Buyer’s Remorse
Chapter Twelve
Buyer’s Remorse
KYROS
Ileave the chamber before I do something foolish.
Like look back.
Sadie is silent behind me, but her grief follows me out of the room. It clings to my skin, settling beneath my scales and crawling up my spine like sharp, little claws. I hate it.
I hate even more the sound she made when she realized Frank was dead. The way her face crumpled…
I shake my head, refusing to think any further about it.
Frank came too close, and Tipper saw too much. I did what needed to be done.
I snap my tail harder than necessary, darting through the tunnel leading out of the lower cavern. The currents press against my sides, familiar and steady, but they do nothing to settle the noise inside my head.
I’m not a monster, but Sadie sure as fuck makes me feel like one.
I draw in a breath, then immediately wish I hadn’t. Sadie’s scent is still on me, sweet and strange. It’s calling to me, practically begging me to turn around and return to her. I can’t blame that emotion entirely on her scent, though.
Hybrid or not, the woman has managed to weasel her way underneath my skin.
I round the corridor that leads to my private cove, my irritation growing when I spot Seraya. Her pale tail coils beneath her, and she makes no attempt to pretend that she isn’t waiting for me. Why should she? She’s an esteemed council member, and we have a long history.
“Oshea,” she says. “A word?”
Her voice is soft, but I hear the command inside it. Seraya has always been good at making an order sound like a request.
She swims toward me with effortless grace, her tail flicking once as the current carries her closer. The strands of pearls weaved within her top catch the light, glowing faintly against her chest. She’s beautiful.
She knows it.
Everyone knows it.
I politely dip my chin. “Seraya.” I continue down the corridor, hoping to escape without further conversation. “I’m not available to speak at the moment, but I’ll seek you out later.”
Seraya follows me, ignoring my polite rejection. Naturally. I knew I wouldn’t get out of this unscathed. I brought a hybrid woman into the pod. Of course she would have feelings on the matter.
“What are your plans for her?” Seraya asks. Straight to the point.
I spare her a quick glance over my shoulder. “I believe I already answered that question.”
Seraya hums. “You really think she can destroy the black siphon?”
“I think she’s our best option.”
“And afterward?” Seraya pushes. “What do you intend to do with her then?”
I snap my tail, driving myself faster down the corridor. I don’t care to discuss this right now, mainly because I don’t have answers. Seraya and Daros want me to kill Sadie. They’ve made that abundantly clear, but I don’t think I can bring myself to do it.
Again.
“Well?” Seraya urges.
I frown. “I don’t know. Perhaps I’ll return her to the surface.”
There’s a long pause before Seraya laughs. The sound is light, full of disbelief. “You can’t be serious. You would return a hybrid to the human world?”
I say nothing.
Seraya glides closer. “She knows too much.”
“She knows nothing useful.”
“She knows we exist.”
I tighten my jaw, again not responding.
Seraya’s eyes bore holes into the side of my face. She doesn’t look away. She never does. It’s one of the things people admire about her. It’s one of the things I’ve always admired about her.
I just prefer when it isn’t being used against me.
She drifts closer, her voice lowering. “You’re protecting her.”
I shake my head. “I’m keeping her alive because she has use.”
Seraya raises a brow, then lets her gaze travel down my chest. She frowns at the faint, red lines that appear beneath my skin, probably sensing they aren’t for her, then lowers her gaze further.
“The red bloom is only weeks away…” she starts.
“I’m aware.”
“Are you?”
My fingers flex at my sides. “Careful.”
She moves close enough that her hair brushes my shoulder, and the scent of her fills the water around me. It’s clean and familiar, just like that of every other Tideborn Mer.
“I’m running out of patience,” she warns. The back of her hand grazes mine. “Have you an answer for me? I’d like to spend the bloom with you.”
I glance upward. I’ve been back for less than an hour, and already, she’s bringing up her proposal. I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone decide if I want to tie myself to her for the remainder of my life.
I take too long to answer, tense silence stretching between us. Seraya’s face doesn’t change, but the water around her does. It stills with her irritation, her tail flicking in a controlled, little sweep beneath her.
She darts in front of me and crosses her arms, blocking my path. I sigh, slowing to a stop. My cove is just up ahead…so close. I can practically taste the solitude.
“You touched the human.”
I shrug. “I had to.”
“You allowed her to touch your tail.”
“She doesn’t know what that means,” I snap. “And it was clearly accidental.”
Seraya tilts her head, her eyes narrowing. She’s no fool, and everybody saw the way I lit up when Sadie touched me. There’s no hiding the reaction the hybrid evokes, but that doesn’t mean I intend to stand here discussing it.
Especially not with Seraya.
I drift closer, letting the full weight of my title settle between us. Seraya may sit on the council, but I’m still Oshea.
“The hybrid lives until the black siphon is destroyed,” I say. “After that, she returns to the surface.”
Seraya raises one perfectly arched brow and, for several seconds, neither of us speaks.
The city hums faintly beyond the walls, distant chirps and calls traveling through stone. I’m sure word is already spreading that I brought a hybrid into the pod, and many will be upset with me for doing so.
The Coveborn are looking for any excuse to attack, and I’ve just given them one.
We’re no longer in a position to defend ourselves, not with the pod on the brink of starvation. If Sadie doesn’t destroy the siphon, we will die. Some will choose to leave, taking their chances in the open ocean, but many don’t have the luxury. They have children and the elderly to care for.
They wouldn’t survive a week out there, not with the predators that lurk nearby.
Seraya looks past me, toward the tunnels we traveled through. She’s contemplating returning to Sadie. Killing her.
She shakes her head, her gaze returning to me. “Spend the bloom with me,” she repeats.
“No.”
Seraya’s eyes flash. “Because of her.”
“Because I don’t want you.”
It’s too cruel, but the words are out before I can stop them. I don’t regret them, though, nor do I attempt to take them back. Kindness would only drag this conversation out, and I need distance.
From Seraya.
From Sadie.
From whatever rot is spreading through my thoughts.
Seraya dips her chin. “Very well.”
I turn to leave when movement erupts from the corridor on our right. A guard shoots toward us, his green tail cutting wildly through the water. His eyes are wide, and one hand is pressed to the wall, as if he’d nearly missed the turn.
“Oshea,” he chirps.
I straighten immediately. “What is it?”
He looks from me to Seraya, then back again. My blood turns to ice.
“What is it?” I repeat.
“The hybrid,” he finally says. He swallows. “She’s gone.”
I shut my eyes. She’s gone. I should’ve expected as much.
Bringing her here was a mistake.