40. Pedro
Pedro
Since Alin ended the call with Bay an hour ago, she’s been on edge—more unbearable than usual, and stubbornly withholding information.
I’m doing my best to suppress the urge to let my powers spiral out of control again.
Hours of nonstop training with Alin and Mariano—whether I wanted it or not—seem to have made that easier.
“Alright, I think that’s enough for one day,” I announce as I try once more to create electric currents on my own but fail. I’m exhausted; it’s much harder than I imagined.
“ I decide when enough is enough!” she snarls, and my water bottle, which was sitting on the bench in the room, suddenly crashes to the floor, rolling back and forth as the water inside tries to escape through the tightly closed cap.
I raise my hands in mock surrender. “I’m not messing with you when you’re like this.”
She arches her eyebrow in reproach, but before I can say anything more, Mariano cuts in.
“Okay. Okay. Break time, we all need to chill.”
I let out a sigh, sending him a grateful look, and he chuckles nervously. The two of us wait for Alin’s response, which feels like it takes an eternity to come.
“Fine. Half an hour!” she agrees reluctantly, storming out of the room, her anger clear in her voice.
“Tell me you know what’s going on with her?” I ask, though I know Mariano is just as lost as I am.
He shrugs, sighing as he picks up the water bottle from the floor and slumps down onto the bench, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been this wiped out,” I state, sitting next to him, taking the bottle from his hand and drinking one long sip.
“I’m still shocked that you even have powers,” he says offhandedly, grabbing a small towel from the edge of the bench and wiping his forehead. “And a freaking tail.”
I let out a tense laugh. “Would you believe me if I told you that I too still can’t wrap my head around all of this?”
“I don’t think I’d ever be able to accept something like that if it happened to me, but I have to admit, it’s a serious and useful weapon for us.” A sly grin spreads across his lips.
I’m not at the point of being excited about these powers yet, but I can’t deny that it gives me more confidence in Bay’s world. I won’t be useless to her; I can protect her—if I just learn to control it properly.
I throw a smirk at my brother and take another gulp from the water bottle, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.
“So, you and Bay, huh?” Mariano says suddenly, his tone half-teasing. “I didn’t think Luca would let that slide.”
An uncontrollable laugh escapes me. “Even he’s afraid of his wife,” I grumble, drained, and Mariano joins in my laughter.
“Another tail for the family. We’ve gone from a crime family to theLittle Mermaid magic world.
” His laugh turns rough, edged with mockery.
“I’m not sure the Little Mermaid had a shitty water dragon and coral that devours human souls,” I counter, grinning.
“But their city, brother—you can’t even imagine it. ”
Excitement creeps into my voice as I continue, “Everything’s lit with gold and gems, merfolk swimming everywhere, houses made of giant shells. And wait till you see the secret room where they’re hiding your mom—”
I stop abruptly, my enthusiasm faltering as I realize I’ve ventured into sensitive territory.
“Sorry,” I mutter, glancing at him.
He shrugs casually. “I don’t know what to feel about all this news. Like I told you, I was only a year old. I don’t remember much about our mom, but I’m also really worried about what will happen to Luca when they meet…” His thoughts seem to drift somewhere else.
“They’re going to meet, right?” he suddenly fixes his gaze on me, making sure that’s still the plan.
“I won’t lie, I don’t know how they’ll manage it. Bringing her here seems really complicated, and taking Luca over there…” I pause, considering the idea, “You’re willing to risk our short-tempered capo getting stuck with a tail too?”
“No way. If Luca ends up with a tail too, I’m checking myself into the psych ward.”
I chuckle at his declaration. “Exactly what I thought. We’ll need to figure out what to do later; for now, we have one task to focus on.”
He rises from the bench, stretching his arms forward to loosen his muscles just as Alin announces her return to the room with a heavy sigh. We both turn to look at her, questioning expressions on our faces.
“Flavio’s men brought Will here along with some Russian guy—they were together. Both of them are in the basement now,” she informs us, but it’s clear something’s still bothering her.
“When Luca gets back, we’ll deal with them,” Mariano states, heading back to the training mat. Barely ten minutes have passed, and he’s already going back to training?
“So, are you ready to share with us what’s been bothering you since you ended the call with Bay?” I dare to ask Her Royal Highness, the hormonal mermaid.
