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I wasn’t going to find any cupcakes or unicorns here. Just a few mismatched blankets and a flattened pillow that might have actually been scraps of old material stuffed inside a graying pillowcase. Heat bubbled up from the pit of my stomach as I thought about whose bed I was cozied up in. Whose bed I would be expected to stay in until this whole trident-retrieving mess was over with.
Blankets fell away as I shot up and squinted around Leander’s tiny makeshift room as I waited for my eyes to adjust. Although I was alone, something about the atmosphere felt different from before I’d lain down. My eyes settled on the topmost blanket.
Running a hand over the velvety blue fabric, I frowned. It was easy enough to recognize as the blanket Leander had brought me earlier, back when I was first thrown in King Eamon’s crappy pallet cage. Only now, instead of sitting where I’d strategically left it—tightly wound up with a knife safely concealed in its center—the blanket was draped over me, its ends neatly tucked under the foot of Leander’s bedroll. It was heavier than the two threadbare sheets I’d originally slipped underneath, which puzzled me further. Why would a prince offer a prisoner something better than what he had for himself? It suddenly occurred to me that maybe the blanket he’d offered had been taken from his own bed.
Before I could process the twinge of emotion that thought kicked up, I caught sight of the knife sitting atop the box next to my feet. Beside it, a pouch of tuna had been laid out like an offering.
The affectionate flutter in my belly quickly turned into an insistent rumble at the sight of food. How many hours had it been since I’d eaten a proper meal? Sure, I’d practically inhaled two slices of bread while looting the storehouse for knives, but those hardly counted. I’d eyed the pouches of tuna in the storeroom earlier—as well as numerous cans of lump crab meat—but digging into them in the middle of the night hadn’t seemed practical, especially if there were merfolk nearby as overly sensitive to the scent of sea fare as I was.
Picking up the knife, I turned it over in my hand. It certainly was one of the better knives I’d scavenged, with a heavy handle and a sharp, serrated blade that would have worked well if I found my hands bound by ropes again. Leaning forward, I slid the knife under the foot of the sleeping mat and patted the top of the blankets in satisfaction. There might have been a rule about entering Leander’s room, but I didn’t trust merfolk and their rules. The last thing I needed was to be weaponless if some ornery mermaid tried to test her luck with her prince, only to find me dozing in his bed instead.
My stomach groaned impatiently, and I went for the pouch and found a second one stacked underneath it.There was a conversation going on outside, and I tuned into the deeper voices as I slid out from under the blankets and got to my feet. King Eamon was arguing about something so pointedly it was easy to imagine bursts of venom rolling off his tongue accompanying his words. Had I somehow slept through hours ofthis?My body bristled when a loud stomp punctuated the end of one of his outbursts, and I nearly dropped my precious meal.
Peeling both of the pouch’s tops open at the same time, I sucked at their corners, working bits of the tuna into my mouth as I listened. Better to eat in here than out there. Whatever King Eamon was so upset about, chances were it had something to do with me.
When I’d emptied the last of the tuna, the conversation only seemed to grow more heated. Unsure of what to do next, I paced a tight circle, feeling like a goldfish stuck in a bowl much too small for its size.
A goldfish thatreallyneeded to pee.
Releasing a sigh, I drew back the curtain to survey the dreaded platform. Three captains—thankfully all unrelated to me—a crown prince, and their king seemed to be stuck in the middle of some endless argument. An older gentleman cowered at King Eamon’s feet, looking rather shaken as he fumbled through a collection of papers with a quivering, ink-stained thumb.Gentleman?I shook my head, remembering that these weren’t humans I was dealing with. With how thin and weathered the old merman looked, he could have easily been two or even three hundred years my senior.
I felt my lips pull into a frown as I stared at the dark splotches dotting his shriveled hands. He was clutching those papers like his survival depended on it. The merman’s eyes were wide with an anxious confusion, as if he was unaware of why he’d been summoned or how to quell the anger King Eamon projected down at him.
