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Castor shrugs. “Maybe you can’t find the words.”
“For the love of Poseidon, Drakos, do you have a death wish?” Holter has his shoulder in front of Nico’s, giving the golden prince a half-second to dodge if he should need it.
But Sunshine beats both Holter and me to the punch. She plops herself in Castor’s lap and pats the cushion next to her. “Nico, come sit next to me.”
Nico’s gone still. Hell—we’re all frozen. It’s a brilliant play by Sunshine, and one that shows how much she trusts both Nico and Castor. She’s made herself the mediator.
“Nico,” she says, this time without patting. “I would love it if you sat next to me and your best friend.”
“You are my best friend, Little Krill.”
“Well, thanks. That would be sweet if it didn’t sound like a threat on Castor’s life.” Her tone isn’t condescending, but it is rather similar to my primary school teacher when she tried to wrangle the lot of us from the sculpture garden—Castor, Nico, Atlas, and myself.
“It is both.” Nico moves to the sofa with slow, plodding steps but doesn’t sit.
“Yes, I think we all know that. Now, would you sit next to your oldest friend?” Sunshine smiles.
“Holter is my brother. He’s my oldest friend.”
“We don’t need to get into semantics here. Sit.” Her tone slips into a naughty podlet address, and I like this version of Sunshine. “What are you smirking at?”
It takes me a minute to realize she’s talking about me. “Sorry.” I fold my hands in my lap, properly scolded.
“I’ve been worried about all of you.” She turns to each one of us. “It’s a lot. If... no, not if. We are going to figure this all out. What happened to Richeal, where Marina, Aunt Blair, and Marlee have all gone. We’re going to be a team.” She’s got her arm looped around Castor. But she reaches for Nico and pulls him onto the sofa.
He leans back, and it’s only then I realize that all three of the sharks are hovering outside the window, above Sunshine’s head.
“We need theories to disprove,” she says. “Let’s start from the beginning. You two must be tired, hungry, and want to get cleaned up. So let’s go over things one more time. What exactly happened in Boston? And don’t leave anything out this time. I want all the details.” She leans back, grinding her ass across Castor’s lap, and places her feet on Nico’s stomach.
Holter sits on Castor’s other side, and Annabelle leans back, giving Holter a peck on his cheek.
“Castor, you go first.” She kisses his cheek too.
“Me? Right.” He takes in a sharp breath. Good luck having any brain cells while holding her.
My smirk is back because watching the golden prince squirm gives me a microscopic amount of fun.
6
CASTOR
I’ve fired people. I’ve delivered lots of unfortunate news as well. When Baba’s father was killed in an accident, I was the one who told my parents. But looking into Annabelle’s blue eyes, I’m not sure I can do it. My stomach twists. I told Eros on the plane that I wanted to be the one to let Annabelle know about her cousin and aunt. Nole confirmed in a roundabout way that they were on board. She wants the truth, and she wants me to start from the beginning. I can do that.
“Your uncle is a despicable...” I search for the word.
“Man?” Annabelle’s eyes go wide. Sitting on my lap, her eyes are so blue.
“I think the word you’re looking for is Therodonsian, Castor.” Nico leans forward, and his amber-green eyes flash at me.
“Yes, thank you, a rotting whale’s spleen.” I clear my throat.
“What did he do?” Annabelle’s fingers move on my chest, and it’s hard to concentrate.
“He found your cousin and aunt. Since you were taken, he calculated that if you were worth something at the battle of New Year’s Eve, they must be too. He turned them over to the human underground to be sold to traffickers.”
Eros sits on the sofa table in front of us.
“What? Did you stop them? Eros?” She leans forward and places her palm on Eros’s chest––I feel the loss of her attention.
