Page 31 of Alien Triton's Prize

I was already swimming up over the buildings to take a shortcut to my place when Iravan came up beside me.

“I know I can’t force you to stay in the healing facility, especially if you think Vera could be your true mate. But you can’t stop me from tagging along.”

It was probably for the best. Now that I was exerting more of my energy, I realized just how weak I was. My time with the tribe gave me an advantage, but it didn’t make me immune to the poison. I handed him my conch.

“That’s the last location Vera’s conch had a signal.”

“That’s right at the center of town, close to where the Selach Swim was. If we’re lucky, Vera may still have it on her. If we’re not, Algrim may have disposed of it at the event. Where are you going?”

“Home. I have emergency stims there from my traveling days. I need them right now.” I was weaker than I’d let on back at the healing facility.

I’d used the stims in the past when I found myself in tight spots and needed an extra burst of energy— either to escape large predators or get to safety when I was injured. They gave an instant jolt of life-saving energy.

“I also want to have a weapon on me.”

Iravan grunted. “Good idea.”

Chapter 16

Vera

I looked around the apartment Algrim had pulled me into. It was on the top floor of one of the city’s tallest residential buildings, and, like Cetius’s place, every surface was opulently adorned.

Algrim had gotten a call just as we were swimming in and had left in a frustrated huff, warning me not to lift a fin.

I didn’t have any fins to lift, but I immediately tried to leave the second he was out of sight. No such luck. The place was locked up tight. I was essentially in the galaxy’s most luxurious jail cell.

The door had been modified to require a key card not just to enter but also to exit, and none of the windows opened. I’d tried to smash one of them, but the decorative rocks I’d flung at it just bounced right off. Of course, my throwing arm wasn’t so good under the water, and the stones had moved in slow arcs toward the clear window, mocking me.

Unable to leave, I pulled out my contact conch only to discover it wasn’t working. I’d never heard of bad reception being a thinganywhere in Coral’s Deep; this apartment had no reception at all! Frustrated, I stuffed my device back into my harness and tried the windows again.

I needed to get out of here and get to Cetius. The image of him, pale and motionless, had me worried sick. I might not have known him for very long, and I was only here because Starlight Brides had tricked me, but I’d grown to really care for my Not-so-Ken-Doll.

Could someone survive a spear-sized arrow to the chest? And who the fuck would do something like this, anyway? It couldn’t have been any of the competitors because murder was a little excessive for a title, and all the competitors who rounded the corner had immediately gone to help him anyway.

But what about Algrim? His reaction to his brother getting shot with a freaking arrow was to grin and steal his wife. Something was definitely wrong with this guy. And I was trapped here with nothing to do but to wait for him to return.

I was trying to get reception again when I saw him appear outside the window. Just because I couldn’t use the device like a phone didn’t mean I couldn’t use it at all. I quickly set it to record our upcoming conversation. If I was going to get murdered because this asshole was jealous of his brother’s inheritance, then I wanted everything documented so they could avenge my death.

I shoved the device back into the harness, then whipped around to face him, trying to act more angry than scared.

“Why have you dragged me here?” I demanded. “I should be with Cetius.”

Algrim sneered. “Cetius might as well be dead. The selach was supposed to get him, but that confounded friend of his is alwaysgetting in the way. Did you know Cetius named him as second in the company and not me? The whole company should have been mine. It’s my birthright.”

Oh fuck. My suspicions were confirmed. There was definitely foul play going on, and Algrim had a hand in it.

“Anyway, last I saw him, he was still unconscious. He’ll never survive the poison. And it will never get traced back to me, so don’t even think about going to the authorities. They’d never believe a word of it.”

I backed away from him, looking for an exit, but he was blocking the only one.

“Besides, Nerial is going to take the fall for this. All the evidence points to her. And I had someone tip the security off just a moment too late, so they’d catch the shooter. When they check his conch they’ll know it was Nerial right away. She was already so angry that Cetius rejected her. I just heated her water a little more and suggested that if the family business came to me, I’d rewrite the contract and offer her a lot more. The silly female believed me. I helped her set it all up, of course, but no one can prove that.” Algrim had been pacing the room; he stopped now and turned to level a gaze at me.

I backed away some more until I hit a counter.

“My brother had the right idea, going to Starlight Brides. But he got very lucky. It was a risk. They could’ve matched him up with a fucking Gargii.” He shuddered. “But a human. Your kind aren’t bad. No tail, but nice torsos. And now you’re all mine.”

“I am no such thing. My contract is with Cetius and Cetius alone.” Technically, I went to Starlight Lottery for a job, but he didn’t need to know that.

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