23. Pedro
Pedro
“The words don’t even do justice to how happy I am to have my legs back,” I mutter into the open air as my legs slowly return in place of that cursed tail.
It took Alin over ten minutes of whatever magic she had to pull off, and the unsettled look on her face didn’t exactly boost my confidence that I’d ever walk again.
So, I’m not complaining when my legs finally reappear—though I’m not exactly thrilled about being buried in sand, the grains creeping into places I’d rather not think about.
I’m getting some unpleasant flashbacks to field training with Luca when I was fifteen.
“Hurry up and get dressed. Watching you sprawled out naked on the sand is burning my eyes, and not in a good way.” Alin tosses my clothes at my legs, avoiding eye contact. I flip her off in response.
“Bay, wipe the drool off your face and get dressed too. We need to move,” she snaps at Bay, who lets out a frustrated sigh. I glance back at Bay, and she quickly averts her gaze, embarrassed.
God help me. I swallow hard as she slips on that thin dress over her bare skin.
The fabric clings to her like it’s a second layer, soft and barely there, and I have to force myself to look away.
I scramble to tug my pants up, fingers shaking slightly, trying to make sure I don’t get caught staring.
Because, God, she’s doing something to me—something that’s scraping at every nerve in my body.
Every urge I’ve got is screaming to pin her against one of those rocks and explore every inch of her smooth, pale skin.
I can feel it—the way my body reacts to her, relentless and unforgiving.
Her small pink nipples harden slightly, probably from the cold sea breeze, and I curse under my breath, trying to tear my eyes off her.
I focus instead on the damn shirt in my hand, my breath unsteady, my hands tight with frustration.
I am so fucking jealous of that dress right now.
I zip up my pants, but before I can even throw my shirt on, I feel it—the soft, lingering weight of her arm, the one with the affiliation mark of the Mal-El royal lineage—now the very thing that haunts my thoughts—wrap around mine.
“You okay?” She asks softly, her voice low and tentative.
I take a deep, shaking breath, struggling to pull every ounce of self-control I have before I even think about facing her.
Her eyes—those amethyst, piercing eyes—are scanning my bare, now human chest, tracing the lines of my tattoos, the dark ink etched into my skin, darkened with something she can’t hide.
Hunger, maybe. Or something more. Hell, what am I supposed to do with her?
I bite my lip sharply, my teeth sinking into the flesh, desperately trying to suppress the thoughts spiraling through my mind—but it’s useless.
My pulse thrums erratically, and I nod—just barely—forcing myself to hold it together.
“As okay as I can be after the fantasy nightmare you’ve all dragged me into.
” At this point, it might as well be my mantra.
She giggles nervously, breaking the tense eye contact as her toe lazily traces circles in the sand. Bay, awkward? That’s a sight I could get used to. I smirk, silently praying for a moment of peace, wishing some higher power would give me the strength to calm the storm building inside me.
My gaze flickers back to her moon mark, pulling me in like a magnet. It feels... familiar. Warm. Inviting.
I swallow hard, the weight of everything pressing down on me—the new bond forming between us, the pull that’s too strong to ignore, tangled in something far deeper than anything I’ve ever felt. It’s overwhelming. I glance down at my right hand, needing to confirm—
Damn! It’s still here.
“I’m still marked, what the fuck?!” I blurt, glaring at Alin, who’s busy on a phone call. Probably letting my brother know we’re alive, or that we have news for him—or both. Anxiety now floods through me, and I can’t help but wonder what the consequences of this mark will be.
“My mom already told you; your fate is now tied to the royal lineage. I’m not surprised it hasn’t disappeared,” she retorts, moving her phone away from her ear.
She’s drifted far enough ahead to avoid us overhearing her conversation with her husband, which I’m grateful for.
I’ve had enough of their lovey-dovey obsessed crap for a lifetime.
I take a long breath, hold it for a few seconds, and release it in one sharp exhale.
I need to calm down and think rationally.
If I’m bound to them, it means if their bloodline ends, I go down with them—to merhell, or wherever the place fish go when they die—maybe straight down the toilet.
Irritation, mixed with frustration, surges through my chest, pushing out every other emotion that had me distracted moments ago.
I turn my back on Bay, who’s watching me with pity in her eyes.
I’m not a man to be pitied. I don’t do pity!
I storm toward the water, burying my feet in the sand with each step, kicking up clouds of it in the air to vent my frustration.
When I finally reach the water, I kick a chunk of wet sand into the air, watching it splash back into the shallow water around my ankles.
But before I can understand what’s happening, I collapse backward onto the sand.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! What the fuck?” I shout as I look down to see that cursed blue tail reappear in place of my legs.
A shriek rips from Bay’s throat behind me, and she calls out for Alin—looks like none of us saw this coming.
I shoot a furious glare at Alin as she rushes toward me, still clutching her phone. Her mouth drops open in shock as her gaze lands on my tail.
She tosses the phone onto the sand and cautiously steps toward me, stopping just before the dry sand turns wet.
