Rowan backed away. He backed away from the familiar face in the fish tank. He kept moving until his back touched the velvet curtain and Rowan reversed out until he reached the couch where Kaerius slept. Rowan sat down. His hands were shaking.

Rowan's normal life felt like a dream, a distant memory, a goal that had crumpled in his hands like ash. He turned to stare at Kaerius. Rowan's lower back touched his hip, and even such small and insignificant touching was calming his mind.

"I wish I could wake you up," Rowan mumbled. He just wanted to talk to someone. Instead, Rowan squeezed himself on what little couch was left, pressing his body against the Thalassic Mortal. Rowan was exhausted, but his mind span around and around and around.

Rowan didn't want to wake his dad or Kaerius. He had to tell his mind to forget about it all and think about it in the morning. It wasn't easy to switch off. Rowan knew he would fall asleep eventually. He let Kaerius's head rest on his shoulder and his black hair pressed against his face. He smelt of the ocean, and Rowan's breathing started to settle.

He thought of the ocean on a calm summer's morning. The empty beach, the tired seagulls, the cold water, the cool sand. Rowan imagined himself sitting on the rocks with his feet dipped into the sea. He stared at the pink sunrise, feeling so small compared to the ocean. Rowan closed his eyes and listened to the sound of small waves breaking on the shore. Salt was heavy in the air. The sun was getting warm on his skin.

* * * * *

Rowan didn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke up, daylight streamed down the stairs from the kitchen. He felt stiff and sore from sleeping on the couch. He felt it more in his neck when he sat up and stretched.

For just a moment, his mind was empty until he saw the curtains hiding a big secret. The silver Thalassic Mortal tail brightened up his mind. Rowan filled with dread. He would have to confront his father about-

Rowan looked away from the curtain. "Kaerius?" he said out loud. Kaerius wasn't on the couch. Rowan rushed to the stairs. "Kaerius?" he shouted, listening out for the sound of feet padding against the tiles. When nobody came to the top of the stairs, Rowan looked around the basement.

The curtains had a gap in them, and blue light streamed through. The hairs on Rowan's neck raised and he shivered. Kaerius would have needed saltwater at some point in the night. Rowan hoped he would have woken him, and not gone looking for it on his own.

Rowan edged towards the curtains. He hoped that Kaerius had gone upstairs to find a bath, but the closer he got, the more he could feel him. His insides churned with excitement when Kaerius was close. When Rowan touched the curtain, he felt the warmth of Kaerius soul. The feeling was now familiar to Rowan, but he didn't want to feel it when he was so close to the fish tank.

Rowan didn't want to look again. Seeing his father with a tail was crazy enough to be confused with a dream. It was real, everything, and Rowan had to accept it. He had to.

"Kaerius?" he whispered and pushed his body through the curtain. The shimmer of turquoise was the first thing Rowan saw. Kaerius had found the fish tank and wrapped himself up in the kept plants. Rowan wondered if Kaerius looked like that in the ocean where he should be sleeping, not in a small tank shared with another Thalassic Mortal whom Rowan called a father. "I'm sorry for making you live this way," Rowan said quietly. Even through it all, Rowan could still live on land, his home. Kaerius had to adapt. It wasn't fair.

Nothing in life was fair. At least, Rowan had never witnessed it himself, or for anyone around him. Everything had a price, even kindness.

Rowan lifted a hand and tapped on the glass. He kept an eye on the right side of the tank. It was big enough and thick with plants that he couldn't see his dad. Rowan knocked on the glass again, and Kaerius opened his eyes. The purple colour against the blue light looked indigo, like Rowan's mother's eyes. They reminded Rowan of the angry deep ocean, but Kaerius made the colour calm and soothing.

Kaerius looked around as if he didn't recognise where he was. The water was cold enough for him to think he was in the ocean. He saw Rowan standing through the plants, staring at him. Kaerius knew that wasn't right, and the memories flooded back. He slowly unravelled himself from the plants and rose to the surface of the tank. There was no lid. Kaerius's webbed hand curled over the edge of the glass, and he surfaced his head.

"Hey," Rowan said, nervously fidgeting with his shell bracelet. He wanted to ask if Kaerius had noticed the other Thalassic Mortal, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything out loud. "How're you feeling?"

Kaerius's hand smoothed over his bruised ribs. He could now see out of both eyes, but his left one was still darkly bruised and a little puffy. The blood had been washed away, though his nose was bruising too. "I hurt," Kaerius said out loud. Rowan felt his deep voice travel through him like a hot drink on a cold day. "Heal fast. Be okay soon."

Rowan nodded and forced himself to smile. "Your English is getting better."

Kaerius nodded, trying to smile too. He didn't feel like it, and the edges of his mouth straightened as quickly as they attempted to bend. "Rowan hurting," Kaerius said, staring him in the eyes. "Here." Kaerius pointed to his head.

