Chapter 11
eleven
Rían’s lips crashed into mine with bruising force, and tingles coasted down my arms from the possessive curve of his hands on my waist. He nipped my bottom lip before pulling away, and I was sure I had been about to say something, but I couldn’t remember what or why it had been important a minute ago.
I also wasn’t sure when he had stopped running, but I hung on for dear life when Liam—with Sloane riding piggyback—careened into us, knocking us into a shrub.
Rían twisted so the brunt of the impact was his, but I got a few scratches out of the deal.
Nothing major, since shifter healing would fix both.
“Oops,” Liam yelled over his shoulder while Rían set me on my feet then climbed out of the bush.
“Yeehaw.” Sloane slapped Liam’s butt. “Full speed ahead.”
“Spank me again,” Liam growled, teetering, “and see what it gets you.”
“Remember my boo-boo?” She leaned in, her chin resting on his shoulder. “How bad you felt about your mean old cousin knocking down a lady? And stealing her bestie. And jumping over her possibly dead body. And running off without looking back? Let that righteous anger fuel you, Lizard Lips.”
Back on his feet, Rían knelt, indicating I should climb on his back like Sloane had done with Liam.
“Does this mean I get to slap your butt straight to victory?” I gripped his shoulders, enjoying the view over the top of his head. “Should I invest in a crop in case this becomes the clan’s new way to settle disputes?”
“You can’t reach my butt, and no. I’ve done enough damage to my reputation without allowing the clan to watch my fiancée ride me through town…” He cleared his throat. “Okay, that got out of hand fast.”
Insta-love wasn’t guaranteed, even with a mate bond. Pretty sure until I could shift and unlock that half of my powers—of myself—neither of us would fall prey to the maddening obsession that often came with it. And I liked that.
I liked that he and I had time to figure out how we felt about each other before we learned what it meant to be mystically tied to one another. I liked that we were airing our dirty laundry now, before it was too late to decide something in our pasts was a dealbreaker. Which reminded me…
The bargain.
God, I wished Rían had never struck it even if it meant I had never met him.
I had feared that the burden his parents placed on him would result in him fulfilling their wishes at the expense of his own, and he was well on his way to doing just that.
The pressure had broken him once, and I didn’t want to shatter him again.
All in. That was what I had said, and it was what I meant too. I cared for Rían, more every day. I believed in him. That meant I had to trust that the futures we both envisioned for ourselves could merge into a cohesive whole. A dream we could share with the rest of the clan.
Ahead of us, Liam plodded to a stop, his head canted to the right, and Sloane slid down his back.
“Do you hear that?” He checked behind him. “Sounds like an ambulance is at Lake Harris.”
Concern that the reason might be Old Man Jenkins pricked me with a sense of responsibility.
“We’ve come that far?” I tapped Rían’s shoulder, and he set me on my feet. “Should we investigate?”
“We might as well.” Sloane strolled right up to the gate leading into Lendman Park. “Looks like the EMTs are packing up.”
“No police,” Liam reported after scanning the area, waiting for Rían and me to catch up to them.
Laughter rang out, surprising the heck out of me, and I approached the ambulance with caution.
“Hey.” Old Man Jenkins’s eyes lit up when he spotted me. “I caught the mermaid.”
Standing behind the vehicle, four EMTs gawked over a ragged cooler large enough for me to lie down in, their phone cameras flashing. Their expressions ranged from shock to awe to envy, and I crept over for a quick peek at his urging.
“Oh wow.” I whipped out my phone too. “That’s incredible.”
“What the actual hell?” Sloane bumped my shoulder, wiggling closer. “That was in the lake?”
“Someone dumped a pet,” one of the EMTs explained. “Happens all the time.”
“Looks like a koi,” another one said. “Might have outgrown its tank or even its pond.”
“That’s got to be three feet long.” Liam snapped a picture. “How much does it weigh?”
“Thirty-six pounds,” Old Man Jenkins bragged, patting the cooler’s side.
“I can see why you thought it was a mermaid.” It was such a vibrant fish. “It’s so colorful.”
A wide blue streak of scales lined its spine and orange-red splotches popped along its white sides.
“The fins are very mermaidlike too.” Sloane made a wiggly hand gesture. “Very swooshy.”
Wide palms landed on my shoulders as Rían leaned in to see too. “What will you do with it?”
“They’re an invasive species,” Old Man Jenkins explained. “It can’t go back in the lake.”
“Poor fishy.” Sloane shook her head. “It’s not his fault.”
“That’s why we’re going to ask around,” the third EMT said, “try to rehome him.”
Ornamental ponds weren’t as popular as they once were, but maybe they would get lucky.
“There’s a Fisherman’s Pro Shop two towns over that has massive tanks for showcasing native fish,” the second EMT mused. “Maybe they would be willing to house this guy as an exhibit on how not to dispose of an unwanted pet and the effects one invasive species can have on an entire ecosystem.”
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed they take him,” I told him, and I knew I spoke for all of us.
With the mermaid mystery solved, we left Old Man Jenkins with the EMTs to finish their arrangements.
Outside the gate, Rían drew me onto the sidewalk under a tree. “Ana, what are your plans for the day?”
“Back to work on the deep clean of GSG.” I counted off the days on my fingers. “A muralist, Clary, will be here on Wednesday. I wasn’t counting on you lowering the wards so quickly, so I’ll have to stay closed for a week after she’s finished to make sure the building is clear of fumes.”
Even with non-toxic, low VOC paints, there were risks involved when it came to our feathered guests in particular.
“File for a voucher if you need help covering your losses. That’s what our emergency funds are for.”
“For Walshes.”
And I wasn’t one. Yet. A fact that might work in our favor.
“You’ve changed your mind?”
The careful way he asked, how his features didn’t shift an inch to tip off how he felt, confirmed how much my answer meant to him. But I had been thinking about something ever since I learned of Carmichael’s defeat. Something Rían wasn’t going to like very much.