Page 98 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

“She always wrote in Dorian and English. But—”

“I counted three others, and there’s at least one, maybe two, that I have no idea what they are.”

“Yes, Latin, Greek, and Albanian.”

“Albanian?” I lean over the text like I’ll somehow be able to read it.

“Here.” He points out a section and reads. “The application of heat with a mixture...” He stops.

“What does it say?”

“I don’t know. The next line is a language I don’t know.” Now it’s Nico’s brow that’s furrowed. “I’m a level 30 in languages.”

“Impressive,” I say, a sly smile on my face.

“Not really. This is... puzzling.” He’s got the book in his hand as he stands, walking across the room over to the kitchen counter. He lays it open and scans it with his block. “No known language detected.”

“Maybe it’s a cypher or something she developed herself.”

“Perhaps.” He frowns at the open book.

“What’s going on?” Holter stretches as he comes out of the office.

“This.” Nico pushes the book toward Holter. “Do you know what language that is?”

Holter wanders over and squints at it, taking the book in his hand. He flips the page, and I think he might be on to something. “No, I don’t.” He lays the book on the counter, and now the two of them are scowling at it together. They might not be genetically related, but they are each cocking their heads the same way, and they have a hand on their hips. If it wasn’t so adorable, I’d be scared of the book.

I jump off the sofa and head across the room to them.

“We could ask Alder. He might remember our mother having a language of her own.” Nico asks.

“Yes. Could Alder know something?” I stare at the unknown words in the book.

“I don’t want to trouble him with this right now. He needs to heal,” Holter says.

“He needs something to do to keep him from wasting away.” Nico cocks an eyebrow at me.

“Thinking about Richeal won’t help him.” Holter has both hands on the counter. He’s nose to nose with Nico.

“Okay.” Nico nods. “But Muster. We can go talk to the old grump. He certainly needs something to do. Last time I was in their apartment, Dad was just staring at Father. They weren’t even playing Marlimax.”

I smile at the board on the side of the room. I’m finally starting to understand it, a cross between chess, dominoes, and mahjong.

Nico sweeps the book off the island and puts it under his arm. He’s two steps away from the door. “Well, are the two of you coming?”

Clothes changed, we step off the elevator. Muster and Alder have a small apartment in the middle of the tower. Not super high up, but it doesn’t have a direct view of the seabed the way ours does. Something I still don’t understand is why that isn’t a good thing. I love watching the fish swim in and out of the coral.

Nico puts his hand on the door handle, but Holter stops him and knocks. “We don’t want to subject Belle to seeing Dad unprepared.”

“Unprepared?” I ask, my eyebrows raised.

Nico clears his throat. “Dad doesn’t wear clothes at home much.”

“Not since he discovered it keeps Ophelia from dropping in on them unannounced.”

“Smart.” I half wonder if I could take up the same habit. But then, if I walked around naked most of the time, I wouldn’t be able to walk, even with my mermaid healing powers.

“Where’s your glove?” Holter takes my hand and kisses the palm.

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