Page 48 of Dante's Circle Reborn

BLOOD’S FIRST KISS

ChapterOne

The shark came out of nowhere.

Caly swore, one day, her tombstone would have that exact phrase. She used to be far better at remembering to look over her shoulder when a shark was near. She used to be able to sense them. However, recently, she’d been a little busy, a bit focused and in her head, and she kept missing the fact that, yes, she probably should be aware of her surroundings when she swam underwater.

After all, she was a mermaid. She lived deep down under the sea. She wasn’t friends with a flounder or a crab. However, she did have to worry about the aforementioned shark.

She snarled, angling her fin out of the way of some very pointy teeth. It was not a shark shifter, but a regular old hammerhead that wanted a little bite of her. And it wasn’t like she could actually hurt the damn thing because she didn’t want to hurt an innocent fish.

It was just hungry, and her fin was shiny. Apparently, the taste of mermaid was what was for dinner.

She swam quickly, swishing her fin again as it tried to nibble on her once more. She sighed, tired. “Stop it,” she muttered under her breath, bubbles of water and air escaping her lips.

She couldn’t actually talk to sharks, or really any sea life under the ocean. Her brother was better at it. Sometimes, she could if she tried. However, right then, the shark clearly wasn’t listening to her. It was hungry, and she didn’t have a weapon other than her brain to get herself out of this jam.

Considering she hadn’t even noticed the shark was upon her until it tried to nibble at her, her brain apparently wasn’t doing too well right then either.

“Okay, you asked for it.” She shot down to near the bottom of the seafloor, picking up a piece of driftwood that had sunk over time. It was waterlogged, not exactly good enough to do any real damage, but she didn’t really want to hurt him. She just wanted to stun him.

She twisted, smashing the shark between the eyes with the piece of wood. Unlike in some monster movies, sharks couldn’t swim backwards—though a few shark shifters she knew liked to try. The shark froze, seemed to shake it off, but swam away quickly, hopefully realizing that she was the superior predator.

Not that she really believed that, but at least the shark was gone.

She roamed her hands over her body, making sure she hadn’t actually gotten nicked by the shark.

In her mermaid form, she had gills on the sides of her neck, but not webbed fingers like some myths indicated. She wore a shell-shaped bra, mostly because it was easier to swim when she didn’t have to deal with flowy shirts underwater. Sometimes, she wore tight shirts with sleeves or other tops, but she’d felt like going Ariel today. Her green and blue tail with its touch of purple shimmered under the light that shone from the nearby underwater house, but she didn’t see any blood.

Frankly, she really just wanted to get home, so she was grateful that the attack hadn’t been worse. She had papers to pore over, and her brother and his mates were going to be there along with their son. She missed Seth and his family, and she just wanted to feel like she had a family of her own. She hadn’t really had much of that recently.

She quickly pushed those melancholic thoughts out of her mind and headed home. She waved at a school of young mermaids and mermen and then gestured at a couple of warriors. They gave her a strange look as if surprised to see her, but she shook it off.

She wasn’t supposed to be anywhere, was she? No, she just had to do some research and spend time with her family. Right?

She swam under the large dome that was her home and traversed the tunnels until she came to a pool. There were a few around her house where even humans using magic could find their way into her home. They acted as front doors as well as actual pools in the house. She loved them.

Her head breached the water, and she sucked in oxygen, her lungs now working as a human rather than a mermaid. She levered herself out of the pool and grabbed a towel. She shifted back into her human form and wiggled her toes, grateful that her legs were back. She loved both forms, but sometimes, she just really wanted to stretch her feet, and she couldn’t really do that with a tail. She wrapped a towel around her waist, the top half of her suit still on, and then got to her feet.

“What are you doing here?” her brother Seth asked. She turned, screaming.

“It’s my home. But you’re here. I’m so glad you are. I’ve missed you, Amara, and Tristan so much.” She ran to him and hugged him hard.

“I’ve missed you too, big sister,” Seth said as he lowered himself down to give her a big hug. Her little brother wasn’t so little anymore. He was a big guy with a heart of gold, two wonderful mates, and a baby boy.

She was an auntie thanks to him, and he made her so happy.

“Okay, where’s the rest of them? I can’t wait to hold my nephew.” She clapped her hands together and then went to go get her clothes from the bench.

“I’m going to ask you again. Why are you here?” he asked, and she frowned.

“What do you mean? I live here.”

“I know you do, darling, but you’re not supposed to be here.”

“What?”

“Amara is putting Eli down for a nap, but Tristan is at the Conclave meeting. You know, the one you’re supposed to be at.”

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