Page 13 of Seduced By the Mermen
“Did I do that wrong? Did I hurt you?” I reach for her. “Let me see?”
She laughs, and a lovely shade of pink rises to her cheeks. “Oh, no. No. I’m not hurt. Embarrassed maybe.” Her nervous laugh flutters around the room.
“You have nothing to be nervous about, Aunt Blair,” Annabelle says. “How are you feeling, Zion?”
“Better. But I suppose we should ask the physician.” He cocks his head to me and narrows his eyes. He doesn’t want to seem weak yet wants me to lie for him. Well, in reality, I suppose it’s for our whole pod. Then my eyes flick to Blair at my side. Nothing about her says fool. Certainly, she’ll see through our ruse.
“Yes, well, that’s why I’m here.”
“You’re here to take your mate home,” Castor growls from the doorway.
“Yes, well, we all want that, but only if it’s safe for him to be moved.”
“It’s a flesh wound. He could swim out of here right now,” Nico says, his head just barely visible above the other males in the corridor.
Annabelle places her hand on the door. “Let’s let him do his work.” She shuts the door, closing her mates out of the room, and smiles at me. “I’m sure you’ll do your best assessment. I wanted to call Pertusio, but Zion said he’d be more comfortable with you.”
“Ah, Pertusio. He was an intern in the department I worked in before I went to work with the court. But then, that was a long time ago. I haven’t seen that Glyden?—”
“Grayson,” Zion cuts me off before I can call Pertusio anything he thinks I might regret later. Not that I ever regret much. And the things I do regret, I don’t hold in. We can’t all be Sterling.
“Yes, well, I’m sure Pertusio has changed over the years. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him. If I remember correctly, I think he still owes me some gold from a marlimax game he lost a long time ago.”
“Grayson loves a good game.” Zion pushes at my bag, which I’ve put next to his shoulder.
“Here, let me take that.” Blair flits around the room. She moves a stack of books and things from next to the bed—several medicine vials and a pair of glasses. “My eyes aren’t what they used to be. It was like ‘hello forty’ and I couldn’t see anything anymore.” She laughs, waving her hands in front of her face.
I didn’t realize I was staring. But why haven’t they done anything about her vision yet? It’s so odd. The second she came into the city, mermaid or not, they could have cured her of anything those medications are for. “We can fix your vision.”
“What, like Lasik? I’m not sure I want a laser pointed at my eye.”
“A laser? Damn, what are humans doing to each other? No, no lasers involved.”
“Oh, I... That would be nice. I would... This isn’t about me.” She nervously flexes her hands. “You need to examine Zion. I’m worried about infection. Who knows what’s in a shark’s mouth? I did my best cleaning out the wound.”
Zion’s smirking now. It wouldn’t appear like a smirk to those who don’t know him. But I bet he enjoyed having Blair’s hands on him as she thoroughly cleaned out the wound. I glance from him to Blair and put my hand on Zion’s blanket-covered knee. My body is between Annabelle and Blair. I give a little squeeze. If my pod mate was in any trouble at all, he would have screamed. But he’s almost humming at his good fortune of being tucked into the female’s bed. I’ll have to ask him how he ever got placed in her room. But not now.
Maybe he was attacked by a shark, but there’s nothing wrong with him now. Hell, my papa would have sent me to school with a more serious injury. “Yes, well, let’s have a look, shall we?”
“If you don’t mind, Aunt Blair, I’m going to leave the room,” Annabelle says, slipping out.
There are loud voices in the corridor, but Blair doesn’t pay them any attention. And I wonder about the female’s ears. What neglect have the human males been inflicting on the females of their race?
She delicately lifts the blanket from Zion’s legs, and a bandage covers his calf. It’s neatly done. “I didn’t know how to use the spray cover, but Eros showed me.” She stands back. “Is it okay? You should take it off and check it.” Her voice shakes.
“You did a good job. Normally we wouldn’t take it off this soon.”
“It’s deep. I’m worried it might get infected.”
“We have advanced healing abilities, and the active ingredients in the spray-on bandage speed things along even faster.”
“The edges around the bandage aren’t as pink as they were a few hours ago.” She yawns. “Excuse me. Sorry, I haven’t gotten used to the change in time zones. Or the difference in light.”
I nod. “I have only met a few other humans before, but my Koralli friend said the difference in light was the thing that took him the longest to get used to. You’ll regulate your system soon. I could give you a shot to help you with it if you?—”
“Oh, I had a B12 shot once. It—” She freezes. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to talk over you.” She places her hand on top of Zion’s knee, and if she doesn’t move it soon, it won’t be the only thing sticking up from under the blanket. She turns to me. “How is Zion?”
I want to say he’s fine, was fine a few minutes after the shark let go of his leg. But that’s not going to get him an invitation to stay the night. “He’s lucky—where the bite was, it didn’t hit any major arteries. This will heal right up.” I haven’t lifted the bandage—it’s applied expertly. “I think we can just leave this in place.”
