Page 114 of Cruel Tides

The man with white hair hummed with doubt, and the glare she gave him was sharp enough to cut through glass.“Sea lion royalty.”

“Our mistake,” he said, his hand flicking through his feathery hair. “Feel free to help yourself to the deserter’s share.”

“Hmph.”Laverne scoffed, wrinkling her nose at the merman like she thought gathering up tokens and chips was far beneath her. Okay, she definitely thought that.

“Go, now. Treasures await you in these halls.” Jewelry glistening, the quick-tongued man gestured for me like it was his turn to collect me. “Now come, come. We must not keep our queen waiting.”

Leander’s arms folded around my shoulders. “Like she said, we’re coming with her, or she isn’t going at all.”

The men’s combined laughter bubbled over the noise of the crowd as I glanced up at Barren, wondering if he had anything to say about this. These were his people, his kingdom, after all.

“Ah! The tainted one may follow along, if you wish,” one of the men added. “Now excuse us…”

“Thetainted one?”I repeated. It was possible I’d misheard him due to his accent, because what could he have meant by that?

Barren flinched. He gave Leander a hard look, every muscle in his neck tensing as he nodded. “No harm will come to her. I will make sure of it.”

Leander’s grip over my shoulders changed, and for a second, I wasn’t sure he would let me go.

“It’s fine, Lee, look around,” I said, shooing him off me. “We’re in a casino surrounded by people. What’s the worst that could happen?” I cringed as soon as the last word left my lips. Saying it aloud sure felt a lot like asking for trouble.

“Do not trust a word Queen Javalynn says,” Leander murmured, leaning in for only my ears to hear. He released my shoulders and gave Barren a nod. “Don’t fuck this up, Barren. We’ll be around if you need us. Right, Kaius?”

When Leander turned back, Kai was on the floor, scrambling for tokens and chips. “Uh, what?” Kai said, stuffing them into the velvet bag while Laverne held it open with its string.

“Come now,” one of the mermen said, impatience sharpening his melodic voice as he took a step forward.

“Fine,” I muttered. I was lightheaded from standing amid the flashing lights, anyway. As I reached out to steady myself on Barren’s arm, he pulled away from me as if my touch was as toxic as the lionfish Laverne had found earlier.

“Barren?” I asked, a sharp pain stabbing through my heart.

The white-haired mermen gasped, taking exaggerated steps backward.

“You mustn’t,” the adorned one said, his jewelry slapping him in the face as he brought a hand to his mouth.

But my attention was solely focused on Barren, leaving me nearly oblivious to everything else. He didn’t want me touching him now? What was it about his kingdom that had him acting so strangely?

Though he turned away from me, Barren’s deep voice carried. “Touching me is forbidden.”

My jaw fell open. “What?Why?” It was forbidden? I’d been touching him, well, not all the time, but I’d done it a lot. Was it because he was a prince, or…

“My kingdom is superstitious. They believe that certain things can be passed on by touch.” Barren’s voice was as hard as stone, and I stared at the muscled back of his neck as he spoke. “I should have warned you, but I…” His voice trailed off, and somewhere, deep in the cracks of this stoic statue of a titan, I could hear all the pain he held within him. This was why he was walking so fast, why he was standing apart from us.

“Why would they think that?” I asked, sure that my voice was too weak to be heard over the commotion of the casino.

Barren didn’t answer, but I had every intention of asking him about it later. As soon as I could.

The two mermen seemed to have pulled themselves back together, tempering their unease. “Step away from him, miss. As he said, it’s forbidden.”

“Forbidden?” My voice cracked with a bitter laugh. In five minutes, these assholes had managed to insult everyone that I cared about, and I found that I cared little about propriety or adhering to their kingdom’s customs. “I’m a free mermaid,” I said, seizing Barren by his arm. Only, instead of yanking him over to me like I’d planned, I only managed to lose my footing.Freaking titan.

The moment I regained my balance, my lip curled. “I have the freedom to disregard your customs and your superstitions.” At least, I thought I did. Maybe. Whether it was legally true or not, there was no point in second-guessing myself now.

Barren’s muscles were solid, unmoving, but I clung to them like a remora to a leopard shark. “Come on, Barren,” I said, nudging his side, hoping to spark something in him that would get him to move.

Was he mad? Disappointed? No—my gut told me this was the right thing to do. Even if my voice never called to him, his voice had called to me, and I wanted him to feel just as protected as he made me feel. Whatever it took.

I looked up, offering him my best smile. “Let’s go meet with your queen.”

---