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Claira

W hen I resurfaced, a long string of curses accompanied the water that shot out of my mouth. Rage boiled inside me. This was how the sea wizard planned to take care of my blood-splattered clothes?

Pulling me close, toying with me with smooth words… It seemed so obvious now that I should have seen something like this coming.

“Fucking creep ,” I spat out as I tossed the wet hair back from my face.

Wait—where was my bag? Had I lost it when he dropped me? Treading water, I searched around me, dreading the long way down to the bottom of the tank. I was a passable swimmer with legs, sure, but I’d never dived in water deeper than a standard backyard pool.

“Quite the foul tongue you have,” a smooth voice called from above, and my lips immediately drew together.

Of course, the sea wizard hadn’t vanished yet. Why wouldn’t he want to watch me flounder?

“Stick around, and I’ll show you a foul tongue,” I threw back up at him. It was far from a clever retort, but I was still recovering from the initial shock of the fall. For a casino on an island, this water was freaking cold .

Black wisps of magic rippled off the sea wizard’s shoulders as he leisurely braced on the skylight above me. “Forget about this?” he asked.

My eyes widened. Amidst the haze of magic smoke, a long, black trident came into view, my bag’s strap looped over one of its lengthy prongs. “Thought I’d keep it dry for you,” he admitted, extending the weapon out over the water for me to take.

My mind whirled, and my bag was suddenly the last thing on my mind. Was he really holding the same trident I’d seen concealed within his body only moments ago?

“But, I—you—” It didn’t make sense. I’d seen the marks on him. How was this possible?

One of the sea wizard’s eyebrows arched, and his trident sagged until the bottom of my bag dipped into the water. “Not interested in your things?” And as abruptly as the black trident had appeared, it vanished into threads of smoke. My bag dropped, and I barely had the sense to grab it before it could sink.

When I looked back up, the sea wizard had a hand over the wrap I’d put against his neck. “Thank you for this,” he said in a tone bordering on sarcastic, making it impossible to tell if he was thanking me for the wrap or because he’d gotten the wound in the first place.

“Wait, but—your trident.” As I spoke, the air grew colder. Streams of dark magic flowed from the tips of his fingers, and all at once, it hit me—he was about to teleport.

“Shit, wait!” I shouted, desperate for him to stay. If he could remove the trident from his body freely, I needed to know how . If there was a way to get the trident out of Leander, break the ties, then he wouldn’t have to suffer, would he?

“Don’t go.” I was practically begging. I couldn’t let him leave. Not yet.

The left side of the sea wizard’s lips tilted, somewhere between a smirk and a snarl. “Afraid you’ll miss me, little captive?”

My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe. “No, I?—”

“I’d warn against using the shell to call on us, but you seem to have a habit of disregarding my warnings,” he said, cutting me off. Magic swelled around him, causing his white eyes to flash in the darkness. His smirk grew. “Always a delight.”

“No! Wizard! ”

But he was already gone, swallowed up in a cloud of black smoke. “Poseidon’s balls!” I yelled, slapping the surface of the water as the smoke dispersed. My heart still hammered. I tried my best to calm down before searching for my way out. Even if the sea wizard had knowledge that could save Leander, that didn’t mean he would tell me.

“Dammit!”

A random head popped up beside me, causing me to startle. It was a merman with a heart-shaped face and eyelashes long enough to cradle heavy beads of water. His long, dark hair flowed around him as he held a transparent tube between his lips.

When he removed it from his mouth, his accent surprised me as much as his arrival had. “Miss? How did you get here?”

“I… got lost,” I stammered, knowing full well how idiotic that must have sounded. The elevator or stairs that led to the top of this tank were probably closed to patrons.

But instead of questioning me, the merman nodded and pointed with the hand holding the tube over to the far side of the tank. “There’s a rope, miss.”

I looked over, and sure enough, a knotted rope hung over the corner of the tank. “Thank you,” I said, having flashbacks of gym class as I secured my bag over a shoulder.

When I reached the rope, my arms welcomed the exercise. It wasn’t hard to lift myself out of the tank and onto the narrow platform beside it. It ran along the side of the tank, with a mesh bottom that made my stomach queasy.

