by Sara Summers
“I grew up in the mafia. You learn to watch for those kinds of things.”
My soulmate raised his eyebrows.
“Seriously?”
“Yep, I have scars from getting blown up to prove it.” She smiled. It was different to see her so at ease about her past. The Sav I had known before I became queen was someone who was defensive about everything she had gone through.
Jordie, her mate, put his arm around her. I saw the way they interacted, and I knew that he was partially why she had been able to get over what she’d suffered.
While part of me yearned for that connection with Sam, another part of me knew it would never be. Sam wanted nothing to do with my world, and it was my responsibility to let him make his own decisions. If he didn’t want me, there was nothing I could do fix that.
Okay, the council might not have agreed with that statement, but as far as I was concerned Sam wouldn’t be forced into anything. He was a person and he deserved to decide his own future and fate.
After a thorough sweep of the rest of the cars, we were set to go.
I was a little worried about starting the summit by almost dying, but tried not to let it disturb me. The hotel was supposed to be safer, right? Then again, no one should’ve even known that we were getting off a plane when we were. The summit hadn’t been announced until around when the plane had landed, so it shouldn’t have been an issue.
The idea left me with a bad feeling. That meant there had to be someone inside someone’s government who wanted us dead.
When our taxis dropped us off at the hotel fifteen minutes later, it was a relief to be done traveling. I’d had plenty of that.
Grabbing our bags, our group of shifters headed up the stairs and toward the rooms we had already been assigned. We didn’t even have to check in; people handed us keycards without even asking us our names.
I looked down at what I’d been handed. It was a slip with a room number and two keycards in it, and the paper slip said,
“Mermaid couple”.
The title didn’t offend me, but I was afraid it would bother Sam so I tried not to let him see it.
Our group squeezed in the elevator. All of us fit, but we were definitely squished. Sam looked at the wall of the elevator with yet another grimace on his face, which I thought was because he was stuck so close to me.
Apparently, I’m that unappealing to him.
My body is grimace-worthy.
I thought.
Great, that’s exactly what I want my soulmate to think of me. Too unattractive to look at and very unappealing to be squished against.
Great.
But then again, everything is grimace-worthy to him.
I shook my head a little, looking down at my shoes. They were just a pair of flipflops I’d left at Marie’s house after being dragged by the council down into the ocean. Marie had donated most of my old clothes, so I didn’t have much to choose from, but I still knew I could’ve tried harder to look like a queen should.
I was wearing jean shorts and a white V-neck t-shirt. Nothing I owned was even nearly fancy enough for the summit. I would have to go shopping if I didn’t want to look like a complete mess in front of whoever was going to be at the summit.
Great.
If only I had money.
I sighed as I led Sam down the hall with everyone else, stopping in front of the door with the room number that was on my packet.
Handing him the second key, I slid mine. The light on the handle turned green, and it let me inside the room.
Sam followed me inside the room—our room. It was spacious enough, since the hotel we’d been booked in was plenty nice, but it didn’t feel anywhere near big enough since there was only one bed.
“Do they expect us to sleep together?” Sam looked at me. I couldn’t tell if he was scared or worried or grossed out by the idea. I figured it was safe to guess that he was a combination of all three.
“We’re soulmates. Of course they expect us to sleep together.” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. Gosh, my head hurt.
Too much had happened that day. But then, if I was honest, I got headaches at least three or four times a week. Too much happened every day, for me.
“Oh. Great.” Sam muttered.
I whirled around, suddenly more frustrated than I could bear.
“I get that you’re frustrated, okay? I’m tired of this too, but right now, we’re stuck. If you could at least pretend that you didn’t hate me, it would make all this crap a lot easier. Just… take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” I dropped my bag at the edge of the couch and sat down, rubbing my eyes and then my temples again.
“Do you have a headache?” Sam sat beside me, and I eyed him. I was suspicious because he had no reason to sit down next to me and be nice. Up to that point, I didn’t even know he was capable of anything other than grimacing, getting mad at me, or staring at my friends.
“It doesn’t matter.” I tried to turn away but he put a hand on my arm.
“Here.” He picked up my hand, putting two small bottles of something in my palm. “Peppermint and lavender oil. They both help with headaches, just rub a drop of whichever one you like best on your temples and neck. It usually works for me.” He said, standing up.
“Thanks.” I blinked up at him, surprised.
“No problem. Headaches suck.” He shrugged. “Take the side of the bed closest to the window. If someone tries to come in you’ll be safer.” He added.
“Thanks?” I said again, but that time it was more of a question. “Why are you acting so nice?”
“I’m not that bad of a person, Ava.” He sighed. “Goodnight. Turn off the light whenever you’re ready.” He dropped onto the bed on his stomach, his head facing the door. Trying to be quiet, I walked over to my side of the bed.
As I rubbed the peppermint oil into the skin on my temples, the tingling took care of my headache almost immediately.
I looked over at the man next to me. For the first time that since we met, I thought that maybe he wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me after all. Maybe there was more to him than anger and grimaces.
