Ash stared up at the ceiling, his hands folded behind his head, the whirr of the fan the only sound in his darkened room. Ever since leaving Coby back at the hospital, he couldn’t focus on anything. When Colin asked about what happened, all Ash said was, “I met a merman.” He couldn’t elaborate, couldn’t put words to the thoughts that had been racing in his mind, or the odd way his chest felt whenever he thought of the young man covered in bruises, burns, and bandages. Which, as it turned out, had been all damn day.

He drifted through his last two classes, gave mumbled responses when called upon during discussions, zoned out when Colin or anyone else spoke to him, and completely ignored Scott when the angel attempted to talk to him. That final part he’d been doing for weeks, anyway, but for some reason Scott took it much more personally.

He’d been blowing up Ash’s phone ever since, receiving nothing in reply. It got so irritating, Ash finally blocked his number completely, something he should have done after catching the rat-bastard in their bed with some other pretty boy prick. He’d made his threats, kicked the little shit’s ass Scott had been happily fucking, then threw Scott out of the apartment bare-ass naked while Ash stormed around, packing up his clothes and making calls. He was completely moved out in less than thirty-six hours.

Today was the first day he hadn’t been moping about his situation since he’d moved back in with his family, something that hadn’t gone unnoticed by either of his sisters. Lynn had been practically bouncing with excitement, wanting to know everything that had happened at Embers Medical. She wanted to know everything about Coby, too. What was he like, did he speak English, was he cute, could she get his number, all that stuff. Ash mumbled through most of his answers, but when she asked for more details on the merman, including his number, Ash shut her down coldly.

“You’re not his type and he’s older than you,” he snapped, his green eyes like stones. Lynn pouted and walked off after that. 

At dinner, he couldn’t keep his leg from bouncing under the table, anxious to return to see Coby, to talk with him more, to find out more about him, and to his surprise, he was finding it had very little to do with the fact that he was a merman.

Abel had frowned at him over his plate, his fork of spaghetti halfway to his mouth. “You may as well settle down, kid,” he said. “Visiting hours are over for the day.”

“Maybe they’ll make an exception if I tell them who I am,” Coby said, half-joking. Abel didn’t take the bait. 

“You can come with me tomorrow morning if you’re really that eager to see him again,” he said. His expression eased and he sat back, fork moving back to the plate. “In fact, I’d prefer it.”

Ash sat up, a river of hope swelling through his gut. “Seriously? You never let me in on interrogations.”

“It’s not an interrogation, I just need to ask him about what happened on the beach. You two seem to have already built a report, something that could really be helpful. He might not have been very forthcoming this morning, but that could change now that he’s found someone he can trust. Someone he likes, even.”

Heat raced up Ash’s spine and he kept his gaze on his plate, hoping his family didn’t notice his ears turning red.

“I’m heading there around eight, so be ready to go a quarter till.”

Ash nodded vigorously, and started shoveling food down his throat with more enthusiasm, his sisters’ stares boring holes in his head.

Now, lying in bed alone, he finally had time to sort out where all this weirdness within him was coming from. It had started the moment he had entered that room and his eyes fell on the hysterical merman in the hospital bed, his thick wavy blue hair a mess in his eyes, his pale skin flushed from exertion and anger, and his eyes…

The second their eyes met, Coby had stopped and the entire atmosphere in the room changed. The air felt thick, the silence almost deafening after Coby’s yelling and the desperate pleas of the nurses and doctor came to a screeching halt. In those brief seconds before his father had spoken, Ash no longer saw or heard anything else in that room. All there was…all he was aware of…was Coby.

Ash still couldn’t explain that moment, how he felt like everything in his life had shifted. He felt like a wave was crashing through his body, alternately cooling him down and brewing a tempest within his soul. His breath caught in his throat, his blood pounded in his ears, his entire body felt buzzed with electricity. He was instantly and irrevocably drawn to this strange young man, a stranger he felt he had known his entire life. He was gripped by the overwhelming urge to run to him, to fall into his arms and hold him close, to cry in his lap, to kiss away his pain, to own him in some way.

And then Abel cleared his throat. 

The spell that had held those two together broke and all the ambient noises of the medical center rushed back. It was then Ash noticed the injuries that marred Coby’s otherwise perfect features, the trail of blood that ran from his temple and down his face to drip unheeded to the covers below, the bruise on his jaw, the cuts on his arms…he didn’t even want to imagine all that he couldn’t see. Ash just knew it was bad. He wouldn’t be in that hospital at all if they weren’t.

Every second he was near Coby, he could feel those intense blue eyes on him, felt the heat radiate off his skin, smelled his natural scent of sea air and sunlight, felt the tickle of his breath on his own skin. It had taken every ounce of strength and willpower he had not to touch him, not to hold him. Even those few moments tending to the gash on his head had made him dizzy. 

He wanted more…

More time. 

More conversation.

More…everything.

Leaving Coby there alone…feeling the merman’s distress and seeing it in his eyes…it hurt. It physically hurt.

He sighed, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes as he groaned loudly. “What the fuuuuuck!” he moaned. He grabbed one of his pillows and rolled onto his side, clutching it tightly to his chest and curled into it, burying his face. “I don’t even know him,” he muttered, his voice a muffled sound trapped within the pillow. “This is insane…”

And yet he couldn’t wait for morning to come so he could once more see the lovely young merman who had already invaded every last bit of him.

