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Another night doesn’t change anything. I’m still not sleeping, consumed by my thoughts of her. The books sit on my coffee table, next to the brass bowl.
Kill Nico.Leave the mate to them—the words on the paper echo. I’ve always known that one day they would ask me to take down someone I know. But Nico? When he’s already doomed to the chasm?
Poseidon.
I’ve left Michio out of all of this. I don’t know if he’s part of it. I fucking hope not. He’s always gone the straight and narrow, and if the timing had been better, he might be king already. But now? Now I’m going to have to follow through with what they want. But I will not be leaving the mate to them. Never.
If I kill him—when,whenI kill Nico—it’s going to break her. It’s not going to leave a space for me. The Stele pod is circling, thinking they can have her when he’s gone. Only there’s not going to be anything left. She’s going to be a shell.
I’m dressed all in black again because I don’t give a shit about Vividaria Festival, unlike the Permula Dome that has wrapped their main entrance in a froth of pink and white fabric, making the dome appear like a pink macaroon. I guess it looks good. Every year I forget that the domes have this contest.
Diamont is next to Permula, and theirs is the same every year. They shine extra lights onto their dome. It’s so bright, it’s hard to see. The reflective surface of the outside of their domes are bright on any given day, sparkling and sending beams into the dark ocean around them, but now they’ve even managed to isolate a bunch of illuminant fish around the top of the dome, casting upward shadows. It’s quite impressive, but it’s the same every year. So they won’t win the popular vote. But then they don’t care. Not the way that my dome Zaffiro does. It’s been nonstop building for the last month. It’s why I’m in black again today.
Pulling up in front of the Glyden Dome, I’m tempted to roll around the back side to see how things are going. But they’ve got some decent guards on the apartment now. Not just the sharks. I’ve watched the video of her playing with them more than once. But I’m hesitant to keep hacking into their camera. Castor’s got the best of the best watching. The last thing I need is for them to track it back to me.
I pull into the Glyden Dome. I’m so intent on getting to Annabelle and giving her my gift I don’t take in the dome itself. But inside the atrium, things are draped in foot-wide gold and blue streamers. The marble statues in the hall are draped in athletic jerseys, which I am confident aren’t part of the standard but rather from the high schoolers’ dome spirit week. I remember doing the same here. I spent more time in Castor’s parents’ apartment than I did in my own. So much so, there were several Glyden elders who didn’t know I wasn’t one of them.
I nod to the front attendant and push the elevator button without saying a word. Pretend you’re supposed to be places, and most of the time, those whose job it is to keep you out won’t say a word.
As the elevator doors slide shut, I incline my head to the male and push the down button. It takes me down to what had to have been a storage unit until a few weeks ago. Noviromermaid would be willing to live in the bottom unit. But watching Annabelle with her sharks, it really appears as if she doesn’t care.
Blubber fish. My palms are sweating. I’m a beached whale. I move the package to my other hand. I took it out of the wrapping from the store last night and re-wrapped it. The only thing I had was winter and summer tidal bags. I’m not even sure where they came from. My mother is probably seeing the Zaffiro colors. Luckily, the blue is on point for Glyden.
The doors slide open, and I don’t know what I expected, but a corridor full of delivery males and boxes of furniture isn’t it.
“Just leave it on the stack there. I’ll make sure they get it,” a burly male in a brown uniform says. He also has an orange Braesen ribbon pinned to the side of his hair. He narrows his eyes at me. “My daughter put it there.”
“Congrats.”
His demeanor changes. “Thanks, she’s seven. We couldn’t be happier.”
“I believe it.” I’ve never wanted a podlet. I can hear Annabelle directing males around in the apartment. Her voice does something to me. I not only want a podlet, I want a whole dome full of podlets. “Let me take something in for you. What goes next?”
“That stack.” He motions to the far wall.
“On it.” I place my package on top and head in after one of the other males.
“Delivery for you,” I sing. I focus on Annabelle.
“Eros! How nice to see you again!”
Nico’s peeling a protective blanket off something in the corner of the room. His grunt echoes. “Eros Herod, why are you here?”
“Nico!” Annabelle comes to me but then stops halfway between the two of us.
“Annabelle.”
It’s a conversation of names. But I get what’s going on. She glares at Nico.
“Bring that box over here, Herod,” Nico says. It’s a conversation that Annabelle won.
I wiggle my eyebrows. “Lovely place you’ve got here.”
“Thanks. I liked it before. But it is shaping up nicely.”
“Oh, I have something for you.” The delivery males are flowing around us, but Holter and Nico are standing behind her. Like a wall of Glyden. I hand her the package.
“Should I open it now?” She looks at Nico first.
