Chapter 25 Blair
Blair
My new nephews are as protective of me as they are of my niece.
There’s a trail of people behind us, and the guys are on edge.
It’s like we’re leading a parade to the docking dome.
A parade of the most beautiful people in the world .
. . and me. It’s not just children—podlets.
There are a good deal of really good-looking men.
Square jawlines and muscles pushing at their tunics. Nervous laughter bursts from me.
“What?” Annabelle asks, hooking her arm in mine.
“It’s nothing.”
Annabelle narrows her eyes and whispers into my ear. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
“Fine, I’m just the ugly duckling leading all the swans.”
“Aunt Blair! You are not.”
“I’m joking. It’s just that there are a lot of—”
“Blair! I’m glad I caught up to you. Kade Driftwood—we met at the teahouse.” He’s one of the tall, overly attractive males.
“Driftwood, not now,” Nico growls.
“Right, you’re not letting her meet anyone but the Mason pod. Controlling her. That’s not the Dorian way. It hasn’t been for a long time,” Kade says.
Castor stops, and the rest of Annabelle’s mates stop. “What are you insinuating?”
“If your esteemed aunt isn’t allowed to meet anyone but the Masons, how can she decide what’s best for her?
There’s quite a lot of talk swimming around.
I’m sorry to be so blunt, Blair. Please forgive me.
” Kade puts his hands in the air. His face softens, and it feels genuine.
There’s a large part of me that’s already pledged myself to the Masons, and I realize .
. . it’s the same thing I did with my ex.
The first guy who told me I was pretty, I settled on.
Am I doing that again? I’m older and smarter now.
If not smarter, I’m a heck of a lot wiser.
The reality is, I don’t have to choose anyone.
“We’re protecting our aunt, Driftwood.” Holter raises his voice. Out of Annabelle’s guys, he’s not the one I think of as an aggressive alpha type. He’s normally sweet, and I know I haven’t been here that long, but my judgement of character has improved with age.
Kade puts his thumb on his own chest. “From me? From my pod? We’re respected, wealthy, and a pod of four. I would have thought that if anyone would cling to the ridiculous feud between Glyden and Tinom, it wouldn’t be your pod.”
“This has nothing to do with Tinom and Glyden,” Eros says.
But I see the twitch in Holter’s cheek. It might be the truth. Eros doesn’t see it, but the other three males have that bit of guilt on their faces. Eros was Zaffiro growing up, and he doesn’t wear the same look about him.
“This isn’t a job interview. Blair’s not hiring an architect or a crew to build a dome.
This is about compatibility and, dare I say, building love?
” Kade’s eyebrow arches, and he flashes me a smile.
“But if it was a job, my pod has great references. Can the Mason pod say the same thing? There isn’t a female in the city who would settle for the first male that comes her way.
Getting to know and understand options is a long-held tradition of mermaids.
And if your pod and the Mason pod both block that from happening? ” He cocks his head to the side.
“You’re insinuating that if Blair doesn’t consider the Driftwood pod . . . what? Say what you mean, Driftwood,” Castor says, glaring at Kade.
“What I mean is that a future king should know how the rumor stream flows through this city. Keeping Blair from making her own decision? I don’t think a mermaid in all the Dorian territory would be willing to endorse a candidate like that.”
I know a salesman when I see one. There were plenty who came out to the farm to sell us the next best seed or tractor.
Sitting in the front living room, they had facts and data.
Facts and data that sounded like the way to end all our financial problems. Then, after they’re gone, you dig into the numbers and find that there’s a bit of truth, but maybe not enough.
Kade Driftwood is a handsome salesman with his dark hair and vivid green eyes. But then, not all con artists come in bad suits with greasy hair. The line between good and bad blurs even more in the Veiled City.
I’m going to need to slow down and think this all through. The last thing I want to do is endanger the career of one of my new nephews. Not after everything they’ve done for me.
“Blair is not going to take into consideration every pod and merman available in the city to appease the rumor mill of the Veiled City,” Nico says.
