Page 85 of Cruel Tides

“Kai-Kai!”Laverne shrilled, bounding straight for the entrance. Right forme. Barren’s quick reflexes saved me from being bowled over by the crazed sea lion—a fate that Leander, unfortunately, had no room to escape.

“Lee!” I gasped as he stumbled onto the plane, tripping over Laverne and falling in a heap of golden limbs. She’d lowered her head, flattening her plump body, apparently thinking that would be enough to let her squeeze between his legs.

It had not.

While Leander’s chin smacked against the floor, Laverne didn’t bat an eye at the chaos she’d caused. She lunged out of the plane’s door, and the next sound I heard was a loud “oof” as she collided with Kai. I froze, stuck between choosing who to tend to first—Leander on the ground or Kai, who had likely been tackled off the stairs and was now possibly writhing down on the runway.

Leander made the choice for me. He sprung back to his feet and swung around, blocking the airplane’s entrance, his fists clenched. “Thefuck,” he spat as he swiped the back of his hand across the underside of his chin.

Just outside the door, I could see one of the men in a suit coming up the stairs. Kai was there, too, being crushed between the tall man’s chest and Laverne as she leapt up, attempting to land in his arms.“It was horrible!”she shrieked, her tail slapping the stairs every time she bounced.“The most humiliating?—”

Laverne’s pupils went wide as Leander’s arms wrapped around her. He yanked her back, dragging her off Kai and back into the plane.

“Don’t hurt her!” Kai choked out, grappling with the railing as he struggled to stand upright.

“I’m not going to hurt her,” Leander growled as he deposited Laverne right back onto the leather chair she’d been sitting in before she’d decided to lunge at us.

Kai stumbled into the doorway, one hand braced on the doorframe. His breath was clearly knocked out of him. “Glad you’re… okay,” he rasped, toeing steps forward.

Laverne shook off her daze, stretching up on her chair so that her front flippers were on the back of the seat.“Just look at this place, Kai-Kai!”she said, all excitement and clearly not reading the room. Her whiskers twitched, her nose pitched high as she scanned the lounge.“This is more like it!”

She had a point—the plane was luxurious. Each seat looked wide and comfortable, and I found myself wondering if one of the buttons on the side of their armrests would make them recline.

I must have been ogling the chairs, because Barren came over to guide me to one. Since he was offering, I sank into the buttery soft leather.

I practically moaned, cozying into it, feeling my body truly relax for the first time in what felt like days. “Is this your plane?” My gaze flicked up to Barren as he turned to the seat next to mine. Leander beat him to it, sliding in sideways before he could sit down. Barren peered at the opposite side of me, but Kai had already claimed that seat.

Barren’s jaw clenched as he walked over to the other side of the wooden table, taking the empty seat next to Laverne. Despite the extra space, his hips looked pinched between the armrests. “My queen’s plane.”

“She has good taste,”Laverne said as I eyed the two men in suits. They latched the door, closing themselves in here with us. Did this mean they were going to stay with us the entire flight?

Beside me, Leander looked like he was ready to fall back asleep. “Tired?” I asked, and he tilted his head back, his hair becoming even more artfully disheveled. “I thought you and Kai slept together most of the last flight,” I teased.

Laverne shot straight up, her nose pointing like an arrow aimed straight at Leander.“WHAT!”

“What?” Kai echoed her sentiments, his head shaking wildly as he turned to me. “W-we didn’t,” he stammered, but the paleness of his face had me wondering if he truly believed it.

When I turned back to Leander, I was taken aback by the way his lips curled into a sinful smirk. He reclined more in his chair, his voice rough and gravelly from being exhausted. “Jealous?”

Instead of giving a reply, I snorted. I wasn’t jealous. No way. Okay, maybe a little—but only because part of me wanted to be there sleeping in between them. Okay, abigpart of me, but how was that fair? I’d be getting both of them, while they’d have to share me. But then again, if they didn’t mind sharing…

The intercom system tinged, and Barren went for his seatbelt. We were leaving already? Stomach twisting, I reached for my seatbelt as the two men disappeared into another section of the plane. By the time I had it clicked, a rogue thought had my heart pumping up into my throat. “The pilot is a human, right?”

Barren’s deep chuckle eased my panic. “Of course.”

Oh, thank Poseidon—I might have had to convince all of them to abort this mission with me if the pilot was mer. Sure, Barren was a capable driver, which meant that merfolk could learn how to do things on land. But Barren was Barren, and he didn’t seem to have trouble doing anything.

The plane started moving, and my fingers sank into the soft leather.

“Claira,” Barren said, making my pulse jump. His eyes were intently on mine. “The takeoff will be rough.”

The takeoff will berough? What kind of reassurance was this? My voice cracked with nervous laughter. “Will it?”

“Mmh.” He nodded in a slow rhythm, perhaps to show me how I had nothing to fear. “It is normal,” he said in that same slow beat. “This plane is smaller.”

“Smaller, right—” I mirrored his nod, struggling to tamp down my anxiety. “Makes sense.”

“Laverne!” Kai shifted in the seat beside mine, and I gasped as I glanced over to see him throwing off his seatbelt. Didn’t he realize we were already moving? “You have to wear your plane leash,” he scolded.

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