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He nods. “Over the years, I’ve come across other Kraken. I’ve made a few unlikely friends. I’m mostly kept on their good side by Kat’s baking. But yes, I know some full-blood Kraken.”
“And do you think you could get us in touch with someone? Someone who might know something about my sister?”
“Perhaps.” Stavros takes his phone from his pocket. His fingers move quickly. He sets it on the table. “Now we wait.”
Eros watches the phone, but I can’t take my eyes off Stavros. The Braesen have been researching fertility without telling the other domes. They held a Kraken male and did experiments on him. That was a long time ago. What do they know that we don’t?
Twenty minutes go by. The pastries are gone. I’m about to give up. I’m about to give Stavros my contact information for when—or if—this mysterious Kraken contacts him, when his phone rings.
4
ANNABELLE
I’m going nuts worrying about Eros and Marina. The only thing that keeps me from losing it is reading. I’m four partial volumes into Nico’s mother’s notebooks. Nico wants to move the translator tech here. It’s safer in Eros’s dome, in the secret library, but Eros’s apartment isn’t someplace we can keep going to. It looks fishy. Why would I want to be over in his bachelor pad? And then there was the attack on the Glyden lobby, something we’re all quite on edge about but no one mentions. So I’m stuck using a much inferior translator, one that’s modified for my block. One that has no clue as to what Richeal’s notes in the margins say. Not being able to translate her notes is frustrating. Not that I’ve translated any of Richeal’s notes that are truly relevant yet.
The elevator buzzer sounds, and I jump. Ever since the attack, they’ve locked down our entire floor. The pod who technically lives on the other side spends most of their time with their oldest son. A lot of people are afraid, and living next to the hybrid isn’t something they want to risk. It’s not just the lobby being destroyed. There are whispers about Alder’s attack not being natural going around too.
The plan originally was for us to be out and about. Let people get used to me. But every day that we don’t have an answer about who caused the Glyden attack is another day for fear to ramp up. And it’s not just Glyden who are scared. Other domes are too. I’m not sure I’ll ever be accepted in the Veiled City now. And with Marina being taken and Eros in America? It’s logical the neighbors don’t want to stay. The guys won’t admit it, but I know they’re nervous too.
We’ve gone on a few outings, but with each one, Nico and Holter become more cautious. I’m surprised they let me out to play with my guard sharks. I hardly think of them as guards anymore. But last week, when one of the Glyden scouts got too close to our windows, Chompers and Mickey drove him away from our apartment. I’d hate to think about what would have happened to the scout if he hadn’t been wearing armor.
I’m down the hallway to the living room when the buzzer rings again. Holter stands by the door checking the video on his block. “I’ve got it. It’s Kai.”
Kai. My heart soars. I haven’t seen her since I got back from Athens, before Nico defeated the chasm. And I haven’t seen much of her brother either. But Castor has things he has to do regarding the company and becoming king. Still, I wish he would come around a little. I know he shouldn’t, but I miss him. My heart hasn’t caught up with my reality. Reality? I’m not sure what that even is anymore. Castor can never be part of our pod. He has obligations.
Nico’s waiting at the door. Holter has to go and unlock a barred grate installed over the front of the elevator, kind of like the ones that are over department stores when they close.
“Move out of my way, grumpy.” Kai races toward me. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her because her belly looks more like a woman who should be holding a balloon at a gender reveal party than someone in their first trimester. She jumps for me with her arms wide open. Remarkably quick. I move to catch her in my arms.
But she skids to a stop, and instead of hugging me, she grabs my hand, pulling it to her face. “Oh, Poseidon! You’ve got a marking.” She jumps up and down with my hand. The back of my legs are pressed against the sofa, but Kai’s got an impressive leap. She’s jumping almost as high as the cushion.
Nico clears his throat. “Kai.” She doesn’t stop. “Kai, cease your bouncing. You can’t tell anyone. And you need to be careful in your condition.”
“Nico,” she growls, “I’m pregnant, not ill.” Nico growls back, and that gets her to stop jumping, but she doesn’t let go of my hand. “You’re wrong. She has to tell the whole city. The entire world, the freaking universe. This is amazing.” Kai drops my hand and pokes Nico in the chest. “You were the one who was going to lead the way. You made this change, now you’ve got to own it, bucko.”
“Bucko?”
“Yeah, bucko. I’ve learned lots of things from your mate.” She pivots, leading with her belly. “One of them is that you didn’t let her have a block, for like forever. And with me not being allowed out of the apartment until today...” She rubs her belly. “I’m not letting people tell me what to do anymore. And by people, I mean anyone.” She holds up her hand and counts on her fingers. “Mates, mother, my fathers, you, and especially not any of my brothers.”
“Congratulations, Kai.” Nico looks at the main door to the apartment.
“Thank you. Oh, if you’re looking for my mates, they wanted to come with me, but I tricked them and locked Ari and Bennett in the bathroom. The other three are out for the day.” She turns to me. “They’re nesting. Dar has this elaborate plan for the nursery.” She sinks to the sofa next to me. “It’s sweet, really.”
“Kai?” Holter looms over us. “They’re going to be worried about where you are. And the bathroom?”
“I’m not staying long. But I wanted to see someone else besides my mother and her mates. They’re all acting like I could break.”
“You’re carrying the Drakos family heir,” Nico grumbles. “Of course they’re concerned.”
“Nico!” I glare at him. “Kai is more than a vessel for the Drakos family offspring.”
He scowls at me, and I turn to Holter for support, but he’s not much better. “You need to get back upstairs, Kai.”
“Let her visit for a minute. Do you want something to eat?” I put my arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze. I’ve been longing to talk to her too.
“You said there were some things we had to talk in person about. So I’m here to talk, one prisoner to the next,” Kai says, leaning the rest of the way back on the sofa cushion. Her short legs pop up, seemingly without her control. I make the mental note to look into the pregnancy length of the Dorian people as a whole. Because she didn’t have a belly at all when I arrived in the city. And that wasn’t that long ago.
Kai takes my hand again and traces the circle. “This is whoa, crazy. You don’t even have four mates yet, and you have the start of a mark. Wow!” She shakes her head.
