Page 133 of Cruel Tides

“Laverne. She’s really eager to make a new friend.”

There was another knock, followed by a strange sound, like a flipper slapping against tile.

“A new friend?” I asked, curious as I wandered closer to the bathroom door. He couldn’t mean… “Oh, no—Sprout!”

I scrambled to the door, and sure enough, when I threw it open, Sprout’s reflection was waiting for me in the mirror. Perched on the topmost shelf in the bathroom, he sat atop a stack of folded towels, grooming a paw with slow, deliberate licks.

“Have you no shame?”Laverne shrieked. Her long body was contorted half on the seat of the toilet and the other half in the sink like she’d been trying to get high enough to reach him.“Barging in here like that. What if I was using the latrine?”

Laverne using the latrine. Now that was a phrase I never thought would come to mind.

“So, what? You’re a—” I stopped myself before I could saysea lion,because surely, she’d find a way to take offense to that. “I mean, Barren wouldn’t be happy if he knew you were bothering his cat.”

Oh, the way Laverne’s eyes widened.Whoops—that wasn’t the right thing to say, either.

“BOTHERING?”With a swift movement of her head, Laverne turned on the faucet. The next thing I knew, cold water was spraying my face.“OUT!”she shrilled as I shielded myself with my hands. “Be gone, harlot!”

With a gasp, I backed up out of there to Leander confiding, “Think about it like this—if all of us were down there, why wouldn’t Claira want to live in the ocean?”

Despite the water dripping down my face, I turned to meet Leander’s intense gaze.

“Fuck.” He let the curse slip from under his breath and slowly leaned away from Kai. Apparently, he hadn’t expected me to hear that.

But I had heard it, and now they were both looking at me, waiting for my input on how our future would unfold.

“The ocean?” I repeated, thinking through all that would mean for me. Yeah, I was nowhere near ready to commit myself to a life of letting them carry me around underwater.

This wasn’t what I’d come out here to do at all.

Wiping water from my eyes, I threw out a careful, nonchalant, “Cecaelia… live in the ocean,” just to see if I could.

Whoa. I was surprised the spell let that one through. Maybe I wouldn’t have to resort to charades.

Judging by their expressions, that response was far from the one they were hoping for.

“Naturally,” Leander said, gesturing for me to come sit between them on the couch. Hard pass—especially since I wasn’t sure where Barren was and when he’d come back inside. Leander raised an eyebrow. “What about them?”

I cracked my knuckles as I stepped closer. This was going to be easy. “What, uh, what do you think about them?” I asked innocently enough. My pulse thrilled. My eyes jumped between Leander and Kai. One of them would surely make the connection.

It was then that I realized how worn-out Leander looked. Just how much magic had his emotions caused him to use while I was gone?

“Cecaelia?” Leander’s face twisted into a scowl, but Kai cut in before he could say more.

“I despise them,” Kai said, and was it me, or had his teeth looked extra savage when he’d said it?

“Really?” I asked, surprised by the intensity of his words. It was a shock to hear that Kai despised anything, though one of their weaponshadalmost killed him.

“They’re sickening.” His hands clenched tightly over the top of his pants. “Our oceans would be better off without them.”

Okay, that… wasn’t what I’d expected. From Leander, yes, but from Kai?

“Where else would they live?” A tingle on my tongue warned me to be careful with my words.

Kai’s answer was cold and unfeeling, almost unrecognizable. “Maybe they shouldn’t be living at all,” he mumbled.

“What…?”

“Fuck, Kaius.” Leander swiped a hand through his hair as he shook his head. “You would think they murdered your family or something. Damn. I thought the Pacific didn’t have to worry about cecaelia.”

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