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“He needed me to do something,” I said. “An assignment, sort of.”

“Assignment?”

I nodded, my lips pressed in a flat line.

“What is it?” His eyebrows rose.

“Top secret.”

“Liar.”

I shrugged. “I’m not telling you.” I hadn’t even decided if I was actually going to do it.

“Well…are you gonna do it?” Brett asked, weirdly reading my mind.

I narrowed my eyes like it would help me read Brett’s mind. I shook my head. “I’m going to bed. I’ve got an essay to write in the morning.”

I had a responsibility to my family above all else. And now that I’d met Arya, it didn’t really seem like I had a choice.

Chapter 12

Arya

I woke up feeling much better. The ugly cry I’d had with Tobias last night had really shed the weight of mourning I’d been carrying, and everything about the current morning felt lighter, brighter. My arms were less shaky, my legs felt springy, and the pain that had been gnawing at my guts was now replaced by a gentle, energizing buzz.

I hopped out of bed and tapped on my tablet to look at my schedule. Surprisingly, today’s classes looked like a typical day at school: Math, Chemistry, English. Everything aside from my first class, which was Mastery—whatever that was—and my last class, Defense.

I was actually looking forward to attending my basic classes. I hoped they would offer a vital sense of normalcy that my life had been lacking recently. The idea of Defense did not give me that same comfort. PE had always been my least favorite subject, and Defense sounded like PE tenfold.

Although I definitely understood the need for it, especially after what happened to Mom, I had no physical prowess whatsoever. I realized that was the point of the class—to improve my physical abilities—but still, it did not appeal to me at all.

After getting dressed and grabbing my laptop bag, I made my way down to the dining hall, happy to know that I wouldn’t have to play musical chairs to eat because, whether he liked it or not, Tobias was my new dining partner.

I filled my tray and easily spotted the large dragon shifter sitting at a table with two other boys.

I claimed the empty seat next to him. His eyes almost bugged out of his head, and I thought I noticed his face turn a shade of pink.

“Good morning,” I greeted him and his friends, whose mouths fell open as they looked at me. “I know, I know, new mermaid and all, big shocker.” I decided to break the ice by diving right into it.

“Uh, sorry, do we know you?” one of Tobias’s friends asked, shaking his blond head as if he had long hair.

“Brett,” the other friend hissed under his breath.

Tobias gave a sidelong glance at the boy—who must be Brett—but didn’t say anything. I still hadn’t quite figured him out, but I chose to interpret his silence as acceptance.

“Tobias and I know each other,” I answered Brett’s question, pretending not to notice its rude intent. “We ran into each other last night and had a good talk. I thought it might be fun to get to know his friends.” I offered a friendly smile.

Brett and the other boy slowly turned their heads in Tobias’s direction simultaneously, and it became pretty clear that Tobias hadn’t mentioned our little late-night encounter.

Tobias looked at me for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip as if internally debating something, then said, “Uh, yeah, I ran into her here last night after the meeting with my father. She’s cool.”

Even though his tone sounded reluctant, my chest swelled at his verbal stamp of approval.

Brett looked back at me with a wide smile. “Is it true that you had no idea you were a mermaid until you came here?”

He was leaning forward, beaming at me like I was some kind of tabloid celebrity. Definitely better than treating me like a pariah.

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Yep. I’m a shifter newbie in every way.”