Austin bobbed next to him, chin just above the water. “Do you think I’d settle for prey? And I’m dating anapexpredator.”
Connor snorted.
“Connor.” Austin waited until Connor looked at him head-on. “He chased off all the other merfolk that used to live here. He hesitated because Adonis had a hold of Hal, and you were radiating power like you could sink the world, but he wouldn’t have hesitated forever. He would have killed you in that hall for hurting his brother. He won’t because of me.”
There was a flare in Connor’s grey eyes, a glimpse of a tempest stirring. “I wouldn’t bet on that.” He made pointed, dangerous eye contact with Austin. But almost immediately, Connor shook himself, and the tempest faded.
With a long exhale and a stretch, Austin’s legs merged and lengthened into a tail, silver and decorative. Minuscule compared to the two mermen close to him, but that didn’t alarm him like it had the first time he had changed. Connor ducked underwater to look, but he didn’t reach out to touch him. Tristan drifted closer, his circles winding in gradually until he was almost swimming a connected ring directly below Austin. Connor looked from Austin’s gleaming, unblemished tail to the scars that covered Tristan’s.
When they rose again to break the surface, Laurence was perched on the yacht’s deck, sketching furiously.
“You’re like a lionfish,” Laurence said distractedly to Austin. “Could you come back on deck so I can see better?”
Austin turned his back on Laurence. “Was there anything else you were looking for me for?”
“I wanted to check how you were doing,” Connor said. “But I can see you’re doing perfectly fine. Sam wants to see you by the way. Something about being friends.” He swam to the ladder rungs. “We’ll stay out of your city, but you’re welcome to come see me whenever you want.”
Austin cast a final worried look over Connor, but he was moving more easily up the ladder than he had been when dropping off the deck. Austin plunged underwater and swam to Tristan, catching him by the hand and leading him home.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Char was waiting on the porch with dry robes. “Summons from Prince Hal.” He thrust one into Tristan’s hands. “He said it’s urgent.”
Tristan frowned. “Did he say why?”
“Only that he needs me there too,” Char said.
Austin leaned against Tristan’s side. “That all happened in front of those delegations. Could it be to do with that?”
“I’d better find out.”
Austin thought it would be very selfish to complain about nobody being left to massage his shoulders and his now-sore calves. “Where’s Eli?”
“In your territory, is he not?” Char asked.
“No, I brought him to the city. He was going to annoy—talk to Inx.”
A faintly amused look crossed Tristan’s face. “Then I’m sure Inx will have him brought back in short order.”
Austin let Tristan lead him as far as his room, where someone had set a fire, and didn’t complain even as Tristan rushed out again. He set himself down in front of the fire and,when Reba came to check on him, growled about how sore his calves were.
Reba poured out oil to rub into Austin’s legs.
“I shouldn’t take too long,” Reba said. “It’s just us, so I have to watch the gate. Well, us and Lassie. But I wouldn’t expectherto stand guard.”
“I thought your job was to guardme?” Austin asked.
“It is.”
“And where better to do that than right next to me?”
Reba’s head tilted to the side. After a second, he grinned. “I suppose you’re right. Does this feel okay?”
It wasn’t as thorough as Tristan’s touch, but it was passable. “Decent.”
A particularly strong gust of wind slammed into the outer wall. Austin heard water strike the window with force. “Eli’s in my court.”
Reba’s wings twitched. A fleeting, seeking look lifted to Austin’s face and darted quickly away.
