Page 122 of Cruel Tides

Oh. My. Goodness.

There was no clothing between them, not even a strip.

They sat there, six in total, their eyes darkened and brooding. Every type of hair seemed to be present, ranging from jet-black locks cascading like a waterfall to shorter, tousled waves of sandy blonde.

Laverne would have gone rabid, foaming at the mouth to either jump on the couch with them or call them all shameless.

I whipped back around, but not before catching one of the men flexing, curling his spine as if stretching out his back. The others seemed to be wiping sweat from their brows, their chests rising and falling in subtle pants.

What exactly had I interrupted?

A playful cunning lit in the woman’s emerald eyes. Two of her tentacles reared up, pulling her up the side of the hot tub. “I’ve been waiting to meet you, child. I am Queen Sagari, ruler of the Undersea.” One of her back tentacles gave a wide flourish that sent sizzling drops of salt water spraying about.

“Queen Sagari,” I repeated. A queen in a shear black bathing suit. This sure didn’t seem like a room fit for royalty to relax in. I glanced around the space with its torn wallpaper, dim lights, and molding ceiling tiles. A complete contrast to the luxurious casino I’d been stolen away from.

Her friendliness bordered on excessive, her focus fixed on me with an intense passion that left me stricken. My stomach rolled as I thought of the Rook again. In the queen’s mind, I’d murdered not one, but two of her subordinates.

Emotion pulled at my vocal cords. “I assume you didn’t bring me here for a friendly chat.”

“Indeed, I have not,” she said, pointing a sharp-tipped fingernail, still very much lounging in her hot tub. “Do you know how thoroughly we’ve searched for you, my child? Combing through both land and seas?”

I shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to answer that. My eyes caught movement, and I glanced over, catching the sea wizard slinking into the room. He quietly stood beside the men on the couch, blending into the room’s shadows.

If he hadn’t been out stealing me away from the merfolk, would he have spent his evening on the queen’s couch, draped in nothing but the limbs of the men beside him?

My mind slipped into an image that I immediately regretted.

The queen chuckled, her voice becoming rough with amusement. “Sorry, child. My pawns can be quite distracting.”

Pawns?

One of her tentacles curled, a come-hither motion, and my heart froze in my chest as the couch behind me creaked. The men passed me by, sending further chills through me as they formed a circle around the hot tub. A blindingly pale, very naked circle.

The queen caressed the underside of the man with the longest hair’s jaw, and I spun around, finding myself sinking in the sea wizard’s dark stare. He stood still in the shadows, seemingly oblivious to the queen’s call.

“Let me cut to the chase,” Queen Sagari said over the sound of water sloshing behind me. “I have been informed of an incident that recently occurred deep within the Atlantic.”

A wave of panic hit, leaving me dizzy. I moved a trembling hand to my bag, feeling for the comforting bulk of the shell hidden inside it. The sea wizard knew it was there, but the others didn’t.

“Figured that was why,” I mumbled, turning to see four of the men helping Queen Sagari out of the tub. This might have been the strangest execution trial ever.

Her tentacles hit the ground with a wet slap that caused three of her men to transform, exploding into writhing knots of black limbs that they were quick to tame.

I couldn’t help but gawk, amazed to see that, unlike merfolk, they were not helpless after transforming on land. The queen’s sheer bathing suit fell past her hips, stopping where her dark limbs held her perfectly upright on the ground. Eight legs in seamless movement.

Now that she had her balance, she took a smooth glide forward, leaving the support of her men behind to venture over to the desk. “This is my office,” she said, digging through one of the desk’s overfilled drawers.

“Youroffice?” My eyes caught on the speckles of mold working their way up the walls. “But why would a queen—?” When I noticed she had stopped her rummaging to glance up at me, a gasp caught in my throat. For a moment, it was as if her round features had sharpened, her skin taking on a monstrously gray hue, but when she looked all the way up, her smile was perfectly kind.

“Why, for leasing out rentals, of course.” As she spoke, one of her tentacles shuffled over the desk top before picking up a length of paper it stretched out for me to take.

I took it, and the tip of the tentacle curled to give me a little wave, leaving me wondering if it had moved of its own accord as I scanned over what it had passed into my hands. Lush tropical blooms accentuated the corners of the glossy paper.

“Luxury condominiums,” the queen said, her voice going husky. “It’s quite the booming business.”

I forced myself to swallow before nodding in agreement, hoping to avoid any more insults. “It looks beautiful,” I said, thumbing through the brochure.

The tentacle snatched it away with a forceful jerk that belied the queen’s pleasant smile. “Indeed, it is.Ah-ha.” She pulled out something flat and silver from the desk’s drawer, and my insides clenched.

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