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“A shadow!” I called out, because the prattling of the cecaelia was getting closer, and I knew he would disappear at any moment.
A dark eyebrow rose, and the mist stalled, pooling around the seafloor as he turned back to regard me. “What do you—?”
“The answer to your riddle,” I bit back. “What follows each boat, each bird, each fish, each net. It glides across the ocean floor but never gets wet. It’s a shadow, youfuckingcreep.”
The mist all but evaporated as he swept in front of me, a firm hand seizing my chin and tilting it back until our vision connected. “I’ve been called many things, little captive, but this… this is a first.”
I couldn’t tell if it was anger or amusement that had his eyes going so wide, transforming the angles of his face into the vision of a shadowy sea demon. I glared straight back, pretending to be unshaken, because hell, I was going to die either way. But not before I told him what a scumbag he was.
“It’s true. Offeringgiftstochildrenin exchange for playing games, solving riddles? You’re disgusting,” I spat. The desire I’d felt only moments ago melted away as rage simmered through me, my ache quickly forgotten.
“Children love riddles,” he snapped back, leaning in, clearly affronted. “They amuse them.”
“So what?” I growled. What kind of defense was that? “Only a creep would speak to a child like that!”
Mist kicked up in a flurry of magic that sucked the oxygen right out of me, and I gasped, choking on water too thin to satisfy my lungs.
“A shadow,” he snapped. “That is correct, so I suppose I owe you agift?” Teeth bared, he lifted his heavy trident, and dark magic exploded through the dungeon. Something brushed behind my back just as the mist condensed, forming into a sheet of magic that wrapped around him, swallowing him up in darkness.
Body already gone, his deep, smoky voice was the last part of him to vanish. “Just remember, little captive, that not everything is what it seems.”
Three cecaelia were knocking down the corridor, and I couldn’t keep myself from trembling. Not because of the smug look on their faces, nor my impending demise, but because of what his tentacle had passed into my bound hands.
So he’d had a gift planned after all.
I felt dirty—sickened.
The spiraled ridges of a shell pressed between my palms, and all I could think of was a little merfry and how proud she was of her seashell collection.
“The Rook has called for your trial,” a feminine voice mused, and my skin crawled as rough tentacles fastened around me.
The largest of the cecaelia barked a laugh. “Trial? Now that’s a good one!” His fat nose scrunched as he leaned in, smirking down at me. “What she means to say is, ‘It’s time for your execution.’”
35
Laverne
The wind shifted, and I awoke with a mighty sneeze. Grit shot out of my nose as I jerked upright, and I shook even more sand from my neck and chest as my eyes scanned over the beach.
That was a fine meal and an even finer nap, I thought with a yawn.
Now that some time had passed, Big Brother had to be more than ready to apologize. I still couldn’t believe the tone he’d taken with me! Didn’t he know I was just trying to save him from that shameless harlot and her mermaid wiles?
I couldn’t believe someone as intelligent as my Kai could fall for a mermaid’s tricks, but here we were. Good thing he had me around to knock some sense into him.
My tail skimmed over something hard, and I turned down to see a square half buried in sand.Ah, the key to unlocking Kai’s door!
It was a subtle hint, but I’d take it. Kai must have already come around once to apologize—as he rightfully should have. I deserved at least three or four good rounds of apologies, as well as a peace offering of many snacks and fish after what he’d said! It was a long swim through the tides of forgiveness, but with time, I knew he’d somehow make it up to me.
Scooping the thin square up in my mouth, I took off for the hotel.
When I rounded the front, the doors sensed my arrival and opened wide with their usual flourish. I wasted no time bounding through them, my neck held high.
“Oh no, it’s back again,” one voice from behind the counter said, monotone. “And it’s alone this time.”
Eyeing the woman behind the counter, I gave a sharp snort.
How insulting! Did she think I was deaf? Even the doors were glad of my arrival, so why was she not? The more time I spent around humans, the more I didn’t understand their rude manners at all!
