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“Nico is my friend, not my father. And I don’t listen to any of them anymore either.”
“Oh.” I can’t help but wonder if that means he wants to mate me or not. The golden boy is confusing. And I’m angry at myself for letting him know I want to escape. Of course, it should be obvious, but then he’s the first to pick up on it. Everyone else just assumes I should be happy with my new gift and behave.
I’m not about to behave. I did that back at home for too long. I didn’t speak up. I didn’t defend myself. This is the new Annabelle, one who takes care of herself.
Castor pilots thesoloaround a series of silver buildings. “That’s the Seolfor Dome. They’re fine.”
“Do you like any of the other domes?”
He laughs. “Yes, Annabelle. I like the other domes. I just like my own dome more. Glyden. And there she is.”
The golden series of buildings reaches for the surface. Archways stretch toward us. They’re connected by a web of gold. Anchored to them are pink and red sea anemones like roses on a trellis waving in the wind.
We enter another airlock, the reverse happening this time. Water drains out, followed by a burst of air that dries thesolo. Castor pulls forward and motions for me to hit the button again, retracting the hood. He holds his hand out for me. Amazingly, there isn’t a drop of water anywhere. I look back at where the gold and glass hold the ocean back. It’s truly incredible, and I want to go study the mechanism up close. But I’m wearing a ball gown, and I want to know what’s going on with Nico more.
“This is my family’s entrance. This tower belongs to the Drakoses. It’s mostly my mother’s, but lots of other families live here, extended relatives and trusted family friends. Most of my siblings live here too.”
The doors of the portico slide open, and we step into an atrium of marble and golden tapestries. On the wall is a portrait of a woman who looks familiar to me. I step toward it. The figure in the portrait is wearing a dress similar to mine. But her hair is braided up in the same way as the Flemish paintings of the fifteenth century.
“That’s Theodora Drakos. She was a grand dame duchess, a long time ago. A little secret, though: she wasn’t born a Glyden but a Seolfor.”
“She looks like a girl in my book club.” I’m not going to tell him the girl is my cousin. I’ve already figured out they’re looking for others like me. But we paid a lot of money to hide my aunt and cousin from my uncle. I hope it’s enough to keep them from finding her.
“Interesting.”
The room smells of honey and Meyer lemons, and it reminds me of the lobby of the Back Bay Grand in downtown Boston. I went to a wedding there once, a few years back. And I thought that was luxury. That’s nothing like this. This is over the top. “So, this is like your living room or the Glyden community space?”
“No, this is our family meeting area. The Glyden Dome has a separate area. Many, actually. This is, well, a room we walk through. I’ll take you up to my mother’s apartment, and we can wait for her there.”
“Okay.” I step into the lift, and it zips up. I know we’re moving fast, but I don’t know how far we’ve gone.
The doors open, and I swear I’m running out of words for amazing.
5
Castor
Ihold the elevator open for her. If she was overwhelmed by the opulence of the entryway, my mother’s penthouse apartment is going to send her into shock.
Annabelle’s blue dress trails behind her. She was stunning before, but in the golden light of my childhood home, she’s even more beautiful.
“What do you think?” I hold out my hand for her.
Annabelle’s dress rustles with each step. I guide her around the massive sculpture of Poseidon. He’s twelve feet tall and has a strong jawline and a remarkable resemblance to my grand papa who commissioned it.
I let go of her hand as she walks around it. I’ve seen it most days of my life and haven’t given it a thought, but watching Annabelle take it in... It makes my heart flutter. Coming around the other side, she backs away from it, finally settling near the window.
“What do you think?”
“It belongs in a museum.”
I laugh.
Her shoulders drop. “Really it does.” Behind her, outside the window, there’s a hammerhead shark. I tilt my head at it.
Annabelle turns and jerks back. “They’re just swimming right by the window. Are they waiting for us?”
“Sort of. They’re waiting for breakfast. My mother’s last mate, Constantine, trained them to swim by the window with a steady stream of bait. Mother calls them his guppies. They’re mesmerizing to watch. He must not have fed them yet due to the early docking.” I move next to her. “Do they make you nervous? I can close the blinds.” I take my block out of my pocket. It’s the device I use for everything. We’re all overly dependent on them. They’re more than a human cell phone. It’s what gets me through the security shield at the edge of the city when I go to land, and how I run the company when I’m in the Veiled City. The company which I’ve thought very little of since meeting Annabelle. Since hearing about her existence, really.
