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Satisfied, I nodded. “Meet you out there.”
When Leander turned, I glanced back at the pool. Kai was still in the water, staring straight down at his junk, mesmerized. When he looked back up, a blush crested over his nose.
“Look, I’m really sorry,” he started, but I stopped his apology with a shake of my head.
“It’s fine. I kind of had a feeling you, uh, didn’t know what was happening.” I toed back over to the pool, my hand trailing absently to the side of my neck and shoulder. The nerves where he’d bit me still tingled underneath my fingertips.
Kai’s eyes went wide, and I dropped my hand.
“And sorry I bit you,” he intoned. I could see his tongue moving underneath his lips, slowly running over his teeth. Like maybe he could still feel the press of my flesh on them, too. “There’s a lot I can do with my mouth.”
I felt my brows raise, my jaw drifting open in surprise.
“Whoa—what?No! I—I mean,” he choked out. “My mouth does a lot. On its own. It does a lot on its own. You know, like moving around, not meaning to. Like right now.”
“No need to apologize.” I laughed, and his lips widened into a sheepish smile. “Things are different on land. It’s hard to get used to life up here, I know. Thank you for trying to cheer me up, though.”
“Any time,” he said, drifting closer. “I had a lot of fun learning. You’re a brilliant teacher.”
The pitch of his voice shifted, doubling, then tripling into a beautiful harmony. Syllables danced through the air as if carried in the wake of a speedboat, unseen, except for the uncanny buzz I recognized as magic.
By the time the chorus faded, my mouth had gone completely dry. “I guess Leander was wrong,” I whispered, nearly breathless.
“What? Did he say I wouldn’t know how to show you a fun time?” Kai asked, one side of his mouth pulling into a cunning grin.
“Ha, not quite. He told me mermen can’t use glamour, but I swear you just did.” His eyebrows started to crease, and I shook my head to squash another misunderstanding before it began. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to do it, but your voice just did this weird trying-to-draw-me-to-it magical thing.”
Kai’s face went totally blank, his jaw slightly unhinging.
“You guys getting dressed or what?” Leander called, and I turned to see his head poking through the doorway, his pointer finger gingerly kneading his swollen nose.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a sigh. “You need some help getting out of the water, Kai?”
“I, um… No,” he stuttered as I eyed the fitting rooms.
“All right, well, guess I’ll see you in a bit. I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’ll walk back.” I wasn’t ready to face Barren. Not yet. “I’m sure Laverne will be happy having you all to herself anyway.”
Why the heck did Kai seem so spacey all of a sudden? “Hello? Kai?”
Wait.Was he waiting for me to leave so he could, uh,playwith the water jet again?
“Never mind. I’ll just—” I sidestepped in the bathroom’s direction. “—go get changed.”
An image of Kai pressed against the side of the pool, back arched and tongue running over each point in his wide rows of teeth came to mind. My pulse surged, sending a hot flush all the way down my neck. I bolted for the bathrooms, leaving Kai to explore his wonderful new uni-dick alone.
So, Kai had a shark tail—so much for him being a bubbly dolphin. Did his true form actually havetwodicks? I knew little about shark reproduction, but why the heck would they needbarbs?
Call me curious, but I couldn’t help but start to imagine—
Groaning, I shook the thought away as I slipped into the bathroom.Better not.
Some things were better left a mystery.
26
Leander
Iwas about to lead us out of the chilly night air and into the warehouse when Claira took a long glance back. Worrying at her bottom lip, she let out a sigh.