I cuddled close to my side of the bed, trying not to think too much about my Sam-realizations. Whether he was a good or bad person, he didn’t want to be my soulmate. Because of that, I simply couldn’t get attached to him. That could only hurt me in the end.
I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about one of the places I had visited in the ocean.
The ocean really was my favorite place in the world.
Chapter 10
A few hours into the night, I was awoken by a gunshot and a scream.
“Alena.” I jumped out of bed, sprinting into the hallway.
“Wait, Ava—“
I ignored Sam. I didn’t have time to listen; my sister was in trouble.
There, in the hall, was a man with a gun. He wore a black hoodie, and as soon as I stepped into the hallway he pointed the gun at me.
My eyes went straight to Alena. She was crouched on the ground, bent over an old woman that I knew well.
“Put your gun down and I won’t have to hurt you.” I warned the man. He chuckled, clicking something on his gun.
“I’m the one who should be saying that to you.” He snarked.
I heard doors opening but didn’t allow myself to glance around. If I upset the man, he would fire his gun.
“This is your last warning.” My voice sounded lower and more threatening than usual. “Drop the gun.” I didn’t want to hurt the man, but I would do what I had to in order to protect everyone I was with.
He aimed at me, pointing his weapon at my heart.
I felt the water in his body, I felt the way it made up such a large part of him and how he functioned. The water inside of him answered to me the same way the ocean did, and though he didn’t realize it, he should’ve been very afraid of me.
Holding out my hand, I used the water inside him to throw his body against the wal
l. His gun dropped to the ground. As soon as I was sure it wasn’t going to go off and hit Alena or anyone else, I immediately turned my attention to Marie.
“I’ve been healing her.” Alena looked up at me frantically, tears wobbling in her eyes. “The bullet came out, but part of the injury won’t heal.” Her hands were bloody and shaking as she pointed to the bullet that had come out of Marie’s shoulder.
I looked up to check that the man had been taken care of by my friends, and was glad to see plenty of shifters surrounding him. They had it under control, so I refocused on Marie.
“Just lean back, okay? I’ll take care of it.” I assured her.
Alena nodded, taking in a shaky breath.
I put my hands on Marie’s chest, closing my eyes to focus. I allowed my mind to drift, and the magic in me found her wound in an instant.
Her body was old and tired, but as I kick-started the healing process with magic Marie’s body knitted itself back together. I opened my eyes just as the skin closed over the top of where she had been shot.
“Thank goodness.” Alena breathed.
Marie opened her eyes only a few minutes later.
“You got the shooter, right?” She asked. Her voice just as scratchy as usual, which was comforting. I smiled and nodded.
“We got him.”
“Good.” She gave me a faint smile. “If you’ll help me up, I’d like to get some sleep now.” She told me and Alena.
“Of course.”
Alena and I pulled her arms over our shoulders, lifting her up. It took more effort than expected, but we managed. When we straightened, Sam jogged over to us from across the hallway.
“Here.” He carefully maneuvered himself under the arm that Alena had been holding up, taking her place like it was something he’d done a million times before.
“Thanks.” Alena smiled at him.
When Marie was safe on her bed, I gently pulled Alena out of the room.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.” She admitted, noticing the blood all over her hands and looking up at the ceiling. She looked a little green, but we had to know the story. According to Sam, the police would be there any minute.
“Marie said her head hurt so she wanted to get some ice. I went with her, just because. We barely made it out the door when the guy shot at us. Marie pushed me out of the way, but the bullet hit her. Then you came out.” She explained, her entire body shaking more as the story progressed.
“It’s okay now.” I promised Alena, pulling her close for a hug. “Go wash your hands and then get some sleep.” I instructed.
“I’m going to take a bath.” She told me, but nodded. “Thanks for saving us, Ava.”
“No problem.” I hugged her again, then helped her back to her room.
After Alena and Marie were taken care of, I finally got to look around the hallway.
All of the shifty girls were outside, except Leah. Since she was pregnant, I figured she had been threatened by just about everyone to stay in her room.
“No, you listen.” Sav paced past me, massaging her temples as she spoke into her phone. She was obviously irritated by whoever she was talking to. “Someone just tried to kill us. If you don’t get enough guards who are completely accepting of shifters, we’re getting on a plane tomorrow morning.” She threatened.
I looked out at everyone and noticed that all their expressions were grim.
A few policemen had come to pick up the shooter, and were dragging him out of the hallway. The guys who had come with us were talking about what they should do during the night to make sure this didn’t happen again.
The girls were separated into groups, talking about something else while Sav paced and lectured the person on the phone.
“Okay, you know what? I don’t care that it’s three in the morning, you put the president on the phone right now. You let me talk to him, or I’ll get some sort of investigation going into whoever in your agency told the gunman and the bomber where we were going to be and when.” She paused again.
“Finally.” She muttered a few minutes later.
I felt useless just standing there in the hallway alone, so I headed toward the room I knew Leah was in.
“Hey, Lee.” I smiled at the wolf shifter. She looked relieved to see me.
