AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gotcha!” The old mer gave my pawn a cockeyed look, his hand stroking through the wispy ends of his beard. “Now that’s how y’play arealgame o’ whirlpool!”
“All right, all right.” I threw my hands up in defeat. “You got me. Consider my ship sunk.”
The youthful glint in the old mer’s good eye was a sight well worth throwing the game to see. After all the information he’d given me, Klester deserved the win and then some.
A tongue clicked over a half-rotted tooth as greed broadened my new friend’s grin. “Uhm-hm. Sunker than a flounderin’ schooner. Time t’pay up!”
Saliva dripped into his beard before I’d even slid the pouches of tuna out of my pocket. “My lunch rations, just like we wagered,” I said, and his wiry fingers snatched them straight away. Hands shaking, he clawed at the pouches, his teeth chattering with eagerness.
My smile faded as I watched Klester practically inhale the slabs of tuna. Although his cheeks were smooth and his beard still full of color, the folds draping under his eyes hinted at his true age. Did the Atlantic not give back to their elders? The way his tattered shirt hung off his ribs told me he’d been starving long before coming on land.
The appreciation I’d felt when one of the Atlantic guards insisted on handing me lunch rations all but vanished as Klester’s tongue scoured the inside of one pouch, searching for slivers of tuna he might have left behind. I’d watched the same guard provide the old mer with the crusty end of a bread loaf and nothing more. Yet the younger mers got tuna? Things were clearly not as virtuous in the Atlantic as King Eamon boasted. My father was far from the perfect king, but at least he had the honor to care for the mers who’d spent a lifetime supporting his father before him.
Grating laughter came from outside, and I leaned back, my head easily slipping through a tear in the sorry scrap of a door the Atlantic had set Klester up with for privacy.
Of course. Her again.
Down the hall, Leander’s butt flexed uncomfortably, his legs shifting to accommodate the weight of the wavy-haired blonde hanging off his shoulder.Shameless. It was probably the tenth time I’d seen her approach him today, though it was obvious Leander thought little of her presence. Not like that would ever stop a mermaid. Once a mermaid had her eyes set, that was it. Death would be a mercy for anyone who got in her way.
A shudder came over me at the thought of the creepiness my oldest brothers had to deal with, and I shook the icky feeling out with my arms. Sure, mermaids were pretty. Their shiny hair and soft faces were a delight to look at. But they were also scary.Extremelyscary. Especially on nights when they mistook my bedroom for one of my older brother’s. I knew firsthand how quick those sweet smiles could turn nasty. One look at me on the other side of the door, and I might as well have been fish chum.
Popping my head back in, I swept the pawns off the floor to clear off the makeshift game board. “Thanks for the fun, Kles!” I said, and I meant it. He was the only one in the entire compound who’d been up for a game, though I never got to play him in checkers. His eagerness to get to playing had kept me from taking time to retrieve the box. At least it had saved me a walk to the aquatic center.
His face resurfaced from the folds of one pouch with a frown. “Y’leaving already?”
“Just for today, but I’ll come play you again, don’t worry.” I got to my feet and clapped a hand on his shoulder in farewell. “Gotta win back some of my honor, don’t I?” The sharpness of his bony arm was a surprise, and the startled look he shot at my hand made me think it had been a while since anyone had afforded him the respect of a proper parting. “If I get my hands on some pearls, I’ll teach you therealway to play skipjacks. It came from the Pacific, you know,” I added with a wink.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” he tittered, the smug look returning to his face. He combed out his beard for a moment like he’d already begun planning his strategy. Wiry fingers found my shoulder, and Klester waited until his hand stopped shaking before letting go. “G’on now. Thanks for indulging an ol’ mossback like me.”
“It’s been fun, Kles. Really. See you soon.” Drawing back pieces of curtain, I headed for Leander and the disturbing suckerfish adhered to his arm.
I rounded in front of the both of them with my brightest smile equipped, chiming in over whatever soft, flirtatious drawl the mermaid was currently aiming at Leander’s ear. “Hey, man, what’s going on?”
The arms around Leander tightened. Looking me up and down, the wavy-haired suckerfish’s full lips pursed into a nasty scowl.
Now why did that seem familiar?Oh, right—wrong brother’s bedroom door.
“Kaius Corentine.” She spat out my name like I was a plague, ignoring the fact that I’d addressed Leander before her. “Spare of the Pacific.”
Sure, I was used to it, but my worth being reduced to a number flared up an old ache in my chest. AndKaius?My mother was the only one who ever spoke my full name, and that was only on the rare occasion she thought to address me at all. Even if I hadn’t seen her trying to attack Claira this morning, this mermaid definitely wasnotfriend material.
“Excuse me, but I believe I misspoke,” the suckerfish continued, and the bloody stain of her lips spread into a practiced simper. With a mouth like that, maybe she was more lumpsucker than suckerfish. “Spares can be useful, and you are what, eighth? Ninth in line? Correct?”
My smile deepened. “Hi. It’s just Kai.” I turned my full attention to Leander, boxing the charming little mermaid out with a shoulder. “So, who’s the old lady?”
The appalled gasp that question got felt almost too gratifying, but it didn’t make the statement any less true. Although her skin was pearly smooth, it was her eyes that gave her away. She must have been in her seventies, maybe eighties at the very least. Nowhere near ancient by merfolk standards, but Leander was barely old enough to be out from under his father’s tail.
What was he, twenty? Definitely less than thirty. Much too young to be messing around with a mermaid in the prime of her birthing years.Yeesh. Even my brothers knew better—though that didn’t stop mermaids from trying to glamour them into believing they were too young to be fertile.
Sometimes being the forgotten fish chum of the royal line wasn’t all bad.
The hint of a smirk pulled at Leander’s lips. He hadn’t warmed up to me yet, but I could tell that comment had gotten me at least a little spark of a flame in his heart. Soon, we were going to be great friends. I couldfeelit. “Aleena Turbula. Her and her sister have temporarily contracted their services to the Atlantic.”
“Well, I hope you’re not paying her,” I mumbled, eyeing her bandaged foot. Claira sure had got her good this morning. It was the first time I’d ever jumped out of a moving car, but the scrapes had been worth it. Sure, a giant bull shark had swept in to help Claira before I got the chance, but watching her spear a knife into the lumpsucker’s foot was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. My father’s annual stingray races—the most anticipated games in the entire Pacific—couldn’t compare to the thrill I got from watching Claira defend herself.
When I looked back up, irritation had set the old mermaid’s jaw. Oh,she knew I knewabout her fight with Claira earlier. I cleared my throat and gestured between the two of them. “Because all she seems to do is stand around, hanging on your arm, likedude.”
One of Leander’s eyebrows lifted, totally oblivious. “What do you mean? Her and her sister work on surveillance.”
