by Starla Night
He resisted. “And Sireno?”
“Can’t someone else rule? One who’s not your grandfather and also not you?”
“Yes.” Torun turned to his city’s rightful ruler. “I give my castle to Jolan, son of the former king. If he will accept it.”
Jolan pushed through the lax tridents of his stunned guards. “You would do this?”
“You are a loyal and careful prince,” Torun said. “Excuse my words. King.”
Jolan swelled.
“Rule well,” Lucy said. “Good luck.”
King Jolan nodded to her and faced his new subjects. The lower ranks shifted.
Sulan swam forward. “My orders came from the Council. Exile Torun’s words have no power.”
“Think again,” Lucy called. “If you let Torun’s grandfather rule both positions without any balance, you’re breaking traditions way worse than Torun ever did.”
Sulan considered this.
“Jolan was supposed to be king,” Torun added. “Surely it is more stabilizing to leave the Council in its position, advising the new king, than to destroy both positions to make one.”
Sulan straightened and pointed at Jolan. “Rally to your new king!”
The mer all bowed. They awaited their first orders from King Jolan.
King Jolan stiffened and puffed his chest. His turquoise tattoos, which Torun himself had helped to ink, changed to a regal iridescence. “We return to Sireno.”
“What of the stones, my king?” Ailan held up the bags of Sea Opals. “Should we return them to the sacred cave?”
“No. These jewels belong to brides long departed. We will not bury them in a dusty place to be desecrated or hidden away. We will return them to the budding Life Tree for rejuvenation, so they will be ready to select new brides who are filled with our resonance.”
The warriors straightened with the rightness of his words. Even Torun’s spine lengthened and head rose. A ringing speech uplifted all who heard it, the pride and rightness traveled faster and stronger under the ocean. Yes. They had chosen wisely.
Sulan bowed to his new king, nodded to Torun and Lucy, and ordered his army to depart.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Well, that was over.
Lucy filled her palms with the hard, delicious muscle of Torun. Face down her ex? Check. Route an army and install a new king? Double-check. Now it was time to hit the deck and stretch out for some well-earned tanning.
Ailan darted to Lucy. “Take this human cell phone.” He cut free her cell phone, still attached to her old BCU, and pushed it at her.
No apologies? Well, whatever. “Thanks.”
He bowed stiffly and swam away.
As Torun anchored her, she checked the status screen. All the videos posted, as expected. Hopefully, they hadn’t caused any problems. And hey, she even had some battery left. The first thing on deck, she was calling her parents. They must be going out of their minds.
Torun gave Jolan his weapon. “Good wishes, my king. It will be difficult to change some minds, but I believe you have a better manner to accomplish it.”
Jolan clasped the trident. “By your honor, Warlord Torun, I will make this city into one you may return to with pride.”
“We’re looking forward to it,” Lucy said. “Take good care of Lassie.”
Jolan looked to Torun.
“The house guardian,” he said.
“Lassie planted the seed,” she said. “I guarantee it.”
Jolan nodded. “I will venerate the house guardian as though he were my own son.”
“Or daughter,” Lucy said.
He blinked. “Ah. Yes.”
They bid farewell to the new king and then swam lazily up to the yacht. “You guys and your ‘I will only have a son’ thing is getting old. You could have a daughter.”
“A daughter would be an unfathomable blessing.” Torun wrapped her arms around his neck and twirled them under the sun-dappled sea. “We do not remember because it has been so long. If a daughter were born, I believe she would change everything.”
“When,” she corrected.
He kissed her.
“Yes,” he murmured, while their mouths remained connected, nibbling and sucking in the sweet, welcome water. “When.”
She heated. They had been through so much together. Lucy stroked his lean, hard body. How long since she lost herself in his embrace in their castle? He rumbled, feeling her desires and growing his own. She twined her legs with his.
The water shook with the subtle slap of a warrior entering it. Torun tensed, but it was only Malem.
“A helicopter is landing,” he said. “I placed the prisoner inside the glass cage.”
“You removed the key?”
“I did.”