“That’s lovely,” I mumbled, noticing how the metal bowed underneath the weight of the oxygen tanks sitting beside me. It was obvious the casino’s construction didn’t factor in the possibility of the merfolk getting cursed.

A pile of towels and an assortment of clothing piles were also present, and although I was soaked, I let them be. It wasn’t the merfolk’s fault that I’d dropped into the middle of their performance.

But before I took off, I checked my bag and was thankful to discover that both shells were still inside it. “Damn sea wizard,” I grumbled, feeling dizzy from the height. Maybe showing up covered in blood would have been the better option. Despite his grand plan, my shirt was still somewhat stained, but at least it looked more like a tie-dye effect and less like I’d gone on a murdering spree.

Crawling on my knees, I tried to ignore the light seeping through the mesh as I followed the length of the platform. “Stairs. Thank Poseidon,” I breathed out when I reached the end. But my relief was short-lived when I got to my feet and realized the stairs were as shoddily built as the platform.

Also, they seemed to be… vibrating?

Nope. I didn’t like that at all.

I stepped down between walls that were insanely narrow, painted a dark shade that rivaled the sea wizard’s hair.

Ugh. Why was I still thinking of him?

“Freaking magic. Freaking cecaelia,” I grumbled, bracing my hands on the walls, metal rattling underneath my feet as I went. Maybe the cecaelia weren’t the only ones at fault here. “Who the heck built this place? Merfolk?” It all suddenly made sense to me, and although I hastened my steps, I tried to keep my footing light.

I turned a sharp corner that clearly violated building code and gasped. “Laverne?”

“You—” She froze halfway up a step. She was hassling like a dog from booking it up the stairs, her tongue rolling out as she craned her neck. “I was coming to save you. ”

Even her projected words sounded winded. Then her eyes narrowed, and she hissed like seeing me soaked and tiptoeing down a staircase had somehow insulted her. “I thought you couldn’t swim!”

“You… were going to save me?” I feigned a sniffle, feeling touched she cared that much. “Aww. Thanks, Laverne.”

A streak of lavender was next up the stairs. “Whoa!” Kai said, catching himself on the walls before he could topple over Laverne. “Why’d you stop? Claira needs?—”

Laverne cut Kai off, her neck jerking in a zigzag motion as she spoke. “That harlot doesn’t NEED anything.”

When Kai looked up, his eyes went wide. Although his face was full of worry, there was a flicker of relief as he looked me over. “Claira,” he said, but was interrupted by Laverne spinning around to shoot between his legs.

She slid down the stairs on her belly, snorting as she went. “Apparently, she CAN swim.”

Kai took a breath, his eyebrows arching. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, thankful that they’d found me so fast. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“We’ve been searching for the last hour. Barren almost leveled the place.”

“Barren did?” My throat tightened. Although this hadn’t been my fault, guilt and panic gripped me. I’d rarely seen Barren lose his composure, but how could I blame him? I’d disappeared on his watch.

“Between him and Leander, I was sure this whole place was going down,” Kai said, restlessly scratching the nape of his neck.

My heart dropped. “I’m so sorry I worried you guys.”

“I’m sure you had a good reason.” Kai held out a hand, offering the best smile he could. “Let’s let the others know you’re okay before all the lights go out again.”

“The lights went out? The casino lost power?” I whispered, dread filling me as I took hold of Kai’s hand. “It was Leander, wasn’t it? He lost control again.”

“I know we’re pretty far from the water,” Kai said grimly. “But I was getting worried he might summon a tidal wave or something if we didn’t find you soon.”

Kai’s fingers wrapped around mine, a desperate grip that caused my heart to ache. He was shaking . Even though he sounded calm, he was just as upset as it sounded like the rest of them were.

When we got down to the bottom of the stairs, Kai pulled back a heavy curtain that revealed the casino’s domed entrance. “Laverne found it,” he said, letting me through first. “She was the first to spot you in the water. I know she’d never admit it, but she was really worried after Barren told us you were gone.”

