Page 27 of Cruel Tides

But her entire demeanor changed now that she had revisited the peephole, and dread pooled over her face as she pulled away from the door. “Oh,honey,” she whispered, corralling me in her arms into an embrace I wasnotprepared for. “What has that beast done to you?”

“What?” My voice cracked as I shuddered, but she kepthuggingme.

Nope, nope—I didn’t like this.

I ducked down, sliding out of her arms, and when my eyes found hers again, there was a sympathy swirling in the depths of her emerald eyes. “He was supposed to capture you, but this…” She kept to a whisper, cupping the side of my face when her voice trailed.

I really didnotlike this.

It was then that I realized where she was looking—the marks Kai had left on my neck. “Oh, you poor thing,” she continued, “I knew he was a monster, but I never imagined he would take you likethis.”

Pity soaked her words as her eyes swept over my body. Likethis. This, meaning,marked and naked. The look she was giving, she thought Barren had done something unspeakable to me.

Wait—Barren was supposed tocapture me?

“Barren… Barren hasn’t done anything to me.” I kept my voice as low as she had kept hers. It was a good thing, too, with the way she was throwing around words likebeastandmonster.

Rocci hummed, leaning over to pick up a black knit sweater with an extra long neck, testing it against me to see if it would cover all the marks. “Poor thing. Everyone is on standby, waiting for his signal to take you.”

What?It wasn’t true—it couldn’t be true. If Barren had wanted to take me without asking, he would have already done it. Nothing would have stopped him. He’d already had me alone when Kai and Laverne were both still asleep.

But he did steal glances at his phone a lot, that checking often accompanied by a nervous energy I hadn’t felt comfortable prying into. This wasn’t some sort of covert operation for him, was it?

Rocci offered me the sweater along with a pat on the shoulder, and my hands felt oddly numb as I took it and pulled it on. Although the knit was warm and loose around my neck, my throat was tight when I asked, “Where is he supposed to take me?”

“Oh, honey, I know you’ve got brains in there.” She planted a hand on her hip with the same attitude she’d had when she strolled into the room. “Or it wouldn’t have taken him this long to steal you away from the Atlantic. I think you knowwhereandwhyhe wants you.”

I shook my head. “He wouldn’t force me to go to the Indian Ocean. Not without asking first.”

Would he?

Rocci gestured at my neck. “You sure about that, darling?” She leaned in, lowering her voice to the barest of whispers. “Don’t let his silence fool you. You don’t know what he’s capable of. He knows every thought you’re thinking, so he’s always one step ahead, just like his scheming sister. Then there was that scandal with hisimpairment…”

A weaker neck would have snapped with how fast I pulled away from her. While she might have had good intentions, now… now I was angry.

“There is nothing wrong with Barren.” Despite trying, I couldn’t keep to a whisper. Rage shook through me as her eyes widened. I snatched up a pair of pants and a wad of underwear without even bothering to check their sizes. “I think I’m good with these. Thanks for the clothes. Sorry you had to bring them.”

Rocci settled her hand back on her hip as she sized me up. Then she scoffed. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll be compensated nicely for this little errand.” She turned away with a twist, acting as if she was the one dismissing me. “Blow Queen Javalynn a kiss for me when you see her.”

She started throwing clothes back in her luggage, and I took the time to wrangle the plainest, least chafe-inducing G-string out of the bunch. Fantastic. I could only hope these weren’t hers.

When she had the suitcase zipped, I’d pulled the pants up. Fortunately for my curves, they had some stretch.

She threw the suitcase down on its rollers and headed for the door, her nose held high. When she opened it, Barren was waiting on the other side. His eyes snapped straight to me as he backed away, giving her room to leave.

“Take care now, darling,” she called out, waving her emerald painted fingernails over her shoulder, obviously not meaning a word.

I shuddered, thankful to see her go. Mermaids were something else.

Barren was just standing at the door, so I toed over to him and stepped out in the hallway, just to make sure she was gone.

“I seem to have trouble getting along with other mermaids.” I huffed, and although my sweater covered me, I could still feel Barren’s dark eyes on my neck.

Well, it was official. Even with clothes on, things were still weird between us. Rocci sure hadn’t helped on that front.

When he finally tore his eyes away from me, he let out a breath and shouldered through the door. “Let me get changed, and then we’ll leave.”

Wait—we were going somewhere?

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