Page 83 of Cruel Tides

Beside me, Barren didn’t react. His chest rose and fell with the same slow, measured breaths as it always did, although I could bring myself to check whether he was watching.

“God,yes.More!”

It was like staring down an impending train wreck, and I couldn’t look away.

Then she tumbled off whoever was giving her “more,” falling right over the side of the bed, and both Barren and I winced as it transitioned to the movie’s title.

“Breaking your neck,” Barren said as the music crescendoed. For once, he barely restrained the amusement in his voice. “Both romantic and humorous.”

Somehow, his thick accent made his assessment seem even funnier. “Rom-coms arenotusually like this,” I said with a laugh. There was a time jump in the movie that cut over to a sweeping building in New York City. A woman in red heels, shiny auburn hair, and maybe a bit of a limp, sporting a professional looking dress suit. “Oh. But they are usually like this,” I mumbled, and he huffed a laugh beside me.

We carried on like this for the rest of the film—him picking out every cliche that I either cringed at or defended. With the movie almost finished, I was about to ask him to choose the next one when I looked over and saw he had dozed off.

Even in his sleep, his neck was strained, and I wondered if a light touch of my hand on his jaw would ease his features.

Whoa, now. Better not start touching people while they sleep.

The seatbelt sign had been off for over an hour now, and although his grip was still firm on mine, I pulled my hand free to creep up in my seat and check on Kai and Leander.

Kai was leaning his head on Leander’s shoulder, eyes closed and mouth slightly open. His spiky hair was even more messy than usual. Leander had his head tilted slightly toward Kai, his expression peaceful in his sleep.

I sighed a relieved “aww” before settling back in my seat, grateful that they were all getting some rest. Then I sat there for a moment, soaking in the stillness of the moment.

If only we had more quiet times like this. It almost felt like I might fall asleep myself until unease crept in, slowly gnawing at me.

A new kingdom of merfolk. Another royal hungry for me to help them reclaim their trident.

Yes, I had to take in these quiet moments while I could, because I had a horrible, sinking feeling that once we got to Barren’s island, the time for relaxation would be over.

20

Claira

“No windows?” I muttered as we stepped into the noisy London airport. Hiking my carry-on over my shoulder, I let out a sigh. I’d hoped to at least catch a glimpse of London before we boarded our next flight. Who knew if I’d ever have another chance?

I turned around to look at Barren. “How long is our layover?”

He tightened the strap on his belt bag as he walked, securing it over his chest. Then he carefully took my carry-on off my shoulder and placed it on his. “No layover,” he said, supplying no further elaboration.

Damn, there went that idea.

“Too bad,” I grumbled. “I wanted to see London.” My eyes scanned over the swarm of people, looking for any sign of gold or lavender among those who had stepped off the plane behind us. If we didn’t have a layover, we needed to hurry to our next terminal—wherever that might be.

“I’ll take you to see London,” Barren said as casually as if he were asking me out to the movie theater. “Not now,” he added. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” I said back, grinning. I was sure he wasn’t serious. Still, his words made me feel better about leaving London so soon. If nothing else, it was a dream to hold on to, even if it seemed unlikely it would ever come true. “We won’t miss the next flight, will we?” I asked, tucking in closer to his side. Being surrounded by a throng of people somehow felt safer with his imposing size next to me.

Barren’s deep chuckle had me turning up to him. That is—until Kai and Leander materialized from the pressing swarm of people. “That was the longest flight I’ve ever had,” Kai said, bouncing right up to us, his arms draped languidly behind his head in a stretch.

Beside him, Leander rolled out his neck, his honey-blond hair ruffled from where Kai had slept against it for a portion of the flight. “Isn’t this the second time you’ve ever been on a plane?” Leander asked, not sounding very impressed by Kai’s flying prowess.

Kai frowned. “Well, yeah, but?—”

“Next one’s longer,” Barren supplied, and the rest of us groaned.

“Longer thaneight hours?” I said, glimpsing an array of clocks hung up high on the wall across from us. It was currently 10 a.m. London time, but it still felt like the middle of the night to me. I was grateful that the others had managed to sleep, but I’d kept the volume low and watched movies until the plane touched down, too anxious to rest my eyes.

“Eleven hours,” Barren said in a steady, emotionless voice, as if this were business as usual for him. He confidently strode ahead of us through the airport, leaving us to follow the parted path behind him.

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