“Oh,” I whispered, not sure what else to say to that. Earlier today, I would have doubted that Laverne cared for me at all. Of course, it was possible that she only wanted to save me for Kai’s sake, but either way. She cared.

As soon as I was under the dome, Leander’s arms were around me.

“Lee,” I squeaked, the breath squeezing out of me as he gathered me up against his chest. “I’m soaked!”

But he didn’t seem to care. He held me tighter, his chest heaving in breaths. He growled something incoherent against my shoulder, and I could sense his utter exhaustion as his body slumped over mine.

“I’m fine, Lee,” I said, wrapping my arms around him for added support.

He grumbled something else, something that might have been a heartbreaking, “ Don’t leave us again,” but I couldn’t be sure.

“I was only gone for an hour,” I whispered back to him, frowning. And I hadn’t even wanted to leave at all.

As Leander pulled back, his bloodshot eyes and red face gave away how upset he’d been while I was gone. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes jumping not only over me, but over our surroundings, too. He was still on edge, looking for an outlet for his anger. Who to blame for my disappearance.

“I’m not hurt. I’m fine, really,” I said as sincerely as I could. Barren caught in my peripheral, but he stopped short of coming over to us.

“What happened?” Leander asked, drawing back my attention.

“Yeah, Claira,” Kai said, coming up beside us. “Why were you up there?”

I opened my mouth, wanting to tell them about the abduction and my meeting with Queen Sagari, but my tongue seemed to widen, gagging me like a wad of smoke had caught in the back of my mouth.

Another gag worked up my throat, and I forced the words back down as Queen Sagari’s voice rang in my mind.

Don’t forget to watch what you say, dear, or the magic will do it for you.

So this was the spell. It even had a smell to it. Charred wood, rich and mysterious, reminiscent of the sea wizard who’d cast it. I turned down to my finger and saw the dot of black ink where the fountain pen had pricked me. Damn .

Did this count as my first tattoo?

“She isn’t okay,” Barren said, coming a few measured steps closer. Then he turned away before I had a chance to deny it.

“No, I–I’m fine,” I called out to his back. “Barren?”

He seemed… hurt. And not just his pride. Had my disappearance actually hurt him? “Barren, please.” My voice wavered, but he didn’t turn back around.

Kai and Leander were still staring at me—waiting for my explanation for all of this. I had to tell them something.

“I—” A gag cut me off. It seemed saying I didn’t leave on purpose wasn’t allowed.

“I, eurgh —” Another gag. I can’t tell you what happened was also a no.

“Dammit!” I blurted, wringing my hands in the air. I hated magic. Freaking sea wizard.

The aroma of his magic was an unexpected taunt, teasing me for being so foolish as to get captured in the first place.

“Ugh!” I said, trying to scrape the taste of him from my tongue.

Leander and Kai must have thought I was having some sort of a fit, and it was all his fault. The horrible feeling in my throat grew as I fought to curse the sea wizard’s name aloud, but the spell wouldn’t let me. Ugh—there was that taste and smell again. Apparently, from now on, I could only curse him in private. “Freaking, ugh!”

Kai’s hand landed on my shoulder with a gentle squeeze meant to soothe me. “Are… you okay?”

“Totally fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” My voice cracked into a totally not-fine laugh.

“Yeah, you say that…” Kai’s frown deepened. “But you don’t seem fine.”

“I got lost,” I said, finally giving up trying to say anything else. “That’s all that happened. Sorry that I worried everyone.”

“You got lost?” Laverne’s nose twitched as she waddled back over. “And you happened to get lost swimming next to the first merman you set eyes on when we got here, huh? Don’t think I don’t see right through you. Trollop!”

“Laverne,” Kai said sharply, holding a firm hand out to her. “Don’t?—”

“No!” She snorted. “Look at her. She doesn’t even care about your feelings, Kai-Kai!”

“I care,” I said, my voice coming out rawer than I’d expected. There wasn’t any truth to her words, but why did they hit so hard?

