Page 30 of Cruel Tides (Queen of Tridents #2)

30

Kai

M y jaw trembled with excitement. Or was it nerves? I pulled back, eager to see Claira’s expression now that she knew Poseidon’s blessing had tied us together.

Bewilderment framed her wide eyes, and my heart leapt. Bits of rice were stuck to her lips and chin, but she didn’t seem to care. She looked surprised, yes, but not the least bit repulsed— what a relief . It was mostly fear of her disgust that had kept me awake through the night.

That wasn’t completely true. I’d been flipping through hysterical excitement to worry to absolute disbelief since the moment Claira left my side at the pool, wondering if what she’d said to me in the water had been true. Poseidon had never made a more perfect mermaid—well, ex -mermaid—than Claira, so to think that I’d be blessed with such a kind, courageous mate?

Considering how I had nothing of value to offer her, it was hard to believe Poseidon had judged me as worthy.

I wasn’t particularly fast or strong or wealthy or even skilled with a polearm. Nor did I have the advantage of a crown pending over my head like my oldest brother—a trinket most mermaids seemed to be drawn to, like snook to the lanterns posted outside the ruins back home.

But seeing Claira now… The idea that the Atlantic was trying to force her to go into the water again had me crazy. Especially knowing she’d be going down there alone.

Even without the threat of dark spawn, I was still against it. If we were tied together, we had to keep each other safe. I felt it even now, her energy drawing me toward her. If we weren’t mates, what else could explain this magical pull between us?

No, we were mates. And just as it was my father’s duty to support my mother, I would support Claira.

But this hadn’t been the right way to tell her—not here. Not in front of Laverne, Barren, and Leander. Claira deserved something special, something romantic . With sweet words, yummy food, and maybe a game or two of checkers I had strategized to let her win beforehand. She’d love that.

But as always, my mouth had moved before my brain, and I’d messed everything up. Now there was nothing left to do but smile and roll with it. At least I had the rest of my life to make it up to her.

The rest of my life .

Excitement overfilled me with the thought of forever.

“Whaleshit!” Leander spat, and I braced myself for the inevitable, unable to pull my eyes from a dot of rice sitting so adorably on Claira’s bottom lip. If Leander wasn’t about to ring my neck, would it be okay for me to wipe it off? We were mates, after all, and it seemed like a mate-ish thing to do. It was something my father would have done, and the thought of brushing the soft, rosy skin of her lips… Wow . I couldn’t imagine anything I wanted to do more.

Still, I hesitated. I wasn’t blind enough not to notice how possessive Leander was over her. How closely she leaned into him whenever he was near. I knew I didn’t compare to him, but it was my voice Claira said had drawn her to it, right? Mine .

That was such a dizzying thought, I nearly broke through the tension in the room by bursting into laughter.

Barren grunted, and I turned just as he started yanking Leander off the top of the table. Evidently, he’d climbed it.

“Let fucking go, Barren,” Leander growled. Eyes flashed at me, teeth bared. The unspoken promise of violence burned in Leander’s gaze. Dude. I’d never seen anyone so angry, and that included my sister. The tips of his fingers dug into the wood as Barren dragged him down by the waist. “I just want to talk to him!”

“Mmh.” With a thunk , Barren had Leander’s feet back on the floor, his massive body pinning him down against the table.

“Thanks, man,” I exhaled, feeling the muscles around my throat tense. I had no doubt those fingers would be digging into my neck right now if Barren hadn’t intervened. My heart swelled with emotion. I’d only known him a few days, but Barren had already proved to be the best friend I could have ever hoped for.

When my focus shifted back to Claira, she had shaken off her daze.

“Mates?” Guilt settled between her eyebrows as she watched Leander struggle in vain to break free from Barren’s grip. “Why would you even joke about that, Kai?”

“I’m not joking.” I cleared my throat and straightened up, smoothing down the front of my shirt. “We’re mates.”

Her eyes glazed as she touched her forehead, humming lightly, like she was deep in thought. “Oh, you mean like friends, right? Like mates, mates? Australia—Australia borders the Pacific, doesn’t it?”

She glanced up at me, searching for confirmation. When I gave no signal, her chin slowly started nodding, like she’d already convinced herself she’d misunderstood my plain meaning.

“For a second, I thought you meant… Ha, that scared me.” Her eyebrows arched in relief. “So, your kingdom is near Australia? I was picturing California this whole time because of Laverne, I guess. But how was I supposed to know? Australia?” She broke into a dry, uneasy laugh. “You don’t even have an accent.”

“We are friends,” I said, and a pained noise bellowed from Leander’s throat like Barren had suddenly reached through his chest to rip out his heart. “But also mates .”

Claira’s eyes were on Leander when the usual curve of her lips fell into a heartbreaking frown. “I—I don’t…”

“Remember in the pool?” I asked, my eagerness to get her to fully understand me rendering my voice unsteady. “Remember when you said I tried to glamour you? That it felt like my voice was trying to draw you to it?”

Just saying it out loud was thrilling! She was drawn to my voice. Mine .

Claira squirmed in her seat. “Well, yes. But that doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means everything , Claira.” I swung around, taking a seat in the chair beside her. “There is this magical, wonderful gift Poseidon gives us called the thrall. It’s rare. Intimate. Something only known between the mated pair, but—”

“A gift from Poseidon?” Her boots planted on the floor like she was about to spring up from her seat. “Poseidon doesn’t give me gifts. He gives me curses.”

“No, no, please.” I eased a hand onto her shoulder. “It’s a beautiful thing, the thrall . At least, that’s what I’ve heard. No one speaks about it. I haven’t really ever even thought much about it until I met you.” I took a breath, feeling a wave of heat beat against my face. “You know how you—I mean, how mermaids —like to wander? Well, they say Poseidon tied certain mates together with a spell that would always bring them back—”

“Claira isn’t tied to you,” Leander cut in, spit bubbling over his lips as he strained to lift his chin off the table. “She is already in the thrall . So, you can fuck off back to the Pacific. Take your creepy pet with you!”

The color drained from Claira’s face. She swallowed dryly, her hands clenching the edge of her seat.

“Remember when you asked me if mermen can glamour?” Leander said suddenly, his chin grinding against the table to look her way. “Well, we can’t. What you and I have, it isn’t glamour, because glamour isn’t real. I wanted to tell you after we got the trident, that this—this thing we have. Us. It’s real, and I want it. I know you want to go back to your new life after all this is over, but I need you.”

“You’ve felt a pull toward him, too?” I asked, a strange numbness spreading through my chest. It made sense, really. Leander… he was a crown prince, and I was me. Never first, always the very last resort.

Claira was so focused on Leander that I wasn’t even sure if she’d heard my question. “You don’t need me,” she whispered, her hands shaking as she stood up from her chair.

“I do. I do need you,” he repeated, but she just shook her head like she didn’t want to hear it.

Claira’s eyes pinched shut, and when she opened them, tears glistened in their corners. “Really?” she scoffed. “Why? Because we sometimes do something weird with our voices without meaning to? Because of some thrall that is meant to keep us shackled together? Some spell from Poseidon forcing me to stay here, to stay put with you?”

Hands flying, she pointed a finger right at my nose. “And what about Kai, then? You said it was whaleshit, but I have felt it with him. Just the same as with you. So what? Does that mean he needs me , too?”

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 to two mermen, 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 this thrall thing 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. “Because neither of you is my mate. There is nothing between any of us, because Poseidon can’t choose when or where or who I’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 ignored the 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.