“I never suggested that. Only that you don’t push her into a decision that’s hers and hers alone to make.”
I shake myself. “No one is forcing me to do anything,” I say.
“Good.” He places his hand on my shoulder, and I have to admit I don’t hate it. “I’ve spent some time with humans in Europe, and things here are different. I hope it’s been explained to you, the power you hold here?”
“It has. My family has shown me nothing but kindness since I’ve come to the city, taking both my daughter and me in.
You’re right, there are many things here that are different from at home.
” Like men going crazy over a forty-something-year-old divorced mother of an adult daughter.
There’s an urge in me to don the same mask I wore around my ex.
Neutral, calm, hiding my emotions. New Blair doesn’t do that.
Kade is right. I’m doing the same thing again.
He doesn’t know that, of course. But if I keep only seeing the Mason guys, I’m going to end up with them by default when I haven’t met anyone else.
And do I want to end up with the first guy who asked me out again? No.
I swallow my nerves and smile.
Kade bows. “Then you know our city is steeped in tradition. But so rarely do pods take in new mermaids that there are no rules around how it is done. We would like to invite you to our home this evening.” He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“She will not—”
I hold my hand up, cutting Nico off. “Unfortunately, I can’t, as I’ve been invited elsewhere.
I also wouldn’t feel comfortable going to your home when I don’t know you.
The other day when I met you briefly at the teahouse .
. . Outside of the teahouse were some interesting shops.
” I’m fascinated by the large furniture I saw in the window.
Annabelle’s furniture is large, but the pieces in the showroom were more the size of something in a fancy hotel.
Though the closest I’ve ever been to a fancy hotel is the inn I worked at along the Maine coast for cash under the table.
There’s a small part of me that’s sabotaging this. My ex hated shopping. My brother hates shopping enough that he hasn’t stepped into a store other than our local market in a decade. Though, now that he’s living alone, that’s got to have changed. Maybe not. He’s stubborn—it’s a family trait.
“I would love to take you shopping. It would bring me great joy to buy you everything in the market,” he declares to everyone around us.
“Oh, truck no. I didn’t mean you should buy me anything.” I clutch my arm around my waist.
“But it would be my honor. Driftwoods are good providers, and we would continue to be once we become the Portsmouth pod,” Kade says. He tips his chin to me. His green eyes have flakes of gold in them. They’re quite attractive but not warm, not sultry, not comforting.
Nico growls.
“Oh, oh, I . . .” I’m not sure why, but it shocks me that if I mate, they’ll take my last name. Thank goodness I’ve already switched back to my maiden name.
“There are some fine shops. Jewelry, clothing, art, housewares . . . What sort of shops would you like to go to the most? We will make it happen.”
“Really, I don’t want you to buy me anything.” I glance at Annabelle. But she shrugs. “Going to the market is something humans do to spend time together.”
“And not buy things?”
“Yes, it’s called window shopping,” I say.
“You would like to buy a window?” Kade says.
Nico and Holter are both growling. “You’re not going with the Driftwood pod anywhere alone.”
“The market’s not alone.” Above Eros’s head, at a discreet distance, a pair of gray eyes stare at me. Sterling. “I won’t be alone. I can guarantee that.” Sterling and a few others seemed to be my second set of guards––after Annabelle’s guys. Holter told me the king has assigned them to me.
Annabelle follows where I’m looking. “Yes. But you know, I think we need some new furniture.”
“Sunshine, you said—” Eros starts.
“We have lots to go shopping for, whenever you want, my Little Krill,” Nico interrupts Eros. “But we need to go home now. We will contact you, if Blair wants.”
“Poseidon has spoken,” Kade says. “Until we see you again, Blair.” He kisses the back of my hand this time.
Nico growls while we say our goodbyes.
And while I smile, the warmth on my cheeks, the schoolgirl blush I’ve had so many other times in recent weeks, doesn’t appear. I’m not attracted to Kade. I give a wave as I’m ushered back to the omada.
