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Holter shakes his head and opens it.
Castor and Eros step out, and Dar pulls Kai in. “Did you enjoy your adventure, little mate?” His voice vibrates.
Kai licks her lips. “Immensely.”
5
EROS
Sunshine jumps into my arms. I smell like human filth. We took Castor’s plane back to Athens since now the Kraken have what they want—my sister. The Kraken weren’t about to give me a lift back. Marina chose to go of her own accord—that’s what Stavros’s source said.
I have to talk with Tristan Bellucci, governor of Vitrom. And by talking, I mean I’m contemplating how many distinct ways I can kill him with no one finding out.
Marina went on her own. It’s a little mantra I keep testing to see if it feels right. While someone else might find it hard to believe, I fucking know my sister. She has ten thousand pounds more spunk than Kai. And zero common sense. Like, none.
“Are you okay?” Sunshine’s soft hands land on either side of my cheeks.
Castor bumps my elbow on his way out of the elevator. “I’m coming in. I’m not going to ride back up the elevator with my sister dry-humping her mates.” Castor throws his thumb over his shoulder.
I want to do a heck of a lot more than dry-hump Sunshine. I kiss her on the lips. She melts in my embrace, not giving a sinking fuck that I smell like rotting shrimp shells. When I pull back, her eyes are dilated and glazed over.
“I’m glad you’re home,” she murmurs. “But really, are you okay?”
I want to pour out every last detail of the minutes I was away from her. But there are things she’s better off not knowing. “I’m... I don’t know what to say.” Usually, I go with fucking fantastic even if I’ve been knocked down by a tidal wave. But right now, I don’t. It’s hard to see anything positive. Anything other than Sunshine standing there. I don’t want to be doom and gloom. But my own sister went off with the Kraken, and the damn ministry used it as a ploy to get me to do their bidding. I’m still trying to find a way to prove the image of her on the video was fake. I should never have fallen for it.
Nico locks the elevator behind Kai and her pod.
I incline my head to it. “That’s new.” Finally, we’re making security even stronger. I know Castor has some high-tech things installed, but sometimes low-tech can go the distance. Nothing like a set of titanium bars to shout no thank you, unwelcome visitors. “It’s a good idea. It will keep the riffraff out. And by riffraff, I mean you.” I raise my eyebrows at Castor. It’s not that I’m not appreciative of how he helped me find out about my sister. It’s more the way he stared at me the entire time we were on his jet. Or how neither one of us said a word about why we were whizzing through the water in his fancy solo.
“Yeah, we got special permission from Nole. It really keeps the rotten shrimp shells out.” Holter glares at Castor.
“Or in.” Castor takes Sunshine’s hand and squeezes it. He’s oblivious. “It’s nice to see you, Annabelle. You look good.” Castor kisses each of her cheeks, and suddenly I’m jealous. I’m not the only one. A quick glance at Nico and Holter reveals them looking the same way.
“Castor. Do you want me to call you an elevator?” Nico’s voice drops.
“No, I’d like to be here when Eros talks to Annabelle about our trip.”
“Your trip?” Sunshine turns from me to Castor.
“Yeah, I hitched a ride back on Castor’s plane.” I move Sunshine to angle her away from the golden heir. I loop my arm over her shoulder and walk her into our apartment.
Her wide eyes take in Castor. “You went to save Marina, too?”
“I was in America, yes,” he says like a seasoned politician.
“Were you able to save Marina?” Sunshine asks with a breathy lilt.
Castor jumps in. “Turns out his sister didn’t need any saving. Or there’s the possibility that she didn’t need any saving.” Now he’s all chatty. Almost twenty-four hours of nothing and now he’s jumping in telling my mate about my sister. I control my desire to clock him.
Annabelle scrunches up her nose. She’s caught on that I’m upset. “Right, it’s been a long trip. Let’s get everyone inside.”
Inside, Holter hands me and Castor glasses of seaweed gin, and I’ve never seen anything as tasty. I throw it back in one gulp. “Thanks.”
“You didn’t like riding on his plane?” Sunshine smiles at me. I can’t help but wonder if she’s remembering I was all too willing to hop on a commercial round-trip flight to bring her back home where she belongs.
“No.” I’ve been on a plane a few times, and that’s a few times more than most citizens of the Veiled City. But I don’t like it. “It’s not natural being in the sky. I’d rather swim the whole way home next time. But flying is faster than swimming, I’ll give you that. And it’s brought me home to you.” I kiss the side of her head, breathing in her apple scent.
“I kind of like planes,” Castor says, sipping a second drink.
