Chapter Twenty-Five #2
Tristan’s gaze went distinctly displeased. His hands had lowered to Austin’s feet, kneading his arches through the silk covering.
Austin knew without asking what Tristan disliked: the threat of refusing to eat.
Austin decided not to look at Tristan. He kept his gaze on Liam instead. “Is anyone bothering you?”
Liam’s gaze slid to Eli.
“At home.”
Austin stopped, surprised by the word that had fallen from his mouth. He’d never consciously considered the cottage home. He’d never considered anywhere home. He’d spent most of his life in a lab, and that was hardly an appropriate name for it.
“Tammy and I met with Wilbur,” Liam said. “They’ve handed over the files that were in Miami.”
Austin put down his half-eaten meat pie. He merely glanced at Eli and Reba, and the two stood, offering plausible excuses about filling a bath and checking the perimeter as they left the porch.
Liam glanced at Tristan, but Austin dug his heels into the merman’s thighs, keeping him in place.
“And?” Austin prompted. But he knew from Liam’s expression, bland as it always was, that it wasn’t good. “Was Connor in the files too?”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Are you sure? Laurence said I had someone watching the house. Wilbur might have…” Austin read Liam’s eyes. “That was just you?”
Liam awkwardly cleared his throat. “I was checking whether you were there.”
“Their territory is the last place on earth I would try to take refuge in,” Austin replied dryly.
“Yes, I know. But you’d warn Connor if you thought he was in danger.”
Austin supposed that was true. “Alright. What was in the files of me?”
“Some of the experiments from when you were ten,” Liam said.
“It isn’t as bad as we thought. There was no mention of his kind in any of the files.
” He twitched a finger towards Tristan, though given the tail Austin had been sporting yesterday, it would have made sense to say “your” kind.
“Wilbur’s son, Bradley, happened to be in Miami when the changeover happened.
Apparently, he’d got curious just before the files were to be destroyed and picked up a random folder. In it was…”
“Yes?”
Liam looked down at his hands. They were folded in his lap, knuckles going white. “It was one of the healing experiments.”
Austin’s skin flashed hot in remembered places. Along his outer thighs in horizontal strips. A vertical slit in his left thumb. A puncture into his knee, a careful snip of the ligament. The intermediate phalanx of his right middle finger.
“I’ve seen the file now too. There were pictures, detailed accounts of the wounds being inflicted, the immediate response, the—”
Tristan’s voice cut through the list. “Enough.”
Austin’s gaze moved slowly back to Tristan, and he was surprised to see the blanket set aside and the merman rubbing his leg. Though Austin watched Tristan’s hand move over his skin, he couldn’t feel it at all.
“I need to hear this.”
“You know the details already,” Tristan replied. “That can be skipped.”
Austin stared at the hands on his skin, now carefully working the muscles of his calf. He watched mindlessly and began to feel them once more. “I suppose that’s true.” Austin looked back at Liam. “So he saw that file and read the rest.”
“From Bradley’s account, he saw that file and thought Cessair’s company was attempting to cover up a crime to protect his name.
He boxed everything up and contacted his dad, and the two of them decided the best course of action was to find you personally.
It was bad timing that they showed up at the cottage while I was out. ”
“What do they want?”
“They wanted to help you.”
“Help me with what? Cessair’s gone.” Austin accidentally stumbled upon a word that fit Cessair’s current state: gone. It left the possibility of “returned”. Of Cessair one day crawling his way out of the depths and sinking his teeth into Austin.
“Yes, he is. They were under the impression you might still be under duress and felt compelled to act. Tammy has convinced them that isn’t the case. They left the files at the cottage. Bradley left a note for you—I read it, sorry—and he apologised for scaring you.”
Austin’s heart was beating hard. He could only just feel Tristan’s touch on his skin. “I showed him what I could do. There might not have been anything in those files about merfolk, but I—”
“You didn’t,” Liam said. “He fell on the razorfish and sliced up his face and arms. He didn’t see a thing.”