Torun and Lucy swam to the ladder. He helped her out and Malem stayed beside her while she upchucked water over the side. Her sopping clothes slapped her body. She gasped air and coughed out cold phlegm.
“Is it always this bad?” she asked, gasping. Tears burned her eyes.
“Yes.” Malem averted his gaze. “It becomes less awkward. Well, perhaps not for you.”
“Gee, thanks.” She wiped her mouth.
They joined Torun at the bow.
“Go get the prisoner,” he told Malem. The purple-tattooed warrior disappeared.
The helicopter blades slowly stopped rotating. Inside the helicopter, military men in battle armor leaped out with large, deadly black guns. Behind them stepped two women.
The first was Elyssa. She wore a faded T-shirt, green capris, and tennis shoes with mismatched orange and yellow socks.
The second was Aya.
Lucy’s gut tightened.
Aya was a thin, dangerous woman in a sharp red business suit. Her icy blonde hair swept back in a severe bun. Her clothes hung off her angular body and her white stems clicked on the deck.
Lucy stood in front of Torun to shield his nakedness.
Aya snapped directions and crossed the helicopter pad. Elyssa tripped behind her. Literally. As in, Elyssa slipped in a puddle of water, slammed onto the deck, and bounced to her feet again. She was unflustered as though it happened all the time. She reseated her sunglasses, rubbed her hard head, and pranced behind Aya.
Aya, for her part, didn’t even glance behind her. She focused one hundred percent on Lucy and Torun.
Another betrayal? Lucy tensed.
Aya removed her sunglasses and fixed piercing eyes on the couple. “Torun. We observed your distressed message on Facebook. On behalf of the home office, I apologize for any inconvenience you suffered at the hands of a Van Cartier Cosmetics employee.”
Not a betrayal. Lucy began to relax.
Elyssa suppressed her smile. Her eyes sparkled.
Aya continued. “Our former employee, Blake Edwards, acted well outside his authority.”
Speaking of Blake, military men forced Lucy’s trudging, shivering ex up the stairs.
Aya’s red lips curled. “He was terminated several hours ago. We will cooperate with the Mexican government to prosecute his actions to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Mexico?” He coughed and struggled in the military men’s iron grips. His face was pale and sickly. “Aya, baby. I’m going to deliver.”
“You had a unique opportunity to make first contact and negotiate a mutually beneficial trade arrangement.” Her disgust flashed. “You failed.”
His jaw dropped. “Mutually beneficial? They’re not even human! They—” He dissolved in a coughing fit. Nearly drowning was rough on the vocal cords.
“Yes, because of your senseless prejudice, the mer of Sireno now believe we are callous, greedy murderers with a flagrant disregard for life, caring neither for theirs nor our own.”
“We’re positioned to track them to their home,” he protested weakly. “And strike—” He coughed.
“No, Blake Edwards, that is not our position.” Aya studied him like the worm he was. “Even should we wish to start an interspecies war, it wou
ld be easier unleashing a nuclear strike on the far side of Saturn. Your inability to understand this, in addition to your criminal activities, is the reason for your termination.”
“Aya!” He coughed and fitted as they dragged him away.
“Do they have hospitals in prison?” Lucy asked, as they watched his rough loading into the helicopter. “He’s at risk of pneumonia and who knows.”
Aya frowned coldly as though she didn’t care.
Elyssa, the so-far silent partner, hurried to the helicopter and spoke to the crew.
Aya fixed on Lucy. She held out her hand. “Lucy Shaw. Your exceptional videos brought light to a terrible crime.”
Lucy shook Aya’s hand. This was the woman Blake had supposedly left Lucy for. Now, Lucy realized the truth. Aya was younger, harder, and more driven than Lucy would ever be. And Aya was smart. Smart enough to know Blake was all talk, smart enough to respect herself, and smart enough not to get taken in.
“So what now?” Lucy asked, taking her hand back.
“I can offer you a ride back to the mainland.”
“By air?” Lucy’s stomach dropped.
