by S. K Munt
She shrugged. ‘Yeah well, I love purple and books are so much fun to arrange. I wish I had time to read them all though.’ She cast a wistful glance to the shelves. ‘You really like it?’
‘I love you.’ The response was not asked for, but warranted. He couldn’t control it. It was too much a truth to be reigned in.
Ivyanne glanced back at him, eyebrows arched. ‘Tristan I-’ she blushed and shook her head, looking both pleased and incredibly shy. ‘Thank you.’
Tristan smiled, then sank down onto one of the chaises, relinquishing his grip on her arm and staring up at her. ‘So, you know about the human?’
‘Yeah.’ Ivyanne seemed hesitant to meet his gaze. She had a towel cinched around her waist and now she tightened it. Tristan wondered if she was unclothed below it and felt his muscles coil, wanting to pounce and tackle her to the chaise behind her, to push his fingers up under the soft terry cloth and find out for himself…
‘…..just a backpacker or something okay?’ Ivyanne was saying. ‘I was with her when she caught him. It was a bit freaky at first, but she and Pintang handled it so I ditched. Now I guess they’re letting him handle them.’
‘He shouldn’t be here.’ Tristan said. ‘I can’t believe my uncle allowed it!’
‘Well it’s safer for us inside rather than out. Either way-it’s Garridan’s call.’ Ivyanne shot him a sidelong look, not bothering to mask her irritation. ‘And dangerous or not, I don’t like being dragged around my own house like a puppet, Loveridge. Who’s the monarch around here anyway?’
‘Well..that’s the million dollar question isn’t it?’ He asked, winking. ‘Who the other monarch will be, I mean?’
Ivyanne gave him an exasperated look. ‘Is every conversation I have with the two of you going to segue into who I’m going to marry? Because if it is, I won’t be inviting you back!’
‘It will, and that’s an empty threat-you’re not that cruel.’ Her disregard for her own safety annoyed him. ‘If he saw you in mer form, the poor bastard is going to be star-struck for the rest of his life. If Saraya and Pintang have already erased that part from his memory then good- but it doesn’t mean that you should risk being seen again.’
‘Yeah..well…’ Ivyanne sighed and stepped around him, making her way towards her desk. He got up and followed her, unable to let more than a few feet separate them now that he had her alone again.
‘Damn this sucks! Not only is she getting lucky, but now I’m hiding in my own damn house as well!’ She glanced back at him, looking annoyed. ‘What happened with your flight anyway?’
‘Delayed. So you’re stuck with me for another hour or so.’ He sat on the edge of her desk and swung his legs beneath him, smiling knowingly at her. She’d been off swimming for hours probably just to avoid spending time with he and Lincoln, who’d had to leave half an hour beforehand following a phone conversation from Bane that had used the word ‘Roaches’ and ‘Shit’ several times. So now Tristan had her to himself. She didn’t seem happy about it, but he tried not to let that bother him. He was beginning to learn that Ivyanne’s façade of frustration with him wasn’t very thick. She put on a good show, even when they were alone, but she couldn’t disguise her self-consciousness around him. She fiddled and fidgeted, touched her own skin, twirled her hair and blushed-but she rarely actually walked away.
Ivyanne pushed open one of the curtains a fraction more and stared out the window to the expanse of the lawn beyond. ‘Can I ask what Garridan wanted from you and Lincoln this morning?’ She asked. ‘Do you know who the guard is yet?’
Tristan shook his head. ‘Nope. He’s waiting until tonight to draw the names out.’ He glanced down at the papers on her desk. ‘He wanted to give Link and I a gun each for our own protection, which meant signing some fraudulent papers and getting our pictures taken…’ he chuckled. ‘And teaching Link to hold one without peeing his pants.’
Ivyanne cracked a smile. ‘Poor guy. We’re going to completely do his head in with all of this protect the monarch stuff.’
Tristan was about to turn and suggest he do her head in instead, when he noticed a familiar photograph under a few papers.
‘Nigara!’ he exclaimed, picking up the old print, feeling a warmth spread through him when he recognized the military photo. ‘What’s this doing here?’
