Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
With locked knees and stiff steps, Angie left the sea, the happiness of last night sucked out of her. Her head swam with residual vertigo as she re-acclimated to being on dry land again.
On her way out, she scratched her bare arms on a nearby barnacle-studded rock, prickly bumps embedded in a blanket of deep emerald algae. She grimaced.
Cyrus was much more intimidating than Kaden. His eyes, darker than his younger brother’s but just as mysterious and striking, burned with fury and hatred, and she truly believed she was going to die before Kaden stopped him. His hands and tail were poised to strangle the life out of her.
Angie couldn’t blame him. She was an enemy and in their territory.
“Are you sure you will be alright?” Kaden’s head and shoulders bobbed in the waves, a flicker of concern crossing his features.
She smiled weakly. “I’ll be okay.”
“But I don’t want to leave you until—”
“No, no. I have to get to work, anyway. I’ll meet you before the week’s end.” He didn’t move, and she kneeled to clasp his hands in hers. “Friday. Uh, two days from today.”
Kaden squeezed her hands, his shoulders sagging.
“Please don’t worry about my brother. He has a tough shell, but ultimately, he holds an open mind and heart.
I will explain to him when I see him tonight and hope he will change his tune.
He is very much my mother’s son.” He bit his lower lip, his eyebrow raised.
“I am so very sorry about what happened. I shouldn’t have brought you to the sanctuaries, or to the palace, knowing the risk. ”
“I don’t regret it.” She gazed into his eyes as she said the words, and stroked the tops of his hands with her thumbs.
With a forced nod, he pressed a kiss on her cheek before they parted ways.
His words were of small comfort to her.
She retrieved her pack, right where she left it yesterday. Her body flushed warm with the mer’s magic, though Kaden had said it would only last minutes once she broke dry land. She towel-dried herself and slipped into her long pants, plain shirt and thick jacket.
Her back and knee throbbed when she walked.
The memory of her and Cyrus stirred, a proverbial dagger twisting in her gut.
The helplessness and cold terror from those moments crashed over her head and encased her entire body.
Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself and shook the feeling off. She had to focus on getting to work.
Angie hoisted her pack over her shoulder and trekked back to the docks proper, tying her hair into a loose ponytail so its dampness was less obvious, in time to see Nick walking in her direction holding a thick swath of rope in his hands and undoing its knots.
He never came so close to the dock’s edge, and she deliberately lowered her head.
Nick stopped and looked her up and down, and zeroed in on her hair. Then he squinted and pursed his lips.
Angie stiffened.
“Angela,” he said after the uncomfortable silence. “What are you doing here so early? And why are you wet? It’s not raining.” He pointed to the sky.
She sighed with relief, and then indignation overtook her. “I can see the sun. Didn’t dry my hair after showering this morning.”
“Why would you not do that? Won’t your head get cold?” Nick deadpanned. “I’ll never understand women.”
You’re married to one though, dipshit.
He pointed to her jacket and pants. “Change into your uniform. We have a lot of work to do.”
“More than usual?” Angie grumbled, following him back to the dock’s main hub.
“Yes. A couple other dockhands resigned, so the rest of the work is falling to us.”
She held her tongue, holding her true thoughts back. It wasn’t him the work was falling to. It was her and the other regular dockhands who couldn’t resign.
He tossed her a rope. “A few boats are coming in. Anchor them.” Then he ran ahead and out of sight.
She stopped by her locker and changed into her uniform, leaving her swimsuit by the cracked-open window to dry.
Bàba walked past when she exited the small outhouse. He rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn. “Beibei? Did you just get in?”
She nodded. “Morning, Bàba.”
He brushed past without waiting for an answer. She hadn’t seen him so exhausted in a long time, where he asked a question and then walked away, as if forgetting he asked. Like his mind was someplace else entirely.
Angie followed his retreat, staying several feet behind as he approached Grace, his junior manager.
Grace checked her clipboard. “We caught two and killed two more armed mermaids lurking by the shore early this morning.”
“Good.” Bàba’s gaze pointed everywhere except directly at Grace.
Angie stroked her neck and grimaced. She turned away from them and hoped they hadn’t caught her eavesdropping. Had those mer been caught last night? She had been oblivious to it, all wound up in Kaden’s arms.
The thought positively sickened her, and she walked away to regain her composure.