13
Raven
The portal from the fae realm spat us out into a large, cathedral-like cavern. Once I’d finished heaving my guts up, I saw two blue-skinned males wearing strange seaweed pouches over their groins, both holding scary-looking tridents.
Maverick tugged me to my feet and rubbed my back comfortingly.
“Oh my goddess, using fae portals is way worse than teleporting.”
“Only if you’re a pathetic witch with motion sickness.”
“One of these days, you’ll say something sweet and supportive, and I’ll collapse in shock.”
Kenji shook himself, sending a cloud of gray fur flying into the moist air. “Doubtful.”
My bear lifted me up and wrapped me in his arms while I tried not to think about the fact that we were miles under the ocean and I couldn’t swim.
“What is the purpose of your visit to Her Royal Highness, Queen Laryssa, the Esteemed and Most Beautiful Mer Queen’s Kingdom?”
Wow, what a pompous individual! Who greeted people like that?
“Sad mermen with no access to sex clubs.”
“That’s…strangely specific.”
“The mer people are very vanilla. A bit like the storm mage.”
“Kenji’s right,”Zane butted in, ignoring my personal boundaries as usual.“Vanilla popsicle is a useless fuck; I have it on good authority. For the sake of your sweet pussy, I recommend you ditch that stupid mage the minute we get back. I dropped a pin on a suitable volcano in my map app, just in case.”
“For fuck’s sake, nobody’s dropping the mage in a volcano,”my bear growled.
Farris cleared his throat and blessed the two mermen with his trademark sneer.
“I’m here as part of a trade delegation from the Autumn Court. These are my trade consultants. I request an audience with Her Royal Highness, Queen Laryssa, the Esteemed and Most Beautiful Mer Queen.” The fae pursed his lips while choking out the last part. It was a relief to learn it wasn’t just me who thought the mer queen sounded like an utter bitch on wheels.
The two mermen studied us all, their attention lingering on Kenji for longer than I liked. Neither of them paid my vampire any attention since he was disguised as a fae.
“And what is that creature?” The lead mer man grimaced in disgust at Kenji, who’d begun aggressively licking his butt.
Farris ground his teeth. I’d learned to ignore Kenji’s disgusting habits, but Farris hadn’t figured that out yet.
“My cousin, Kenlyn. He’s a shapeshifter who prefers to maintain his animal form while traveling.”
Kenji slurped loudly, coughed up a hairball, and then scratchedlike crazy.
The smaller guard frowned. “Has he had his shots? We don’t want any cases of feral shifter disease infecting our population.”
My kitsune’s head snapped up and he growled menacingly. The shifter guards stepped back.
A loud scoff from Farris echoed through the cavern. “He’s a shapeshifter, not anactualshifter. Are you two suffering from brain hypoxia?”
The taller guard flushed lilac and lowered his head.
“Apologies, sir. Please wait here while I call Her Royal Highness, Queen Laryssa, the Esteemed and Most Beautiful Mer Queen.”
“Do they have to say that bullshit phrase every time?” I whispered.
Farris nodded. “Yes, it’s protocol. I’d advise you to remember it for when we meet the queen.”
