Chapter 22
Terah watched the helicopter disappear in the sky. Snowflakes fell on her face as she did, leaving cool spots behind. She smiled and lifted her chin higher, loving the feeling of it on her skin. Last night at dinner, Reeves had said it was pretty until you had to shovel it. Terah had never shoveled snow or walked in it, and despite how unhappy he sounded about it, she looked forward to it.
Sitting at the large table with all the others had been so different that she had barely managed to eat. There was so much going on at once, talking, laughing and the children being silly—she’d never experienced that. Lowering her chin, she looked out over the lake.
She’d never experienced anything, really.
When it was time to sleep, she had lain there in the floating bed and tried to remember if she had ever had something like sitting around a table with others. She couldn’t recall it. For a short while, she thought maybe there had been a time around a pool with her mother and the old one, possibly the boys that had been there in the beginning, but the images were so faded, she decided it was made up and not a real event that had taken place.
She looked over her shoulder at the house and wondered who she would have to talk to about going for a swim. She hadn’t been to the lake yet. Turning she looked out over it and grinned like it was calling her name.
“No one is swimming right now if you’d like to.”
Startled she turned around to see the elder of the clan standing on the walkway from the other end of the house. “I would like to, yes.” She smiled at her. “I feel like it is calling to me.”
The older woman smiled slowly. “One shouldn’t ignore things like that then, should they?”
Terah bit her lip, she wanted to strip down right here and run into the cool water, but she had told Konner she would not do that. “I will go get my suit.”
Alviva shrugged, an entertained look on her face. “Don’t worry about the suit.” She looked over at the line of houses. “No one else swims at this time of day.”
“Are you sure? Konner told me I had to wear clothes at all times.”
Laughing a low sound, she waved her hand toward the water. “If the Alpha can’t break a few rules, what fun would it be? Go, child, I’ll stand guard in case anyone comes out.”
“Thank you.” The excitement bubbled up inside her. The big tub was fine, even the pool in the center of the house, she was sure would be nice, but a lake—there was nothing like that.
She moved through the water with as much speed as she could manage. Her mind felt heavy with so many things she had been told or heard since Konner had landed his helicopter in his Sanctuary. She didn’t know what to do with half of it.
Aside from the children here, and the joy she felt seeing them, the fact that she had a cousin was not weighing on her mind at all. She still wasn’t exactly sure what a cousin was, but Raelyn was a family no matter the definition. It filled some of those empty places inside her just knowing that she was also related to Lillee and the babies that Raelyn would soon have. When she was younger, Terah would dream about having a family of her own but had long ago given up on that when none of the others that were made to live with her were her kind.
Flipping to her back, she twirled in the water, always keeping what was around her in mind. The lake was deeper than it had looked from above in the machine and she was glad for it. Twisting, she rose toward the surface and felt elation as she broke the surface and the air brushed over her. Bending, she dove back down into the water, and moved with powerful strokes, taking her to the bottom.
She stopped and slowed her arms to hold herself just above the floor of the lake. Stilling herself, she controlled her breathing, so she could just float here and observe what was around her.
A group of fish swam by and didn’t even notice her presence, which pleased her more than she thought it would, to blend in and be part of this. Of course, she thought, if they knew that she loved the taste of them, they probably wouldn’t be so relaxed with her in the water.
Moving her arms wide in an arc out from her body, she felt carefree. Hovering on the spot, she looked down at her legs and wondered about the story that Konner had told her, the one about what her kind used to be like. What would it be like to always be in the water? She wasn’t sure she would like it all the time. She liked the smells and sounds of things out of the water. She watched as she moved her legs at the same time, had her mother taught her that, or was it just something her kind was born knowing? If they had once had a long tail and no legs, it made sense that they swam the way they did. Opening her legs, she moved them like she was walking, it worked, although she wouldn’t be able to go as fast. She grinned and looked toward the surface, and she liked going fast.
When she decided she should go back to the land, in case anyone else wanted to swim, she caught the taste of something that wasn’t fish. A tingle went down her spine. What was it? Moving with long strokes, she went in that direction as quickly as possible. She was careful to stay low enough in the water that there was no sound, so whatever it was it wouldn’t be alerted to her being there.
As she got closer to the shore, she saw something moving down in the water that looked like it was fuzzy. She frowned, fuzzy didn’t belong in the water. At least she didn’t think it did. Should she go find one of the others and tell them there was an intruder in the water? She floated closer to the surface, not sure if she should leave here. What if they came back and it was gone? How would they find where it went? The water only held scent for so long, she’d discovered at Rayne’s lake.
Moving to the bottom, she went across the floor of the lake, disturbing nothing as she went by it. Beneath the creature, she stilled her limbs and watched as it circled around a small indent in the bank beneath the surface of the water. A small fish darted out from it and the fuzzy beast tried to grab for it. Terah moved up further, she didn’t know what it was, but it was trying to eat Konner’s fish that he grew in his Sanctuary. She couldn’t allow that.
It took her more time than she had anticipated to catch it, when she did, she was feeling drained instead of invigorated. She paused to catch one of the larger fish for herself and then swam, dragging the body of the thief along with her.
Closer to the shore, she went to the surface and looked around to see if anyone was there. She didn’t want to bring the dead creature to the surface and upset the younger children. The elder stood there, with Lucus beside her. Terah stopped as the water grew shallow, she didn’t want to do something to upset Konner and not be without clothes in front of Lucus.
Alpha Alviva said something to him, and he turned around, so his back was toward her. Moving quickly, Terah walked to the shore and dropped the carcass as she bent down to grab her dress. Slipping it over her head, she looked to see the elder was looking at what she’d brought out of the water. “It was stealing the fish from the lake.”
Lucus turned around and looked to where it lay beside her feet. “It’s a…”
“Thief,” Terah said.
The Alpha looked at her, a small smile on her face. “Lucus, why don’t you go and deal with the thief before one of the young ones come out?”
“Yes, Alvie.” He picked it up and held it in the air, then looked at Terah. “You caught it?”
Terah nodded. “I couldn’t let it steal the fish from the lake.”
He grinned. “I guess not.”
She watched him walk away and then turned to the elder. “Thank you for letting me swim without the suit.” She looked down at the damp dress. “It is uncomfortable.”
“They didn’t clothe you when you swam where you were?”
Terah bent down and picked up her shoes. “No.”
“I see.” She leaned on her cane and looked to the left of the path where the houses were. “If you go that way, and walk to the end of the trail, there’s a good spot to get into the lake without clothes on.”
Terah looked at it. “Is that allowed? I’m trying to follow all the rules.”
Alviva smiled at her. “I don’t know if it’s allowed, but that’s what I do.” She studied her for a moment. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go for my swim. More snow is coming this afternoon and the water will be murky with the creatures all scurrying around in there to find shelter until they adjust to the water change.”
Terah nodded. “Enjoy your swim. The lake is wonderful.” She watched her walk along the path, then turned to look at Konner’s house. She had so much to think about still. What did she know about money and investments? She didn’t even know what an investment was. Who would be the best to talk to about things like that? She bit her lip and looked at the homes Konner had pointed out.
Reeves. She needed to talk to him; he seemed to be a very smart man, however clumsy he was. She still couldn’t believe he fell into the fishponds.