Page 92 of Battle Fluke

Always and forever.

When they’d all calmed, and Kyree once again found herself sandwiched between the two stunning mers, she dared herself to ask Honour the question that had been bugging her.

“So what are you going to do about Soulara?”

“Grovel,” Honour answered sharply. “I hate when she’s right.”

“Not just her,” Kyree reminded.

“Perfect. Now you’ll all be insufferable,” Honour grumbled.

“Only for you, love. Only for you.”

33

The new building in the center of Reine was still new enough that it wasn’t familiar for Hudson, and yet, here she was, standing in front of the large bubble and holding her breath. She wasn’t certain she’d ever get used to this sensation. But she was one of the few mers who could actually converse with the humans—Milan’s magic still within her cells.

Pushing her hand forward and into the stretchy bubble always freaked her out. Hudson clenched her jaw as her fingers broke through first. She never could go face first like Soulara. It was too damn scary for that—even for a seasoned soldier like her.

Her hand was instantly dry as she pushed her fluke to move herself forward even more. She really, really hated this. Closing her eyes, she tightened her entire body until she couldn’t feel anything. Then she came out the other side, pain searing into her fin—no, now it was legs—as they split and made those weird things Kyree called feet.

It had taken close to five seasons to build this thing from spare parts the humans had left and a bit of magic from Soulara and Milan, but it was done. And the inside was just as strangeas the outside. The lights were brighter here, especially to her dried-out eyes.

But she could handle it. She had before when she’d called on Autumn. And there was something about that pesky human soldier that Hudson adored. They had become rather close in the last few seasons while Hudson had helped build this new empire that Soulara was hell-bent on ruling.

She wasn’t sure about it.

The only thing she did know was that it sounded a whole lot nicer than Talon.

“Hudson!” Autumn held her arms out like she was expecting a hug. The constant touching of humans was surprising, and it had taken Hudson a long time to get used to it. Hell, she wasn’t used to it yet.

“Autumn,” Hudson answered, half-heartedly wrapping Autumn in a hug.

“I didn’t expect you today.”

“Right.” Hudson slid her hands over her legs, not quite comfortable in the chill air. Autumn wore clothes too, which always made Hudson feel naked, even though Autumn never said a damn thing about it. And Hudson hated that feeling. She much preferred to meet in the water, but Autumn couldn’t breathe there, so they were stuck in this bubble of a new world that they were still building.

“Was something wrong?”

Hudson shook her head. “Can we go to your…apartment?” That was the word, right? Hudson had taken a long time to learn the human language, and the words were still foreign on her tongue. But Autumn’s mouth didn’t make the noises they used for their language, so again, they were stuck in the human world.

It was everything that Honour feared and more, and despite the fact that Hudson kept reminding Honour that they had planned for this and it wouldn’t be a takeover, that fear stilllingered in Hudson’s stomach as well. She just had to work through it for longer. There was peace in the oceans for the first time in as far back as the memories and stories went.

And that was a feat in and of itself.

“Sure.” Autumn squinted, but she led the way back to her apartment. They stepped into the room, and Hudson was so glad that it was warmer in here than out in the open air. She must keep it that way for Soulara.

Sliding into the chair and sitting down was something that Hudson had come to love, so she immediately plopped on the soft cushions and made herself comfortable. Autumn smiled at her and sat next to her.

“So what’s going on? You seem far more nervous today than any other day.”

“Yeah, well, I am.” Hudson swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d been the chosen one to ask this, not only as a way to bring the humans closer to the mermaids, but to help Honour make up for some bad blood between her and Soulara.

She was still groveling, even after all these seasons.

“I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to risk your life again.”

“W-what?” Autumn stammered out.

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