Page 17 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

I hand him his towel from the hook on the wall, and he dries himself, hanging it back up before striding naked to the bedroom. He pushes a spot on the wall, and a panel opens. He has a closet. A closet I searched for anything that might tell me more about him. All I found was lots of black clothing and the blue suit he wore to Ophelia’s ball. The male has secrets, more secrets than a stealthsolothat can outwit the government.

A slow drip hits me in the middle of my brain. Outwit the government. When their scientists all work for the government? How can that be? No, they knew he was there. “Why did you go to the chasm?”

“Because we had an agreement. I would help Nico.”

“But how did you get there? Without anyone seeing you?”

“Mysolohas better shielding than others.”

“And how did you get that better shielding?” My face goes taut.

“I found my block.” He pulls it out of the wall, from what appears to be a safe. He punches a few buttons and sets it on top of his dresser. He pulls on a pair of soft, loose black pants and tugs his block to his chest. “Let’s see what’s going on.” He tosses a few pillows to the headboard and reclines on them. Then he pats the bed next to him. “Have a seat, Sunshine. We can look at the news together.”

Desperation grows within me to find out what happened. Fear for Nico consumes my thoughts. How did Eros not see him come out? Reluctantly, a part of me prefers the ignorance, allowing a selfish hope that he remains whole and okay. But being this close to Eros has my inner mermaid on fire.

I don’t want things getting out of control. And by things, I mean me and my hussy vajayjay. I know it’s only me who would feel like this is cheating. I’m sure mermaids all over the city do things like this all the time, climbing in bed with a male who isn’t their mate. But I wasn’t raised like other mermaids. If I had gone back to Boston, I would have blown through all the money they put in my account on batteries. I’m positive the pull to my mates and even to Eros wouldn’t ever happen with a human guy.

“We can look at it on the sofa out in the living room,” I say.

“With your attack shark looking to come inside? No. Best you keep your voice down and your blonde head out of sight.”

“I can’t lie down in bed with you.”

“Oh, I think you can. But if you don’t want to, that’s up to you.” He flicks his finger over the phone screen. “Interesting.”

I go to the side of the bed to see. But even though this isn’t a pod bed, it’s too big for me to see what’s really happening on his screen. “Eros, what is it? What happened?”

He pats the bed again.

“No.”

“I won’t bite. Not unless you want me to.”

“I told you I can’t let anyone in my pod without talking to the other guys first. And we have a lot to talk about. Tell me what you’ve found out.” I sit on the edge of the bed, craning my neck in vain to see the block screen.

“Have you slept?” He looks from me to his block.

No, not really.” At least not well.

“You need to sleep.” He looks at his block. “Whoa. Poseidon.”

“Poseidon what?”

He glances at me, a smirk on his face. “I never thought of you as having a dirty mouth.”

“I suppose it doesn’t mean anything to me. But you’re right. I don’t swear. But what were you swearing about? Is Nico okay?”

“No, I’m sorry. They’ve declaring him missing.”

A vice tightens around my chest, and I’m shattered to my core. “He’s dead.”

“No, that’s what the whoa was for. Normally after someone goes to the chasm, they pronounce them dead after six, seven hours. But they’ve marked him as missing. Which is odd.”

“But good, right? That means he still has a chance?”

“Yes, that means he still has a chance. Fuck, if anyone has a chance, it’s Nico. Come over here and see. I can feel how tired you are, Sunshine. If you’d rested instead of digging through my uncle’s library...”

I give him a look. Like he’s the big bad wolf inviting Red Riding Hood into the bedroom. I’m shaking. I don’t know how to feel. It’s confusing. I want an answer, but that’s selfish. Because right now the easy answer is he’s gone forever, and I don’t want that.

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