With all eyes focused on the old merman, at least no one would notice me heading for the bathroom. I glanced at the back of Leander’s stiff shoulders, and when he shifted uncomfortably on his feet, my eyes gravitated down to his legs, watching the curves of his ass flex through his jeans.
“Mmph,” I breathed out, catching myself as I drew in my bottom lip.
Why was I like this?I didn’t have time for ogling.
Slipping through the curtain, I darted along the line of mismatched fabric as I headed to the back of the warehouse. When I got to the curtain that led to the cage, I swung left and immediately ran into the line leading to the one solitary bathroom. Six bodies deep.Fantastic.
My feet shuffled underneath me as I waited, and when my turn finally came, I was beyond thankful the merfolk had wound up in a warehouse equipped with a bathroom that offered some actual privacy.
“But where do they shower?” I mumbled aloud as I lathered my hands with a squirt of laundry detergent. It wasn’t what my hands were used to, but I wasn’t about to complain. I’d eat and drink their meals easier knowing they were at least washing their hands with some type of soap.
I casually glanced at the mirror as I rinsed my hands, and—Poseidon’s crusted cucumber—the image reflected at me was horrifying. My hair looked like some slimy algae bloom that a net had accidentally skimmed off the bottom of the seafloor. A fist pounded on the door, pulling me out of my daze.
“Almost done,” I croaked after swallowing down a lump in my throat. There was nothing to dry my hands with, so I ran them down the front of my shirt with a defeated sigh. When I swung the door open, Leander was on the other side, leaning against the doorframe like he’d been waiting for me.
My eyes rolled right past him to the line of irate faces belonging to the merfolk he’d cut in front of. “I guess royalty gets a fast pass to the front of the line, huh?” I said, sliding right underneath the arm he had braced against the top of the doorframe. Gesturing an exaggerated welcome, I forged a sweet smile. “It’s all yours, my prince.”
“Well, you seem to be in a better mood,” he chuckled, catching one of my arms with his. In an instant, he’d whirled us around, leading us away from the bathroom. “Walk with me,” he said, and I had to double the length of my stride just to keep beside him.
I cut a glance over at the platform as we passed it, swallowing my nerves. The captains had closed in tighter around the old merman, and King Eamon hadn’t seemed to be finished relaying his sentiments yet. The last thing I wanted was for him to turn his rage on us. “I don’t like the way your father is yelling at that old man. Is everything okay?”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, and his powerful arm pulled me in a new direction. “I don’t have a lot of time before I’m expected back, but I’m glad I saw you when you left my bedchamber. That red hair sure stands out.”
“My hair?” I winced, recalling what I’d seen reflected in the mirror, and hurried to smooth the tangles of hair out of my face as we walked. “Well, I’m glad it was you who noticed me and not your father. So, what’s the plan?”
We came to an open doorway, and Leander stopped. There were only two places in the entire warehouse I hadn’t scoped out: the locked storeroom and the room in front of us now. Although the door had been wide open last night, the guards posted inside the room had kept me from creeping near it. The same curiosity I’d felt then filled me once more. What were they guarding in there?
I took a step forward, but Leander held me back. “Just a second,” he said, veering us away from the door. I let him draw my body against his and had to hold my breath when his warm scent brought clarity to whose covers I was just wrapped up in. It was surreal having him stand so close, his striking blue eyes focusing only on me. Like this entire ordeal had somehow turned into a beautiful dream. These feelings he coaxed out of me with just a brush of his skin against mine were so wondrous. So intense. Almost likemagic. How could any of it be real?
A warm hand cocked my chin up, raising my vision up to a pair of eyes as they puzzled over my face. “Claira? Are you listening?”
Snapping back from my thoughts, I gave a slight nod, and Leander’s palms settled on my shoulders. “Listen, you can trust Barren, okay? As long as he’s nearby, he’ll make sure you don’t get hurt. But I need you to watch out for the short one. Don’t get too close to him.” Leander scowled through his next words like they put an unpleasant taste in his mouth. “I don’t trust him.”
“The short one,” I repeated, watching his lips soften like he thought I was about to agree with his appraisal. “He’s like an inch taller than me, and I’m not short.”
