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“Why am I asking you? Of course that’s what you’re going to say.” She turns to Holter. “Is it okay? No, forget it. You’re all useless. We should stop by Kai’s apartment. She’ll tell me the truth.”
“We are not stopping by my sister’s apartment. She’ll scream so loud the entire city will know before we tell my parents.”
“Right. It’s fine. I look fine.”
“You look more than fine,” Castor says. “You look perfect. And I’m telling you, you have nothing to fear. They love you. What they don’t love is me doing something without telling them. But I’m a grown male, and they will have to deal with it.”
“Right. Grown male.”
The elevator doors slide open. “Who’s a grown male?” Ophelia is standing in the entryway waiting for us. Castor messaged ahead. Because nothing would be worse than arriving as a surprise and upsetting Ophelia twice.
“Mother.” Castor steps off the elevator with Sunshine’s hand on his arm.
Ophelia, I’ve heard, is an amazing card player. She goes home with all the gold at the end of the night of the mermaid card games. My mother more than once refused to go if she knew the Grand Dame Duchess was going. “What would be the point?” she’d say. “I should just messenger her my money now.”
“Julius, Prescott, Lyle, Otto, Constantine— Oh crab cakes,” she shouts. “Everyone get in here, now.” I’m fairly certain I’ve never heard Ophelia shout. Not even when Castor, Atlas, Nico, and I put crayfish in Kai’s bed. “Now!” Her voice echoes around the apartment. And males come scurrying out from everywhere. I move behind Sunshine. I can feel her shaking in front of me. I place my hand on the hollow of her back.
“What?” Castor peers around.
“Poseidon, what are you... Oh hello,” Otto says.
Constantine is one of the last males to arrive. He’s wearing a towel. Ophelia glares. He holds one hand up in surrender, the other securing the towel. “You yelled. I assumed we were under attack.”
“No, he’s done it.” Her eyes are wide, and then she breaks out into a smile. A real one, not one of those she uses at the ball when she’s leaning over the balcony at the dancers judging them.
“Thank fuck,” Constantine says. “We thought it would never happen. Julius wanted to pay a hagissa to slip something into your drinks.”
“I did not.”
“It might have been less painful than waiting all that time.” Ophelia smiles. “Come here. Let me give my new daughter a hug.” She tugs at Sunshine’s hand, and her loose-fitting glove comes off in Ophelia’s fingers. “Oh, my, I’m so sorry. How clumsy of me.” Clumsy? Ophelia yanked on it. There was no way it wasn’t coming off.
Sunshine turns and looks at Castor. He nods, and she opens her palm and lifts it up. And Ophelia jumps like a schoolgirl. Her large skirt bounces all around her. Then Sunshine is engulfed in Drakoses. So much so that the rest of us, Castor included, are pushed out of the way. Like the useless males we are.
“Mother. Don’t stampede my mate.”
“Your mate. Oh, that’s... I’m going to cry.” Castor’s fathers recede, and Ophelia steps away, dabbing at her dry eyes with a lace hanky. “Our new daughter is fine. But we need to feed her. She needs to eat.” Ophelia grabs Sunshine’s hand and leads her down the hallway. Sunshine turns and cocks her head at Constantine, who hangs back.
“I’ll see you at the table,” she says and is gone, swarmed by her new fathers-in-law, all asking questions at once.
Nico puts his hand on Constantine’s shoulder. “Can we ask you a few questions?”
“I saw the news. I’m not sure what to believe. It’s my podlet dome, but I’m not loyal to them now. I hope you know that.”
“Damn, we’re not questioning your loyalty,” says Holter. “No, we... we’ve gotten to thinking about the attack on Alder, before Nico returned. Could someone have trained a Kraken or a large shark to do the work for them?”
“I mean yeah, of course. It can be hard, but certain animals take to their trainers well. I mean, look at Annabelle and the sharks we put outside your place. She’s taken them to a different level. Not sure it’s the best thing for protection, but that’s what’s happened.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have the knowledge of how to do it?” Nico asks.
“As much as I hate to say it... I would never have said it before, but with the weird announcement that the king is trying to pin the collapse of the Maelstrom on the Braesen, it makes me wonder. Usually things that are odd have a bit of truth in them, you know?”
“I agree.” I am sure the rumors are true, but it’s going to take a lot to convince the city.
“Right. Well, my mentor for training animals is the Braesen governor’s brother.”
“That might not mean much. How many brothers does he have?” Castor sits on the foyer sofa.
“Only two. Teneric Course, his older brother?—”