The whole way home, I’m chewing over what happened at the school. So much so that I hardly notice when we pull into the Glyden docking dome.
“Marlee, we’re back,” I say, loud enough to give her a warning that we’re all coming back in, just in case . . . I suppose there’s not that many just in cases . . .
“There’s no smoke in the kitchen,” Holter states. “So she hasn’t been cooking.”
Annabelle playfully bats at his arm. “That’s not nice, Holter. Marlee could be a skilled cook if she wanted to be. She just focuses on other things.”
Holter raises his eyebrows.
There’s still no answer from Marlee. And my heart taps on my ribs. There’s nowhere she could go. The door to her bedroom is open, but she’s not in there. I open the door to my room, and she’s not in there either.
“Marlee?” I step back into the hall just as Annabelle comes up behind me.
“She’s not in her room?”
“No.”
“Well, she’s here somewhere. The elevator is locked on this level, and the sharks are acting normally.
She’s here somewhere.” Annabelle moves down the hall.
The apartment wraps around the side of the elevator.
It’s a lot larger than it appears when you come in the front to the kitchen and living room, though it’s nowhere as big as Castor’s parents’ penthouse.
Ophelia’s apartment is more mansion than apartment.
Annabelle pulls the door shut to her lab, and the door to the guys’ office too. “She’s not in either of those rooms.”
“This is the utility room?” I ask with my hand on the handle. It’s the only place we haven’t checked.
“Yes.” Annabelle cocks her head at me, and I open it.
It’s not what I expected. Not at all. The room isn’t full of heaters and wires.
There’s no loud boiler. In fact, it’s quite lovely.
Even though it’s overly warm, it’s a dry heat.
So it makes sense that my Marlee is curled up in a blanket, leaning against a trunk facing the water.
A notebook rests on her lap, but her eyes are closed.
I put my finger to my lips, and Annabelle leaves us alone.
“Hey,” I say softly.
Marlee wakes with a startle. “Oh, I . . . I fell asleep. I wasn’t sure where the story I’m writing was going and closed my eyes to picture it. But then my imagination gave up, and sleep won the battle. Guess you found my hiding spot.”
“Just me and AD. Your secret is safe with us.” I take a seat on the side of the trunk. “It’s nice in here.”
“It’s warm and dry. It reminds me of August on a dry summer day.” Marlee stands and gathers her notebooks.
“Stay here. You don’t have to move.”
“I didn’t ask to spread my stuff into here. It’s fine, Mom. I’m sure they’ll be concerned I could trip and scrape my knee.”
“They’re just trying to protect you.”
“I know,” Marlee says, her lips thin.
And I know what she’s getting at. It’s nice to feel guarded, but it’s also nice to have autonomy.
Sure, the last few years we were always looking over our shoulders, waiting for my ex to show up.
But we didn’t have to live by his rules, either.
Other than the rule of staying out of sight.
Now we don’t have to protect ourselves, but Marlee’s right: we still aren’t living our own lives.
She’s hiding. Only, instead of hiding in the employee cabin in a rundown inn in Maine, she’s hiding in a utility room under the ocean. Neither are great.
“Don’t give me that look, Mom. I’m fine. I’m happy, even. I’m writing all the time. We’re safe, fed, housed. And I’ve never in my life seen you smile this much.” She puts her notebooks on the trunk and places her hands on my shoulders. “I’m good.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. I’m just not used to so many people. It’s loud.” She pulls me into a hug. “I’m good. And I’m thrilled for you.”
I raise my eyebrows at her. “It was loud at home.”
“Cows are one thing. My cousin’s husbands are another.”
I hug her back tightly. “True.”
“Are you okay?” Marlee holds me.
“It’s silly. I was just worried about where you were.”
“Nope. It’s more than that.”
“I got invited to the Masons’ apartment for dinner.”
“And are you on the menu?”
“Marlee!”
“Don’t act so surprised. But there’s something else.”
“Why do you always have to be so intuitive?”
“Because I’m your daughter.”