Page 65 of Sworn to Revenge
He shrugs casually. “I don’t know what to feel about all this news. Like I told you, I was only a year old. I don’t remember much about our mom, but I’m also really worried about what will happen to Luca when they meet…” His thoughts seem to drift somewhere else.
“They’re going to meet, right?” he suddenly fixes his gaze on me, making sure that’s still the plan.
“I won’t lie, I don’t know how they’ll manage it. Bringing her here seems really complicated, and taking Luca over there…” I pause, considering the idea, “You’re willing to risk our short-tempered capo getting stuck with a tail too?”
“No way. If Luca ends up with a tail too, I’m checking myself into the psych ward.”
I chuckle at his declaration. “Exactly what I thought. We’ll need to figure out what to do later; for now, we have one task to focus on.”
He rises from the bench, stretching his arms forward to loosen his muscles just as Alin announces her return to the room with a heavy sigh.
We both turn to look at her, questioning expressions on our faces.
“Flavio’s men brought Will here along with some Russian guy—they were together. Both of them are in the basement now,” she informs us, but it’s clear something’s still bothering her.
“When Luca gets back, we’ll deal with them,” Mariano states, heading back to the training mat. Barely ten minutes have passed, and he’s already going back to training?
“So, are you ready to share with us what’s been bothering you since you ended the call with Bay?” I dare to ask Her Royal Highness, the hormonal mermaid.
“You’ve got a death wish, I see,” Mariano teases from the mat, and Alin shoots a furious look in my direction.Delightful.I sigh.
“Bay called for more huntresses to help take out the Russians who’ve been following them,” she finally reveals, moving toward the bench.
I raise an eyebrow, questioning, “I don’t even want to know how she did that, but I don’t see a problem with it—two birds with one stone,” I say with a smirk, still slightly surprised by the news.
“You don’t see a problem?!” she snaps. “My husband needs to keep her safe, so she doesn’t get caught on land, which means if the huntresses set their eyes on him—he’s done for!”
The water from my bottle splashes everywhere with her shout, not missing my face.
“Fuck!” I curse as my damn tail makes another appearance, and there goes another pair of pants. This time, I send a furious look to my dear sister-in-law.
“Sorry,” she rushes over to the bench and extends her hand toward my tail to help me get my legs back, but quickly reconsiders and pulls her hand back.
“Since we’re already training, it’s about time I teach you how to get your legs back on your own.”
She can’t be serious. How does her mood swing so fast?
“First, let’s finish the initial topic—what exactly is going to happen to my brother? And will Bay be safe?”
She takes a deep breath through her nose, seeming to at least try controlling her powers this time. Maybe she could take a page out of her ownadvice to me—it seems like even years of training don’t make controlling these powers easy.
“As soon as he’s exposed to a huntress’s call, he’ll fall into a loop he won’t be able to escape. Neither I nor Bay will be able to save him,” she explains, taking another deep breath, as if releasing out the storm raging inside her would send a tsunami over all of us.
I don’t want to test that theory, so I try to calm her down. “You know Luca—he’s calculated, and he probably already knows what the risks are. I’m sure he won’t be caught unprepared.” I hope, more accurately, but now is not the time to rile her up further.
“Ugh. Put those legs back already; it smells like a fish market in here!” Mariano calls out from the mat, waving his hand in front of his face. Alin and I both glance at him, and our bursting laughter suddenly breaks the tension in the room.
“Put your hand on the tail,” Alin orders suddenly, still laughing—a snort escapes her as she tries to focus.
I swallow my laughter and do as she says.
“Good. Now, stroke your tail and visualize your legs in your mind. See the change,” she instructs, but I’m terrible at this guided imagery stuff.
I try to visualize it, sighing when it doesn’t work. “This is a lot harder than it looks.”
Alin smiles at me now. “It’s harder when you’re not one with your powers yet. Try to focus again on the energy currents within your body—breathe them in, become one.”
“Only merfolk with powers can get legs?” I suddenly grow curious and ask.
