Now, the two of us sat huddled on the dock where we had gotten the boat from while Slippy swam in the water. One of Bash’s palms was pressed down on the ground behind my back, and I used his position to lean against his shoulder.
The water rippled against the shoreline, an endless abyss of blue green and glimmering pseudo-diamonds.
After two, excruciating hours, Dair returned. We had unanimously decided for him to swim to the spot the map had indicated. Not only was he faster than an average boat, but he knew the area better than anyone. Whatever the King wanted us to find, he would find.
Only...
“There was nothing there,” Dair said, climbing out of the water. Dair’s clothes were destroyed in the boat, so Bash handed the Mermaid his shirt. Dair immediately wrapped it around his waist. His golden skin was freckled with bruises and red welts, but if he felt any pain, he didn’t show it.
“What do you mean?” I asked, moving to my feet. I held out a hand for Bash to take and pulled him up as well. “There wasn’t supposed to be anything there. That’s the point.”
Dair was already shaking his head before I had even finished speaking. “You don’t understand. I searched everywhere. Bottom of the ocean. Miles in either direction. There was nothing there. No clues. No hints. Nothing to indicate who the traitor is. Z, it was a dead end.”
I heard him, I did, but I couldn’t quite process the words. They went through one ear and out the other, circulating in my mind constantly like a whirlpool. I couldn’t quite grasp a coherent thought.
“So it was a diversion?” I asked numbly. “A trap?”
“Do you think your father knew about the Kraken?” Bash seethed. “Is that why he sent us here?”
Dair shrugged his shoulders, reaching up a hand to push dark golden hair out of his eyes. It only flopped back down, refusing to be tamed. “I don’t know. It could be a coincidence, but the map led to nothing. Dad must’ve known that I would recognize the extra island. He was trying to confuse us and lead us in the wrong direction.”
The numbness iced over turning into a tundra of snow. Anger thrummed through my veins. The King had led us on...what was the saying?...a wild goose chase. He knew we would find nothing, yet he sent us there anyway. He might be behind the Kraken attack as well.
My eyes flickered to Slippy splashing in the water, a strange cooing sound emitting from its - his, I had to remember - little mouth. I wanted to say that the little, murderous guy was cute, but that was a lie. Even not trying to kill me, the monster was butt ugly.
“How much time do we have?” I asked, swiveling my head to face Bash. His expression was tight, answering my question without words. We had no time. It had taken us more than six hours to get here and would take us just as much time to get back. The fight with the Kraken. Dair’s quest. Both had taken time, time we didn’t have. We had to get back to the castle, to the dungeons, before at least five men, maybe all six, were wrongly sentenced to death.
And we still didn’t know who the traitor was.
My heart beating, hammering, breaking my rib cage, I glared up at the sky. “Fuck!”
LUPE MET me the second I stepped into the mansion’s foyer. His large, muscular arms wrapped around me, pulling me to him. I allowed myself to relax in his embrace only for a moment before I pulled away and met his gaze.
“Ry?” I asked, voice terse.
Lupe shook his head sullenly, and my stomach dropped through the floor.
“I’m sorry, love. I couldn’t find him.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered, though it was anything but. I secretly wished that Ryland had left me, left the mate bond, left his brothers, though I knew that wasn’t the case. I would rather have him hate me than be dead or harmed. The mere thought nearly sent me into hysterics.
I was doing fine before these men came into my life. Maybe I wasn’t happy, but I was alive. Or, at least, a version of it. Now, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had spent my whole life holding my breath, my lungs screaming for air. Drowning, almost, in too deep water. With them, it felt like I could breathe. Could finally reach the pocket of fresh air that had constantly been just out of reach.
Quite ironic, if you asked me, because they constantly took my breath away and made me scared shitless.
“You’re back!” Tavvy glided down the staircase, arms extending as if he meant to give me a hug. He was freshly showered and wore a form-fitting black suit. “I didn’t think you were going to make the deadline.”
“Bring me to the dungeons,” I demanded coldly. Tavvy’s grin widened further, but he elaborately gestured towards the doorway.
“Ladies first.”
“Then go,” I retorted oh-so-maturely. His eyes flared briefly though I couldn’t tell if it was in anger or arousal. I really, really hoped it was the former.
Without another word, Tavvy peeled the door open and stepped down into the dungeons. Piss, mildew, mold, and blood blended together, and I wanted to gag at the pungent scent. Lupe kept his hands on my shoulders, steering me through the darkness. Candle flames flickered intermittently, something I hadn’t noticed during my first trip down.
Bash and Dair moved to stand in front of me, shoulder-to-shoulder, a wall of muscle Tavvy would have to go through to get to me.
The little psychopath chuckled.
“Z! Z! Z!” he called in a singsong voice. “Do you know who the traitor is?”
Shouldering past Bash and Dair, I faced Tavvy with a defiant set