“You’ve got a death wish, I see,” Mariano teases from the mat, and Alin shoots a furious look in my direction. Delightful. I sigh.
“Bay called for more huntresses to help take out the Russians who’ve been following them,” she finally reveals, moving toward the bench.
I raise an eyebrow, questioning, “I don’t even want to know how she did that, but I don’t see a problem with it—two birds with one stone,” I say with a smirk, still slightly surprised by the news.
“You don’t see a problem?!” she snaps. “My husband needs to keep her safe, so she doesn’t get caught on land, which means if the huntresses set their eyes on him—he’s done for!”
The water from my bottle splashes everywhere with her shout, not missing my face.
“Fuck!” I curse as my damn tail makes another appearance, and there goes another pair of pants. This time, I send a furious look to my dear sister-in-law.
“Sorry,” she rushes over to the bench and extends her hand toward my tail to help me get my legs back, but quickly reconsiders and pulls her hand back.
“Since we’re already training, it’s about time I teach you how to get your legs back on your own.”
She can’t be serious. How does her mood swing so fast?
“First, let’s finish the initial topic—what exactly is going to happen to my brother? And will Bay be safe?”
She takes a deep breath through her nose, seeming to at least try controlling her powers this time. Maybe she could take a page out of her own advice to me—it seems like even years of training don’t make controlling these powers easy.
“As soon as he’s exposed to a huntress’s call, he’ll fall into a loop he won’t be able to escape. Neither I nor Bay will be able to save him,” she explains, taking another deep breath, as if releasing out the storm raging inside her would send a tsunami over all of us.
I don’t want to test that theory, so I try to calm her down. “You know Luca—he’s calculated, and he probably already knows what the risks are. I’m sure he won’t be caught unprepared.” I hope, more accurately, but now is not the time to rile her up further.
“Ugh. Put those legs back already; it smells like a fish market in here!” Mariano calls out from the mat, waving his hand in front of his face. Alin and I both glance at him, and our bursting laughter suddenly breaks the tension in the room.
“Put your hand on the tail,” Alin orders suddenly, still laughing—a snort escapes her as she tries to focus.
I swallow my laughter and do as she says.
“Good. Now, stroke your tail and visualize your legs in your mind. See the change,” she instructs, but I’m terrible at this guided imagery stuff.
I try to visualize it, sighing when it doesn’t work. “This is a lot harder than it looks.”
Alin smiles at me now. “It’s harder when you’re not one with your powers yet. Try to focus again on the energy currents within your body—breathe them in, become one.”
“Only merfolk with powers can get legs?” I suddenly grow curious and ask.
She smirks, “Not exactly. Royals have the ability to switch between legs and tails easily, but regular merfolk can also get legs if they have an enchanted charm or the right potion—which are rare to come by.”
“Can we get back to our training? I want to finish this before Luca returns,”Mariano grumbles, shifting impatiently. I throw a middle finger in his direction. I’m the one really suffering through this training, not him.
“What in the name of God?” Flavio bursts into the training room without warning, and my body tenses as my eyes meeting Alin’s anxious ones. Oh no . We forgot to lock the door.
“What’s going on here?” he asks again, stepping in front of me. “Colored contacts in your eyes, and now a tailored tail? And what the hell is this fish market smell?” His gaze now turns to Mariano, looking for answers, while the three of us stand silent. None of us seem to know how to respond.
“It’s a long story,” Mariano says from behind Flavio, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll explain everything, but nothing can leave this room.”
We’ll explain everything? Does he know what that means? I send a threatening look to my brother, but he doesn’t even blink. “Pedro, unless you’ve suddenly gained the ability to wipe people’s memories, we don’t have much choice.”
“Wait, what? Wipe memories?” Flavio turns to Mariano, stunned.
“Is this okay?” I ask Alin; after all, we are sworn to keep her secret.
She exhales heavily, nodding. “We don’t have another option.”
She brings her hand back to my tail. “Looks like we’ll have to cut our training short for today. We’ll work on your transformation later.”
My legs return after she strokes my tail a few times, and Mariano tosses the towel he used over my now exposed dick.
Flavio gulps loudly. “Did someone drug me? I need answers, and now!” he demands, a threat lacing his voice, and Mariano pats his back sympathetically.
“This isn’t going to be easy to digest… Sit, we’ll explain everything.”