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“I don’t care about being appropriate, Mother,” I reply icily.
This is the third time we’ve had this argument over the past week.
She examines the new tattoos on my hands and face, raising a manicured white brow. “Clearly not. Are you still cavorting with that fishhead?”
"Her head isn’t the part that looks like a fish, Mother. Helena is one of the Ice Mer Princesses, and you have a treaty with her father."
"She's not a good influence on you," Mother snaps. “Helena likes humans. She dreams of visiting the South. She’s far too much like that uncle of hers. Hades hasn’t been the same since his wife died.”
“Mother!” I gasped. “His wifediedin the Rebellion. He’s a DemiGod! You can’t say things like that.”
My mother ignored me. Typical. “Maybe I should send an ambassador down there, rethink a few things in our—”
I roll my eyes and huff. She stops speaking, glaring at me with her cold blue eyes. She always gets like this when I talk about having or wanting friends. Anything that could cause a rift between us is considered a threat. But I can care for more than one thing at a time, unlike her. "Goodbye, Mother."
Flinging my coat on the nearest chair, I huff and walk down the long lobby and into the chef’s kitchen.
The head chef Theodore, a Warlock who specializes in all things delicious, wordlessly hands me a giant slice of chocolate cake covered in an exorbitant amount of frosting the moment I enter his domain.
He waits until I’ve devoured half before sliding a cup of milk across the island at me. I wave a hand at the glass, and ice crystals form on the glass. Once it has reached the perfect temperature, I take a long drink. Iced milk can cure a thousand problems. I should know. I have many.
“Everything all right, Elva?” he asks, his voice low.
Theodore’s been helping to look after me since I was a youngling. He always knows when I need something decadent and filled with chocolate.
“Not really,” I reply, tracing circles in the icy condensation around the glass. “I don’t want to talk about it. One day, Theodore, I will get out of here.”
My phone rings, the shrill sound transporting me back to the present.
“You’ll have to wait,” I mutter under my breath.
Showers are one of the few things I enjoy in this life.
Standing under the rushing water in my shabby shower, I let the now-frigid water run over my naked body. Most Fae would get out by now, but I’m impervious to the cold. It’s in my blood.
After another half hour passes, my skin has begun to wrinkle. I finally step out and dry myself off using one of the frayed towels my asshole Vampire landlord left for me. “All-inclusive” apartment, my ass. My mother’s icy heart would stop beating if she saw the shack I call my home.
I can afford better, but why should I pay for an expensive apartment when I’m rarely home?
Toweling off, I glance up and see myself in the mirror. My long black hair is piled on top of my head in a messy bun, accentuating the sharp points of my ears and my ice-blue eyes. My white tattoos stand out from my dark skin, practically glowing in the dim lighting. They run from my face down my upper body, curving down my arms and breasts before disappearing beneath the towel. If I were to remove it, I would see the tattoos running to my hips before they disappear. I have none on my legs. Yet.
A project for another day.
My phone dings from the bedroom, reminding me of the missed calls.
Sighing, I leave the bathroom.
“Back to reality, Jerry,” I say absentmindedly, addressing the cactus on my windowsill.
He doesn’t respond for obvious reasons.
Picking up my phone, my eyes widen. “Dammit, Jerry. I have four missed calls and a dozen text messages.”
Silence is my only response.
Shit. I knew I stayed in the shower too long.
Three messages are from Helena, including a video of her swimming in the glacial waters surrounding her home. Her long, gray-blue tail with pink highlights swishes up and down while she soars through the water like a dolphin. She’s wearing a pearl band around her chest that glimmers in the sunlight. My best friend is joined in the video by two younglings, whose own tails flap around as they splash around ice floats.
