Page 40 of Taken By the Crab King of Atlantis

YEN

The next morning I wake to the luminosity that means day in Atlantis, with my phone ringing. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, but when I went back to my room last night, I stripped off, fell into bed and passed out after only a few minutes.

Because my room is on a high floor, it’s completely dry.

I register blurrily that the local time is 7am before I answer my sister’s call. “I don’t know how you did it, but it’s amazing. It’s all over the news.”

“What is?” I ask, confused from sleep. The last thing I remember is Karkinos leading me to my door and kissing me goodnight chastely. If he'd asked, I would have let him in, but in retrospect I had a lot to consider and am grateful for the space. It’s lucky I remembered to charge my phone.

“Chris has been busted — Evidence came out of nowhere tying him to organized crime. Do you have a secret boyfriend in the FBI or something?” The news is enough to spring me wide awake.

“What about the money he owed?” I ask, hand on my forehead.

“Here’s the weird part. I got an anonymous text telling me the debt has been paid off. He must have found the money before he got busted. In case it’s a hoax, I’m staying put for a few more days, but with Chris in jail, I think I’m in the clear. Isn’t that crazy? So it’s FBI connections, right? There’s no other way you could pull this off.”

I huff a laugh. “Something like that.”

“If everything goes well, I’ll be home within the week.”

Home, to our parents’ tiny apartment above their restaurant, where Aya will fight with my parents every night. “Wait, Aya…”

“Yeah?”

I’m not sure what I’m going to say. I’ve never had enough money to move out into my own place, but with Aya’s debts a non-issue, I have more money than I could dream of. If my deal with Karkinos is still on. “I’m away for a couple of days. Wait until I get back, maybe.”

“Oh my god, are you going to introduce me to your FBI boyfriend?”

I think of Karkinos in a modern suit and dark glasses. Which is absurd on so many levels, only one of which is that he’s not my boyfriend. “Give me a few days,” I say. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

I pick up the old-fashioned telephone by the bed. There’s a dial-tone. I dial 0. I ask the operator on the other end of the phone to connect me to Quan.

KARKINOS

It has been a long time since I’ve been on the world above, and the mission Yen tasked me with was honorable. Already my mind feels fresh, despite a lack of sleep.

Gods don’t need sleep, and for many years I didn’t sleep at all. In the past few years, I've adopted more human hours. Since Yen has come into my life, I am starting to remember how to be a god again. I roll my shoulder, testing the theory. No more twinge.

I return to my desk with a smile on my face and a crisp white shirt and dress pants on. Nothing ceremonial today.

A knock on my door tells me my secretary has coffee ready for me. “Come in,” I say, hearing the squeaky wheels of the coffee cart as the door swings open. My head is down, lost in finding the right name to report Corvin’s crimes to. “You don’t remember the name of Corvin’s father, do you?” I lift my gaze to her, and to my surprise, find Yen standing there instead.

She’s wheeled the coffee cart beside my desk. The smell is delicious. But that’s not why my nostrils flare.

She’s wearing something new. A knee-length dress in black, with heels so high I’m surprised she can walk in them. Stockings, and a sweetheart neckline fitted low and tight, hugging and flattering her every curve. Bright red lipstick. “Coffee?” She asks, with a raised eyebrow and a half smile.

I nod, temporarily robbed of speech. She steps around the cart and barely fits in the space between my chair and the cart. I don’t move back to make it easier for her when she bends over, her ass biting distance from my mouth.

She pauses. “How would you like it?” I don’t miss the way she swallows when she meets my eyes.

“Black, for now."

She picks the saucer and cup up in two hands and turns carefully, bending to put it on my desk. But I speak before she can set it down. “Hold it for me."

She stops, her gaze meeting mine again as she bends over, lowering the cup for me. It gives me the most perfect view of her breasts, squeezed together in the edge of my line of vision, heaving with anticipation.

I pick up the cup and take a sip. “Delicious." My gaze grazes across her breasts. She flushes pink but meets my eye again when I look back up at her. She’s coy rather than afraid this time.

“I… spoke to my sister,” she says. “Thank you.”