Kaerius meant mentally, and Rowan couldn't disagree. "I'm okay," he said, watching Kaerius tail move gently back and forth. His eyes looked for the hint of something silver.

"You're not," a voice said from the far right, and the boys' heads snapped in that direction.

"Dad," Rowan breathed with an elevated heart. His father sat on a chair by the tank, fully dressed and fully human.

"You saw, didn't you?" Michael asked with a heavy sigh. Rowan nodded, and Michael's eyes moved to Kaerius, who studied him with interest. "Hello."

Kaerius looked from Michael to Rowan and back to Michael. He had the same light green eyes and the same soft expression as Rowan. He had a face that suited a smile, but neither he nor Rowan looked like they were pleased to see each other. A tension hung between them. Kaerius could see it in their eyes.

"Hello," Kaerius replied. "I thought your father would die if he were near Thalassic Mortals," Kaerius thought.

"Yeah, so did I," Rowan said out loud, and Michael looked perplexed. "I did see you. You had a tail like Kaerius, but it was silver. Are you a Thalassic Mortal?"

Michael nodded, and Kaerius pulled himself up and sat on the steps that lead down to the floor.

"Are you lying about being harmed by Thalassic Mortals if they're close?" Rowan asked.

Michael shook his head. "No. I'd die if I touched one, but it doesn't matter how close I am." Michael shifted in his chair. "I told you to stay away after you told me you had a bond with a Thalassic Mortal. I knew you or your soulmate would soon sense that I was a Thalassic Mortal. I didn't want you to find out."

Rowan ran a hand through his blonde hair. He knew he looked tired and scruffy, but he didn't care. "Have you always been a Thalassic Mortal?" he asked.

"No. The tail comes with the curse," Michael said. He no longer seemed bitter about it, only sad. "I've been cursed for 12 years."

"By Goddess?" Kaerius asked.

"Yes," Michael said, gazing between the two boys, wondering if their bond was complete. Every time Rowan looked at Kaerius, something lit up in his eyes. Michael had never seen him with a friend, let alone someone whom he would eventually love. If he watched them for a long time, Michael would probably see hints that the love was already there. Michael would have liked to study soulmate bonds between Thalassic Mortals. Mandy showed him that soulmate bonds were not as beautiful as they may seem. Where love went, a broken heart was only two steps behind. "Nothing I have told you so far is a lie, Rowan. I just haven't told you the whole truth."

Rowan backed into the chair to the left and collapsed into it like his legs struggled to hold him up. "What you said about mum being... um..."

"The daughter of the sea Goddess," Michael said.

"Yes..." Rowan took his shell bracelet off and started twisting it around his fingers. "She hates Thalassic mortals more than anything else in the world. Don't tell me she is one, is she?"

"She used to be," Michael said sadly. "But she doesn't remember."

Rowan tugged his bracelet hard, and it snapped. Small shells scattered all over the wooden floor. Rowan sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I'm so confused," he muttered. "Is she not one anymore? How?"

"She was cursed, like me. You could say hers was worse, but at least she isn't forced to remember what she lost. Her memories and her kindness are gone. The Goddess stripped her of everything she used to be all because she fell in love with a human." Michael's eyes had washed over with pain. He was emotional, which Rowan inherited. Mandy was emotional, once.

"Is that why the Royals fled?" Kaerius thought. "Was your mum trying to hide her relationship with your dad?"

Rowan repeated what he said out loud, and Michael nodded, which placed another piece of the puzzle together.

"The Goddess found us on your mother's 29th birthday. She broke our bond, made us hate each other, and made your mother forget about how much she loved me. Whenever we see each other, hatred is always there whether we try to fight it or not. Your mother was turned into a human, one who lacks empathy. She was moulded into the Goddess's opinion of how humans are. The Goddess thinks humans are dull and cruel and unworthy of a soulmate bond."

"Not true," Kaerius said. If anything, Rowan was more deserving than himself.

"I know," Michael said, looking down to his hands. "I know."

Rowan's body was pulsing. His head throbbed with the amount of information, forcing its way into his mind. "You used to hunt," Rowan stated with a frown. "Mum learned to hunt with her brother."

"I was born into a family of hunters, which is why I'm now a Thalassic Mortal. I was turned into the creature I was born to hate," Michael said. "Your mother has a brother, but he's a Thalassic Mortal; a prince of the sea. He never taught her how to hunt. That's another memory the Goddess made her believe."

"Did you meet mum on a hunt?" Rowan asked, and his eyes flicked to Kaerius who was already staring at him.

"I did." Michael made a humourless chuckle. "With you two, it's like history repeating itself."

"It better not," Rowan muttered, and that was when he realised that Kaerius really was his, and they really were destined to live together forever, and the thought of someone forcing them apart terrified him more than death.