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Devil stayed perched on the railing as Connor came side by side. Laurence looked down on him from the high elevation of the yacht’s deck as he unrolled a ladder. “Think he’ll catch them this time?” He sounded delighted.

“If he hasn’t managed it yet…” Sam shrugged. He caught a rung of the ladder, testing its hold before stepping out. His hip ached its protest every rung, and Sam shook out his leg on the top step, gritting his teeth to lift it over the railing. His hip flexor spasmed.

Laurence offered a hand to steady him, still leaning against the side railing facing Sam’s fishing boat. “Are you coming up, Goldilocks?” Laurence called.

Sam turned in surprise, and his surprise quelled to confusion when he saw Devil on the railing still. Devil took one last long look at Sam before he slipped off the railing and disappeared into the sea. Sam looked sideways at Laurence, curious. “Does he come up here?”

“He hasn’t,” Laurence answered as he rolled up the ladder and secured it in place with a quick-release knot. “Goldilocks never seems interested, and he doesn’t really come near me since you’re out on the water so often. Bee and Dew hang out, though.”

“Adonis lets them?”

“Never.” Laurence laughed. “But when Connor and him go and I stay behind, they’ll come over. They’re a lot of fun.”

“Huh.” Sam scanned the water as the yacht moved away from his boat to see if he could glimpse Devil. “Can they change the way Adonis can?”

“Only on the other side of The Tear. They can’t do it over here. And they can’t speak when we’re over here either. Not too well, anyway. Just a few words here and there. I hope they’ll be able to, eventually. Adonis couldn’t speak or shift at first either, but he can now.”

“It’ll only be more trouble if they can go on land,” Nick weighed in. Sam glanced over his shoulder to see him sitting on one of the loungers, a tablet balanced on his knee with an umbrella open to shield him from the light drizzle. Battery-powered eco-lanterns lit the deck in a wash of cold blue light.

Laurence rolled his eyes. “You say that about everything to do with The Tear. Adonis comes into Sally’s all the time, and he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“Because he’s being babysat.”

Sam had to agree with Nick there. If Bee and Dew strolled into the pub, unescorted, there would definitely be trouble. Sam scanned the decking. There was a table set up with drinks, and yellow umbrellas shielded the chairs and table from the light drizzle of rain. Up a small staircase, Connor was at the wheel, with Trevor standing next to him. The wind snatched away their voices, but they both looked relaxed. Connor was gesturing to different parts of the yacht as he spoke.

“Connor’s teaching Dad how to sail,” Laurence explained. “He offered to teach Nick too, but he’s too lazy and just wants to be a passenger.”

Nick raised his eyes to stare at Laurence over the top of his tablet. The blue lights shining on Nick’s face washed out his amber-coloured eyes to an odd, pale green.

Laurence flashed Nick a mischievous grin, but his attention quickly bounced back to Sam. “Want a beer? We also have rum and coke. Connor picked some up for you before we left. I’m cooking downstairs, and snacks will be ready in just a tick. All vegetarian today. Adonis won’t let me cook any meat onboard since Connor won’t eat it, and he’s been kind of iffy about fish lately too, so Adonis won’t let me cook that either. He threw an entire salmon I’d just finished filleting overboard yesterday.”

Maybe tossing things overboard was a merman thing.

“I’ll grab a beer. I appreciate you cooking,” Sam said.

Laurence beamed a smile at him, then trotted away, steadier sea legs than the fishermen from the area that spent their entire lives on boats, and disappeared below deck.

Sam approached the loungers, dug out a beer from the ice chest and sat next to Nick. He glimpsed the tablet, but it was writing, and the glare of the screen turned whatever was written into something indecipherable. “Midterms?”

“Studies,” Nick answered. “My course is mostly in-house tests and labs.”

Sam sipped his beer and relaxed against the chair. He and Nick were in separate parts of campus, so they rarely crossed paths. Their longest conversation lately had been in the cafe the other day. “The rowing going well? There’s a competition soon, isn’t there?” He looked sideways at Nick’s arms. He had Trevor’s bigger build, and the definition in his muscles was a clear indicator he worked out.

Nick twitched. His eyes flashed up to the helm, where Connor and Trevor were absorbed in their lesson.

“Club a secret?” Sam dropped his voice, speaking softly. He had no idea why that would be.

“Technically no,” Nick answered. “But I wouldn’t put it past Connor to show up with Adonis to swim around the river, causing havoc for a bit of fun.”

Sam doubted Connor would do that. They got away with it out here in the ocean, where it was entirely plausible that if someone did see something, it could have been a whale. A dolphin. A seal. And it was locals. People who grew up on the ocean were used to seeing strange things now and then. It wouldn’t lead to anything.

Connor bringing Adonis into the local pub was the best example of that; everyone knew there was some strangeness to Adonis, but nobody ever said anything about it.

Connor broke away from the helm and walked down the steps leading to them. He grabbed a beer from the ice chest before he joined them.

