If you're looking for something new to read, and want to help support newer authors, then check out the story: Free Among the Stars by Author: _seaofwords_ :D

- Sian

When the moon was high in the sky, Kaerius kept yawning, but he had barely stopped talking about the ocean and his caves and the kelp beds since Rowan made it clear that he really wanted to stay in the sea for the night.

Laiken and Jaiker had never seen him so excited. After Kaerius lost both his parents, he had never really been the same and morphed into a twenty-year-old who didn't see the point of anything around him. Rowan was bringing out that curious boy he lost.

Kaerius guided Rowan through the kelp forest and tangled himself up in the slimy plants, so he wouldn't drift to the top while he was sleeping. "I'll sleep now, but if you need me to be awake, you can wake me. Yes?"

Rowan nodded and wrapped a slimy plant around his waist. They watched each other for a while until Kaerius's eyes could no longer stay open. Rowan eventually felt the tiredness too and swam to the caves to see if Jaiker and Laiken were awake. He could see well with his Thalassic Mortal vision and spotted them sleeping in the cave.

Rowan drifted around for a while, swimming up and feeling the temperature change, then swimming down and feeling the pressure of the water and the temperature drop. He had no idea what the time would say. He had no phone to play on, no research to do. Rowan was left entirely to his thoughts.

Was turning Jack away the right thing to do? He didn't know whether trusting him was more dangerous than letting him join their quest to visit the vampires. Jack had given him no reason not to trust him, and if Rowan never trusted anyone until they proved that he could, Rowan had a feeling he wouldn't have very many friends. His supernatural life had always been a secret, and Rowan thought that one day he would break free from it all and never speak about it again. He thought he would date humans and have a normal life. Being with Kaerius made it impossible to forget the world of the supernatural, though Rowan no longer minded so much. He really liked Kaerius and was excited for their future together.

As Rowan drifted higher again, he blushed when he thought about their passionate kiss. He hadn't been kissed like that by anyone. He brushed his fingers along his neck. The thought of Kaerius's lips tracing his new gills made him shudder. Stage three of the bond was yet to be completed, which was a very personal stage.

The third stage is the touching of the souls by mating. Rowan bit his bottom lip and spun around in the water as he thought about the written words in the Thalassic Mortal file. The thought was definitely not a bad one, but Rowan felt nervous all the same. When he first read the stages to Kaerius, he thought the third step would never get close to happening, not in a million years. Supernatural bonds were powerful beyond belief.

Rowan swam back to the kelp bed and found Kaerius still curled around the plants, sleeping softly and comfortably. Rowan hoped he slept for a while. Kaerius deserved a great night's sleep. Rowan wrapped himself in plants too and watched Kaerius's hard features soften in his sleep. "We'll spend more days in the ocean now, I promise," he said out loud, but his words were barely louder than a whisper.

* * * * *

Kaerius woke up in the ocean, and he thought he was dreaming. He buried his hand in the sand, and it took him almost thirty seconds to realise that he was awake and had slept in the ocean, his home. Kaerius looked around for Rowan, but he wasn't within the kelp.

Rowan was eating fish with Jaiker and Laiken when Kaerius poked his head into the open by the cave.

"Kaerius!" Laiken said in the Thalassic Tongue. "Look what Rowan caught for your breakfast!" Laiken held up the biggest codfish Kaerius had seen in ages.

"Rowan caught that?" he asked, watching Rowan beam and nibble his fish.

"He did. He's a swift swimmer. The fish barely saw him coming," Jaiker said and patted Rowan's back, who had no idea what they were saying.

"You should be proud," Kaerius thought and drifted over to his soulmate. "What do you think of your breakfast? Fish are better raw, right?"

Rowan shook his head. "It takes some getting used to," he yelled, trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt from eating a raw fish.

Kaerius softly touched Rowan's tail with his fins. He ignored the look Jaiker and Laiken gave each other and tangled his fins around the bottom of Rowan's tail. Kaerius paid attention to how Rowan reacted. As usual, his face blotched red, his eyes diverted to the sand and he smiled cutely to himself.

After their breakfast, the boys drifted to the surface. They had to visit the vampires soon. Rowan was nervous about it, and he was sleep-deprived enough. Kaerius could tell because he looked exhausted when they swam to the cliffs. A metal ladder led from the water to the grass above.