The sea wizard came to mind, his sly laugh, his smoky words. Although he’d long vanished, his scent still lingered in the magic, impossible for me to shake off. “Really, I?—”

“Fuck that. A merman? You know that’s not why she was up there,” Leander said, planting his hands on my forearms. “Claira, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

His unwavering faith in me pulled at my heartstrings, and I held back a sniffle. “Thanks, Lee.”

When he smirked back at me, it was almost as if he’d calmed down completely. Like maybe, despite the spell, all of this would be okay. “Once you’re safe back at Barren’s place, then you can let us know who’s to blame and we can come back and rip their fucking throat out.”

“Rip their throat?” Kai choked out, looking suddenly pale. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Dude, we’re going to kill someone? Um. I’m not sure Queen Javalynn will be okay with that.”

That hit hard, and my mood dropped like a rock. “There will be no killing,” I said, thankful that the spell let me get out that much.

Leander chuckled darkly. “Yeah. We’ll see.”

Barren stood near the door, his face a stony mask. When we walked over, he flinched away when I went for his arm.

Ouch .

“I… didn’t see you in the hallway,” I said, an excuse that wasn’t a total lie. I really had searched for him when the shadows appeared.

Barren’s jaw tensed. “Mmh.”

He didn’t believe me. But then again, why would he? He’d likely stood in the exact same spot where I’d parted from him, and I just couldn’t see it, thanks to the sea wizard’s magic. Now I was really starting to panic.

“Believe me,” I said, pleading with him to trust me. “I did. I looked for you.”

I couldn’t let this spell take everything from me. Even if Kai and Leander would never understand, I needed to believe Barren could pick up on the words I couldn’t say.

“Barren, look at me.” Although his eyes initially averted, they slowly found their way to mine. “Lee says you’re good at reading people,” I started to say, but the words crumbled away in my mouth as Barren turned.

“I can’t,” he called over his shoulder. Two gruff syllables that impaled deep into my heart. He stalked through the doors with the same speed as when he’d first brought us to the casino, leaving Leander and Kai as the only two by my side.

Kai rubbed across the back of my shoulder. “Sorry, Claira. He was really upset. We thought someone had taken you.”

Magic buzzed in the back of my throat. A tingling over my tongue tempted me to speak my thoughts aloud just so it could silence me again.

“We’re losing Barren,” was all I could manage to say. Leander nodded, wrapping an arm around me to lead me out of the casino.

“Yeah, we better catch up. We’ll talk more after we’re sure you’re somewhere safe,” he said, and although he kept his voice casual, I knew he would expect answers. Answers I couldn’t give. I really hated magic.

“Harlot.” Laverne slung the insult my way as she followed beside us. “I can’t believe I was going to save you.”

If only she knew the tank wasn’t what I needed saving from.

It was this.

* * *

It took a shower and a fresh change of clothes for me to stop obsessing over how the trip back to Barren’s place had gone. I’d gagged so much during the drive that Kai thought I had water trapped in my lungs from my swim at the casino.

But no. Water wasn’t the problem. The magical hairball preventing me from answering any of Leander’s persistent questions was.

He’d followed me right into the shower, and if it weren’t for Barren dragging him out, he’d still be in here now. Pressing me for answers I would have loved to give but couldn’t.

And Barren… He wouldn’t even look at me. Although he’d helped get Leander off my back, he kept shutting down, closing himself off from the rest of us.

Frowning, I attempted to comb the tangles from my damp hair. Okay—maybe I was still obsessing.

Magic had to fade eventually, though, right? And then one day, when we were all in our eighties, I could clear this whole mess up.

Setting the comb down on the dresser, I huffed.

No. I couldn’t let this damned spell win. I’d get my point across somehow—even if I had to resort to heavy hinting or playing charades to do it. Between three mermen and a sea lion, someone was bound to pick up on something, right?

I gave my cheeks a firm slap to psych myself up before heading for the door. As I reached it, the conversation from the living room seeped through.

“She’ll stay with me half the time.” It was Leander’s voice, his words spoken as casually as if they were a fact.

Huh? I paused, doorknob in hand, my head tilting as Kai chimed in.

