AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her finger comes at the center of my chest, and I don’t mean to take a step back, but I do.
Eros gives a solid chuckle, and I shoot him a look. He smirks. “What are you, scared of our mate’s finger now?”
“What have you guys been talking about without me and Castor?” She lightly taps my chest.
“Right, I have a theory,” I say.
“Theories are the best place to start. We won’t have anywhere to go without them. What is it?”
“The Maelstrom was taken down, not for destruction, but to get something from it. Every person who entered the governor’s chamber had to turn in all their tech. There were some of the most powerful people in the Veiled City in that chamber today. If someone is looking for information and they had the tech behind them, they would be able to find it.” I brush her braid away from her face.
She gasps. “But to take down the building? It’s so drastic. It’s a historical monument.”
Holter scrunches his face. “A what?”
“A historical monument, like someplace where all your history has happened,” she said, moving her hands animatedly around her face.
“Oh no, Sunshine. They’re building a new Maelstrom. It’s surprising it’s lasted this long.”
“Kings order new buildings?” Her eyes are wide.
“Oh, no, it’s not the kings. We like building things. Making them better. Different. Well, Zaffiro is a bit different—we like adding on. Anyway, most of the buildings you see are new.”
“New? Oh.”
Holter nods. “The new Maelstrom is scheduled for completion in two months. It’s on the eastern side of the city. The old one would have been torn down.”
“But—”
“It wasn’t an accident. I mean, I thought it might have been while it was happening. But definitely not now.” I arch an eyebrow at her.
She nods. “What’s the rest of your theory?”
“The lockers. Almost everyone who is in charge of the government was there. Those lock boxes had not only our blocks but every piece of tech of the governors.” Her mouth turns to a perfect o, and her finger lightly lands on my chest. I take it and kiss the pad of her finger. “And Little Krill, we have news about Marina.”
26
ANNABELLE
I tip my head back and rest it on Holter’s chest. And blink. I’m exhausted. Mermaid hormones are the worst. Why do females always get the worst of everything? I mean, I had a fantastic time, and with a little more food I could go— What in the ever-loving cod am I thinking? But then Holter smells really good.
Focus. “So, what does that really mean for Marina? Do you think Atlas will really be willing to negotiate with them?”
Holter wraps his arm around my waist, and I want to close my eyes to go to sleep. Nico wasn’t wrong when he said I need more rest. But he was one step away from treating me like a child, and I’m not having that, so now I have to stay up even if I have to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks. Have I seen toothpicks while I’ve been here? I’m not sure that I have. Maybe. I glance at the door to the kitchen. Shoot, I really am too tired. I should get up and go back to the pod bed, but I don’t think I can move my feet again. Walking out to the living room was all I could do.
“...I think.” Holter says into my ear. I didn’t hear anything he said before that. I glance over at Eros.
“What Holter is saying, Sunshine, is that Atlas is going to be a little busy. And asking for a favor when he’s got to be wrangling a school of sardines is not the best of ideas.”
“Right, that makes sense.” I roll my head to the side, pressing my ear to Holter’s skin. It’s nice hearing the vibrations of him talking next to the thud of his heart. Something warm lands over my feet, one of the throws I bought back when we were setting this place up. I give it a tug and pull it up to my chin. The four of them are still talking, but it’s nothing. The same thing over and over.
I let my eyelids slowly close. I want to shift—not shift, sift—through the evidence and figure out why the dome came down. Why do the Kraken have Marina? I mean, I know why, but how... I’m too tired. I hear them talking until I don’t.
I wake in the middle of the pod bed. How they moved me without me feeling it, I don’t know. I should work on that. My feet are tingling and asleep. It makes me think of my mother. I would wake up crying. My orange tabby cat liked to sleep on the base of my back. He was twenty pounds. My mom would rub the bottom of my feet until the pins and needles stopped. It’s a wonder it didn’t happen every day. It’s weird that it’s happening now.
I reach under the sheet and massage my toes. I wonder what she would think of this place? What she would do about any of it? Dad always said my curiosity came right from her. But then, I’m too young to remember much. Spare moments. And if I think about it hard enough, I can almost remember what she smelled like. It might not even be true anymore. And that hurts.
I dig my thumb into the arch of my foot and close my eyes. How scared are Marlee and Aunt Blair right now? The second they dock, I’m going to get them out of here. Castor’s brother can take them to Athens and get them on the next plane back to Boston. They don’t deserve to have to live through anything like I have. It’s too much.
