She’s getting more demanding—and gods help me, it keeps turning me on.
“You should always expect the worst. You can’t afford to be caught off guard.”
No idea why I bother explaining—but she waves me off.
“Yeah. There won’t be a next time.”
“Don’t be so sure—”
“We don’t have time,” she snaps, pushing the curtain aside. “I’m going in. Stay here.”
She disappears behind the curtain, and I’m left blinking at the silence—and the hard-on she just left me with.
Fucking pathetic. Not now!
Now it’s too quiet without her soul buzzing around me. I got used to it. I notice how its absence leaves a hollow, a dark shiverI can feel even without looking. Mom used to say there’s no cure once you’ve been consumed that long. The thought wedges in my chest.
Wait. Did Grandma take merfolk blood, too? Is that why their souls look the same? The question hangs when a voice cuts across it—low, rough, and laced with something like amusement.
“Hi there, little human…”
The voice slaps me back to attention—lower, rougher, seductive.
I spin the chair and sit, eyes locked on the monitor. Roran walks slowly toward the pole.
Little human?
“Oh, there you are, my little fairy.”
Novax tosses his phone aside. His grin flashes yellowed, mended teeth—and I want to shatter them.
‘Little fairy.’ That’s his game. That’s why she’s wearing that unicorn-puked nightmare.
My nostrils flare. The heat rises in my chest, crawling up my neck like it’s trying to claw its way out. My pulse drums louder, louder, until it drowns everything else. Then it starts—
My mark begins to glow.
Shit. I’m losing control again.
This time, I don’t fight it down. But I won’t let it consume me either. Not yet.
Focus.
Get the merfolk out.
Destroy the Red Dock.
Kill that motherfucker.
That’s the plan.
My pulse pounds in my throat. I breathe steadily, watching her.
She grabs the pole, leans her breasts against it, and tilts her head back. “What magic potion am I going to use on my human today?” she purrs.
Perfect ass. Inches from his soon-to-be-dead face.
Not happening.
