Page 35 of Cruel Tides (Queen of Tridents #2)

35

Laverne

T he wind shifted, and I awoke with a mighty sneeze. Grit shot out of my nose as I jerked upright, and I shook even more sand from my neck and chest as my eyes scanned over the beach.

That was a fine meal and an even finer nap , I thought with a yawn.

Now that some time had passed, Big Brother had to be more than ready to apologize. I still couldn’t believe the tone he’d taken with me! Didn’t he know I was just trying to save him from that shameless harlot and her mermaid wiles?

I couldn’t believe someone as intelligent as my Kai could fall for a mermaid’s tricks, but here we were. Good thing he had me around to knock some sense into him.

My tail skimmed over something hard, and I turned down to see a square half buried in sand. Ah, the key to unlocking Kai’s door!

It was a subtle hint, but I’d take it. Kai must have already come around once to apologize—as he rightfully should have. I deserved at least three or four good rounds of apologies, as well as a peace offering of many snacks and fish after what he’d said! It was a long swim through the tides of forgiveness, but with time, I knew he’d somehow make it up to me.

Scooping the thin square up in my mouth, I took off for the hotel.

When I rounded the front, the doors sensed my arrival and opened wide with their usual flourish. I wasted no time bounding through them, my neck held high.

“Oh no, it’s back again,” one voice from behind the counter said, monotone. “And it’s alone this time.”

Eyeing the woman behind the counter, I gave a sharp snort.

How insulting! Did she think I was deaf? Even the doors were glad of my arrival, so why was she not? The more time I spent around humans, the more I didn’t understand their rude manners at all!

“Do you think it’s going to make me press the button again?” The man standing beside her asked, his human hands fumbling over the countertop.

“Darn right I’m going to make you get the button!” I called back—not that humans were smart enough to understand me. But I’d noticed Bradley always paid better attention when I started firing off commands.

Giving the woman the stink-eye, I shuffled over to the door and waited.

The miserable woman let out a deep sigh. “They don’t pay us enough for this.”

“At least we haven’t received any complaints?” Bradley offered, and the woman next to him snorted.

“Maybe I’ll be the first. God, why is it staring at me like that?”

Enough of this—I needed to get upstairs! “Bradley!” I barked. When Bradley didn’t immediately start moving, my eyes narrowed. “Brad! Brad! Brad!” I shrieked and screamed again and again. My neck bounced, and my voice chirped until his face flushed and he scurried around the counter as fast as I knew he could.

Mmhm , now that was the kind of hustle I liked to see!

Although he was human, I wouldn’t have minded inviting Bradley into my harem. His teeth were the brightest shade of pearly white I’d ever seen and large enough to make a sea lioness swoon! Really, what more could anyone want in a male?

When he got to the elevator to press the button for me, he was gulping down breaths, showing off those alluring chompers, and my face flushed all the way to the tips of my whiskers. Goodness, those teeth were perfect.

“Thank you,” I projected with a nod, even though I knew he couldn’t hear it. The doors opened, and I waddled inside, pressing the symbol Kai had taught me with the tip of my nose.

“I don’t get it, Ana,” Bradley started mumbling on his walk back to the counter. “If it’s smart enough to press the buttons on the inside, why can’t it just—?” The doors shut, and I felt an exhilarating rush as the box took off. Zooooom .

By the time the doors opened again, my head was buzzing like I’d been out surfing waves through the swell of a storm.

I hustled down the hallway, heading to Kai’s room first, and shifted my jaw until I had the angle of the square in my mouth just right. I swiped my nose over the door handle and was rewarded with a satisfying click as the mechanism turned green. Nosing the door open, I let myself in.

This was strange. Spitting the square out on the floor, I scanned the room. The pillows were all picked up and hidden from our fluff battle earlier, but there was no sign of Kai.

Annoyed, I made my way through the open door that joined our rooms together and waddled to my cold box. Nosing it open, I checked to see if Ren had left me any food as an offering and… empty.

No fish? This wasn’t like him at all. Ren was always leaving me romantic gifts of chilled fish! Rude . The door to the cold box slammed shut as I made my way back to Kai’s room next door. I scooped the square back up and headed down the hall.

When I got to Ren’s door, I gave it a good whack with my flipper. Then another. Were they not all waiting on the other side for me to show up?

Irritated, I barely kept myself from gnawing the square into pieces as I headed back to the elevator. Booping the bottom symbol with my nose, I waited for the box to come to collect me.

Zooooom . What a rush!

“It’s back again,” Ana muttered as I shuffled through the elevator doors. Bradley let out a shaky breath, but I was too annoyed to flirt with him right now. Sorry, Bradley!

The first thing I did when I got outside was look for Ren’s car. Parked exactly where he’d left it earlier, its inside was completely empty. Spitting the key out on the sidewalk, I tried the beach again. Bitterness filled me when I noticed the piles of clothes littered in the distance.

“Without me!” I shrieked, and a crowd of foraging seabirds shot into the air in every direction. “Seriously, guys?” I couldn’t believe they went to get the trident and left me behind!

Bounding through the sand, I slid right into the surf on my belly. That mermaid had to be all over the three of them right now! She must have planned it!