“He was badly hurt?” His actions returned to him. The way he’d commanded the razorfish to help him. The protective, deadly shield they’d formed. Bradley’s cry of pain.
Liam lifted his gaze from his fists. They lost their white tension, blood flow returning.
“He’s fine,” Liam said.
“You just said—”
“Austin,” Liam interrupted, “he’s fine. He got a few stitches, but the cuts are healing well.”
“He’s still around?”
Liam opened and shut his mouth. “No.”
“So how do you—”
“He’s got your phone number. He’s been sending photos to it.” An uncomfortable expression crossed Liam’s face. “I’m sorry for looking at your texts.”
Austin waved that aside. “I don’t care about that. He’s sending photos?”
“In a don’t worry about it kind of way. He said his girlfriend loves the one on his chin and he hopes it leaves a scar.”
Austin simply stared at Liam.
“I don’t know what to tell you. He’s weird.”
“Are you sure they returned all the files?”
“It matches the manifest Tammy had for the Miami lab exactly. And weirdness aside, I think they were telling the truth. They only handed everything over after Tammy convinced them beyond any doubt that we weren’t holding you hostage.”
“Did you burn them?”
Liam shook his head. “I have them at the cottage. I thought you’d like to watch them burn personally. To be sure.”
Austin nodded. He slid his feet off Tristan’s lap, planting his feet on the sun-warmed wooden porch.
Austin considered Liam. Alone, he’d struggle to get him back across the ocean.
Even if he had his tail, he’d been completely exhausted yesterday once he’d changed back.
He had his voice and could command the ocean to carry them, but recalling the last time a current had carted him through the sea made him hesitate.
If his gills hadn’t erupted in that moment, he would have drowned.
He certainly wouldn’t risk that with Liam.
Austin placed his hand on Tristan’s thigh. “Could you bring Liam back? I’m not sure I can safely return him to my territory alone.”
Tristan didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Though Hal will be hosting the delegations for dinner tonight, and I must be there. Will you come with me?”
“To dinner?”
Tristan’s hand crept across the space between them, fingers tracing a warm line against Austin’s outer thigh. “Against the odds, I suspect the evening will be enjoyable if you say you will.”
Austin needed a moment to unpack the statement. The implication that Austin’s presence was what might make it enjoyable. He fixed a pointed look on Tristan, who weathered his glare with hope. Something about his gaze felt deliberate. A look how nicely I’m asking you in it.
When Austin began to growl, Tristan ducked in and softly kissed his cheek. “Happy,” he corrected.
“Fine.”
“You do not have to,” Tristan said, though he sounded very pleased.
“I’m well aware of that,” Austin snipped. “I accepted Hal’s dinner invitation yesterday, and Liam won’t have left the files somewhere anyone can just happen across them. It can wait a day.”
Yesterday, Austin had accepted Hal’s dinner invitation and resolved to tell Liam to go back to America for good. He wasn’t telling Liam any such thing now, but he didn’t feel the same need to break his word on the invitation.
Austin glanced at Liam and frowned. “You wouldn’t understand anyone if you came with me. Maybe Eli could stay here and keep you company? But then he’ll be upset at missing out.”
“I can entertain myself for a few hours,” Liam said dryly.
“Let Eli show you around before we go,” Austin said.
Liam sighed. “Can’t the other one show me the place? The one with the wings?”
“Reba? Do you like his wings too?”
Liam’s flat look said otherwise.
“He doesn’t speak English.”
“Even better.”
Austin wondered what Eli had done to get on Liam’s nerves so quickly. “Alright. And if we’re not too tired after dinner, we’ll return tonight? Or maybe it would be better to go back in the morning.”
“Tonight would be better. I have to feed your cat.”
Austin turned slowly to Liam. “Excuse me?”
“He’s not any good at hunting.”
“I don’t have a cat.”
“I got you one.”
Austin’s mouth opened and shut. “Excuse me?”
“I thought you’d like it. It’s more cuddly than an octopus.”