‘Oh!’ Ivyanne crossed back to the desk and peeked at the photograph. ‘I was going through a box of my old stuff yesterday and found it and thought I should have it framed. Your mother sent it to me back in oh five, when we first got engaged.’
Tristan’s stomach rumbled uncomfortably at that. He’d once been ambivalent at the thought of Nigara becoming betrothed to the princess. Now the idea that they’d entertained even the briefest romantic thought towards the other made him feel ill. He glanced back at the stack and saw a sheaf of old, faded letters, wondering if Ivyanne could hear his panicked heartbeat.
‘Are these letters from him?!’
‘No.’ Ivyanne said, picking the papers up and sliding them into the top drawer. ‘They’re mostly from Roan. He used to write to me when we were kids, and then started writing a lot more when we turned sixteen and things became..official.’
‘Looks like he wrote a book!’
Ivyanne chuckled. ‘Yes he was a funny thing. The letters are very, well, passionate for someone who barely knew me. I never quite knew how to respond.’
‘But my brother didn’t write you?’
Ivyanne shook her head. ‘Two postcards was all I ever got, right towards the end, saying how he looked forward to meeting me last year. Which never happened.’
Tristan stared at the picture of his brother wistfully, regretting his insecure, violent thoughts. Nigara was much broader than he, with darker hair and deep brown eyes, but their features were close to being identical. ‘I miss him.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Ivyanne said softly. ‘I wish I’d known him.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ Tristan admitted. ‘This would be so much harder for me if I’d thought he loved you.’
‘Yes well as far as I know he had little to no interest in marrying me at all.’
‘Not true.’ Tristan said, handing her the photo. ‘He was reluctant given the girlfriend and son he was going to leave behind, but he’d wanted to be king and make a difference as well.’
An expression of amusement crossed Ivyanne’s pretty features. ‘So it was about the crown?’
‘Mostly. But he was still a man with a pulse.’ Tristan grinned at her. ‘He received a photo of you from your mother in a Christmas card the year before last and let’s just say..he was seeing the silver lining to the whole ‘marry the mermaid princess’ thing.’ Tristan reached out and stroked her hair tentatively. ‘How could anyone not?’
Ivyanne put the photo into the drawer and closed it quickly after her. ‘Well...hmm.’ She cleared her throat and glanced towards the closed door. ‘I should probably go check and see if the coast is clear yet.’
‘Hang on,’ Tristan took her by the arm. ‘We still need to discuss your little voodoo trick this morning.’
Ivyanne made a face but allowed herself to be pulled back, finally meeting his gaze again. ‘Yeah... about that... thank you for not saying anything.’
‘It’s pretty hard to say something when I have no freaking clue what had happened. Are you a mystic, Ivyanne? Have you been hiding that from us all too?’
Ivyanne’s eyes widened. ‘No! I mean, I don’t think so….’ She huffed. ‘I don’t know, okay? I don’t know how or why I do that but it just happens every now and then.’
‘How many times now?’
‘Three. Two of which happened this morning.’ Ivyanne held up her hands. ‘Like I said, I don’t get it any more than you do. The first time it happened was at the engagement party. I was coming after Sherri because she was about to crack your head open with a stool. I was a few feet back from her and thought I wouldn’t be able to stop her in time. But I reached out my hand anyway and... and secon
ds later the stool was in my hand and she was still out of reach.’ Her forehead crinkled in thought. ‘I didn’t know if I’d reached it somehow... or if she’d lost her grip and sent it flying...and I didn’t exactly have time to ask.’
Tristan was amazed. ‘Did anyone else see it happen?’
Ivyanne shrugged. ‘No one’s mentioned it. There was just so much going on! I don’t think Sherri even knew how I managed to get it from her. She looked at me, all shocked, and then Pintang knocked her over.’
‘You should have said something,’ Tristan said quietly. ‘If you have a power, Ivyanne, we need to know about it and exercise it.’
Ivyanne crossed her arms across her chest. ‘Said something? When? And to who? My parents died two minutes later Tristan, then there was the memorial and all the panic, the coronation, breaking off the engagement, the move... I just chalked it up as a fluke and forgot about it until this morning.’
