Page 8

eight

ARIA

By some miracle, I managed to find my way out of the castle and onto the beach.

No one I passed had chased me out or tried to stop me, so I assumed it was safe enough from the selkies.

And the kelpies’ magic wouldn’t work on me with my shiny new mate bond, so I wasn’t worried about that either.

I walked on the sand for ten minutes or so before finally sitting down.

I was far enough away from the water that the waves shouldn’t have reached me, but I hadn’t managed to get away from the castle.

That thing was monstrous.

The wind kept blowing my hair away from my chest, exposing my bare tits, but I was too overwhelmed by everything else to care who I might be flashing.

It was just going to be their lucky day.

Sitting down on the sand, I tried not to let my mind wander back to Triton and his damn magic, but I failed.

Repeatedly.

“Can I sit here?” a woman called over the wind, after a few minutes had gone by.

My head jerked toward her, and I found a merrae female wearing pastel pink sea silk.

Her hair was a similar shade, but it was clearly dyed, fading in multiple places and totally orange from bleach in others.

She sat down beside me, spreading her legs out in front of her like she was trying to catch all of the sun.

Her olive skin practically glowed, and her eyes were a bright shade of green.

“I’m Aria,” I said, figuring I should be polite enough for an introduction at the very least.

“I’m Joa,” she said.

“You’re the new queen.”

“I guess.”

She snorted.

“You and everyone else. We don’t like newcomers, but we’re trying to adjust. Kind of.”

“I can tell. And I can assure you, I’m not any more excited about the situation than everyone else.”

Joa cackled.

“I thought half our people would keel over when the vote about Triton taking a mate went through.”

She lowered her back to the ground and spread her arms out.

Maybe she really was sunbathing.

“Some people don’t care about breeding?” I asked, curious.

“Some of us lost our mates in the war. We’re bitter. It’s hard to want someone else to have love and babies when you’re pissed you’re still alive.”

“I get that. I don’t actually want a baby right now, though.”

“I don’t blame you. Some of the women having them right now feel similarly, but the alternative is letting merrae die out. If we get enough new blood and marry them off to humans when they’re grown, we can prevent our numbers from falling when those who lost their mates finally fade out.”

My forehead creased.

“You fade when your mate dies? You just disappear?”

“Yup. Takes fucking forever, though. A century or two. It’s a long-ass time to live without your other half.”

Damn.

“I didn’t realize it was that serious. Triton is obsessive, but I kind of thought that was easing up. He let me come out here alone now that our bond is sealed.”

Joa snorted.

“Look behind you.”

I looked back and saw nothing but a beautiful, empty beach leading up to the castle.

“Higher.”

My gaze lifted, and I immediately saw what she was talking about.

Or who she was talking about.

Triton was sitting on a balcony’s railing.

His attention was focused solely on me.

I looked back to the ocean with a soft breath out.

Geez.

“You’re everything to your mate, regardless of how you feel about it. Considering who you’re mated to, the chance of you being truly alone while we’re not at peace with the selkies is zero. He’s not going risk losing you.”

I changed the subject.

Talking about Triton was going to make me feel things, and I was trying not to do that.

“What are the selkies like, in your opinion?”

“Smart.” Joa lifted a shoulder.

“Smarter than us, obviously. They were selfish during the Dragons’ War, but sometimes being selfish is the smartest thing. And sometimes, the right thing to do isn’t smart. We knew what we could lose when we joined the fight. We just thought we would be sacrificing our own lives, not the lives of everyone who stayed home. You can’t really blame us for being bitter.”

“No, I can’t.”

I had lost my mom.

I knew the deep, drowning pain that came with loss.

“At the same time, it’s hard to blame them for making a different choice. Our issue with them isn’t their selfishness then. It’s that they’re trying to take control of the sea now.” Jolie stared up at the sky.

Hopefully the sun in Alterrae couldn’t burn your eyes like the one on Earth could, because she was staring straight at it.

I glanced over at her again.

Something about her seemed a little off, but not in a bad way.

“Did Triton want a mate when all of you were voting?” I asked.

“Oh, no. Well, not no. Just not yes either. He was neutral.”

That made sense, I guess.

“Whatever he really felt, I doubt he would share it. The merrae who were vocal about him helping continue our species wouldn’t give a damn if he didn’t want a mate. Those who were loud about maintaining the tradition of an unmated king wouldn’t be swayed if he wanted a partner. He didn’t even get a vote.”

“Seriously? What if he was into men?”

“Most of us knew him before he was the king, so we didn’t have to wonder whether he wanted a woman. Pros and cons of living forever unless killed, I guess.”

