Page 10 of Seduced By the Mermen
“Nico, he’s not fine. That’s a lot of blood.” Annabelle places her hand on the bare skin of Nico’s chest peeking out from his robe.
One of the other males behind me says something, but the words are garbled.
“Fine, we can treat his wound and then he goes.”
I take another step, but the pain causes me to gasp.
Holter lifts me. Shame pulses with the pain in my leg. “I can walk.”
“You cannot.” He bends to set me on the sofa?—
“Not there. Take him into my room,” Blair says.
And I can’t help but smile. Or at least I think I’m smiling. It might be more like a parrotfish impression with their weird teeth. When she came off the sub, her hair was braided, as is the custom here. Now her hair is gathered into a ponytail, hanging loosely at her back. She’s wearing a white linen tunic and dark leggings. She looks comfortable, and all I want to do is lay my head on her lap and have her pet me.
“I don’t like him going into your bedroom,” Castor says.
“The sofa is white,” Blair’s daughter says.
“He’s more solid than he looks. I’m not holding him forever. I’m putting him in Blair’s room.” Holter stomps through the apartment.
My eyes are fluttering open and closed, but it’s nicer than I imagined for being a ground dwelling. The chambers are large and well-appointed. Holter places me on a small bed and tosses a blanket to me. I catch it and cover myself before he leaves. If the articles Alexei sent us are true, I don’t want to make Blair feel uncomfortable.
I smooth the blanket out over my hips. I haven’t lain on such a small bed since I was a podlet. Even after losing our mate, we’ve slept in the pod bed, elbow to ear, for the last eight years. Forrest insisted.“If we take our own chambers, then we are no longer a pod but roommates.”As much as I’ve longed for not being kicked in the middle of the night as a result of Grayson’s nightmares or faced with Forrest’s continual insomnia, him constantly getting in and out of bed, he was right. We are still a pod.
“Here, sit up. Let me put a pillow under your head. I’m Blair. I believe we met at the port.”
“He knows who you are. It’s why his leg has a hole in it.” Eros laughs.
Blair cocks her head to him. “I’m being polite. Now either help or get out.”
“Your niece is very much like you. I’ll get a medical kit.” Eros slips out, leaving Annabelle, Nico, and Blair in the room with me.
“Marlee, don’t come in,” Blair calls over her shoulder.
“My cousin isn’t a fan of blood.” Annabelle replaces the towel with a clean one.
“Neither are you, AD,” Marlee calls from the hallway.
“If you’re going to argue, you can step out too.” Blair turns to me and smiles. Her blue eyes sparkle in the low light. “Zion, is it?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to have intruded on your show,” I say.
“My niece wanted me to see her fluke. It’s quite lovely.”
“You hadn’t seen it before?”
There’s a loud groan from the corner of the room, from Nico. “So help me, Mason, you harm one hair on my aunt’s head and I’ll rip your other leg off.” Nico storms from the room.
Annabelle’s eyes are wide. “Will you be okay if I step out for a minute, Aunt Blair? When the four of them are alone together, they tend to think whatever decision they’re making is the right one.”
“Yes, please go. Let’s make sure Zion is able to leave with all of his limbs.”
“Thank you. I’m rather fond of them.”
“I imagine you are.” Blair’s holding a towel tightly around my leg. “You have a British accent.”
“I suppose I do. My language tutor when I was a podlet had spent time in England. It’s stayed with me over the years.”
