AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Castor said he wishes you’d forgive him. What does he think you want him to forgive him for?”
“I don’t know. Something stupid, knowing him.”
Annabelle glances at the apartment door and back at me. And I hear it. I hear it as if there was an external voice announcing my jealousy of the golden boy. Fuck.
29
Eros
Following Castor around the city isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing. Besides, I know where Annabelle Portsmouth is—in that basement dwelling they’ve shackled her to. She’s so much better than that. A basement apartment in a dome of gold and glass.
Fucking hell, it makes me so mad I want to... I smash my hand on the control wheel of mysolo. I’m three days into this, and I’m still on the last case I was given. But it’s open and shut. The merman I was tailing is guilty of sabotaging Seolfor’s Dome. Sometimes I’m to make a quick hit. Other times I’m gathering proof before the swift justice.
There’s a saying there’s no crime in the Veiled City, but that’s a lie. That our punishments are swift and fierce. I say that’s a farce. There’s plenty of crime, and I’m the right person to ask about it.
After a few slaps on the wrist, the governors gave me an ultimatum to work for them undercover as both judge and executioner or face the chasm. I’ve been there. So I made the obvious choice. But then who’s the fool? The redeemed thief or the ones who trust him?
There are guards outside her apartment now, and some ridiculous sharks. I shake my head and rev my Gorsca away from the government building. Where Castor Drakos is no doubt trying to bait the hook on yet another governor to sway their decision on Nico Callis—no, Portsmouth.
Fuck. I should tell Castor it’s pointless, a waste of his gold. The Tinom governor has the governors locked down. And the governor of Stele, hell, he’s practically picking out a wardrobe for when he takes Nico’s mate for his own.
Nico is going to be exiled, but not before the Drakoses lose a whale load more of their money. Not that it will hurt them to share the wealth. I still don’t understand the loyalty between Nico and Castor. Have always had. But then it’s not for me to tell them how to live their lives. Castor’s damn family has more gold than... I guess they do own the largest gold mine in the world. I’ve never preferred gold, not when emeralds are around. The Zaffiro Dome produces the finest of emeralds. My family, actually. Not that I’m around the mines.
My blaring block rolls around on the empty seat next to me. I swerve out of the flow of traffic and settle mysoloin an empty spot near the Vitrom Dome. It’s bright and shines into the top window, the light bouncing off their dome like a beacon. I punch the connection. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. Where the hell are you?” Kaemon barks into his block.
“I’m around. What do you need?” I grimace. My second-oldest brother always needs something.
“Nothing, just warning you that Michio is on the warpath. He’s back from land and is doing his whole ‘I’m in charge’ dance.”
“Thanks. I’ve got nothing to hide.” Not yet, at least. But I’ve got ideas. And they are going to be worth hiding.
“Eros, I know that tone. Don’t get yourself in trouble.”
“Me? I’m not a troublemaker. That’s you.” I laugh. Kaemon the protector.
“I’m hanging up now.”
I smile as Kaemon disconnects. The whirl of my idling motors is leaving quite the wake behind me in this part of the city. It doesn’t matter. I’m not close to the ocean bed, and even if I was, there aren’t any precious coral gardens surrounding a good portion of the older domes. I make my way back to Zaffiro water space.
Unlike a lot of others who have one massive dome, we have a large dome surrounded by smaller spaces. I have my own. It’s unheard of, really. But then, I don’t play by the rules other use. My dome has two entrances, but due to my special circumstances, I have to be able to come and go like the governor’s trained dolphin. Normally I use my fluke and swim to mysolo, parked near a public airlock. But today, I’ve got plans. Plans that don’t involve getting wet. The airlock for this side of the dome takes forever. But it’s worth it. The endless walk through the maze of hallways that takes me to my own little oasis is less so. I half wish I didn’t have plans later.
“Lights,” I say as I scan my hand on the door.
“About time.” My oldest brother, the governor of Zaffiro, stands. His back is straight, his dark hair perfectly in place. Large and in charge. I have to control myself to keep from rolling my eyes. Most families have a favorite, but we have Michio, not only the youngest governor to ever rule Zaffiro but also the CEO of our family business. Some would say he does too much. And I would be one of them.
“What the fuck, Michio? What are you doing in my apartment?” I’ve got one of the best security systems in all the Veiled City. But then, it was Michio who taught me how to pick a lock and bypass the computer-controlled security of Mother’s liquor cabinet. “Keeping up your skills, in case you ever decide you want to go back to a life of crime?”
“I’ve never had a life of crime.”
“Whatever.” The truth is somewhere in between. I get a glass bottle of water from my refrigerator.
“What, I can’t come visit my best brother?”
“Kaemon lives with Mother. You can see him there tonight.”
“Funny.” He walks around my apartment, running his fingertips around the lip of the brass bowl on the coffee table. His eyes flick to the middle of it. A candle surrounded by ash.