I didn’t care so much about the shiny one they called Lee, but my Ren and my Kai? Oh, she was going to be seeing stars when I got my flippers on her! Freechia would never forgive me if I let Big Brother end up with such a shameless harlot!

I resurfaced for a quick breath and dove right back down, heading for deeper water. Merfolk had strange systems for marking their territories, so I squinted around, looking for some sign or direction, but everywhere I looked was more sand and rocks.

I was passing a school of tasty-looking herring when a tiny voice gasped, “Lady mermaid… Beautiful lady!” The words took off, multiplying in a hundred little echoes. Innumerable pairs of little eyes turned to me all at once until the entire school was staring me down.

Lady mermaid ? Well, I wasn’t a mermaid, but I was beautiful. I’d give them that.

“It has been a long time,” the voice squeaked, and I straightened up in the water, letting my tail hang below me like I’d seen Freechia’s tail do occasionally before. “Are you lost, beautiful lady?”

With flattery like that, perhaps I wouldn’t stop to eat them.

“Yes, I am a beautiful lady who is quite lost,” I called back, and the water glistened with the sympathetic shaking of their little silvery heads. “Have you seen any other merfolk swimming around?”

The herring nearest to me drifted close enough I could see the pattern of old scars lining its silvery skin. Although weathered and wizened, it didn’t seem even the least bit afraid that I might gobble it up.

“No, my lady. You are the first lady mermaid we’ve seen traveling these waters all season!” the fish announced, and its words echoed through the ranks.

“In ages! Ages, yes, in ages!”

So they were useless to me after all. “I see.” I flexed my jaw, wondering how many I could scoop into my mouth before the bulk of them scattered. Three or four, at least.

“But why not follow the circles? They are sure to lead you to the others,” the old fish offered just as I was deciding which direction to lunge.

Curious, I looked around. “Circles? What circles?”

“Ah, you do not remember the circles, lady mermaid? Come along, everyone, for circle time.”

They all shifted direction in the water together. “Circle time! Circle time!” the group chanted in unison, and I had no better option than to follow their lead.

“See the circle of rocks, lady mermaid?” the lead herring asked when he dropped behind the others. “Swim along with the spot in the circle where a rock is missing until you come to the next, just like the lady mermaids who follow these circles every season. I’m sure they’ll lead you down the right path.”

A large circle of rocks came into view underneath us, and I found the spot where a rock was missing right away. Were fish smarter in this part of the ocean? The lead herring seemed more seasoned than the rest of the school, but still… Fish did more screaming and darting away than chatting me up back home. “I appreciate your help.”

“You are most welcome, beautiful lady,” the fish called, and the school changed directions. The silver cloud swam away, but their little chanting voices carried even after they disappeared.

Feeling ready for some air, I swam up to catch a breather before diving back down. The merfolk had spaced the circles just right for me not to get completely turned around before the next came into view, and I wondered how long it had been since Kai and the others had swum by them.

Determined to find them, I passed circle after circle. The longer I swam, the more it felt like circle time would never end. Circle. Circle. Circle. Even when I blinked, phantom rock formations strolled behind all three of my eyelids. Surely I would reach the kingdom soon?

I was about to go crazy from boredom when I caught sight of a peculiar light hovering over the bottom of the sea floor.

My nose dived, and I nearly went into a spiral as Ren’s voice pushed into my mind.

“Laverne?”

Leveling out, I drifted closer to the light until a ridiculously bulky fish came into view. “Ren?”

Even more ridiculous was the source of the light. A faintly glowing pearl shone in Ren’s mouth as he butted Kai through the water using just the top of his head. Was this a game they were playing?

… Wait .

Kai’s eyes were closed. And why wasn’t he moving?

“He’s wounded,” Ren answered like he could hear all my thoughts. “I need you to get him to land so he can recover. He can barely breathe down here. Can you do that for me?”

He butted Kai toward me, and I scooped him straight up into my mouth. “Of course.”

The pearl’s light dulled as Ren whipped back around.

“Wait. Where are you going?” I called after him, but he was already swimming away. “If Kai can’t breathe down here, how are you going to? Come back with us!”

I knew by how fast his tail moved that he wouldn’t listen. “I can’t leave them.”

Them? So the other two were still out there somewhere. As much as I cared for Ren, Kai needed me right now. I didn’t have time to convince him. “Thank you for bringing him back to me,” I projected as I turned back to the never-ending chain of circles. “Good luck, Ren.”

Bounding through the water, my tail moved faster than it had ever moved before.

My heart was pounding so fast. This was exactly why I didn’t want them going without me. This right here! And now Kai was hurt, and Ren was swimming off, barely able to take a breath for himself.

“Kai?” I projected softly, but there was only silence. His gills fluttered weakly against my tongue. “… Big Brother?” Still no answer.

“You’ll be okay,” I projected to him with all the love and tenderness of a true sister. Because now that Freechia was gone, I was the only sister he had left, and he was my wonderful Big Brother. “Just keep resting for now, Kai-Kai. We’ll be up on land real soon.”

Setting my eyes on the next circle, I swam with everything I had in me, then pushed my muscles even more. I’d get him back to the surface so he could wake up and start healing. I would see Big Brother’s smiling face again. No matter what.