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I’m done and out of the shower before they finish, then I find some clothes. They’re two sizes too small. Kai’s mates must be shrimp.
This has gone on long enough. Annabelle’s going to see it that way. I go across to the dressing room door and take the key from where Castor put it back earlier. I put it in the lock, but my cheeks tighten, and I pull it out. Palming the key, I knock. “Annabelle.”
“Are you ready to apologize?”
I’m not apologizing for taking charge in my own podbed. I grit my teeth. “We need to talk.”
No answer. I stand and stare at the door, feet shoulder-width apart, hands behind my back. Key digging into my palm. There is no answer, but I can hear her moving around on the other side of the door. I close my eyes. Patience. Patience to wait for battle, patience to wait for food, patience to wait for things that are important. And she is. She is important.
11
Annabelle
Nico is outside the door. I duck my head and look through the peephole. He’s so handsome. Well, his chest is. That’s what I can see. I grimace at the door handle.
The doors are gold but not metal. I’ve seen what he can do. If he wants in, he’s coming in. I pace away from the door and back to it. I’m strong. They don’t have control over me. So what if Castor doesn’t want to be my mate? It’s fine. It’s no big deal that Holter can’t be my mate. I’m leaving.
I don’t have a fluke.
It doesn’t matter.
At all.
So why does my heart feel like it’s had everything and is shattered at the same time? I need to be stronger than this. I can do it.
I open the door.
“Annabelle.”
“Nico.”
He’s not budging, and he has this way of holding his face completely still, like he’s constipated or a mannequin in one of those stores where the music’s too loud. And it hits me: what am I, Annabelle Portsmouth, doing here? This is beyond crazy. They aren’t going to commit to me. Even the one who says he’s my mate is willing to die for his cause.
I’m a pawn.
Just like I was on the farm.
No.
I’m not going to do it. The lessons on theCentaurimade it out like mermaids have all the power. But just like the history books at home, it’s all a lie. The males here, once they’ve gotten you, they don’t know what to do with you.
I need to go home. I will go home. Lock up my heart and keep them the hell out of it. No more tears for them. They are just a way out. In three weeks, classes will start back up. I have three weeks before I risk losing my scholarship. I’m going back to Boston.
I bite the inside of my cheek. I’m not repeating anything. Not his name, not a whimper. I played the staring game with barn cats back home. I’m not losing this one.
He scrubs his hand over his face, and I catch a glint of gold in his palm. “I was wrong.”
Fluorine, Uranium, Carbon, and Potassium.“You were what now?”
His cheek actually twitches. This might be pushing him too far. But I don’t care. He inhales deeply. “I believe you heard me. But this one time, I will say it again. I’ve done many things wrong. Starting with mating you without explaining why.” He glances down at the floor and back up to my eyes. “Changing you surely must have caused you stress.”
I’m holding on to the door. He’s got the right words, but they don’t change anything. “Stress?” It’s a good thing I’m not holding anything because I’d throw it right at his damn handsome face. My mermaid hormones are going off. I squeeze my legs together. “You sure as hell were wrong. Being ripped from your home, changed, and moved across the world where you don’t know anyone... where people either want you or despise you. . . I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Right.” I’m a little flabbergasted. It’s a ploy. I’m not that naïve. Not anymore.
“Will you come back to the pod room or let me in? There’s much we should talk about.”
