Page 99 of Seduced By the Mermen
“Wait, what about all the safety crap Annabelle and her guys are always going on about? Is it safe for you to leave?”
“Zion talked to the king, and he said yes.”
“Really? Atlas said yes? Okay, okay.” There’s a ticking going on in her head. I can practically hear her thinking. She wants to come. “How are you getting there?
“They’ve got this sub like an RV, a Pelagic voyager. And it will take a few days to get there. I forgot to ask how long we’ll be gone. I guess I was too excited.”
Marlee’s face lights up. “You like them,” she sings. “You should go. I’ll be good here.”
“You don’t want to come?” I raise my eyebrows at her.
“No offense, Mom. But fuck no. Seven dudes who want to shag your mum?” She uses a horrible British accent. “In an RV barreling through the ocean for a few days? That sounds worse than using a furnace as a noise machine to keep from hearing your cousin giggling while she’s doing the nasty. No. Maybe some other time, and definitely some other way. But you should totally go.”
“Absolutely not.” Nico crosses his arms over his chest.
I look at Holter, who is normally the most reasonable of my niece’s mates.
“I’m sorry, Auntie, but I have to agree with my brother on this one.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and take a moment. It doesn’t matter what they say. Annabelle and Marlee both said yes. I shrug. “I do hate to disappoint you, but if you’re going to have children—podlets, excuse me—you’re going to have to live with others not doing exactly what you want.” I square my shoulders and stare them down. Well, I stare Holter down because Nico is too intimidating even for the new me.
Nico’s eyes flash, and he turns to Annabelle.
“She’s an adult, Nico. She can do what she wants. And the king gave them the okay. I mean, that’s good enough for me. Atlas is your friend. Don’t you trust him?”
Eros laughs from the other side of the room. And I get it. Nico doesn’t trust anyone.
The room is vibrating. “I guess I should go pack.”
“Do you want some help?” Annabelle asks.
“How much can you bring? There’s not a lot of space in a cross-oceansolo,” Castor says.
“Oh, we’re going in a Pelagic voyager.” I turn and head toward my room but stop when Castor whistles.
“A Pelagic voyager—that’s . . . whoa.”
“What’s a Pelagic voyager?” Annabelle asks, and it’s easy to forget she’s relatively new here too.
“It’s the most expensive transport made. State of the art. I didn’t realize the Masons had one.” Castor sits on the sofa. His eyes are focused on his block.
“I don’t think they did,” Holter adds.
“Maybe they just bought it?” Annabelle sits next to Castor and leans over his lap.
“Here, this is what they look like.” Castor shows Annabelle first.
“Whoa. That’s huge. It must have cost a lot of gold.” Annabelle’s blue eyes flick to mine. “I think you can take whatever you want,” Annabelle says. “I’ll help you pack.”
“But you know it’s not about what you take, it’s about what you can bring back! I might have a few things you could pick up for me.” Marlee jumps. “I mean, only if you have time.”
“I’d love to.” I wrap one arm around Marlee’s shoulders and the other around Annabelle’s.
“I think I’ve got everything.” I’m holding two leather bags, one full of my most human-looking clothes and the other empty. Then I go down the line of my family, giving each one of them a long hug.
“You’ll be back next week.” Annabelle taps my back.
“I know. I’m just going to miss all of you. Thank you for letting me stay with you.”