“Or,” Aya must have noticed her discomfort, “you’re welcome to take my yacht back to the harbor. You can relax from your ordeal. I’ll leave a pilot.”
“Leave me.” Elyssa returned from speaking with the helicopter crew. Her tennis shoes only slipped a little on the deck. “I’ll pilot.”
Aya turned slightly. “That’s not wise. The report—”
“You turn it in.”
“Lucy’s your employee. You deserve the credit.”
“I don’t care about credit. Not this time.” Elyssa’s determination seemed to say, not anymore. “Auntie can think whatever she wants. I’m sailing with Lucy.”
Aya pursed her lips.
Elyssa laughed and threw her arms around Lucy. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Her fierce kindness filled Lucy with gratitude.
Had she really once imagined fixing Elyssa up with Torun? Torun had assured her he was not interested. Obviously neither was Elyssa. Lucy had fabricated the interest because she didn’t have confidence in herself or in his love.
Now, she did.
“After you’re rested, you have to tell me everything.” Elyssa drew back. “What the city was like, and how you were, and how they were, and how you transform, and—”
“I’m not very good at transforming yet.” Oh, and she had to prepare Elyssa for later. “It’s going to stop working soon.”
“Your powers are permanent.” Torun’s deep voice resonated with comfort. He pulled Lucy back into his arms firmly. “You were recognized by the cave guardian. You projected the power of the Life Tree to protect your family. Only mer queens can summon this power.”
Elyssa’s eyes glowed. “Cave guardian?”
“Giant octopus,” Lucy explained.
“Really? This is kind of strange, but I always wanted an octopus as a pet.”
“Me too!”
“My dad said I’d be better off with a pony.”
Lucy laughed. “My dad didn’t say that.”
Elyssa clasped her hands. “I know this is sort of fan-girly, but I lived for your Facebook posts. When they stopped, and we thought something happened to you, I was crushed. I mean, I was hopeful because I saw Torun and all, but it was a small hope. Today, when we found out you were still alive and it was all true, was one of the happiest days of my life.”
Lucy’s eyes started to water.
Elyssa had invested so much faith in her. She must have been horrified to lose touch and yet her carefree, sparkling laughter now promised that she had never truly given up hope.
And she never would, either. No matter the situation, she had Lucy’s back. Lucy would have hers, too.
That was the kind of faith Elyssa inspired in people. She was a dreamer, a klutz, and irresistibly sunny. Her enthusiasm silenced even her icy cousin, Aya.
Disaster brought her friendship into Lucy’s life, but Elyssa was the silver lining to the storm cloud.
Lucy cleared her throat. “I’m glad it all worked out.”
“Me too! Oh, you have no idea—”
“Yes. We are all very glad Lucy is fine.” Aya took a deep breath and smiled at Lucy. Her expression seemed colder after Elyssa’s genuine, unguarded warmth. “So. Looking ahead.”
Elyssa quieted and stepped back into her cousin’s shadow. Her enthusiasm was clearly on hold. She sparkled with barely-compressed excitement, and was sure to erupt as soon as Aya finished.
“Lucy Shaw. We’d like you to come back to Van Cartier Cosmetics.”
Ah. The very words she had longed to hear. Firing her had been a mistake. Blake had been wrong. She had been right.
“You and your associate, Torun.”
“Speak to Lucy.” Torun kept Lucy squarely between them. “I am an exile and in no position to negotiate.”
Aya shifted her jaw. Clearly, she’d been hoping to move forward with a trade agreement for Sea Opals.
Elyssa’s cell phone rang. She fumbled the device, then, turned aside and spoke quietly into the receiver.
Lucy focused on the past. “I lost everything,” she told Aya.
“You can have it all back. Same house, same car.”
“Same research vessel?”
“Anything you want.”
As the daughter of the company president, Aya could grant those things. And despite Lucy’s earlier anger, she hadn’t really been the one to order Lucy fired. Someone in HR, about fifty jobs lower than her, had called her in for “the conversation.”
Lucy looked back at Torun. He rested his hand on the small of her back, supporting her fully without pushing her in any direction. His aquamarine eyes trusted her judgment.
