Page 19 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

Good.

Why are you here?It asks.

My nation sent me here to punish me.

Punish you or punish me?

Me.My stomach flips.

It chuffs.Tell them to stop.

I can’t do that if I’m dead.

This is a good point. It reaches its tentacle into the hole.The only good merman is a dead merman.

But if you let me go, I can tell them not to send any more.

Ho.

I’m not sure what that means. But I’m taking it as consideration.

Go.It backs away.

I don’t trust it. But I’ve also heard the tales of giant kraken waiting for their prey for over a month. With my little golden fish behind me, I’m not going to make it a month. I dart out of my hiding spot and to the chimney. I’m hoping to Poseidon that the way is clear of eels. I’m a few feet into the chimney when a viperfish clamps onto my fluke.

I stab it with the trident, and it backs off, but only for a moment before it swims after me. And in the next second, it’s gone. A kraken tentacle pulls it down and away.

I’m far from free. I still have to swim the open waters from here to the city on my own, with this massive anchor of a trident. But I’m going to do it. I’m returning to the city and I’m getting my mate back.

10

EROS

She’s looking up at me with those big blue eyes, and it’s taking every last bit of strength I have not to cave in to her desires. Honestly, anything she wants, I’ll do it. I’m not going to pretend I’m not smitten with her beyond all reason. Obsession doesn’t even begin to cover my feelings for her.

She’s nestled into the corner of my arm, looking at the pictures of Glyden on my block. Damn, I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want her to see how someone attacked her home.

“Can’t I hold it?” She puts out her hand.

I stare at it a moment. “No, Sunshine. I have protection set up on it, so it will only turn on for me. The second I let go, it will shut down.”

She frowns at me, and I let go. The screen shuts off.

“Hey.”

“I didn’t think you believed me.”

“I believe you. Now turn it back on.”

I do and change the setting to English. It is a feature that podlets use when they are learning other languages or cheating on their final exams. Either way, I’m glad I have it installed for her now. She reads. It’s mostly the same thing over and over. Nico will be the next Poseidon. Nico is a fake, and he’s going to die like all the others.

“What is the-rod-onysian? It didn’t translate.”

“Show me?” I stopped reading a long time ago. There’s nothing I can do to help Nico now, and I let my anxiety of the last three days sink into the bed. My eyes are roaming over her. Fuck. I want to do more than hold her. The longer I hold her, the more her body molds into mine. It’s hypnotic. I want to hold her like this forever, but moreover, I want to taste her. I want to make her scream with delight. My left arm is tucked between the two of us, holding the block, but my right hand I’ve placed harmlessly on top of her hip, anchoring the two of us together so she can see and read. Could I project it to the far wall, big enough that you could read it a kilometer away? Yes. But I’m not a dumb male. The tunic she’s wearing has ridden up, revealing an inch of skin between it and her leggings. My thumb inches forward, landing on her skin, and when she doesn’t flinch, I slowly move it in circles.

She points to a particular derogatory post from a Tinom, known for his love of all things controversial. The uglier the better.

“Ah, therodonsian. That’s a way of saying Nico is part of a whale’s spleen that’s rotted.”

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