“Do you think she’d like that? I could probably stay in the Atlantic if that would be easier.” Kai gave a weak laugh. “My father wouldn’t notice. The Pacific… doesn’t really need me.”

There was a loud scoff. “Fucking King Darias. After I’m done with you, he’ll be begging us to give you back to the Pacific.”

“Pssh. Yeah, right,” Kai said, and although he was denying it, his voice sounded lighter. The lull in the conversation that followed gave me the perfect opportunity to come into the living room.

But as soon as I was through the door, the conversation picked up again.

“Are you sure she’ll even want to live in the, uh…” Kai’s voice trailed when Leander cleared his throat, acknowledging me with a jerk of his chin.

Kai’s mouth snapped shut.

“Don’t mind me,” I said, choosing to lean against the kitchen counter instead of joining them in the living room. After the things we’d done on that couch earlier, looking at them sitting there was difficult enough without my mind wandering to inappropriate places. “Please, go on. What were we talking about?”

“Claira.” Kai’s face pinked as if he were having a similar inappropriate thought. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I returned, my lips curling. I was ready to tease him some more when a knock from inside the bathroom distracted me. “Is that Barren?” I asked, and Kai shook his head.

“Laverne. She’s really eager to make a new friend.”

There was another knock, followed by a strange sound, like a flipper slapping against tile.

“A new friend?” I asked, curious as I wandered closer to the bathroom door. He couldn’t mean… “Oh, no—Sprout!”

I scrambled to the door, and sure enough, when I threw it open, Sprout’s reflection was waiting for me in the mirror. Perched on the topmost shelf in the bathroom, he sat atop a stack of folded towels, grooming a paw with slow, deliberate licks.

“Have you no shame?” Laverne shrieked. Her long body was contorted half on the seat of the toilet and the other half in the sink like she’d been trying to get high enough to reach him. “Barging in here like that. What if I was using the latrine?”

Laverne using the latrine. Now that was a phrase I never thought would come to mind.

“So, what? You’re a—” I stopped myself before I could say sea lion, because surely, she’d find a way to take offense to that. “I mean, Barren wouldn’t be happy if he knew you were bothering his cat.”

Oh, the way Laverne’s eyes widened. Whoops— that wasn’t the right thing to say, either.

“BOTHERING?” With a swift movement of her head, Laverne turned on the faucet. The next thing I knew, cold water was spraying my face. “OUT!” she shrilled as I shielded myself with my hands . “Be gone, harlot!”

With a gasp, I backed up out of there to Leander confiding, “Think about it like this—if all of us were down there, why wouldn’t Claira want to live in the ocean?”

Despite the water dripping down my face, I turned to meet Leander’s intense gaze.

“Fuck.” He let the curse slip from under his breath and slowly leaned away from Kai. Apparently, he hadn’t expected me to hear that.

But I had heard it, and now they were both looking at me, waiting for my input on how our future would unfold.

“The ocean?” I repeated, thinking through all that would mean for me. Yeah, I was nowhere near ready to commit myself to a life of letting them carry me around underwater.

This wasn’t what I’d come out here to do at all.

Wiping water from my eyes, I threw out a careful, nonchalant, “Cecaelia… live in the ocean,” just to see if I could.

Whoa . I was surprised the spell let that one through. Maybe I wouldn’t have to resort to charades.

Judging by their expressions, that response was far from the one they were hoping for.

“Naturally,” Leander said, gesturing for me to come sit between them on the couch. Hard pass—especially since I wasn’t sure where Barren was and when he’d come back inside. Leander raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”

I cracked my knuckles as I stepped closer. This was going to be easy. “What, uh, what do you think about them?” I asked innocently enough. My pulse thrilled. My eyes jumped between Leander and Kai. One of them would surely make the connection.

It was then that I realized how worn-out Leander looked. Just how much magic had his emotions caused him to use while I was gone?

“Cecaelia?” Leander’s face twisted into a scowl, but Kai cut in before he could say more.

“I despise them,” Kai said, and was it me, or had his teeth looked extra savage when he’d said it?