Her judgment said not to rush in.
“I think I need a few days of vacation.” She captured Torun’s free hand and interwove their fingers. “Maybe a few weeks, actually.”
Aya put on her sunglasses and opened her cell phone. “I’ll have HR contact you next Monday.”
“Maybe.” Lucy leaned against Torun. “We need to think about our options.”
Aya paused. “When can I schedule you?”
She’d need time to set up the dating site, speak with other women about the mer, and orient Torun to her air-breathing world. He could probably do fine now, but she wanted to be around, as in Cancun, to experience new things with him. Not back on the job Monday morning.
Elyssa returned with her phone in her hand, her eyes bright.
“I’ll contact you,” Lucy told Aya.
The businesswoman sharpened. “Are you entertaining another offer?”
“Of employment?” No, every possible boss was standing on this deck with her right now.
“Because we would like you to strongly consider coming back to us,” Aya said. “Van Cartier Cosmetics has been researching the medical benefits of Sea Opals for decades. We are uniquely positioned to turn these gems into health products for the betterment of mankind.”
Lucy nodded. “Health Products For Betterment” was a company slogan, and Aya recited it without flinching. Aya and Elyssa both believed in it with clear eyes.
“As the only human who has successfully partnered and lived among the mer, you are in a unique position to assist us.” At Lucy’s continued silence, Aya added, “You will, of course, be properly compensated for your new duties.”
“Oh yeah?” The exhaustion was beginning to drain her. “Hm.”
“This yacht, for example. It could be yours.”
Wow. Lucy straightened. “You’d give me this yacht?”
“Sign on the line.”
Oh. The yacht was worth way more than her old house and car. Wait, wait, wait. Aya was offering to give this to her? Right now?
No matter what, Lucy couldn’t go back to her old life. Everything had changed.
With Torun beside her, she’d figure out a way to do everything. She’d pay off all her bills. She�
�d make the right choices. There was no need to rush.
“Thanks. I’ll contact you when I’m ready to negotiate.”
Aya stopped smiling. “We really need an answer—”
“Aya! Relax.” Elyssa stepped on her cousin’s designer, white high heel. She was playful but also pointed. “I’m sailing Lucy back. She can’t get away.”
Aya’s frown deepened. “This will only take a few minutes.”
“Great, but Lucy already said she wanted to do it later. If she or Torun have any questions about your offer, they can ask me.”
“But—”
“They’ve been through a lot. The nice thing to do is let them relax.”
Aya’s smile slowly returned. A business smile, plastic. “Yes. Thanks again for your service. Lucy Shaw, Torun.”
Aya returned to the helicopter. The military men climbed aboard. Engine noise increased, the propeller turned, and they took off. Then, only the three of them remained on the deck.
Lucy sagged against Torun. It was finally over.
“Sorry. She gets really focused. I’ll get the engine started.” Elyssa headed to the wheelhouse, kindly sensitive to their needs.
Malem appeared behind them. “I have spent these last minutes arguing with a man that I cannot sign away our Life Tree. The fact that I do not own it was the least of his concerns.”
“Aya Van Cartier.” Lucy stared after the helicopter, now just a black dot in the sky. “She’s pretty awesome, right? She definitely takes no bull.”
“Formidable,” Malem said. “Do all these air-breathing women shine as Lucy and Aya do?”
“No.” Torun stroked Lucy’s hair softly. “Many darken when they approach the water. I have seen it. These women love the ocean, all of them.”
That was true. And for all of Aya’s tough business acumen, something had flashed in her expression as the helicopter lifted off. Something like longing. She was vice president of a large corporation, but that material achievement did not soothe her cold heart.
The yacht engine rumbled beneath their feet.
Malem stepped back. “I must return to Sireno. I will convey what passed this day to Jolan.”
“King Jolan,” Lucy said.
Malem sucked in a breath. He had been guarding Blake when the transfer of authority occurred. “King Jolan. Very fitting.” To Torun, he said, “I forgive you for breaking the covenant and finding a bride to choose.”
