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Groaning, Aleks covers his face with his hands. “You know what I mean!”

“I am afraid I do not, boy. I think you have called our bond, which, if I am not mistaken, is the first and only siren mating bond in centuries, the mate thing.”

“Javi,” Aleks protests, and I see his cheeks flushing pink.

“Is this what I should call you when we are out and about?” I clear my throat and pitch my voice low. “Yes, hello, may I introduce you to my mate thing?”

Aleks starts laughing, and it is the kind of laugh that moves through his whole body. His shoulders shake, his belly dips up and down, and his smile is stretched so wide I swear my own cheeks ache.

I bask in it: the sound, the sweat beading where our skin meets, and the joy. So much joy. It is vast, and I know it cannot simply be mine. It is ours, shared along the thread between us.

“You need to eat more,” I tell him.

He reaches for another cucumber from the bowl cradled on my lap, and I gently smack his hand away, grabbing a piece and holding it up to his mouth.

Aleks’ body relaxes when I feed him, and I am so full, my heart almost aching with the rightness and goodness of being here with him, of taking care of him like this. “Someday, when it feels right, we are going back to Yucatec’a together. We were both ripped from our homes, and I want to be there, in the place where we are from, with you. Get a spot on the beach, so you can swim while I cook you a proper meal. I am going to sit you at my abuela’s table and watch you eat her mole negro until you cannot move, and then find a cenote where you can sing.” I press a kiss to his cheek and linger there, inhaling his scent. “I cannot wait to watch you dance in the waters there.”

“I have to get through the next round, first.”

“Tomorrow,” I tell him. “We will tackle that together, tomorrow.”

Chapter 16

Take What You Need

Aleks

I’m pretty sure I’m floating above the surface of the water. There’s a new buoyancy in my bones, a carefree sense of contentment I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before now.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

I should be panicking about how we are going to fix our routine. I should be reviewing each and every move, but instead I’m laying here like a leaf on the surface of the pool, staring up at the clear blue sky.

“Aleks,” Javier calls out.

Reluctantly, I swim to the edge of the pool. Cora is already there, watching me with a curious expression in her eyes.

Javier kneels down into a position that never fails to put his junk perfectly on display. I stare at it, already imagining how we might spend our time later. Maybe I can convince him to give us a break after lunch and we can—

—Boy. Focus.

—I don’t know what you’re talking about.

—Brat.

“Holy shit.”

I turn my head toward Cora, whose gaze bounces between Javier and I. Her mouth opens, then closes, before she blinks like she’s trying to clear her vision.

“You good?” I ask.

“Javier’s eyes. They’ve got green in them now.” It isn’t a question. “You’re mates.”

I turn to Javier, not sure what we should say, only to see him nodding. “Yes. Aleks is my mate, and I am his.”

A shiver goes through me hearing him say it out loud. Mate, mate, mine, yours.

Cora’s eyes widen. “You heard his song?” she asks Javier.