Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
RILEY
The house was eerily quiet as I lay on the couch in my pajamas and waited. My knife stared back at me from the coffee table, taunting me. It wanted me to embrace what I was becoming, but I didn't want that.
What if I would have slit Kamal's neck? Then what? My life would have been over and I would have gone to prison and probably lost my mind. I was already losing my mind enough as it was.
I had several texts from Aiden and Ivy, checking to see if I was okay, but I didn't feel like talking besides to ensure them I was fine.
Anger welled up inside me again and I snatched the knife off the table. I was instantly calmer, but that just made my anxiety over the whole thing even worse.
I was a freak.
I sat up, examining the hilt. There had to be a way to make it so both my mom and I could have a piece of it. We certainly couldn't go on living our lives trading it back and forth. What would happen when I went away to college?
It was almost three in the morning, and I yawned. I should sleep because Jax and Blake probably wouldn't be back anytime soon.
I stood, and my eyes landed on the hall leading to the elevator. Maybe I'd wait down there for a bit. I grabbed the throw and a pillow off the couch and headed to the elevator. The last time I was in the cave, I had fallen in the water. I shuddered at the memory.
Some siren I was.
The doors slid open and the lights turned on as I walked onto the platform. Now that I wasn't panicking trying to escape, the sheer massiveness of the space shocked me. It was like they had their own bat cave.
"It's their mercave." I smiled to myself and headed to a bench that was just far enough from the edge of the platform to feel safe.
I was about to lie down when the water splashed. I shrieked as a shark appeared, its head poking out of the water and its dark eye locking onto me.
I scrambled backwards and ran into a metal cabinet, the sound making me jump and squeal. The shark splashed the water and I swear he looked like he was smiling.
I rubbed my forehead in disbelief and took a better look at him. He was the length of one of the boats, and even though I couldn't see his teeth, I was sure all it would take was one giant leap and he'd eat me whole.
"You must be Bubba." He moved his head and sent water onto the platform. "Nice to meet you."
I couldn't believe I was talking to a shark inside a cave where tritons transitioned from men to mermen. I snorted at the absurdity and crept forward.
"I'm just waiting for Jax and Blake to get back. They took Morgan because he got hurt." Bubba—I hoped it was Jax's shark—dipped under the water and came back up, splashing more water. "I hope he's going to be okay."
I had slowly made it back to the bench and sat down. I moved my knife to the right side of me in case I needed to use it. I had the odd urge to pet the damn shark. Bubba went back under and splashed enough water to hit my leg.
"Hey!" I laughed. "Do you want me to pet you?"
It might have been my imagination, but I swear he nodded. For fuck's sake, I was talking to a shark and considering petting it. I really was going crazy.
I took a deep breath and lowered to my hands and knees. I would know if he was about to attack, right? He'd probably growl or open his jaws. Did sharks even make noises?
"Bubba, I'm losing my mind."
He stayed perfectly still as I slowly crawled forward. It helped that his body was parallel to the platform because he couldn't come at me head on. I got to the edge and bit my lip. I quickly reconsidered that move since I might break skin.
"I'm going to pet you nice and slow... please don't bite off my hand." I gulped and reached out.
My hand was shaking as I gave him a quick pat on the head. I retracted my arm quickly and he went under and came back up, splashing me. He wanted to play.
A great white shark was staring me in the eye and telling me he wanted to play. I had a brief image of him taking me in his jaws and throwing me up like a dog throws a chew toy around, and I snorted.
"Definitely not getting in the water with you." I reached back out, this time rubbing between his eyes and along his snout. "You're a good boy, aren't you?"
The water moved on the other side of him and I gasped as Blake's blue head popped up. Bubba paid him no mind as he came to the platform and leaned his forearms on the side.
My hand stilled on Bubba and he went under the water, not coming back up this time. Blake moved so he was in front of me and I put my hand on his cheek. His skin was cool and smooth under my palm.
I ran a finger across his shoulders that were covered in scales that faintly glimmered in the lights of the room and then they suddenly changed to the same shade of blue as his skin. I gasped and the corner of his mouth turned up.
"We use them to silently communicate underwater. Think of it like a Morse code type of system. When enemies are near, we make them blue to hide us."
"Do you have a lot of enemies?" I moved my hand to his hands and lifted one, examining it. "They aren't webbed."
"We need to be able to hold tridents." He put both of his hands on the platform and lifted himself out of the water. "Not that there's been any need for them in a long ass time."
My breath caught in my throat as he brought his tail onto the platform. I had imagined it in my head, but seeing it up close and out of the water was even more magnificent than expected.
I could still see the outline of his legs, but covering his entire bottom half was a tail that had the same scales as his shoulders. "Can I touch it?"
He snorted, and the end of his tail slapped on the cement. "Of course you can. I don't have long before I need to go back in the water."
I started at the bottom by poking it. It gave a little and I felt his leg underneath. "What happens to your legs?"
"They fuse together and the outer layer grows around them. The legs don't fuse past the knees." He watched me with his cat-like eyes as I moved my hand up to his thigh.
"How do you have sex like this?" My face heated as he threw his head back and laughed. "That's probably the number one question people have about mermaids."
"First off, we aren't mermaids. We're tritons." He grabbed my hand before it could move any higher. "Secondly, we can pull our dicks out and women have their anatomy facing forward instead of down like humans."
I looked at the area in question. "Can I see it? Your dick?"
He sucked in a breath and tilted my chin up to meet his eyes. "It looks just like my dick when I'm human, just blue."
"New meaning to the term blue balls?" A giggle escaped, and I instantly felt guilty, my giggle turning into a sob. "Is Morgan...?"
