Page 24 of Kit
The door opened.
Kit jumped, head knocking into Nick’s, and his tail tightened like a vice on his arm. Nick bit back a curse as hot tea spilled over his thigh. Kit leapt to his feet, and Nick opened his eyes to see Kit’s caught-out, guilty expression as he swung to the door. Anna stood there, Mini in her grip, caught by the scruff.
Anna raised a hand to her nose, and Mini did the same but with both hands.
“Jesus, Kit,” Anna said.
Nick’s inner wrist burned.Wrong, he thought. There was no way Anna had just used‘Jesus’as a curse. The translation was doing an approximate job? So that Nick understood the meaning?
Kit’s guilty expression transformed into a defensive glare. “I’m your captain, and aunt or not, you’ll show me the proper respect –”
“Did you pee on him?” Anna asked, and Nick doubted that was the level of respect Kit was demanding.
Kit growled, flashing his teeth. Anna raised an eyebrow. Mini was turning purple. He dropped his hands and gasped in a sharp breath. “I can’t!” He turned on his heels and broke away from Anna to sprint away. “Stinks!” his high-pitched voice called behind him.
“Kit,” Anna said. “Open that window, and I will willingly give you the painkillers I just caught your shadow trying to steal.”
Kit glared, but Anna cocked an eyebrow and weathered it. With a silent snarl, Kit took a step towards the window, jerking Nick along with him. “Ah…” Kit’s angry look vanished. Feathered tufts quivered in apology as Kit unwound his tail from Nick’s arm. He ran a gloved hand over Nick’s forearm, pushing up his sleeve as he went, checking for bruises. His tail’s twitching relaxed into a swish when he found none.
Kit’s anger was gone as he went to the porthole and pushed it open.
Nick subtly smelled the side that Kit had been pressed against but didn’t find anything so abhorrent as to have Mini holding his breath till he turned purple. There was that musk, but it was a pleasant male and ochre scent that Nick couldn’t fathom anyone finding offensive.
Anna and Kit were staring off, oblivious to his confusion.
“I would come in, but…” Anna’s smile was wan. “I’d have to puke after.”
Kit’s tail slashed through the air, all irritation. He was back to glaring at her. “Painkillers,” he barked out. “If it’s soawfulin here, feel free to throw them.” The tone of voice was one Nick recognised as being reserved for family. Petulant, annoyed, yet demanding at the same time. Anna lobbed whatever she’d been carrying right at Kit’s head. He caught it with ease.
“Too much of those and he’ll be dependent,” Anna said. But her tail cut in Nick’s direction—she was saying it for him to hear too.
Kit’s shoulders hunched. “His headaches persist,” he insisted. “And a few more days will cause no harm.”
“I’ll leave this open,” Anna said. “You won’t be able to drag the kids into the room otherwise, and I hear they’re busy bees this morning. Captain Hin came by to complain about you stealing his repairman to play with children?”
“Olis ismyman.”
“Apparently, Captain Hin is still repairing the damage that the merman did to the boards.”
Nick’s head snapped up.
The sharp movement caught the attention of both Kit and Anna. Kit’s tail moved to float around his own legs without actually touching them. There was an odd defensiveness in the gesture. Yet when Nick met his eyes, Kit didn’t shy away. “They were damaged the night of the party. There have been no merfolk in pursuit of us,” he explained.
Nick’s racing heart settled, and he sighed. “Adonis had a temper tantrum. He’s a certified brat.”
Anna’s eyes widened, as if Nick had said something outrageous, but Kit’s look turned troubled.
“I’m not sure I’d be so casual, calling the monarch’s mate abrat, personally,” she said. “Though, I suppose I’m not too surprised after hearing the curses you spat at Lady Desre.” She cast him a conspiratorial smile, but Nick just stared at her, confused.
Monarch’s mate?
Chapter Twelve
Before Nick could ask a follow-up question, a call for ‘medic’ echoed down the hall. “Duty calls,” Anna said. “Do try not to hump him, Kit. The children aren’t going to be long with Olis’s help. One of them even begged for help from Captain Hin. Hah!”
Kit’s tail cut sharply through the air from side to side, glaring at the back of his aunt’s head as she disappeared down the hall. His jaw was taut as he marched to the stove and set a pot of water boiling. He threw in a handful of leaves that bubbled, filling the room with an overpowering floral scent. Nick watched Kit, debating what he wanted to address first.
Kit beat him to it. “Scenting doesn’t always mean that.”