“Really?” I asked, surprised by the intensity of his words. It was a shock to hear that Kai despised anything, though one of their weapons had almost killed him.

“They’re sickening.” His hands clenched tightly over the top of his pants. “Our oceans would be better off without them.”

Okay, that… wasn’t what I’d expected. From Leander, yes, but from Kai?

“Where else would they live?” A tingle on my tongue warned me to be careful with my words.

Kai’s answer was cold and unfeeling, almost unrecognizable. “Maybe they shouldn’t be living at all,” he mumbled.

“What…?”

“Fuck, Kaius.” Leander swiped a hand through his hair as he shook his head. “You would think they murdered your family or something. Damn. I thought the Pacific didn’t have to worry about cecaelia.”

A blush spread across Kai’s face. He turned down to his lap as if suddenly embarrassed. “Sorry, I—well, I’ve heard a lot about them.”

“We don’t deal with them much in the Atlantic.” Leander flexed his jaw. “Thank Poseidon for that. That’s one good thing about this fucking curse. They’re down there , and we’re up here .”

Before I even thought about opening my mouth, magic choked up the back of my throat. I turned abruptly, hoping to hide my gagging, but my attempt only alerted Kai.

“Claira? Where are you going?” he asked, his voice low with worry.

“Cat,” I croaked, half expecting smoke to billow out of my mouth. I headed back to the bathroom before either of them could protest, but when I got to the door, both Sprout and Laverne were gone.

I spun around. “Did you see…?”

Leander pointed down to Barren’s bedroom. “That way, beautiful.” The heart-melting smirk he gave was almost bright enough to distract from how drained he looked.

“Thanks,” I said, his endearment making my face heat. Sure, they hadn’t figured out what I was trying to tell them yet, but even with them knowing I was hiding something from them, they still cared for me. Enough to discuss where all of us would live one day. The three of us, together.

In the deepest part of my heart, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if all four of us were together.

Now my cheeks were really on fire, and I felt them with the back of my hand as I went into Barren’s room. “Get ahold of yourself,” I mumbled. “He’s not even talking to— Laverne? ” I gasped, not believing what I was seeing.

Laverne’s head was stuck in the cat flap. Her body bulged around its opening as if she’d been delusional enough to think she was small enough to fit through it.

Her tail sulked, her whole body drooped and listless. “It ran away,” she said with a dramatic snuffle. “And it is all your fault.”

My fault? Yeah, that tracked. I seemed to be getting the blame for everything today.

Sighing, I came around the bed to get to her. “It’s no one’s fault, Laverne. Running away is just something cats do.”

She sniffled loud enough to give me some idea of the size of the snot bubbles she must have been blowing out on the patio. Carefully, I gripped around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get you out of there.”

But with a wiggle of her neck, her body slid right through my arms, and she was free. “I suppose you’re an expert on running,” she said with a glare, tears and strings of snot caught all over her whiskers. Then she threw her head high, and with a snort and an unusual bend in her neck, she strutted away. “Like when Ren ran from you earlier. I bet that stung.”

By the time her tail was through the door, my jaw had set.

She was right, of course. It had stung. It more than stung. And suddenly, that blush I’d felt only moments ago felt so na?ve, so foolish.

Because what future did we have when Barren could barely look at me and a trident was destroying Leander from the inside out?

As things stood now, there was no future for us.

Not unless I started fighting for it.

Laverne was right—I was an expert on running, but now was a time to take a risk. To grab Barren by the shoulders and tell him how I felt. To fight for the knowledge that could save Leander.

My gaze landed on where I hung my bag out to dry, a delicate abalone shell tucked safely inside it, and I let out a slow, shaky breath.

What were the odds of the sea wizard being the one to greet me if I broke it?

While I waited for Barren to come around, I’d have to find the right moment to slip away unnoticed and?—

What the heck was I thinking? Run away and use the shell? Clearly, not being able to tell the guys what was happening was getting to me. I was starting to crack. Frustrated, I sank to the bed to bury my head in a pillow.

How could I possibly hope to fix this mess all on my own?

Things won’t always be like this , I reminded myself. Plus, magic couldn’t last forever… right?