**

Coby sat bolt upright with a shout, sweat pouring down his face as the images faded slowly from his vision. A lance of pain raced down his leg and through his stomach. He wrapped one arm around his middle, his right hand shaking as he grabbed at his thigh. He wasn’t sure which hurt worse; the near-fatal injuries, or Da-Hana’s betrayal. Even with the nightmare fading, the sounds of his former friend’s laughter echoed in his head, his awful taunts still ringing in his ears.

He glanced around quickly, fearing Da-Hana was still there, his spear charged and ready to blast another hole in him.

<I promised to hand you over alive, but you are making it quite difficult,> the hunter had sneered. 

“C’mon, kid, just give up!” one of the men said angrily, possibly because his payday was going to fade to nothing if Coby didn’t quit fighting and give up. “We’ll patch you right up if you just—”

“NO! I won’t let you have me or the Flame!”

He’d fought…he’d killed them all…he’d passed out with prayers on his lips and tears in his eyes. He’d prayed for the souls of his enemies and for his own. 

Co-Bieasah of the Sarathian tribe, and acolyte warrior of Poseidon’s Sons prayed for death on that beach…and was denied.

That alone reminded the boy where he was, the details of the strange room coming into sharp clarity in the darkness. He could hear the beeping of the machines he was hooked to, monitoring his vitals. He could feel the coolness of the medication being slowly pumped into his blood by the IV needle in his arm, dulling the pain in his body. He could smell the antiseptic and… 

Him.

He could still smell him.

Coby relaxed back against his pillow, the cold room feeling more like a prison than a place of healing. When Ash Turner had left, he had taken all the warmth with him, all the comfort, all the safety and security Coby needed. With a deep exhale, he closed his eyes, focusing on the lingering scent of his eternal mate, the human…the human who had no understanding of the connection between them. How could he? Humans were ignorant of their own souls, ignorant of their own energy. They had a basic understanding of soulmates, of their place in the Universal Core, but nothing like what mythics and the Divine did.

Coby gritted his teeth against the sharp pain in his chest. He knew what Ash was meant to be for him, but Ash didn’t…he couldn’t…and Coby couldn’t tell him. He had to deny himself his mate to protect the Flame, to keep his people safe, that was just the way things were. He was stupid to ask Ash to come back, knowing that would only complicate things further…

But dammit, he wanted to see him again! He wanted to look deep into those kelp green eyes, see that heart-stopping crooked grin that revealed a gap between his incisor and the tooth directly behind it, smell that intoxicating scent of wild berries and honey with a hint of spice to help it cling to Coby’s soul. The ghost of which he clung to in this otherwise empty space he was trapped in.

The ghost of which drove away the nightmare completely from Coby’s mind. 

His breathing began to even out and he let his arm slip from his middle, his hand running over the rough bandages that wrapped around him, covering the adhesive and stitches on his skin and in his body, holding him together. Holding together a wound he couldn’t heal.

A small flicker of anger sparked within his gut, self-admonishment already on his lips. He should have focused more energy on himself than that stupid fight. Master had always taught him to not be so single-minded, to be aware of all that was around him, including himself. He had to know how to channel energy everywhere all at once if he was to succeed in battle.

“Poseidon has no use for a dead Son, Co-Bieasah,” he had said time and time again. 

“I’m not dead yet,” he whispered to himself, his fingers curling against his thigh, feeling the large crater left by Da-Hana’s attack. “Though I may as well be.”

He took a deep breath and tried to center himself, exhaling slowly as he focused on his wounds, willing the healing energy to grow, to move where it was needed most, to fix him. He winced, hissing sharply as he felt a spasm in his abdomen. He tensed, gripping the sheets, his toes curling from the pain, but he wouldn’t give up. 

He could have done this during his flight. He could have done so much more when he was still in the sea, but he’d chosen to focus on running away, on getting to the surface to complete his mission. He hadn’t thought of the outcome he may have experienced if he didn’t heal himself properly. He knew that the shift would help speed up the process, it always did. It took healing energy, on top of the natural magic, to complete the change from merman to human, making it a foregone conclusion that he should focus more on his task and less on himself.

With a shuddering groan, Coby released the energy, his chest heaving, tears streaming down his face. He reached up and took his long braid between his fingers, tracing the tight pleats up and down, taking time with each carefully woven in bead. He twirled each of them slowly, reciting his vows in a soundless whisper, until he could breathe normally again.

He ran his hand through his hair, blue strands sticking to his sweaty forehead as his eyes searched the blank white ceiling above, frustrated by his inability to do this one simple thing. Healing was an unconscious effort, something all Sarathian’s learned when they were merlings. Now, when it really mattered, when he had a mission to complete, he was helpless.

His eyelids fluttered closed, a few stray tears running down the side of his face and into his ear. He didn’t bother to wipe it away.

He had sworn to the other Sons before they died that he would get the Flame to the temple no matter the cost, and here he was…stranded in a hospital bed, pinned down by wires and tubes, strangled by bandages, his heart breaking because he had to deny himself the one thing in all the seas he craved more than anything else, regardless of what the Flame’s energy encouraged.

Love.

**