I grimaced.

Whatever his past was with relationships, I didn’t really want to know.

Even if part of me itched to find out.

“I can’t imagine he would choose to stay single if there was another option,” Joa said.

“He’s been on the throne too long to pick loneliness.”

“Seems better to stay single and a bit lonely than to end up mated to the wrong person after abducting them from Earth.”

She snorted.

“Sounds specific.”

“Nah.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

It was more comfortable than I would’ve expected.

“What did you vote?” I finally asked.

“Against him taking a mate.”

Her response caught me off guard, and my head jerked toward her.

Her lips curved in a humorless smile.

“Giving the selkies half the throne would’ve solved our problems with them completely. Mating him to you only made them worse.”

I stared at her for a long moment.

She shrugged.

“Would’ve been better for you if he didn’t abduct you anyway, right?”

“Well, yes. I think.”

“No one loses if he shares his throne with the selkies. If he mates with you, everyone does.”

“It’s a little too late,” I finally said, turning away from her.

“We can agree on that.” She stared up at the sky some more.

I probably should’ve ended the conversation there, but finding out what the rest of the kingdom thought about my situation seemed like a better call.

Even if it kind of sucked.

“What would the merrae do if I used birth control?” I asked.

“Nothing, if they didn’t find out. If they did, I’m sure you would hear many lectures about the continuation of our species. You’ll probably hear those lectures anyway, though,” Joa said.

“Lovely.”

“Mmhm. Luckily, there are a whole host of newly-mated couples in the castle, so the focus will be split.”

My eyebrows shot upward.

“Seriously? I’m not the only turned human here?”

“Not even close. Last I heard, we were nearing four hundred turned humans.”

“Holy shit.” After taking a moment to process that, I asked, “Do you have a mate?”

“I do. She passed on during the war. Unlike me, she was a healer. An actual hero.”

So Joa was fading.

She was probably one of the bitter people she had mentioned.

“I’m sorry.”

“I had a long life with the perfect mate. Dying isn’t a hardship for me. I only wish I could fade faster.”

“Then… I guess I’m happy for you, instead.”

She smiled.

“The fertility-suppressing plants are large, fuzzy balls in different colors. The roots are what you use, but you need to dry them out first or they’ll make you violently ill. You only need a shaving or two before things get kinky during your breeding time, and most people just add it to a glass of water to dull the taste. They grow along the cliffs in that direction.” She pointed toward the ocean with her entire arm, still lying on her back.

The plants were clearly underwater.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I can swim alone. I’ve only shifted once, and I’d rather not be attacked by a selkie or kelpie.”

“Triton will follow you in, so your safety is unavoidable.”

“Is he still back there?”

“I’m sure he is.”

“It’ll make me look suspicious if I check again.”

“You’re really not understanding the mate thing. He wants you to look. He wants you to give him a reason to get off that balcony and come down here with you.”

“You’re forgetting that our mate bond only exists because your group didn’t win the vote,” I pointed out.

“Even the most cold-hearted man, which Triton is not, will feel drawn to spend time with their mate. You’ll see.”

“Sure.”

“If you don’t believe me, just get in the water. I bet he’s at your side in less than a minute.”

“The castle’s more than a minute away from the water,” I countered.

“I’ll start counting when you run.”

I laughed.

But, after a little more consideration, I genuinely did want to know if he’d follow me in.

And I really did want to have one of those plants, even if there was no point in using it yet.

At least I’d be ready for when it was time.

So, I waited a beat.

And launched to my feet, taking off into the water as fast as I could.

Which wasn’t incredibly fast, because I wasn’t a runner.

But hey, I was trying.

Water splashed around me as I struggled to move quickly through it.

It was only to my bare breasts when a pair of warm, gigantic hands caught my waist.

“What are you doing, Sweetheart?” Triton spoke into my mind, sounding slightly wary.

“What did Joa say?”

“Fifty-two seconds!” Joa yelled.

I laughed again.

Triton pulled my back to his chest.

“Fifty-two seconds for what?”

“I didn’t think you’d follow me into the water. Joa said you’d be here in less than a minute.” I glanced backward, having to lean a little to look past Triton’s gigantic arm.

She was sitting up again, watching us.

“You win!”

She grinned, feigning a bow before she lowered her back to the sand again.

“Why are you making bets about whether or not I’d follow you? Of course I would,” Triton said.

“I know you only mated with me because half your people lost a vote.”

“You are my mate, regardless of how it happened.”

I tried to push his hands off my waist, but Triton’s grip tightened.

When I gave up on escaping him and waded in deeper, he walked with me.