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Now that I thought about it, she seemed strangely nervous around Barren. Had something happened?
The car stalled a few moments later in the shadow of a palace, and I swung open the door, eager to stretch my legs and get this over with. Well, perhaps it wasn’t an actual palace, but the building grew to the sky like a bed of seaweed reaching for the tides, its long panes of glass polished and doors embellished with scrolling hand grips. Definitely more palace than any of the other buildings I’d come across, especially the fucking metal box my kingdom was confined to now.
“Looks nice,” Claira mumbled, crawling out behind me. Kai’s pet flopped to the ground with a loud clap of skin that startled me back a step. “Oof. You okay, Lee?”
“Yeah, fine. A little jumpy after this morning,” I said quickly. Claira’d been right to think it was crazy for Kai to take a sea creature along with him. Like this was all just a game to him. It was obvious, even to me, just how out of place she seemed in a paved lot filled with cars.
The wind shifted, bringing with it the comforting smell of brine, and I reconsidered that thought. With the ocean nearby, maybe she wasn’t so out of place after all.
Kai slithered an arm around Claira’s shoulder, and I steadied myself with a sharp breath.
“This place isawesome,” he said, steering her away from me while his giant mouth hole started flapping in a way that put gulls to shame. “There’s this pool outside, but they tell me it’s closed for the season. Oh, and there are these cloud-looking things they put all over the bed. Can you believe it? I’ve been sleeping with them under my feet so I don’t thrash around so much in my sleep. I actually foundtwo morehidden in a cave they built into one of the walls. Someone comes in and moves them around every morning, and I have to find them all over again. Like a scavenger hunt!”
My jaw set, and I was about to lunge when Barren’s arm stopped me. “Let them be.”
“Fuck that,” I ground out, pushing against his weight with all my strength, but the fucker didn’t budge. “Fuck.” Claira was already disappearing into the building with that spike-tailed bastard, his annoying pet prodding at her heels.
Ignoring my struggle, Barren’s tone turned harder than this grip. “What is so important you couldn’t speak of it over the phone?”
“I didn’t want Queen Javalynn listening in on our conversation,” I said, relaxing against his arm. “It isn’t something I think you’ll want her to hear.”
Barren’s mouth hardened. I’d long suspected his sister could listen in on conversations over the phones, and he didn’t deny it. “What is it?”
“Cecaelia.” I took a long breath. “They’ve reached the Atlantic.”
“Impossible,” he dismissed, his gargantuan hand tightening into a fist that could knock my head clean off my body. “Unless—”
“Unless they took a portal,” I finished his thought, and we both nodded in grim agreement.
Barren’s arm dropped, his posture momentarily slumping like a warrior forced into admitting defeat. “Which means they already have my queen’s trident.”
He barreled toward the building in an instant. “I don’t think it’s in your best interest to tell her just yet,” I called, jogging to keep up with him.
“Mmh. You saw them too, then?” he asked after leading us into a room filled with rows of steps. He started up them, and his legs were long enough to skip levels in between.
“How would I have—?” I said, half distracted by the way the muscles in my legs stretched as I ascended behind him.
“Because I know what she can do,” he said simply. He kept climbing, his eyes set at the very top. “I’ve seen her power.”
Fuck. Well, that explained why she was acting so nervous. “Barren,” I warned, but he raised his hand.
“I haven’t told my queen.” Well, that was obvious. Because if he had, Claira would have been long gone by now.
He passed through the top door and into a long hall. “And you aren’t going to,” I said, huffing as I rounded in front of him. He was huge, and I knew he could tear me in two, but I wouldn’t let anyone take her from me.
“Mmh.” Unaffected by my threat, he pulled a flat square from his front pocket.
“I’m serious,” I ground out, but he swept me aside to wave his square in front of a door.
A voice called from down the hall. “Whoa! How’d you guys beat us up here?” I turned to see Kai’s arms waving wildly, gorgeous Claira walking leisurely beside him. How were they not winded? Had they not walked up all those levels?
The door clicked open, and Barren shrugged, not bothering to turn their way. “Took the stairs.”
Claira hummed with excitement as she passed me over to follow them through the door. “Gosh, I’m starving. You coming, Lee?”
“Yeah, I’m coming.” My teeth were still grinding as I walked into the room. It was Barren’s room, by the looks of things. Everything was perfect, down to the neat folds on the bedroll. Far too clean and organized to be inhabited by someone like Kai.
Claira walked right to a chair and took a seat, her arms resting over a table as she watched Barren fold in half, struggling to get into a white box. When he emerged, he held a long board filled with rows of food.