Blake let go of me and rolled off the platform and back into the water. He came up a second later, human again. He pulled himself out of the water and pulled me against him. I was ignoring the fact that he was naked.
"He's having surgery. They think they can save his tail, but they might have to remove some of it." He stroked my hair, which was still wet from Bubba splashing me. "Jax stayed with him."
"You should be there too." I shivered as he stepped back and gave me a concerned look.
"We don't want you to be alone for too long with everything going on." He scooped me up and walked toward the elevator.
"Wait, my knife." He put me down and I grabbed it, the pillow, and the blanket from the bench. "I was going to wait down here for you guys."
"You should stay away from the water without one of us near. We think someone is out to get us."
I wiped at my tears. "What makes you think that?"
"Morgan checks that bike religiously before every race. Add his crash to the pills being found, a video being released, and who knows what’s next.
" He pulled me to him once we were in the elevator and wrapped his arms around me.
"We have some suspicions about Coach Gale.
We thought he was Poseidon's son, but when we brought it up to Finn, he said that was impossible because Poseidon's son is dead.
There are certain things we aren't told until we’re officially done with our training. "
Despite my hatred for Finn, I needed to ask him some questions. It was unlikely he'd answer them, but it was worth a try. Now that he'd admitted he didn't plan on killing me or my mother, I didn't feel as threatened by him.
"Mr. Gale was at the crash site. He just happened to be in the area with his truck." I shivered again from the dampness of my clothes.
"You went back there? Why?" The elevator slid open and he scooped me up again, carrying me like I was his bride.
"I was angry and-"
"What did you do?" His brows furrowed as he carried me out of the elevator.
He'd find out soon enough. I was sure it would spread like crazy that the crazy Kline girl pulled a giant knife on Kamal. "I held my knife to Kamal's throat."
"Jesus, Riley. You can't do stuff like that." He carried me up the stairs and kicked his door open with his foot. "How'd you get the knife anyway?"
He set me down and I shrugged as my eyes wandered down his body. He was like a Greek god with his brown skin twitching as his muscles relaxed.
He cleared his throat. "I don't know why I brought you in here." He didn't move from his spot in front of me. "You need a warm shower and dry clothes."
I pulled my shirt over my head. I was wearing a bra underneath and his eyes heated and locked onto the lacy black fabric. I reached behind my back and unclasped it, letting it fall from my shoulders and down my arms.
I shivered and broke out in goosebumps as the cool air hit my damp skin. My nipples were already hard and ached as Blake rubbed a hand over his mouth. He didn't make a move toward me, and I wondered if I was making a mistake.
"Take off your pants." His voice was hoarse with need, and he backed up a step to watch as I shed my pajama bottoms and underwear.
My skin heated under his stare and I stepped toward him. His nostrils flared as he had an internal battle. "What's wrong? You just told me to take off my pants."
I put a hand on his chest and trailed the other hand down to his cock. He groaned as my hand wrapped around him.
"I want this to be real." He shut his eyes and his head fell back as I slid my fist up and down his length.
"It is real." I kissed along his jaw and nipped at his lip. "I want this... I want you."
I brushed my lips over his, and he squeezed my butt, pulling me closer. Saltiness hit my tongue and I pulled back. Blake wiped at his face and then laughed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."
"Let's take a shower and sleep. I bet you're exhausted." I put my hand on his cheek and wiped a tear away.
He kissed my temple and led me to his bathroom.
"Mommy, I think a mermaid saved me." My mom's hand tightened around mine as we waited for the doctor.
"A mermaid?" She frowned. "Hun, mermaids aren't real."
I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout. She didn't believe me. "But I saw him and he had blue skin and eyes like a cat."
My words bothered my mom and she let go of my hand, running her fingers through her hair.
"If mermaids were real, don't you think humans would know about them?
" She reached forward to smooth my hair when a tear fell down my cheek.
"It must have been really scary for you.
Sometimes when we're scared, our imagination shows us things to make us feel safer. "
"So, he wasn't real?" I started crying because I wanted nothing more than for mermaids to exist.
She shook her head and kissed my forehead. "Why don't you get some sleep? You must be exhausted."
I knew what I'd seen. Mermaids were real.
My eyes fluttered open as the bed dipped. Jax slid under the covers and his eyes heated at the sight of my naked breasts. I moved my hand to his chin to lift it and he smiled innocently.
"How's Morgan?" I whispered.
Blake's arm tightened around me and pulled me closer. It was awkward being naked in front of him with another man.
"He's recovering. They had to cut some of his fluke to remove all the material. If we hadn't gotten him to the water when we did, he might have shifted back to human form and that would have been really bad." He shut his eyes. "He could have lost his legs."
I pulled him to me and he buried his face against my chest. He sighed as I stroked his hair, the short strands prickly on my palm. "When is he coming home?"
"Once his tail heals all the way. The doctors said it will take a week." He tilted his head and looked up at me. "If he wants to come back."
My heart skipped a beat. "Why would he not want to come back?"
Jax moved a leg in between mine and I suddenly became very aware that I was sandwiched between two naked men. Guilt hit me hard and I squirmed, trying to move from between them.
Blake grunted and kept his arm wrapped around me. "Stop moving."
"It's too much." I gave up and met Jax's amused stare. "It's not funny. I have dicks on either side of me and Morgan is all alone down in the ocean with part of his tail missing."
"He's not alone. My dad is with him." Jax cupped the side of my neck. "Mo told me to get the fuck out of there and make sure our girl was okay."
He kissed me gently then shut his eyes.