Page 2 of Sworn to Revenge
“What?” I ask, horrified.
“Quickly. No questions.” She urges and every nerve in my body protests, but I do as she says. The metallic taste fills my mouth and I’m ready to gag when, suddenly, I feel a tingling under my arm. I look, raising it to check: my affiliation mark is back.I’m finally home.
“Thank you, thank you!” I pull her into an unexpected hug.
But as I try to move my fingers in circles, nothing happens. The disappointment seeps in. “What about my powers?”
She gives me an apologetic look. “That, I haven’t solved yet. But I’m working on it.”
“Anything I can do to help?” I ask.
“Go to land and give this to Alin.” She hands me a small sack of herbs and charms. “It’ll ease her pregnancy cravings and stabilize her powers—for now.” Her excitement is infectious, and despite everything, I’m eager to leave this castle and return to the surface.
It’s not everything I wanted, but it’s a start.
Pedro
It’s been three days since Bay swam back home to sort out her family issues. Her bed in my apartment’s guest room is untouched, neatly made by the cleaners. She didn’t bring much with her, so the room feels empty and cold, like she was never here. I never thought I’d miss someone barging into my personal space like a tornado, but here I am, checking her room every chance I get.
A month has passed since that insane fight with the merfolk in our home, and I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that another world exists just beneath the surface. Life’s been chaos ever since—managing things while Luca and Mariano were in Italy, Bay chasing revenge, and barely a moment to breathe. Now that Luca’s back and the wedding ceremony is delayed thanks to Alin’s uncontrolled powers, I can finally focus on what I want—her.
“Fuck it. When is she coming back?” I mutter, glancing again around her empty room. The gray marble floor, the green rug she loves, saying it matches her tail—just thinking about it makes me smile. I’d wanted to update the apartment’s cream, gray, and green design to something else, but then she came along, grinning wide, saying it was her favorite color.
A vibration snaps me from my thoughts, and I pull out my phone, surprised by the early message from Luca.
Bring your ass to my office. We need to make some things clear.
07:28 am
It’s the day Luca’s supposed to register his marriage, and he’s already up, pissed off about something. There’s no point in asking through text, so I just type back, ‘On my way,’and sigh, giving the empty room a final look before heading up.
As I step toward my apartment entrance, another buzz. It’s Graham, and my stomach sinks as I read:
Another warehouse hit;half the weapons were gone by the time we arrived. Check your email for the footage.
07:33 am
I think I’ve just figured out why Luca’s so mad. Opening the email, I watch the grainy footage. Six figures dressed in black slip out of a white van, moving with precision as they storm the back entrance of the warehouse. Only one camera caught them—a new one I installed last week, just in case. Guess someone didn’t get the memo.
We have a snitch.
I zoom in on the van’s plate and text Graham to run a trace. His response is fast:
It’s stolen. Reported missing in Russian territory.
07:41 a.m.
As the elevator opens on the 4th floor, Luca’s apartment door swings open, and Alin storms out, pure fury in her steps. I glance around, just making sure no water’s about to come flooding down the hall.
“Good luck with mynot-so-soon-to-behusband!” she snaps as she stalks toward the elevator.
Against my better judgment, I ask, “What happened?”
She lets out a deep sigh, frustration evident. “He said we’d register tomorrow because he has ‘issues to deal with.’ Every day, there’s some damn issue! All he had to do was take a couple hours off today,for once!” She’s pacing, hands waving as she mimics Luca’s expressions, too wrapped up in anger to see my blank expression.
“We do have serious issues,” I say, and her angry glare shoots my way.
“Oh,not you too!” She says, huffing into the elevator.
