Page 39 of Cruel Tides

Claira shifted restlessly as she peered out the window. “I can’t believe we’re only a little over an hour away from my home.”

Barren’s eyes flicked back in the mirror to look at us. “You can call them when we get on the main road,” he rumbled, his jaw tense. “There’s thirty miles until our next turn.”

“Really?” Claira sat a little taller in her seat. “Thank you, Barren.”

“Mmh.”

For the next few minutes, her eyes didn’t leave the phone. “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she called back up to him. “How do you know so much about all this land stuff?”

When the only answer Barren supplied was a shrug, I decided to step in.

“He spends half of the year on land.” I paused, trying to remember the things I’d heard about the Indian Ocean. “It is half a year, isn’t it? That’s what my mother says. That the Indian Ocean has a second palace where they spend their time collecting riches on land.”

Barren gave a noncommittal grunt.

“Your island has a palace?” Now Claira was sounding excited.

This time Laverne cut in.“Filled with riches, you say? What kind of riches?”

Barren vented a grunt that had Leander laughing. He gave Barren a playful nudge with his fist. “Guess we’ll see for ourselves soon, won’t we?”

Barren tensed, jerking his shoulder away from Leander, his teeth grinding.

Huh?That was weird. Something was off—Barren and Leander were the best of friends. Had something happened while I was asleep?

“Well, my kingdom isn’t ever allowed on land. We can’t even breach the surface of the water,” I said, hoping to distract from the tension. “Under the penalty of exile—if you’re lucky. And if you’re not lucky? Excruciating death!”

Claira laughed at that, but stopped when she noticed no one else had taken it as a joke. Her eyebrows lifted. “So, the curse was the first time you’ve been on land?”

“Oh, uh—”…Oh no.There was no way I could lie to her face. I closed my eyes, my face pinking all the way up to my ears.

Laverne gave a dramatic sigh.“Of course, it is! Weren’t you listening?”

I released a breath, thankful for her interruption.

Claira nudged me with her shoulder. “Then how did the two of you meet? I’m pretty sure sea lions need to breach the surface at least every twenty minutes if they want to breathe.”

“She found us,” I said, smiling as I thought back on the memory. “Freechia and I were hunting when Laverne popped by, stealing all the fish we were after before we could even get a bite.”

Laverne cackled.“It was the day I taught you both how a real hunter hunts!”

Claira gave me another nudge and whispered, “It’s okay. I bet the teeth give her an unfair advantage.”

My grin widened. I turned my head and gave her shoulder a little nip through her shirt to remind her of this morning.

“Oh!” she yelped, loud enough for both Leander and Barren to glance back. “Oh, uh, it’s nothing guys—sorry,” she said hurriedly, then dropped her voice to a mumble. “You’ve got teeth, too. How could I forget?”

“I’m not sure how you could.” I snapped at her again.

“For real. My neck iscovered.” She mouthed the last few words, moving her shirt down to show me the marks on her neck.

“Whoa.” I was half disgusted at myself, and half tempted to close in on her neck again. It took a while for me to swallow down enough saliva to say, “That’s—I’m so sorry.”

She popped the top of her shirt back in place and looked out the window. “It’s all right. At least with this turtleneck on, Dad and Gram won’t see it.” She hummed for a moment, watching the scenery pass. “I can’t believe I’ll see them soon, and you’ll get to meet them.” Her voice rose loud enough for everyone to hear. “All of you will.”

Then she gasped, panic rising in her face like she’d realized that we were in fact all going to meet her land family.

“Oh no.” Dread paled her face. “I don’t think I’m ready.”

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