“Thanks for coming in here. I’ve been going crazy, wondering what’s going on.” She admitted. “Apparently pregnant ladies aren’t allowed at dangerous crime scenes.” She shook her head, and I smiled.
After giving her a rundown of what had happened, I sat down on her bed next to her.
“Who’s the guy who came with you?” I asked, needing something to talk about.
“Oh, his name is Kyle. He’s Ty’s second. Ty’s my mate, but you know that already.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve been an airhead lately.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I assured her.
“So what’s the story with you being the queen?” Leah wondered. “When you came to heal me, you didn’t stay to talk.”
“Sorry about that.” I sighed. “Everything has been one whirlwind after another. I had no idea I was even royalty until the council was dragging me into the ocean and telling me I had been destined and trained to be the new queen. When I accepted and became queen, I couldn’t do anything right.
“I was too young, I didn’t have my mate yet, I didn’t know enough about mermaid culture… It seemed like the council wanted me to fail.” I explained to her.
“Who’s the council?”
“Oh, a group of a dozen old mermaids and mermen who think they’re my bosses. They pretend I’m the leader, but they’ve only ever actually let me make three decisions in the year I’ve been playing queen. One of those was coming here.” I smiled sadly. “Honestly, I don’t even know why they bother talking to me about anything. It would save them time if I wasn’t there.” I shook my head, and Leah grimaced.
“That sucks.” She apologized.
“Yeah, it’s just what I have to deal with.” I shrugged. “Everyone has something.”
“True.” She nodded. “And what about Sam?” She asked, a smile teasing at the corners of her lips.
“What about him?” I smiled wryly. “What could I say that you haven’t already guessed? You are the relationship expert, right? You help people in your pack every day, teaching classes.”
She grinned.
“That’s true.” Leah admitted. “I guess I’m wondering if you want it to work. You don’t seem very sure about him.”
“I’m not.” I shrugged. “That’s the problem. I just don’t know if I want to risk my heart. I’m tired of being alone, and I definitely don’t want to spend my life ruling the ocean by myself. But I also don’t want to let myself get used to the idea of being with him if he doesn’t want to be with me.”
“It’s okay to be scared.” Leah wrapped an arm around me, giving me a side-hug. “But it’s always better to give love a chance than to regret not doing it afterward.” She told me.
“I guess.” I sighed, looking down at her stomach. Once again, I could see the children inside her. “Do you want to know the gender of your baby?” I asked.
“You can tell?” she raised her eyebrows at me. “How?”
“Mermaid magic.” I smiled and wiggled my fingers at her the way we always did in high school.
Leah grinned.
“Sure. I’m not supposed to find out for another month.” She was suddenly eager to know.
“First off, Jazz was right. You’re having twins.” I waited for her to freak out. Though her face paled, she nodded. “They’re both boys.” I added.
“Oh eff.” She muttered. “That’s exactly what Jazz predicted.”
“Congratulations.” I smiled at her, and she gave me a weak smile back.
“Two boys. Wow.”
“You’ll be great.” I promised.
Kyle, the wolf shifter who had come with Leah, stepped into the room.
“Oh, good. Yo
ur mate has been worrying about you.” Kyle nodded at me, then called out, “She’s in here.”
“Really?” I raised my eyebrows, not sure I believed that Sam was worried about me. The man could hardly stand talking to me, why would he be worried that I was gone?
“Yeah. He’s waiting in the hallway.” Kyle gestured over his shoulder.
“Thanks.” I nodded, smiling at Leah before going out to find my soulmate. “You were worried about me?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“There was a shooter here an hour ago. Of course I was worried about you; I’d be worried about anyone who disappeared after that.” Sam spun around, walking back to the room without another word.
I didn’t say anything either, though I couldn’t help but be curious. Maybe he didn’t hate me so much after all.
Chapter 11
The next morning, we all met in the hotel’s dining area for their complimentary breakfast. Most of our group lined up by the waffle machine, but I didn’t feel like eating much.
Grabbing some yogurt and a banana, I sat down at a table on the far side of the room. Alena was right behind me and sat down next to me. Her hair curled around her face, still damp from her late shower the night before.
“I should’ve slept more.” She yawned at the same time she bit into a bagel. “I’m tired.”
“Me too.” I agreed. “But apparently we’re supposed to spend all day today meeting foreign leaders and making them feel welcome.” I told her.
“Dang it.” Alena moaned.
“I know.” I gave my sister a small smile. “Is Marie coming?”
“No, she said she doesn’t feel very good.” Alena yawned again. “She might be able to join us tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I nodded, opening up my yogurt.
Sam sat down next to us a few minutes later with two steaming waffles on his plate. As soon as I saw a waffle in front of me, I started to want one.
Looking back over at the growing line, I grimaced. Yogurt and fruit would have to do, because I didn’t have half an hour to wait.
Sam started eating his waffles and I couldn’t help but stare at them. I didn’t know why I was suddenly craving waffles, but man, I was craving them.
