He shrugs a shoulder. “There’s nothing I can do about that. It’s out of my hands. And I guess… well, it’s not like I have to worry about any of them finding out what you’ve done. They have no way to. And you… look different, so maybe it won’t be an issue.”
“I don’t want to make problems for the colony. I just want to be up here.”
He nods. “I don’t understand, but… it’s your choice. You’re an adult.”
It falls quiet again, just the laughing and chatting people on the beach, not paying any mind to us.
“Can I visit?” I ask.
“That’s probably not wise.”
“Will you visit?” I ask carefully.
A flicker of something passes in his crystal blue eyes. “Maybe.”
“How can you shift?” I ask.
He looks at the ring on his hand, running the thumb of his other hand over it. “It’s an heirloom that is passed down from leader to leader.”
“So, this whole time… you’ve known?”
“Only recently. It’s a secret kept, not known by the others.”
“Mother?”
He shakes his head. “It’s a secret only for the head of the colony. We are to tell no one.”
“But you told me…” I say.
This whole conversation is unbelievable.
“I told you,” he says, before clearing his throat. “I’m sorry things have to be this way, Aliko. Maybe one day they will be different.”
“Yeah, maybe one day…” I give him a small smile.
He smiles in return.
I step toward him and wrap him in a hug with only my human arms. He doesn’t hug me back. But that’s okay. It’s not the kraken way.
“Take care of yourself. And mother,” I say.
“You too, son.”
We share another smile and then I leave, because I have somewhere I need to be.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Leif
The house is quiet. Too quiet. The ocean isn’t far, just down the path in the back of the house, and past some trees. When I’m on the porch outside in the back, I can hear the waves crashing against the sand. But when I’m inside, with all the doors and windows closed, they drown out any sound. It’s like I’m in a fortress.
A very lonely, large fortress.
I don’t know why I stay here. It feels a little weird—a little obsessive maybe. What if Aliko comes back to find me in his home, when he doesn’t want me here? I should be able to take a hint. He broke up with me.
Yet something about that just doesn’t feel right and it’s enough of something to keep me here.
It’s been almost a week since I’ve been here instead of home. The furniture was delivered, and I set it up and hung the paintings Aliko and I picked out together. I shopped for the rest of the things we needed but forgot about, mostly kitchen stuff and other small things. We only had one set of bed sheets, so I bought a few back ups because of course we need those. I got different pillows for the bed, because the set we got was awful. I had to order a few more sets of curtains because we must have miscounted the number of windows in this place.