“I think your mom forgot to mention that being tied to your bloodline comes with a full package deal,” I mutter sarcastically, letting out a heavy sigh when she still doesn’t respond. If I could get up right now, I’d shut her gaping mouth myself.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, what in the merhell?” she finally says, and I don’t like what I’m hearing.
“You’ve never seen a human drink a potion to become a merman either,” Bay adds, her voice tense, reigniting the panic that had barely settled in my chest.
I am not a freaking fish!
That familiar burn creeps up my hand again as small sparks of electricity shoot from it. I’m starting to realize that if I don’t figure out how to control this, I’m going to fry all of us here. It doesn’t seem like this is going away anytime soon.
“Drag yourself back with your arms, I’ll help you get your legs back again,” she commands after what feels like an eternity, clearly avoiding telling me about the storm that’s brewing in her head—probably for the best. I don’t need to know what’s going on in there. I just want a solution!
“If it’s permanent, I’ll have to teach you to do it yourself.”
Hell you will.
I’m not about to add ‘shifting between legs and tail’ to my list of worries.
I slowly pull myself backward, inching across the sand until I reach a dry spot. Without wasting any time, she bends down toward my tail, running her hand over it in a few long strokes until my legs finally return.
“And what am I supposed to do about these ripped pants?” I ask as she curses again at the sight of my bare body, quickly turning her gaze away.
She slips off her long summer dress and tosses it at me. “Wear this!” she orders, clearly losing patience.
I quickly look away from her now-naked body, cursing under my breath as I stifle a disbelieving laugh.
“You want me to wear this thin, pink dress? You’ve got to be joking,” I scoff in frustration, wiping the sand from my hand onto my chest.
Bay’s laugh cuts through the air, but she quickly swallows it down when I glare at her in warning, clearing her throat.
“Unless you want to walk around naked with your... situation popping up every time you glance at Bay, this is your only option,” Alin taunts, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “And you better decide quickly because Abert is almost here to pick us up.”
I sigh heavily, realizing I clearly didn’t hide it as well as I thought, and reluctantly slip into her damn dress. I pull it over my head, hearing some seams pop as I stretch it down over my chest.
She’s lucky she’s family.
I take a deep breath through my nose and release it slowly through my mouth. A few more threads snap as I do, but I clear my head and finally stand up.
The sound of Bay and Alin’s laughter pierces the air instantly, and tears of amusement gleam at the edges of Bay’s amethyst eyes.
“I can’t breathe! Where’s your phone? We have to get a picture of this,” Bay manages between fits of laughter.
I close the distance between us in an instant, lifting her chin to meet my gaze, making it very clear that’s not going to happen.
Her giggles taper off into small chuckles when she looks at my tightened lips, and I can’t help but stretch them to a smile at that look.
She has control over every cell in my body, even my thoughts.
“I’m man enough to pull this off,” I declare confidently, bringing her face close to mine, my nose grazing hers. She swallows, her eyes shimmer ing in the sunlight, silently pleading for more. Fuck. I can’t. Not before I talk to Luca.
I fake a satisfied smile at her, one that makes my point clear, and gently release her chin when our eyes meet.
“Pedro, I think you’ll have to get used to your new set of eyes,” she suddenly adds, out of breath. “You’re a merman now, that and your mark won’t disappear in your human form.”
Shit. I got used to this ‘super’ sight that I didn’t even think about it.
“You better find a solution fast, Alin. I am not part of your world, nor wish to be,” I reluctantly tear my gaze away from Bay and turn to my dear sister-in-law frustrated, only to meet her naked body again. For god’s sake. Get that covered already! I do not want my brother to kill me today.
“And what are you planning to wear?” I turn my gaze away. “Luca will bury me alive if he finds out I let you walk around naked,” I mutter, trying to look anywhere but at her body.
“Coward,” she throws back at me, holding up the white button-up shirt I’d worn when I first got here.
“Here, covers everything,” she announces, buttoning it up all the way, leaving only the collar open. “For me, it’s like a dress.”
Well, she’s got a point. I resist the urge to imagine Bay wearing my shirts. Shit. Smelling my scent on her, marking her as mine…
A heavy, raspy laugh interrupts my thoughts, and I quickly turn to meet Abert.
“You went on a trip to the beach and came back as a girl with pigtails,” he teases, his voice still hoarse from years of smoking, but he regains his composure quickly.
“Shame you didn’t tell me. I would have gotten you a matching pink gun,” he adds, handing me my gun, knowing as well as I do, that we don’t have the luxury of being caught unarmed out here.
I snatch it from his hand and flip him off. “Let’s go. The capo is waiting for an update,” I push forward this time, my voice thick with annoyance.
Bay runs up behind me and wraps her arms around mine again with a grin. I tense. What she is up to now?
“Looks like now we can both start learning how to paint our nails together with Cora,” she says playfully, scrunching her nose at me, and everyone bursts out laughing. How I’d love to shut her up right now… in ways I can’t afford to think about— yet .
“Trust me, if you and I are practicing anything together, it won’t be nail polish,” I whisper back, a mischievous grin spreading across my face as she looks at me with that familiar curiosity, I can’t help but—well, let’s say I enjoy.
I’m in way too deep.