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Oh—he genuinelydidn’t know.Man, mermaids were some shady ladies.
“You’ll thank me for this,” I said and cracked my knuckles.
“What—?”
My hands clapped over Leander’s temples, and his eyes went wide. Before he could react, I whacked the flat of my palm straight into his nose.
“The—thefuck!” His hands popped up to defend against another blow, but then he shook his head, blinking through misty eyes like he was suddenly realizing the weight on his arm. The rage he was going to put into wringing my neck shifted right to the lumpsucker beside him. “Youglamouredme?” he growled, freeing his arm with a forceful jerk.
Now things were getting good.How many months had she been working on that glamour? All to be ruined by the spare of the Pacific—so tragic. If only I had some of the buttery jumping corn Barren made for Laverne and me on our first night at the hotel.
“No, my prince. I—” She grabbed his arm again, but he shrugged her away.
“Get the fuck away from me, Aleena.”
Leander pushed past me, and I caught the sight of something pink down the hall.Claira?She was already speeding back out of the warehouse, her hands pulling her fluffy hood up, concealing her hair. Shoulders hunched, it looked like she was trying to shrink into her jacket.
How much of that had she seen before she’d turned away? My foot caught on the side of the lumpsucker’s heel as I rushed to catch up to Claira. “Er, sorry!” I called back, wincing at the sizzling hiss of agony my foot had brought.Whoops.
“Hey, Claira, wait up!” I called, meeting her out in the gravel. Was she okay? Her face was a sickly color, a mixture of kelp and spume. Like she might turn down and lose her lunch over the rocks at any moment. “You guys made it back early. How’d swimming go?”
“Swimming,” she repeated, and her eyes glazed like a nightmare was playing back behind them. She slumped forward, dropping her shopping bags to the ground. I reached to help steady her, but she backed away, planting her palms on the side of the building. Was she actually going to lose her lunch?
“It’s fine—I’m fine.” She massaged at the front of her collarbone and panted in a few breaths. “Everything is fine.”
“You’re, uh, you’renotfine.” I hated calling her bluff, but she clearly wasn’t. “Where’s Barren?” Scratching at the back of my neck, I glanced around for the car, but the entire lot was empty. Now thatwas strange. “Where’s Laverne? She’s okay, isn’t she?” Panic had already started creeping in when Claira shook her head.
“She’s fine. Everyone isfine.”
“Claira, please—”
“She’s with Barren,” she shot back, then dabbed the back of a palm over her forehead. “I had them drop me off because… because I…” She paused mid-sentence, her eyes totally spacing.
“Because you’re feeling so fine?” I leaned forward, crouching on a knee so I could get a better look at her face. Something bad had happened, without a doubt. “Swimming didn’t go well, did it?”
Gravel crunched as she crumpled down into the rocks beside me, withering in the way bubbles of sea-foam did in the sunlight. “I just want to go somewhere. Anywhere.” Her hands opened and shut, like she was physically trying to grasp for the right words to say. “I—I thought I wanted to be here at first, but then I saw…”
I tucked a strand of hair back into the cozy white fur of her hood. “If you’re upset about what you saw back there, don’t be.”
Lips pursing, she shot me a severe look. “Really?And why shouldn’t I be upset?” She paused, and her eyes swelled with a strange sadness. Her head turned down to the gravel. “And whyshould I be? It’s not like I own him. We aren’t even dating. He’s a… amerman, and I’m…” Tufts of hair escaped her hood as she shook her head. “I’m an idiot.”
She pulled herself up to her feet like she’d already gotten over it. Whateveritwas. She was upset about the lumpsucker, right? But how much had she actually seen?
“That mermaid, the one who attacked you this morning, she had Leander glamoured. So, if that’s why you’re upset, seriously, don’t be. He couldn’t help how she was hanging all over him.”
Claira shook the dirt from her pants and scoffed. “Yeah, okay.”
“It’s true,” I nodded, trying to look convincing, and tapped at the tip of my nose. “He had no idea she was even touching him until I smashed his nose and broke her spell.”
“Youwhat?” she gasped. “Is his nose okay?”
“Yeah, I think it’ll survive,” I said with a smile. “Well, I mean, hedidlook a bit teary, but I don’t think I broke it or anything.”
She drew her bottom lip in, looking equal parts worried and skeptical. “He was under a spell? For real?”
“Yeah.” I gave a quick shrug and straightened up on my feet. “Neat little trick, eh? Normal mortals are easy, but they say it takes a lot of time for us to slip under that kind of magic! His nose wasn’t the first one I’ve had to smack some sense back into.” I chuckled, thinking about my brothers back home. One good whack while the glamour was actively being worked on was usually enough to do the trick. Sometimes two if the mermaid was particularly ancient or powerful. “I bet she was working on him for a while. Way before you even got here.”
Claira worried at her lip, her head bobbing slowly in thought. My own lip drifted between my teeth as I watched her. This was good, right? She was obviously very close with Leander, and well, who could blame her? He was tall, had shiny hair, and knew how to move his butt in ways that could attract a mermaid’s attention. Plus, he was first in line for the throne, and that counted for a lot.
