Page 131 of Cruel Tides

He seemed… hurt. And not just his pride. Had my disappearance actuallyhurthim? “Barren, please.” My voice wavered, but he didn’t turn back around.

Kai and Leander were still staring at me—waiting for my explanation for all of this. I had to tell them something.

“I—” A gag cut me off. It seemed sayingI didn’t leave on purposewasn’t allowed.

“I,eurgh—” Another gag.I can’t tell you what happenedwas also a no.

“Dammit!” I blurted, wringing my hands in the air. Ihatedmagic.Freaking sea wizard.

The aroma of his magic was an unexpected taunt, teasing me for being so foolish as to get captured in the first place.

“Ugh!” I said, trying to scrape the taste of him from my tongue.

Leander and Kai must have thought I was having some sort of a fit, and it was allhisfault. The horrible feeling in my throat grew as I fought to curse the sea wizard’s name aloud, but the spell wouldn’t let me. Ugh—there was that taste and smell again. Apparently, from now on, I could only curse him in private. “Freaking, ugh!”

Kai’s hand landed on my shoulder with a gentle squeeze meant to soothe me. “Are… you okay?”

“Totally fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” My voice cracked into a totally not-fine laugh.

“Yeah, you say that…” Kai’s frown deepened. “But you don’tseemfine.”

“I got lost,” I said, finally giving up trying to say anything else. “That’s all that happened. Sorry that I worried everyone.”

“You got lost?”Laverne’s nose twitched as she waddled back over.“And you happened to get lost swimming next to the first merman you set eyes on when we got here, huh? Don’t think I don’t see right through you. Trollop!”

“Laverne,” Kai said sharply, holding a firm hand out to her. “Don’t?—”

“No!”She snorted.“Look at her. She doesn’t even care about your feelings, Kai-Kai!”

“I care,” I said, my voice coming out rawer than I’d expected. There wasn’t any truth to her words, but why did they hit so hard?

The sea wizard came to mind, his sly laugh, his smoky words. Although he’d long vanished, his scent still lingered in the magic, impossible for me to shake off. “Really, I?—”

“Fuck that. A merman? You know that’s not why she was up there,” Leander said, planting his hands on my forearms. “Claira, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

His unwavering faith in me pulled at my heartstrings, and I held back a sniffle. “Thanks, Lee.”

When he smirked back at me, it was almost as if he’d calmed down completely. Like maybe, despite the spell, all of this would be okay. “Once you’re safe back at Barren’s place, then you can let us know who’s to blame and we can come back and rip their fucking throat out.”

“Rip their throat?” Kai choked out, looking suddenly pale. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Dude, we’re going tokillsomeone? Um. I’m not sure Queen Javalynn will be okay with that.”

That hit hard, and my mood dropped like a rock. “There will be no killing,” I said, thankful that the spell let me get out that much.

Leander chuckled darkly. “Yeah. We’ll see.”

Barren stood near the door, his face a stony mask. When we walked over, he flinched away when I went for his arm.

Ouch.

“I… didn’t see you in the hallway,” I said, an excuse that wasn’t a total lie. I really had searched for him when the shadows appeared.

Barren’s jaw tensed. “Mmh.”

He didn’t believe me. But then again, why would he? He’d likely stood in the exact same spot where I’d parted from him, and I just couldn’t see it, thanks to the sea wizard’s magic. Now I was really starting to panic.

“Believe me,” I said, pleading with him to trust me. “I did. I looked for you.”

I couldn’t let this spell take everything from me. Even if Kai and Leander would never understand, I needed to believe Barren could pick up on the words I couldn’t say.

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