Mortals sure loved their stories.
I stretched my arm out across the back of the booth, just above her slender shoulders, and angled my body toward her. “All right. Ask me anything you want.”
The widening of her gaze suggested she hadn’t expected me to say that at all. Which, considering what she’d just admitted to—not knowing me well—made sense.
“I’m an open book, Kailiani,” I added softly, meaning it. Whatever she desired to know, I’d tell her. It just might be more of a riddle than an answer, but her mortal mind wasn’t ready for the full truth of my presence here or what it meant for her.Thatwould be explained as soon as I figured out how her siren soul had become trapped inside a human body.
She licked her lips, her eyes telegraphing her thoughts. She didn’t want to dig too deep for risk of angering me, but she plainly possessed a multitude of questions.
I waited patiently, my thumb teasing the strap of her dress. It would be so easy to knock it from her shoulder and expose her breast to my gaze. Of course, the rest of the room would see her as well, and that would not do.
No, this woman was mine.
And I did not share.
“What, uh, do you do for a living?” she asked.
“Such a safe question,” I teased, not at all surprised she’d chosen that route. “I hold a position of management.” Specifically, the Aquaine Kingdom of the Mythios Realm. “There are a few million beings who thrive under my direction.” Closer to five million, really. All the water creatures of Mythios existed under my command, as did the seas themselves. And I supposed, technically, while I lived on Earth, everything water-related here fell to my power, too.
Not that I’d exhibited any of my abilities. The last thing I wanted to do was piss off the supernatural beings managing the entry and exit points on Earth. Unfortunately, they had the political power to send me home. Which meant I had to play by their rules.
For now.
“You have over a million employees?” she whispered, her awe adorable.
“No, I only employ a handful beneath my direct command.” Mainly my generals, like Maheer. “But yes, my management applies to several million.”
“What do you manage? Like, what industry?”
“I suppose you could say I work for the oceans.”
“As in, environmental health? Or something similar?”
“Exactly.” I smiled. “I ensure water is clean, pure, and healthy.” Which was why I hated this realm. They treated the oceans here as waste sites, not as something to be cared for and respected.
“Interesting. Did you study oceanography?”
I chuckled. “You could say that, I suppose.” But I hadn’t gone to school for it. Water was my natural ally, my primary mistress. “What about you, Kailiani? How do you feel about the oceans?”
She frowned. “Well, I’ve always loved to swim.”
No surprise there.
“But I’ve not really had the opportunity to swim in the ocean,” she continued. “I mean, it’s all around New York City, but it’s not something I’ve indulged in, I guess.”
Interesting. Perhaps that would lead to unleashing her siren soul? Or maybe I needed to take her home? It would be easy to do, but the uncertainty of whether I could truly trust her held me back. Just an instinct that something wasn’t quite right, despite her perceived innocence.
“Are you married?” she blurted out, causing me to snort.
Such a mortal question to ask. “No.” Not by her definition, anyway. The Human Realm ritual married corporal bodies—a superficial union that existed only on the surface. Such a tenuous link and very unlike the connections formed in my world.
The souls of Mythios bonded for eternity. It was how I had recognized Kailiani beyond her physical appearance. My soul knew hers because we’d exchanged promises once upon a time.
Promises that had blossomed into a vow the other night, marking us as mates in the oldest of ways.
Which, I supposed, did mean I was married.
To her.
