Page 78 of Cruel Tides

Kai’s smile turned playful, though his gaze seemed to be stuck on my lips. “Doubt it. I had a great time on my last airplane ride. It’s exciting, isn’t it? A thousand times better than swimming.”

“I guess,” I said, shrugging. While part of me was eager to try something new, most of me was nervous. Merfolk weren’t meant to fly, were they? Well, they weren’t meant to be on land for long, either, and I seemed to do that okay.

“This will be my first time on a plane, but I think we might miss it if we don’t hurry.” As I attempted to leave our cozy enclave, Kai intercepted me, deftly pulling me back toward him.

“Wait,” he murmured, his hand delicately cradling the nape of my neck as he leaned in for a final embrace. “One more.” With a gentle urgency, he pressed his lips back to mine.

This time, when he pulled away, I could barely remember what it was we were doing until Kai reached down to pick up my luggage. “Better hurry back,” he said, a light pink cresting over his face. “Barren says we were supposed to get here three hours early.”

“Yeah,” I muttered back, sure that my face was just as pink as his. I let him lead me out of our nook and back into the fray, and my brain was still catching up by the time we made it to the counter where Barren and Leander were waiting.

“Made it,” I said, giving them a smile and wondering if it was apparent what Kai and I had just done. Barren was as untelling as a stone statue, but a grin spread over Leander’s face.

“Finally.” Leander stole my luggage from Kai to hand off to Barren. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

I had to take my carry-on bag away from Barren before he lined us up at the check-in counter. “Of course I’m coming.” I huffed, throwing my bag over my shoulder. Glancing around, I sensed someone was missing. “Where’s Laverne?”

“We already checked her in,” Kai chimed in. “She wasnothappy. They put down a bowl for her, and boy, did she let them have it. Water everywhere, all over their faces.”

“I’m sorry I missed that,” I said, remembering how upset Kai had said she’d been during her last plane ride. It was a wonder they’d agreed to let a sea lion ride on a plane, even if it was in the cargo hold. “Poor girl.”

When it was our group’s turn to check in, I let Barren and Kai go first. “You’re not bringing anything?” I asked, looking over at Leander. He was still wearing the clothes he’d practiced in earlier, and grass stains streaked the front and sides of it where the side of Kai’s harpoon had grazed him. Had he not brought anything else from the warehouse with him?

“Stuffed it in with Kai’s,” he said coolly, moving off to the side of the counter.

“Oh? You’re sharing luggage now?” That was unexpected. I gave Kai a nudge, but he was busy trying to locate his identification for the gentleman behind the counter.

Wait—identification.My stomach lurched. I definitely wasn’t carrying anything that could be considered valid identification on me.

The gentleman wrapped a tag around Kai’s duffle bag and put it on the conveyor belt behind him. “Next.”

That was my cue. I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a shaky, “Uh, Barren?”

I looked at him, my pulse pounding as I waited, hoping he would swoop in. My heart soared when he handed over the stack of documents he was holding to me. Hands trembling, I shuffled through the pictures—Leander’s, Kai’s, Barren’s—then got to mine, recognizing the picture Barren had taken of me earlier. “Here,” I said, but before I could hand it over, my eye caught on something that had me pulling it right back up to my face.

Specifically, the name that was printed on it.

Claira Arwa.

I read it over again, this time saying it out loud. It was my face, all right, but that wasnotmy name. Arwa sounded familiar though, didn’t it? I knew that name, but whose was it?

Kai must have been curious as to why I was stuck standing there like an idiot, because his face closed in over my shoulder to see what I was staring at. “Dude, you gave heryourname?” His head tilted as he looked up at Barren.

Barren gave mehisname? Of course—Barren Arwa. How could I have forgotten where I’d heard it?

“There must be a mistake,” I whispered. When I looked up at him, his face was a mask, unreadable. It had to be a mistake, right? An error in my passport due to the hurried way it was made?

Well, the only thing I could do now was roll with it.

“S-sorry. Here you go,” I said, handing my passport over to the gentleman. His eyebrows were scrunched together as he examined it with doubt, making me question if I’d already ruined everything. “We haven’t been married long. Newlyweds. I, uh, sometimes forget.” A laugh, as dry as the desert, tore from my throat as I took a side-step closer to Barren.

Newlyweds?What the heck was I even saying? It was a terrible lie, but what else could I have said, considering he’d already looked over Barren’s identification?

“I see,” the man said, turning his gaze down to his computer monitor.

Married to Barren. I wasn’t—obviously—but my not-so-legal identity was, apparently. My mind buzzed, unable to wrap around the lie. I didn’t take another breath until the man’s printer spit out the sticker for my luggage. He handed my passport back without another word to me, then dropped my luggage onto the conveyor belt. “Next.”

As soon as we were clear of the counter, Leander took the passport from my hand and squared in front of Barren. “The fuck is this?” Ice sharpened in his eyes as he opened the booklet. “Claira Arwa?”

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