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I opened my mouth, but she kept on talking, her hands gesturing wildly.
“Two mates? No, I don’t think so. Both of you are mistaken, because that… that wouldn’t even make sense. Why would Poseidon want to tie anyone totwomermen, especially ones that live so far apart? A mermaid would have to travel back and forth and back and—”
Claira’s eyes went wide.
Everyone in the room seemed to shift uncomfortably—even Leander, pinned as he was under Barren’s weight.
“My mother is gone about half the year,” I spoke aloud, just as the thought crossed into my head. “She says she likes to visit brackish water when she can. To use her song to guide ships through storms and watch the seasons change from the shoreline.”
“Same with mine,” Leander said stiffly. “More, maybe. Though I was too young when she passed to remember a time when she was alive.”
Claira’s head started shaking. “No. No, no. You just told me thisthrallthing was rare.”
“It is,” Barren broke in, slowly lifting his weight off Leander’s back. “Or so mermen are taught.”
“But, dude… How could we really know?” I asked, finishing Barren’s thought. I didn’t have much experience with mermaids, but I was certain there must be a difference between glamour and the sweet way Claira’s words seemed to sing to me. Right?
Leander cursed as he stretched up to full height. “I wouldn’t put it past them.Fuck.”
“Wait, so you think mermaids are going around, living double lives, having secret families?” Claira gnawed at her lip. “Well, my mother left my birth father all alone to raise me, so maybe…”
A shiver shot up my back as Leander’s gaze slid, his eyes piercing like twin spear-tips aimed at my throat. “So, Kaius. What are you and me going to do about this?”
“I, uh—”Oh no. The way he’d hissed my full name had my neck already prickling with pain.
“You’ll do nothing,” Claira cut in, her hands pushing between us. “Becauseneitherof you is my mate. There is nothing between any of us, because Poseidon can’t choose when or where orwhoI’m supposed to be with!”
Like fish struck by the hull of a ship, both Leander and I reared back.
Claira’s eyes flicked to mine, and the panic I found there hit like a second blow. She’d been bold with her words, but deep inside, she was petrified.
It was because of my big mouth. I’d made her absolutely terrified at the thought of being tied to anyone.
“Claira, please,” I soothed, not caring about changing her mind, but wanting to comfort her. She had to know that even if she ignoredthe thrall, everything would be okay. The thought of living without her made me ill, but I’d accept her rejection somehow. If it was for her, I could do it. I’d learn to move on.
“Claira,” Leander whispered, reaching for her. His voice was soft, more tender than I ever expected to hear, though it wasn’t enough to stop her from jerking away from him and heading for the door. “That’s why I wanted to wait. I wanted to talk to you about this after we got the trident back, after everything was settled—”
The last thing I saw before the door slammed was a streak of red. Her beautiful hair.
“Fuck.” Leander collapsed forward, his fist striking the top of the table like he’d just felt his entire future—his every happiness—escape him, sifting through his fingers like sand carried away by the tide.
Exactly the same way I felt.
31
Claira
Both of them really thought I was theirmate?
And not even by their own choosing, but because of ancient magic cast by some dead guy?
Sea god or not, Poseidon would never have that kind of control over me. I’d rather die alone.
But Kai and Leander both seemed ready and willing to go along with it. Didn’t they realize how insane it was? How delusional they sounded?
I veered along the side of the hotel until the walkway twisted into a boardwalk, pausing at the first step to look out at the ocean view. Lazy waves and untouched sand rolled out before me, its beauty making me yearn for home all the more.
Leander “needed” me? No. Dad and Gram. They were the ones who needed me. Truly needed me—just as much as I needed them.