Tristan thought it over. ‘So all three times it’s involved me in some way?’
Ivyanne averted her eyes and tucked a curl behind her ear again. A periwinkle scale on the back of her hand winked knowingly at him in the filtered sunlight.
‘I guess you could...yeah. Sort of.’
Tristan stepped closer to her, his heart full of hope. ‘So what you’re saying is that whenever you want something badly enough... you just pull it to you sub-consciously? And Link hasn’t brought that out in you yet?’
Ivyanne backed up, holding up her hand. ‘Tristan-don’t, okay? It’s not fair of you to keep sneaking up on me like this morning and now.’
‘Sneaking up on you?’ Tristan repeated, freezing at the accusation. ‘Ivyanne-you grabbed me. How is that my fault?’
‘I don’t know!’ Ivyanne said crossly. ‘It just is. I was just starting to get a grip on my hormones and then here you come, messing with my head again.’
‘You say that like you don’t love it!’
‘I don’t!’ Ivyanne snapped. She wrestled free. ‘Yes you’re sexy as hell Tristan! A god! Sometimes I want to sink my teeth into you so much I’m afraid I’d do damage! BUT I won’t be lusted into making a dumb decision!’
Tristan’s mouth fell open. ‘Are you implying that the only reason you’d marry me is because I’m better at turning you on?’
‘I never said you were better at it-just more persistent!’ Ivyanne said cuttingly, then arched an eyebrow. ‘And why don’t you stop trying to turn me on so we can both find out, huh? Admit it-you know your sexuality is a secret weapon of sorts so you rub it in my face every chance you get!’
Tristan wanted to punch something. If she knew how hurtful her words were, she didn’t show it with the slightest flash of remorse in her gleaming green gaze. To his horror, he realized that a lump was forming at the base of his throat. Never had a string of off-hand compliments made him feel so worthless.
‘So that’s why you’d choose me, huh?’ He demanded, angrier than he’d ever been with her. ‘You told me how much you missed me when I was gone, that it ripped your heart out! Did you sink into a catatonia just because you weren’t going to get to ride me one last time?’ He glared at her, wounded. ‘Because I sincerely hope not!’
Ivyanne blinked. Tears had begun to pool along her thick lower lashes and now one threatened to spill over. ‘Of course not! But at least I can make sense of how I feel for him-I can see the depth to it!’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t get a handle on how I feel for you because every time I look at you...you’ve got your feathers out!’
Tristan’s arm shot out of it’s own accord, his palm cupping her lower back, yanking her up against him. Their lips were inches apart. ‘You want depth? I can bury myself deeper inside you than anybody. Keep pushing me and I’ll do exactly that!’
‘Against my will?’
He traced the tip of his teeth with his tongue. ‘The flesh is willing-it’s the spirit that’s weak.’
‘You are such an ass sometimes!’ She complained.
‘And you’re being a sullen brat! I know why-and we both know how to fix it! So why shouldn’t we? Maybe once your mind is clear, you’ll be able to think straight again and see me. Really see me, like you did last time. And I know you did. We connected dammit!’
Ivyanne cocked her head, seemingly unmoved. ‘Oh no...you’re not trying to manipulate me at all...’ Sarcasm shattered the sexual tension. ‘Is this how you’d rule, Loveridge? You gonna shag everyone who doesn’t have faith in you because it’s too hard to prove yourself otherwise?’
Tristan released her swiftly, too mad to concede the fact that she had a point. But it was a moot point- her sexuality was what was reducing the kingdom to madness-the rest of them were just reacting, himself included! He turned to her desk and picked up the letter opener he’d spied minutes before, thrusting it into her hand. ‘Here! Use it!’
Ivyanne gaped at him, all traces of smug superiority gone. ‘What?’
He leaned closer to her. ‘If you can’t see past my face, then cut it! Cut it to ribbons! Take the distraction out of the equation and just see if I can’t make you love me still!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Ivyanne said, slamming the opener down on the desk.
‘I’m not! If you think I have a preternatural advantage then rob me of it!’ He slid the opener back across the table to her. ‘But while you’re at it-gouge him out of your memory too, okay? Because that’s his hold over you!’
