Page 87 of Not Your Ordinary Shifter

“Stay focused,” Will replied.

“I am. But holy shit, there’s a hot tub, bar and a huge ass T.V in here.” My eyes swivelled around the space, hardly believing the opulence on display.

“Didn’t you see the pool on the lower deck?” Kato chuckled. “Don’t they realize they can swim in the ocean? And another bar. God, rich people are lazy. Who needs more than one bar?”

“There’s another bar up here. But keep your minds on the mission,” Will’s voice thundered in my head, sounding like he yelled directly into my ear.

At the first door, I peeked inside and noted it was the galley. Continuing to the next, I jumped inside the room when another armed man came out of a room in front of me. Thank God it was cracked open. A major disadvantage of being a mudskipper was having to change back to our human forms to open doors.

Fuck.I was in a bedroom.

Someone scooped me up before I could even think about finding a hiding spot. “Oh! Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?”

I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw who’d picked me up. My dorsal fins popped up without conscious thought and I preened at the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.

“Oh shit. We need water,” she said in a panicked tone while looking around wildly. “Water. Water. Ah, here we go.” She dropped me face first into a pitcher of cold water. Half of my body was sticking out of the pitcher as she tilted it, so I was laying more comfortably.

I couldn’t help but grin when she breathed out an enormous sigh of relief. Her concern was so cute.

“Breathe little guy. I got you.” She stared at the door with a puzzled frown. “How the heck did you get in here?”

She lifted the pitcher, examining me, then let out the sweetest sounding giggle when I blinked at her through the clear glass.

“Status update,” Will broke through my fascination with the human.

“Slight problem,” I replied through our mind link. “I’m currently being held captive by a gorgeous woman in her bedroom.”

“What?” The loud yell had me wincing. “Repeat!” Will growled.

Kato’s laughter came through loud and clear around Will’s yelling.

“Well, you’re stuck here till I can sneak you outside, so I had better find a bigger container. If the guards find you, they’ll probably kill you just to spite me,” the woman said.

Well fuck. “Continue with the mission. I’m safe for now. She likes me.”

“What kind of fish are you? I’ve never heard of a fish walking onto a boat before.”

She strolled around the room with me.

“What do you mean she likes you?” Will’s exasperation is clear.

If I’d been in human form, I would have shrugged. “I don’t know. She just likes me. I can tell.”

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Nova. What am I going to call you? Maybe Flipper? Seaweed? Ariel?” She frowned and then moved the pitcher around. My body swished from side to side as she inspected me. “Are you a boy fish or a girl fish?” she singsongs in a high-pitched voice.

She giggled again. “Who am I kidding—unless you’ve got a little fishy dick, I have no idea what I’m looking for.”

Normally, I would think this baby talk bullshit was very annoying, but for some reason, it’s adorable coming from the Goddess holding me. But thank fuck my brothers couldn’t hear the humiliation I was being put through. They’d never let me live it down.

“Found the office. Second floor. I’ll update when I’ve got the information,” Will reports.

She continued walking around with me. “Aquaman! You look like a strong little fishy.”

My dorsal fins fan out again and before I can stop myself, I give a little hop.

She jerked back, dropping the pitcher.

“Oh shit. Oh no! I’m sorry.” She scooped me back up, her head whipping around before running into the adjourning washroom and dropping me in the goddamn toilet of all places.

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