Page 98 of Goldilocks
Connor’s grey eyes slid to Trevor, assessing. His emotions were hidden, masked, but Trevor looked up, and immediately his expression softened as he met Connor’s eyes. “None of that,” Trevor rebuked him mildly. “I’ve known since Laurence was small that he was going to get out there and see the world. And I’ve known since he was born that I was going to worry about it whether he’s in another country or…another world. I’d do him no favours at all trying to tie him down.” Trevor sipped his tea. “That being said, he’s grounded till he’s eighteen.”
“He earned that fair and square,” Connor agreed.
Sam had a feeling that Bee and Dew were going to sorely regret conspiring with Laurence behind his family’s back.
“Sam, why don’t you tell me about Goldilocks’s place? I heard a bit from Laurence before he decided not to talk to anyone until he’s ungrounded,” Trevor said in a good-natured tone. “I’ll make you boys breakfast for the road.”
Connor stood, taking his mug with him. “I’ll just let Adonis know I’m going so he doesn’t cause a fuss.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
The main street bustled with activity as Sam pulled into the parking spot behind Ivan and Eric’s flat. It was closer to lunch than breakfast, and he cringed to think about Roan waiting in the room, bored out of his mind. He’d wanted to return earlier, but Adonis had thrown an entire fit about Connor leaving without him. He’d beached himself on the shore and then played dead, refusing to acknowledge Connor telling him to get back into the ocean.
It took Trevor walking down to the shore and telling Connor how Adonis’s arms were too weak to get himself off the beach for Adonis to furiously prove Trevor wrong.
“I’m going to check out the bookstore and say hi to Marty,” Connor said as he climbed out of the car. “I think I’m close enough to help from there. If not, just come get me.”
“Do you know why you being nearby makes a difference?” Sam asked. He didn’t want to pry since he knew what had been done to Connor without his consent or knowledge for years wasn’t a comfortable topic of conversation.
Connor glanced at Eric’s flat. He watched it for a thoughtful minute. “I can feel where Goldilocks is right now. I can always tell.” Connor inclined his head toward Sam. “I can always feel you out there too. And I can feel when you go through The Tear.”
Sam blinked, surprised. “I thought Adonis was the one leading you to me.”
“At first he was,” Connor acknowledged. “It’s been me for a few months now. I can find Trevor and Laurence easily too. Nick most of the time, but not always. Not when he’s pissed off with me over something.”
Sam thought about it. That was ‘other’, but it wasn’t the first time there had been otherness about Connor. Sam studied him, taking in the clear grey of his eyes. His wind-burnt cheeks and the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose, the plain blue T-shirt that Sam would bet his life on Trevor having bought him. He was a guy, the same as he’d always been. “Roan called you ‘monarch’.”
Connor’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a new one.”
“They all obey you,” Sam added.
Connor shrugged. “Cause I’ll set Adonis on them if they don’t.”
It was a gentle deflection. Sam knew Adonis had nothing to do with the way the mermen treated Connor, and Connor did too. But even if Connor knew that he was different, that there was more going on beneath the surface, that didn’t mean he needed to worry about it. Sam wasn’t going to pressure him. “I’m going to go up. Thanks again for this.”
“Anytime.”
Sam climbed the concrete steps leading to the upstairs apartment. The bottom floor of the building was a closed-down shop, one that changed hands every other summer as someone new came in to give their own try at managing a business. Given the seasonal nature of the area, several businesses opened for the summer months and then closed for the off-season.
Sam knocked as he opened the door. “Just me,” he called.
He smelled flour and sweet maple syrup, and stepping into the flat, he saw a pan on the stove and a clear plastic tub of batter next to it. “You making pancakes?” Sam asked. He entered the living room and stopped dead.
Ivan and Eric were sitting on one couch together, two plates of half-eaten pancakes on their laps. Roan was on the other couch. A plate resting on his tail, the golden limb stretched out, dominating the space between him and the TV. Someone had thoughtfully moved the coffee table out of the way to make room.
Sam stared dumbstruck at Roan, who turned to frown at him.
“You were gone many hours,” Roan said, displeasure clear in his voice.
“I—” Sam shut his mouth. Opened it again. “I.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Ivan said.
Sam tore his gaze from Roan to stare, not at Ivan, but at Eric. Eric was merely sitting there with a small frown, not much in his expression for Sam to read.
“Goldilocks made us help him out here so he could watch TV,” Ivan said. His eyes were overly bright, his mouth had a twitch like he was fighting a smile. “He was bored waiting in the room for you.”
Sam couldn’t move his mouth.