Ivyanne’s hand shot out and swept the letter opener off the desktop and into his legs. It bounced off his black jeans and landed on the floor below with a rattle.
‘I’m not going to dignify that with a comment.’
‘Well we are who we are!’ Tristan snapped. ‘If you can’t see past my body that’s your fault!’ He took her by the hand and gave her a little tug into his space. ‘Don’t I make you laugh? Don’t I accept you more readily for who you are than anyone else does? Didn’t the idea of a world without me in it send you into a downward spiral you couldn’t snap out of?’
Ivyanne’s eyes softened.
‘That’s what I thought.’ He stuck his finger inches from her perfect nose. ‘The fact that I knock you out of your socks just by looking at you is the reason why you’re going to pick me-not why you won’t.’ He stepped away from her. ‘And if you think you’re uncomfortable right now, just wait and see what I do if I think I need to prove how badly you want me!’ Tristan turned and stomped towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’ Ivyanne demanded.
‘Sydney! Where I’m actually wanted!’ he snapped. ‘Better give you your precious space so you can stop drowning in your own drool right?’
‘You’re going to leave mad again?’ Ivyanne asked scornfully. ‘Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?’
Tristan glanced at her over your shoulder. ‘Why should I have? You certainly didn’t!’ With that Tristan opened the door and stalked out of the room, shaking with rage. Ivyanne loved him, he was certain of that-but what chance did he have to win her heart when she was spending her time convincing herself that Link was the only one who deserved it?
He waited until he was in the hallway to let a tear slip down his cheek. He couldn’t believe the love of his life was determined to discount him for being what he’d been created to be-a Siren.
6.
Ivyanne stared at the back of the door to the library for a full minute after Tristan had left, so angry that she was trembling. She closed her eyes as her hands balled into fists, and suddenly she was somewhere else with sun on her back, phone in hand-tears in eyes.
‘Sweetheart, I think Tristan’s plane just crashed off the coast of Molokai!’ Bane’s disembodied voice seemed to scream into her ear.
A sob escaped her then, making Ivyanne aware that she was about to submit to the crying jag she had felt coming on since she’d been forced to see herself through human eyes half an hour beforehand. Damn Tristan-always catching her when she was most off balance and then throwing her off an emotional precipice! She
stared up at the purple ceiling and let the tears run across her temples and into her hair, imagining Tristan de-boarding in Sydney with no harm done. She sucked in the deepest, coldest breath she could, then blew it out.
‘It’s not going to happen again,’ she whispered to the ceiling, but she had to hug herself to keep the panic in. ‘No one’s ever been in two damn crashes!’
Amazingly, uttering that statement out loud mollified her, because she knew she was right. Ardhi would never try the same thing twice, and he didn’t know where they were anyway-or when they’d be coming and going. He had no spies left.
A funny thought occurred to her then : So if I don’t think he’ll ever crash again, does that making actually flying with him less scary? Could it be something I do...if the need arises...the need to be with my…?
Ivyanne cut the thought off cold and let out a soft cry of annoyance. Tristan had taken her by the arm for the same reason he always had-to get her attention. And it was working!
Suddenly, the room felt far too small for all of her thoughts-and the window far too wide to ignore. She took a step towards it, biting her lip. It had security screens, of course, but for fire safety purposes, each was fitted with a lock-a lock she had a spare key to in her desk.
I can’t breathe in here. She thought, making a move towards the desk once more. I can’t even get a decent swim...but there are other things that would make me feel better-wicked temptations no one’s around to police me from, for once...
Without giving herself time to second guess herself, Ivyanne picked up her iPhone. She knew the number for the cab company-it was printed on the desk calendar the real estate agent had gifted her with.
As Ivyanne dialed, she opened the drawer with the keys.
*
Lincoln pulled his car to a stop but kept the engine idling so his blue-tooth wouldn’t shut down. He spotted Ivyanne immediately. She’d attempted to stuff her curls into a pale-pink baseball cap and as a result, the cap was listing slightly. Her dark sunglasses didn’t help either-her profile was too lovely to be mistaken, her figure too deliciously curved to be concealed under an ill-fitting men’s shirt.
