Restless Waves

Chapter 36

"Mum... hey," Rowan said, out of breath with sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Rowan," Mandy greeted him in the hallway, watching him rest his hands on his knees to get his breath back. "Did you run home?"

Rowan stood back up, and he wanted to blurt everything out. You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar. Rowan ran a hand down his face, wiping the sweat from his head at the same time. How could he confront her when he didn't know the facts? Rowan had run away from the opportunity of an explanation. He had never let his dad finish.

Rowan was scared to know more. His world was changing fast. Clinging onto his parents was the only sense of familiarity he had left. However, he was tired of running away from the truth. "I need to talk to you," he breathed. "I spoke to dad today about-"

"I need to talk to you too," Mandy interrupted. She looked a little skittish. "The Thalassic Mortals are after you."

Rowan stopped planning how to confront her. His train of thought was suddenly redirected. "What?"

"I caught a Thalassic Mortal with legs trying to break into the house. It had legs Rowan, legs! They're evolving."

Rowan leaned against the wall. "What... uh, what did you do- when you caught K- the Thalassic Mortal with legs?"

"Knocked him out. Luckily, I had a group of hunters here to catch him because I couldn't see him, they could. We've taken the sea creature to the base to study him."

Rowan felt the need to cry out as if he was in pain. Instead, he worked hard to keep his face as still as possible. He had to be tactful. Kaerius was in trouble, and Rowan was the only person on land who cared about him. If you can't outrun the lions, trick them, he thought. "Did it hurt you?" Rowan asked and rested a hand on his mother's shoulder, acting like he cared.

"No, no, I'm fine. The stupid fish boy threw himself out of your window. I don't know how he expected to escape. Apparently, he could hardly breathe when we got to him."

Rowan's other hand was behind his back. He pushed his nails into his palms to stop his anger reaching his expression. "I bet that was painful."

"Yeah, I'm sure it looked it when he landed with a thud," Mandy clapped her hands and Rowan flinched, "on the grass."

Rowan swallowed thickly. The thought made him want to vomit. Kaerius must have been terrified to throw himself out of the bedroom window.

"What base did you take him to?" Rowan asked and put his backpack down. He felt his hands starting to tremble, so he shoved them in his pockets.

"The one on the edge of town. It's the farthest one from the sea," Mandy said with a smile and Rowan wanted to wipe it off her face.

"He had legs, you said. That's worrying. There's nothing in the Thalassic Mortal file about sea creatures with human legs." Rowan found it easier to lie when he was angry. Right now, he was livid.

Mandy seemed pleased that he had read the file. "I've never seen one with legs. I didn't know they could do that unless a human has mated with a Thalassic Mortal. Ugh. That thought alone makes me want to pull those damn legs off the Thalassic freak."

Rowan had heard her talk that way about Thalassic Mortals before. Now that she was talking about someone he knew, he realised just how disgusting her attitude was. Rowan wished he could be loud and proud and tell her what was going on. His mum would have a meltdown, and he feared he would never see Kaerius again. Some truths were best buried away.

"How long will you keep him in the base?" Rowan asked.

"I don't know," Mandy shrugged. "We'll question him until we know how and why he has legs, then he'll never see the sun again. I can't believe we caught him roaming the house. How stupid can they get?"