“You didn’t need to throw it at me!” Bash protested. He tossed his suitcase onto the bed and spun on the Shifter with narrowed eyes.
“I was aiming for Tavvy, but he ducked.” Shrugging carelessly, Lupe opened up his suitcase and began unpacking his clothes into drawers.
“Why were you aiming for Tavvy?” I questioned. At this point, I felt like I had missed an entire conversation.
In a dark voice I almost didn’t recognize, Lupe replied, “He was looking at your ass.”
“Oh.”
Thank you for defending my honor?
That didn’t sound right.
“Where’s Ryland?” I spun in a circle, searching the corners for my Shadow. After our blowout earlier, I wanted to check on him. To make sure he was okay.
Both he and Killian felt misguided guilt for what had happened with Haven. Wrongfully placed guilt. I briefly wondered if any of my other mates felt like that.
It was ridiculous. I was more than capable of taking care of myself, and these men weren’t gods, just godlike in appearance. They couldn’t control or influence other people’s actions.
Lupe held up his finger for silence. A second later, an ear-splitting, masculine scream echoed from upstairs. Ryland appeared at the doorway, chuckling softly. When he saw me looking, the shadows moved even closer to where I stood, and I knew he would be smiling unabashedly.
“The twins were looking at your ass also,” he explained casually. I snorted.
Possessive, over-protective, sexy fools.
Lupe moved from his bag to mine and began unpacking my own clothing. I watched in fascination as the big man’s cheeks warmed when he pulled out my bras and panties.
“So do you have the map?” Dair asked, sprawling back on the bed.
Nodding, I reached into my pocket and held the fading piece of paper. I set it on the desk, and my mates moved to crowd around it.
Ah. That was why the desk was positioned where it was.
“So we know nothing about him besides that he’s a male and has red hair and was last seen three months ago in the Mermaid Kingdom,” Bash murmured, and even his voice sent a wave of irritation through me.
“No shit,” I snapped before I could stop myself. His eyes snapped to mine, flaring hotly.
“What the hell is your problem?” he asked tersely.
“You’re one to talk-!”
“Enough!” Lupe bellowed. He slammed a large hand down at the table. “Now is not the time.”
“No petty fights,” Ryland reminded me teasingly, and I rolled my eyes.
This wouldn’t be a petty fight. This would be an ass-kicking, ball-crunching one.
Or a ball-sucking...
No! Bad, Z!
“I don’t know what the hell this even means,” I admitted, refocusing my attention back on the slip of paper. “Do you think your dad just wrote down random gibberish? Am I just supposed to kill a random man?”
The thought made my stomach clench and tighten uncomfortably.
Dair took the paper from the table and began to scan the contents. A single wrinkle formed between his blond brows, and I yearned to smooth it out with my hand.
“Wait,” he said suddenly. His finger touched an island on the map. “That doesn’t exist.”
“Huh?”
“That island doesn’t exist.”
When I just continued to stare at him blankly, Dair heaved out a breath and hurried out of the room. Not even a full minute had passed before he returned carrying a larger replica of the map the Mermaid King had given us.
It resembled what I had seen when we had first entered the kingdom. Islands, a large landmass that made up the western seaboard, and an endless ocean. Dair held the small map up to the larger map to compare.
Everything was the exact same, except...
The island Dair was pointing to, one of hundreds, didn’t exist on the large map.
“How did you know this?” I asked breathlessly. A tiny piece finally fell into place.
Dair blushed delicately.
“I um...”
“He had a crush on his geography teacher when he was younger,” Lupe filled in with a chuckle. Dair’s cheeks reddened further, and I couldn’t resist teasing him.
“Maybe because you did so good I could give you a reward,” I whispered in his ear. His eyes widened, hands clenching the desktop.
What the hell had come over me?
I had turned into a sexual deviant since I had found my mates. And I liked it.
“Gross,” Bash muttered like a petulant child who had walked in on Mom and Dad kissing. I snorted out a laugh.
“You just wish-“
Once more, our banter was interrupted, but not by Lupe.
Tavvy stood in the open doorway, arms crossed over his muscular chest and eyes trained on me.
“Your task has begun,” he said stiffly.
Irritation filled me.
“I know,” I snapped. “We’re working on-“
“Come.” Without another word, he stormed out of my room and down the hall. I remained standing, fuming with fury. He really needed to stop treating me like a dog with basic commands. Come. Stop. Eat.
What was next? Fuck?
I shivered at the thought of fucking Tavvy. Frankly, I would rather eat shit.
“Are you coming or not?” Tavvy bellowed, and the childish part of me wanted to rebel and remain where I was. However, I knew that would be futile in the long run.
A pawn, I reminded myself. I was their pawn until I could destroy the damn game board.
Sharing an irritated look with my mates, I stomped after Tavvy. I made sure to take my sweet damn time. The asshole could wait for all the fucks I gave.
By the time I reached him, his face was flushed with anger. Unfortunately, he didn’t comment or rise to my bait. Instead, he led me towards a staircase that descended into a basement.
A dungeon.
Gray walls loomed everywhere I looked, and the smell of piss saturated the air. The heat was almost palpable, and sweat was already beginning to coat my skin.
“What is this place?” I whispered to Dair, but he looked as shocked as I felt.
He hadn’t known this place existed.
“This door always led to another hallway,” he explained to me in a harsh whisper. “It must’ve been illusion magic.”
Bash muttered something indecipherable, and Lupe’s nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. The
