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“She isn’t like them. Despite what I saw, I know she isn’t. But she’s a part of them. She has no power to stop them from hurting us.”

Milan gently cradled Soulara’s face in her hands. “You have a choice to make.”

“I don’t want this.”

“You’ve never been one to shirk the hard work, Soulara.” Milan’s head tilted, and her eyes narrowed. “You feel more for her than you’ve told me.”

“No, I…” Soulara stumbled. She couldn’t feel much for Autumn. They were practically strangers, and different species.

“Your heart is involved. Whether you want it to be or not. The choice you have to make is not to choose one or the other, but to choose a way to follow your heart and protect your kingdom.”

“Perfect.” Soulara rolled her eyes. “Because that’s fucking impossible.”

She scrunched her nose and swam away. She was wrong. Her mother wasn’t a safe place.

She could trust the enemy or she could be the person she never wanted to be.

So what was it?

Queen or exile?

8

Holy fuck!

What the hell had all of that been?

Autumn had allowed herself to get swept up in the magic—literal magic—and she’d made out with a mermaid in the middle of the ocean when she couldn’t even swim! And then Soulara had just up and vanished. Like Autumn had seriously offended her.

Soulara had probably just figured out what everyone else already knew.

Autumn wasn’t worth it.

The barracks were so quiet that morning, but Autumn had barely slept a wink. She needed to talk to her commander. She needed to talk to Marshall. Her entire body vibrated as she got out of her cot and dressed in her uniform. She still had two hours before she needed to report to duty, but she couldn’t wait any longer.

Marshall was in the mess hall, hunched over a table and surrounded by his buds. Autumn bit her lip, glancing around the mess and looking for anywhere she could sit or slide in to talk to him, but she wasn’t welcome at that table. Rolling her shoulders, she stepped away from the mess and immediately ran face first into her commanding officer.

“General Chalmers.” Autumn stepped back and immediately lowered her head. “I didn’t see you there. My apologies, sir.”

“Don’t worry about it.” His voice was gruff, like it always was.

Autumn slid a glance over her shoulder toward Marshall. It would be so much better if she had backup in this conversation, but she wasn’t even sure if he’d agree to what she needed to do anyway. Autumn straightened her shoulders. If she was going to do this, if she was going to try and make an impact, then she had to do it now.

“Actually, do you have a minute, sir?”

He grumbled, glanced at the watch on his wrist and nodded sharply. “Five minutes.”

She hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly. Was he suddenly caring? No. She was stupid to think that. He probably didn’t even know her name.

“Walton.”

Well, he knew her name. But the annoyed tone wasn’t what she wanted either. Autumn straightened up. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” She’d prefer to have this conversation in private, but he didn’t exactly look like he would leave, and she wasn’t brave enough to even ask. “The other day, when I was down in the water with Marshall, there was an attack.”

General Chalmers’s face pinched. The change was almost imperceptible, but Autumn had spent her entire life looking for those small changes in the people around her. She weighed everything, including the energy someone gave off. That’s why whatever had happened with Soulara was so odd. Autumn never trusted that quickly.

And trust it had been.

“Walton.”