"Kaerius." Rowan's throat was dry from the sudden air in his lungs. "I don't think I have the energy to get up," he said as they perched on rocks by the ladders, so they could air dry.

"If you go first, I'll be right behind you to hold you up if you struggle," Kaerius thought. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired, very tired." Rowan rubbed his eyes. He yawned loudly. "I'll be okay. I just need coffee."

Kaerius didn't look too amused. Lately, he had been feeling rather protective of the human. He had an overwhelming urge to tell Rowan to go to sleep and rest, but he bit his tongue. "Sleep is precious."

"My mum used to say sleep was the biggest burden on humanity. I'm glad I don't need to be sleep deprived to see you. I would never sleep again."

"Do you think that if you couldn't see me, you'd feel me if I was near?"

"I think so. I feel you now, even if I'm at my classes and you're in the sea. It's weird, it's like a part of you is there with me like a shadow or something."

"I feel that too. I wonder what it'll feel like after we connect the third part and our souls touch."

Rowan cleared his throat and stretched his legs when they returned. "We should go now," he said, feeling less shy without his clothes on than he did before. Kaerius followed him to the ladders and made sure to be one step below him. His arms were on either side of Rowan's waist, holding onto the metal bars, making sure his exhausted soulmate didn't slip.

Michael arrived to pick the boys up after only ten minutes of sitting on the bench where they left their clothes.

"You didn't fall asleep, did you?" Michael asked, adjusting the car mirror and watching his son buckling Kaerius up in the backseat.

"No, it wasn't that hard to stay awake. The ocean is like a different place at night."

Michael smiled, knowingly. "It's like the nightlife in town. All the creatures come out."

Rowan shook his head and told his dad to drive. As they set off, his thoughts started obsessing over the plan they had for visiting the vampires. Don't expose wrists. The cliché is the neck, but according to Jack's notebook, the wrists are what they really want. Rowan went to fidget with his bracelet, then remembered he had broken it. He started following the tan line it left behind until an elbow lightly nudged him.

"No sleep makes you anxious," Kaerius observed.

"I'm just, you know... I don't want anyone to get hurt. I've heard about vampires my whole life, but I've never really met one. There are loads of stereotypes and loads of bad history with them. They've been better recently and kept a low profile, which we now know, thanks to Jack, that it was because they were keeping fairies a secret. Do you think we'll meet a fairy? Do you think they'll be tiny? Do you think if I asked a vampire if I could see their teeth, they'd show me? What do you think? Is that insulting or rude? Maybe they'll be really nice and help us. Dad, what if we meet the vampire who cursed mum. Do you think they'll recognise us?"

Kaerius could barely keep up with Rowan's word vomit, though it showed how he was uneasy and worried about the vampires.

"Um," Michael hummed softly. "I think we should just focus on the questions we've got for them. If they're nice, we can ask more, and if they're not nice, we'll stick to the script."

* * * * *

Rowan, Michael, and Kaerius stood outside a house on the outskirts of the town. The house was average sized with a black glossy front door with no window, an unkempt garden of tall grass and nettles, windows with black blinds, and a sign next to the door saying AWARE: PETS BITE.

"Do you think that means they have dogs, or do their fairies bite intruders?" Rowan asked, and his dad scoffed.

"I think it's the owners of the pets you need to worry about."

Now that they were in front of a vampire's house, Kaerius felt a little tense. It was clear from their visit to the werewolves that he couldn't defend himself. He felt safer with Rowan because Rowan could fight like he was born with a weapon in his hands. Kaerius assumed Michael was even better because he was born into a family of hunters.

"Shall I ring the doorbell?" Rowan asked, and they walked down the cracked path together. When they were right outside the front door, there was no doorbell, but a bat's head as a knocker next to the numbers 1260. Rowan banged it three loud times, and then they waited.

It didn't take long to hear quick shuffling on the other side. Kaerius stood closer to Rowan when the door unlocked, and the handle turned. They watched eagerly as the door swung open, and a familiar face greeted them with a pleased grin.

"Solar," Jack said and pushed his glasses up his nose, "You're late."