Nick eyed up Connor, then Trevor at the helm. “He looks nervous.”

“You learn by doing,” Connor replied. “He’s practising. You went swimming, Sam?” His grey eyes flicked over Sam, lingering on his hair. “Thought you didn’t like doing that with nobody around? You always gave out to me for jumping in when we were away from the coast.”

Nick got up, going toward Trevor.

Sam watched him walk away before turning his attention to Connor. He wore, bizarrely, a loose white shirt that wouldn’t keep anyone warm out at sea and green shorts with his feet left bare. Connor dressed like they were in the Bahamas and not Ireland. Guy was immune to the cold, apparently.

“I gave out because it’s the Atlantic Ocean, and it’s freezing. And you’d jump in with no life jacket on.”

Connor snorted. “As if I couldn’t swim .”

“And you don’t worry, one bit, when Laurence goes jumping into the water out here?” Which Sam knew Laurence did, because Connor did and Laurence was his shadow.

“He wears a wetsuit. And if Adonis isn’t around, then Worm One and Two are. He’s perfectly safe,” Connor said with utter confidence.

“How do you know they’re safe?” Sam asked. Not as a challenge, but more out of curiosity. “It’s hard to get to know them with Adonis always chasing them off, right?”

“They’ve been warned,” Connor said. “I’m sure Goldilocks would keep an eye on him too…Speaking of, you avoided the question. You went swimming?”

Before Sam could answer – and he was too busy mulling over that they’ve been warned remark anyway – Laurence trotted up from below deck. “Food’s done. Just needs to cool down.” He grabbed himself a coke and joined Connor on his lounger. Connor was sitting sideways on it, facing Sam, so they both fit comfortably. “Sam asked if you’ve ever seen Goldilocks shift?”

“I hardly see him,” Connor said. He nodded at Sam. “Only time he’ll come over is when you’re at college.”

“So it’s just me he likes to torture?” Sam asked. But he didn’t really mean that, and he was sure Connor and Laurence could tell since they both grinned. It was the exact same grin. If Sam didn’t know any better, he’d think they grew up together, learning mannerisms from one another.

“What does he do?” Laurence asked, clearly curious.

“Follows me around giving out until I draw him. Admires paintings of himself.” Sam snorted, amused as he recalled Devil’s devotion to staring at his own face. “I’ve never met anyone as vain. He’ll harass me, hiss at me, even hit the boat, if I don’t stop what I’m doing to paint him. He can’t stand not being the centre of attention.”

“Do you think that’s what’s happening? Vanity?” Connor asked.

Sam finished his beer, oddly feeling its effects already. But he would have to be dead drunk to miss that glint in Connor’s eye. The amused quirk at the corner of his mouth.

“You think I’m wrong?” Sam asked. Clearly, Connor hadn’t gotten to know Devil. Not really. But Sam’s thoughts jumped to the oysters and champagne yesterday. The luxurious force-feeding.

“I’m sure Goldilocks is well aware of what he looks like. Maybe he’s going to great effort to make sure you are also aware that he’s good-looking?” There was a teasing note in Connor’s voice.

Sam blanked. But after a moment, he shook his head. “No. No, he spends hours staring at the paintings afterwards. He scrutinises each of them one by one, and he loves all the ones that focus on his hair, and his scales, and his hands—”

“Are those the parts you do in closer detail?”

“Yes? But, no, I mean – he’s obsessed with himself and how he looks.”

“You think so?” Connor had this grin . It didn’t fill Sam with the victorious feeling prying a smile from Connor’s lips had in the past; instead, Sam was filled with the urge to wipe it off his face.

“Well, tell me if you think otherwise.”

Connor tilted his head toward Laurence, who was listening to them. “What do you think Laurence? Is it vanity and self-obsession?”

“Doesn’t he just—”

Connor nudged Laurence’s elbow, making him stop. “Don’t just tell him. That’s no fun.”

Laurence stopped, mouth open, and slowly leaned over until his cheek was on Connor’s shoulder. Dark and expressive eyes fixed on Sam, but Laurence obediently stayed quiet.

“Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?” Sam glared at Connor.

“Nick does, every day,” Connor replied without missing a beat. “Shall I give you a hint?”

“No.” Sam leaned back, casting Connor a narrow-eyed look. “No, don’t. I already know.”

“You’re good at reading people, Sam, but he’s not a person.” Connor sipped his drink, and the bastard waited patiently.

“Just tell me,” Sam asked, frustrated.

“Why did he approach you?” Connor asked.

Sam had mused over that exact question many times. “Because I’m friends with you?”

“We’re friends?”

Laurence elbowed Connor, and he huffed. “I’m joking. Yes, we’re friends. What do I have to do with it, though? I wasn’t hanging out with you when Goldilocks approached. And you know that’s not it anyway.”

Sam did know. “The painting on my boat.”

“Your art,” Connor agreed. He nudged Laurence, who leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

“Sam,” Laurence said. “Doesn’t he just like your art?”