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“The joke is on you because I have enough of that on my own,” he spat. She shoved him and angrily stomped down the hallway.

Raziel followed his wife, annoyed by the lingering glances of the warriors stationed throughout the hallway.

“Leave me alone,” she growled, glaring over her shoulder at him.

“Not until I know you’re not going to cut anyone down on your way to your room.”

Her scowled deepened. “The only person I want to kill is you.”

He was tired of this charade. “Then why not do it.” Raziel stopped and held his arms out.

Mer swung around, her chest heaving in a way he should not be noticing. She didn’t move from her spot but glared at him, her fingers clenching and unclenching.

Raz slowly spun in a circle, giving her his back. It was as good a chance as any.

“What? Not so brave when you’re not using your Lure to disarm your victims?”

The Sirenidae shook. “If you were struck dead right now, I would dance on your corpse and wear your bones in my hair.”

Raziel grinned and sauntered forward, eating up the space between them. He leaned down, almost touching her nose with his own. “I didn’t know you cared that much to carry me with you wherever you go.”

Her nostrils flared. “It wasn’t a compliment, you dimwit.”

“By the way,” he pointed over his shoulder, “Your room is that way.”

Mer hissed and swung around him in an angry cloud of black velvet. Little did she know he’d sent her toward the commodes.

Chapter Sixteen

MER

“Time to go!”

Mer glanced over her shoulder to the dowager queen, who swept into the suite like she owned it. She spun slowly and slung a hip against the stone banister of the balcony despite her pounding heart. The fear of heights had always plagued her, but fear was just part of the mind. A person could work through it. Or so she told herself.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Mer asked. After her little appearance the night before, she’d hoped that they would leave her to her own devices for a few days. She had hoped that the king might show up so she could give him a tongue lashing for the trick he’d pulled last night.

Do you really want to see him?

She’d tipped her hand. The bloody man just made her see red. He ruined every carefully well thought out plan by just breathing.

It was annoying.

“Come inside, daughter,” the dowager queen called, walking to Mer’s breakfast platter and eyeing the spread. “Does the food not meet your expectations?”

It was clear the older monarch wasn’t going anywhere.

Mer left the open balcony and trudged back inside, missing the fresh air already. She padded to the fire and held her hands out to warm them. “It was sufficient.”

“You hardly touched a thing.”

She turned and met the queen’s narrowed gaze. “I ate the fruit.”

“You need protein. You must build your strength.”

“I agree, but not cooked ham and eggs.” Her stomach rolled just thinking about the cooked greasy meat.

The dowager queen cocked her head. “Too heavy?”