The Penny Drops (Sea the Depths Book 1) Karmon Kuhn (life changing books TXT) 📖

exited, I saw Darius and hesitated. How likely was it that he would be at this very same party? Hadn’t he warned me against the college? Why would he risk being here? What if he’d seen the fight? I’d gone to the instructor about my suspicions against him. He would surely do the same if he had any about me.

First the hospital, then getting mixed up with Delilah, and now the fight! If my Zhoṣuṣùssss learned of this, I would surely be sent back to the homeland for reprogramming!

I needed to know what this was all about! I ducked down into some flora in front of the house and observed him. He appeared to be looking for someone and ignored the attention he received from women leaving the party.

It was some time before he moved from his spot in front of the house. Rather than returning to the inn, he walked toward the beach. I was sure to stay far behind, ducking down and stepping into dark side streets periodically. It took quite a long time, but I managed to evade detection with the few skills that I’d learned at the tsez̈ø.

Once he made it onto the sand, it became more difficult. I tried to stay low and near dark objects and then hid behind a lifeguard overlook to observe him. He waded into the water, withdrew a device from his pocket, and placed it into the waves.

All that I managed to hear was, “I have more to report on her. I will arrive soon.”

My thoughts raced. What did he have to report that would require him to return? I’d never heard of a trialist returning during their mission!

He plodded in the wet sand, coming closer, and I held my breath. My heart was beating so fast I feared it would give away my poor hiding spot. Before he reached the overlook, I heard Darius’s steps veer in another direction, and I was able to peer around and see him entering a sea cave.

Chapter 9

F

rozen in place, I sat still and silent behind the lifeguard outlook. I’d come to land expecting to woo a human, drag her home, and continue on with my life. It was a challenging mission, but we all had this responsibility. A tithe to pay forward for the comfort that our community afforded us.

I never truly believed that I would fail and be sent back to the trenches of the Indian Ocean, but now, what else could I think? I’d lose my job, my home, and the respect that I’d cultivated for years of dedicated study and specialization. I’d be branded a failure and re-educated in the ways of our people like a child. Then, if I was lucky, I’d be given menial work to support the homeland.

I was going to lose everything. I slumped down and pressed my eyes against my palms. Wetness built spilled from the corners of my closed lids and then streamed down my face. I touched my cheeks and stared at the glittering tears on my fingertips. My fist closed around the damp sadness, and I screamed.

I was not this! I was not a sniveling human! I would not accept this! I, a creature of the deep seas, a hunter, an academic, an adult, would not stand for this!

I checked my pack and took out the few pieces of clothing that I’d been able to fit inside and wedged them in between some loose boards of the outpost. Then, I stalked toward the outcropping of rocks where I’d first modified. I dug a pit with a loose rock, undressed, buried the boots, then covered them up and weighed them down with the biggest rock that I could find. I undressed and put that outfit in my pack as they were light enough, and I might need a backup in case I couldn’t get to the outlook when I got back. If I got back . . .

With the tickle of that threat, I stood in silence. I didn’t see, hear, or smell anyone nearby. Besides, if that scream hadn’t drawn attention to me, then I was surely safe from the humans here.

As excruciating as my previous modification had been, the fusing and stretching of my body that night was unimaginable. I clenched my teeth as they stretched into fangs and dug my growing claws into the sand beneath me. It took all of my strength to remain conscious, but I had the will this time. No one was here to save me.

I laid in the sand panting for several minutes before I could collect myself, but as soon as my heart began to calm, I pulled myself toward the water. Once in the waves, the freeing weightlessness calmed me. It took some time to locate my juz̈uṣùs̈, but with a few vibrations of my body, I located it. Just where I’d left it.

***

Despite being tired after my modification from human back to my seafaring body, the trip to my home was too short. I was sure that I’d have a master plan by the time I arrived, but no revelations had come to me. So, I went to my underwater cave and lounged in the wading pool to recover. As soon as I had the energy, I prepared to confront the situation at the tsez̈ø.

Before leaving, I slid around the smooth slime-finished floor and touched the few possessions that I owned. I held my tattered and pasted books preserved in repurposed plastics; I hung my favorite sea glass necklace from my neck, a piece that my mother and I had made together; and I bounced for a moment on the round cushion of my sleep mat. If I’d still had the tear ducts of a human, they would have filled just as they had on the beach. Deep in my core, I knew this was the last time in my home.

With miles of ocean between me and my cave, I missed it even more. As much as I