Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

roll of gauze and wound it around the skin. He soothingly ran his fingers over the bandages and looked up at me again.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Don’t let go.

He stood. His hands lingered on my waist.

Please don’t let go.

“Thank you,” I said. A corner of his mouth lifted.

The door to the cabin opened. Calder let go.

“Liv? Oh…” Sam looked from me to Calder and back, her eyes widening and a grin forming on her face. “Um…they’re eating dinner soon. Are you feeling up to it?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Calder brought me some mango.” After I said it, I realized how weird that sounded. I cleared my throat. “For the seasickness.” I turned to him. “Thanks again.”

He gathered his medical supplies.

“No problem.” He passed Samantha and left the cabin. Sam looked at me with eyes the size of dinner plates.

“I should have left you two alone.”

“He was just helping me put bandages on my waist,” I said. I could still feel Calder’s firm hands on my waist as he steadied me when I almost fell. “Have you called your mom at all?” I asked.

“Yeah. Just got off the phone with her. Had to lie my pants off.” She sat on one of the beds with a scowl. I knew the feeling.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Eamon told me everything. Looks like my costume came in handy,” she replied without smiling.

“Yeah, it did.”

She looked down and her scowl deepened.

“Seidon and I should never have gone outside. If we hadn’t done that, none of this would have happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault. We don’t know how they found us.”

“Yeah, we do. I found out while I was…” She trailed off with a ragged sigh. “One of the neighbors reported us to the police because we were staying at that house without rent. Linnaeus found out where we were because the detective guy told him.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t Linnaeus just come after us? We were all there together.”

Samantha shrugged. “Maybe he couldn’t get the police to come. All I know is he waited until one of us got careless.” She looked back at the floor, her lip trembling. “Of course, it was me.”

“Quit blaming yourself. We got out okay.”

“Yeah, with Eamon getting shot and you ripping off half the skin on your waist.”

“It just grazed him. He’s fine.”

But Samantha sat back on her elbows and looked at the bunk above her with a tortured frown.

“Sam…think about it and tell me honestly,” I said. “Do you think there’s anywhere else you’d rather be right now?”

She looked at me in surprise, apparently not expecting me to say something like that. She closed her eyes, then shook her head.

“I’d rather not be in mortal danger right now. I’d rather be at home in my own bed with a huge bowl of strawberry ice cream or at the mall with a big roll of twenties in my pocket…but you’re right. I’d rather know Seidon.” She sighed. “I’m going to miss him so much. I’ve never known anyone like him.”

“I know what you mean.”

She looked at me with an odd expression. Was it surprise? Disbelief? No, I knew what it was—the I told you so look. I stood and nearly stumbled in the boat’s motion.

“Come on, we’d better go up. Seidon and Cordelia might be diving in to go back home soon.” I took my bag of mango with me and followed Samantha up the ladder to the main deck.

Eamon sat in one of the bolted down lounge chairs, while Uther sat in another, carefully examining his gun. Calder sat up in the tower with Walter. Seidon and Cordelia stood in silence at the railing, both drinking from quart-sized water bottles.

We were well out of the bay now. The misty wind tasted salty on my lips. The ocean swells glinted with the reflection of the moon. All else was eerie darkness. I felt small standing on the deck of a boat cruising on open water, unable to see where the sea ended and the sky began. I had never been this far away from land before. What kinds of things swam beneath me? I looked over at Seidon and Cordelia and a new wave of awe swept over me. They lived among the creatures belonging to this great expanse of ocean. They were as familiar with all the things stirring beneath the surface as I was with my own front yard.

Samantha went to join Seidon at the railing. I couldn’t hear what they said to each other, but Seidon soon put one arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to him. Cordelia ignored them, staring off into the darkness on the other side of the boat.

“They’re going to accompany us to make sure you and Samantha get away safely,” said Eamon, seeing my gaze. I turned to him, gave him a small, gracious smile, and nodded.

“Are you okay?” I asked. He waved a hand.

“Ah, I’m fine. Graze wasn’t deep. Well”—he slapped his knee with one hand—“guess I’d better see about supper. Do you think they’ll eat clam chowder?” He pointed a thumb to where the merpeople stood.

Cordelia turned her head, her hair tossing in the wind.

“We’ll tolerate clams.”

Eamon chuckled and went below. He favored his left side.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?” Uther asked Cordelia. She came to sit down in the chair Eamon had vacated. She placed her water bottle between her knees.

“It would be a dishonor to abandon you humans at present, though the sight of our home is inviting.”

“In the meantime,” said Uther, standing and following Eamon, “try to enjoy yourself.”

I took his seat and ate another piece of mango, looking at the ship around me. Calder came down from the tower.

“What does Imbali mean?” I asked Calder as I chewed. I offered him the bag. He reached in and took a piece out.

“It’s Zulu,” he replied. “An African language. It means flower.”

“But de Mer is French, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Walter’s mum was French.”

It surprised me how much I didn’t know about these people who had been