Page 86 of Cruel Tides

My mouth nearly dropped to the floor when he leapt right over the table. Laverne screeched, clashing with him as he attempted to get a seatbelt around her.

“Stop!” she hissed, flippers flapping at his face. He avoided every slap like it was something he was long used to.“I will not be contained again!”

Laverne attempted to make a run for it, but the plane bumped, nearly knocking Kai over on top of her. He recovered just in time to wrestle her back into her seat. “You—need—” He gasped between each word. “Your—leash!”

“Hurry up.” My panic rose as the airplane turned. Soon, we’d be speeding down the runway, and at this rate, neither of them would be strapped in. I looked to Barren and Leander for help, but they were mere spectators, leaning back and taking in the mayhem.

Finally, the seatbelt clicked, and with a triumphant roar, Kai sprung away. He landed back into his seat with a bounce. He’d barely pulled his belt over his lap when the plane started down the runway.

Across the coffee table, Laverne glared at Kai, not pleased that he was attempting to protect her from herself.“I hate flying,”she proclaimed, her long snout jerking up into the air.“Next time, I’m swimming.”

As the plane sped, I released a strangled laugh. “Count me in,” I agreed, momentarily hating everything about this, too. Sure, things weren’t so bad once we were in the air, but I was positive I’d never get used to the takeoffs and landings.

The plane jostled as the landing gear retreated, signaling that we were airborne, and my grip on my seat eased as we leveled out.

I didn’t even have time to enjoy my relief before Laverne projected right in my head so loudly, I had to wonder if she was speaking to me alone.“I’m not dragging you around,”she seethed, and it hit like a gut punch.“Useless harlot.”

I felt my lips twitch. So, we were back to this, were we? I knew I couldn’t swim, of course, but I’d only meant that any other means of travel would be better than this. “Fine. Kai will take me.” I turned over to him with a smile that I hoped wasn’t ruined by the cold sweat I’d worked up during the stress of the last five minutes. “Won’t you?”

“Yes,” was his immediate response. His words were airy when he added, “Where are we going?”

So, Laverne had spoken her taunt only to me, as I suspected. “Where do you want to go?” I asked, just to get under her skin some more, and Kai’s face pinked.

“Kai is going back to the Pacific with me!”Laverne cut in. She bared her teeth.“As soon as we’re done here. The two of us are on a mission.”

Kai’s eyes dropped. A pained look crossed over his face, but he didn’t say a word. I wondered if the mission was to find his sister, but I didn’t dare ask. Not here, in front of everyone.

The thought of him leaving after this made my chest feel numb. I sat back, taking in the array of apps on the television screen. An uneasy quiet filled the plane until the intercom tinged, indicating that we could release our seatbelts.

Not long after, a delightful aroma of fresh coffee wafted about. Coffee—now that sounded heavenly. I was so tired.

One of the men reappeared, this time rolling a cart. “Breakfast,” he said in a peculiar accent much like Barren’s, and we all sat up a bit straighter. To my horror, my stomach was the first to grumble a reply.

“Gosh, I’m hungry,” I said, watching the man’s back as he laid the platters on the wooden table and put white mugs of coffee around them.

Before I dug in, the second man came in, pushing a silver cart filled with ice.

“Wine?” he asked, lifting a bottle and pulling a chilled glass from among the ice.

I nervously looked around the room while I waited for someone to answer, when I realized the man was staring directly at me. “We’re not old enough to drink.” I glanced over at Leander. “At least… Lee and I aren’t. I–I don’t actually know how old you two are.” The words stuck in my throat, and a wave of embarrassment washed over me for not having ever asked their ages.

Barren unbuckled his seatbelt. “We’re still in London.” He shifted in his seat to have enough room to stick his hand in his pocket. “Eighteen and older can drink. Plus, here.” Standing up, he reached over, passing a stack of plastic to me.

I stared down at the IDs in my hand, my eyes widening as I flipped through them. “Oh, wow,” I said, coming to my ID. “Claira Arwa is twenty-one.” I stole a quick glance up at Barren as he settled back in his chair. Of course, I was only twenty years old, but how would he have known? I’d never told him my age, either. “And she has her North Carolina driver’s license,” I added with an appreciative nod. “Nice.”

Dad had let me practice driving with him a few times, in case of an emergency, but I never saw much of a point in learning. Driving had been one of those land things I’d long come to terms with never being able to do. Without identification, I’d never been able to get a license.

I flipped through the stack, finding Barren’s image next. “And my husband is…” My eyebrows lifted. “Twenty-three?”

Barren’s nod was firm. “I am.”

“Geez, we married young,” I murmured, ignoring Leander’s grumpy scowl. Evidently, it would take him a while to get over our fake marriage.

The corners of Barren’s mouth hinted at a smile. “We did.”

A sudden wave of heat came over my neck, and I quickly looked away, switching to the next ID. Leander also had a North Carolina driver’s license—scary—and was fake twenty-one as well. Then I moved on to Kai’s ID, and my head tilted. He had a California driver’s license, which made sense enough, but the rest of it didn’t make sense at all.

“That’s a funny mistake,” I said, doing the math in my head a second time, just to be sure I’d calculated correctly. “Twenty-eight?” I glanced up at Barren. “Why did you make Kai so much older than we are?”

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