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“Design will tell,” Kona said with a smug grin.
“Give me a break,” I answered. “Your design failed miserably.”
“Excuse me? I believe my design just kicked your plane’s butt, thank you very much.”
“That was execution from the aerospace engineer over there,” I said, nodding to Moku, who was yawning sleepily as he climbed into bed.
“That’s not true, Tempe. Kona helped a lot.” Moku was nothing if not loyal.
“Thanks, man.” Kona ruffled his hair and I bent to give my brother a kiss on the cheek.
“Go to bed,” I told him. “If you’re in good shape tomorrow, the doctor is going to let us take you home.”
“He better let me go home. I’m sick of this stupid old hospital.”
“I know, baby.” I turned off the lamp near his bed so that only the dim light from the bathroom remained. Then started to unfold my chair into a bed.
“I should probably get going,” Kona said, sounding as awkward and unhappy at the prospect as I was. That he’d taken the time, and energy, to do all this for my brother, reminded me of why I’d fallen in love with him to begin with.
He was brave and strong, and yet so considerate that it made everything inside of me melt, turn gooey. He was a prince, heir to the throne, and could have let that privilege turn him into a totally different person, one who would never consider flying planes with a sick little boy well after midnight.
“You can stay for a while,” I told him. “I mean, if you want. This bed isn’t the most comfortable, but if we squeeze you could lie down on it with me.” I pulled a sheet out of the closet, draped it over the cushions.
“I could probably do that.” Kona smiled and my heart squeezed just a little, like it always did when he looked at me like that.
In the end, he stretched out on the makeshift bed and I cuddled up against him, my head pillowed on his bicep and my hand resting on his stomach. I loved being near him like this, soaking up the delicious warmth that emanated from his every pore. Especially here on land, when I was always freezing, no matter how much clothing I had on or how hot it was outside.
We lay there like that for a while, long after Moku had fallen asleep, and I didn’t want the night to end. I knew that everything was changing, that soon nothing would be as it once was. I didn’t know exactly where the feeling was coming from, but it was there, deep inside me. A strange vibration that warned me something big was coming, something different and life altering and previously unknown.
“I have to leave soon,” Kona said, and I rolled to my side, pressed my mouth to his. I didn’t want to go there yet. Not now, when I was trying so desperately to find a way to fit the two halves of my life together.
He kissed me back, but it was a different kiss than I was used to. Softer, sweeter. The heat was still there, of course, but as Kona’s lips moved over mine, no fireworks burst behind my eyes. No dynamite was ignited. Instead, it was a slow, steady burn that had my heart beating heavily but not racing, my body melting instead of exploding.
I wrapped my arms around him, buried my face in his neck, and held on tight, praying that this wasn’t it. That he wasn’t saying good-bye to me, not now when I couldn’t imagine a life he wasn’t a part of.
Moku snuffle-snored a little in his sleep and Kona reluctantly pulled away. As his lips relinquished mine, I remembered where we were and flushed in embarrassment. Nothing like losing myself in a kiss when my hurt brother lay just a few feet away.
“Why do you have to go? Can’t you stay a little longer?”
He pulled me closer and I buried my face in his neck, breathed in Kona’s unique scent. I barely resisted the urge to beg.
“Things are getting worse. Tiamat’s raised an army and they attacked another clan.”
“Not Coral Straits!” I said, panic fluttering in my throat. Was this what he’d been hiding from me, what he hadn’t wanted to tell me?
“No. A selkie clan this time, which was why it was so hard for me to find Zarek and get him back here. The clan has called on my family for help, and we need to be there for them. We’ve been allies for hundreds of years.”
Guilt assailed me. Kona had dragged Zarek away from people who really needed him when it was his job to help them. If times were normal, I’m sure he would have come willingly. But something told me that to get Zarek here Kona had been forced to play the role of future selkie king to the hilt.
I felt sick at the thought of selkies who might have—probably did—die while Zarek was swimming here. Felt even more sick at the thought of staying on land when so much was happening under the ocean. At the same time, though, just the thought of leaving Moku right now had fear racing through me. Basically, I felt damned if I did and damned if I didn’t.
“I need to come with you,” I said. It wasn’t a question, but I wanted it to be.
“You need to be here for your brother.” He rolled over, tilted my chin up so that we were looking directly into each other’s eyes. “Do you think I don’t understand? I have siblings, too. If I’d had just one more day to spend with Annalise, do you think I wouldn’t have taken it?”
“But Tiamat—”
“Has been around for thousands of years, as has this fight. It isn’t going to change overnight.” He brushed soft kisses across my forehead, then down my temple to my jawline. “Take the time you need.”
He kissed me again and this time it was just like it always was—colors exploding behind my eyes, fire racing through my veins. Love bursting through me.
“And then come back to me, Tempest,” he whispered so softly that I almost didn’t hear him. “Please, come back to me.”
Chapter 25
The first night Moku was back at home, I had terrible nightmares. It was the only time my whole family had spent the night under the same roof in nearly nine months, so I should have been thrilled we were all together. Not to mention that Moku had been given a clean bill of health—something the doctors still didn’t understand.
And I was thrilled about both those things, I told myself as I climbed out of bed in the middle of the night. It was just that I was also worried—about what Kona had said and what he hadn’t.
Deep in the heart of the Pacific, things were going very badly, very quickly. They had to be, or else there was no way Tiamat would be brazen enough to attack both a selkie and mermaid clan within a week of each other. And while she hadn’t destroyed any major underwater cities—or any major underwater clans—she had picked those with powerful allies. Allies whose people and resources would be stretched while helping the others.
All of which meant she thought she was strong enough to stand against the combined strength of not just the two clans she’d attacked, but also against both Hailaina’s and Kona’s clans—whatever trouble we chose to bring to her doorstep. So something was going on. I just needed to figure out what.
I padded down the hall on silent feet, trying my best not to wake anyone. My dad was exhausted from all the time he’d spent in Moku’s hospital room, and Rio, well, I just didn’t want to deal with his brand of snark in the middle of the night.
Outside the house, the wind howled and I jumped a little, then shook my head at my own idiocy. Stupid dream. I didn’t remember the specifics of it, just the overwhelming sense that something was very wrong. My whole body felt strange, like I was moving through mud. Like the weight of it was slowly pressing down, smothering me. Crushing me.
