Chapter 17

17

K yree’s lips rested in a soft smile on her lips. She had no inclination to remove it as she continued to float on the thrill and orgasms she had shared with her mermaids.

Her mermaids.

She liked the sound of that.

“Kyree?” Honour’s gentle voice was accompanied by the soft touch of her calloused hand against Kyree’s cheek.

“Honour.” Kyree’s smiled grew as she fluttered her eyes open and met Honour’s concerned gaze. Was this happy haze for real? She’d never imagined it would be this good. The fear of leaving her tribe, of being banished for life had been too much, but this had been worth it. She had no doubt about that. Every moment from the day she chose to leave had led to this, and she wouldn’t take it back.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Kyree answered, not entirely sure why Honour was asking but appreciating it none the less. And no matter what the question referred to specifically, she was definitely all right. She was fantastic. She was alive for the first time that she could remember in her short life. She felt alive.

“Are you sure?” Hudson was beside Honour in an instant, her eyes just as filled with concern.

“What are you asking?” While her smile faltered a little, she couldn’t entirely lose the warmth that continued to fill her up. She shuddered as the memory of Hudson and Honour rippled over her body again.

“It was a lot.” Honour’s cheeks were spotted with a pink flush.

“You mean sex?” Kyree smiled a small chuckle bubbling from her lips.

She looked at Honour, whose eyes flicked away and then over to Hudson. Hudson’s eyes bore in to her own as she nodded.

“Oh, my sweet mermaids.” Kyree wriggled her body just a little, enjoying the way Hudson’s and Honour’s eyes roamed over the movement. It hadn’t been the reason for the shake-up in her body, but she’d take the looks.

“Hudson, Honour.” She turned to meet their eyes as she spoke their names. “Sex is a beautiful connection. And my life has always been about connection and how happiness is found with others.”

“But we know what it means.” Hudson’s voice was the softest Kyree had ever heard it.

“That you’ve chosen…” Honour’s voice shook a little, and Kyree wondered what she was holding back, even now. “…not to return to your tribe.”

Kyree gulped a mouthful of water and forced herself to swallow over the lump in her throat. “I’m not sure I would have ever returned.”

“Oh,” Honour said as she flicked her fluke gently, giving Kyree a bit more space.

Kyree gave her a small grateful grin. While Hudson needed touch to connect, Honour somehow understood that Kyree sometimes needed space.

“I’m sorry I didn’t handle Milan better.” Honour’s voice was small, like a child apologizing for being naughty. “I should’ve controlled my anger better.”

“You think?” Hudson smirked and bumped her shoulder into Honour’s. “Still, I’m pretty happy how it all turned out.”

When Honour looked over at Hudson, she gave a small wink.

“And you really are okay, Kyree?” Honour turned back to Kyree and asked.

“Yes.” Kyree smiled, ignoring the pain in her chest, as though her body held onto a bubble of air without her permission.

As if Nylah could feel the slow cool drain of joy as it slipped from Kyree’s body, the ray came and danced between her and the other two mermaids.

“Oh Nylah.” Kyree smiled, though she knew it didn’t have the same warmth that had washed over her earlier. She flicked away the tears that welled at the corner of her eyes while Nylah obscured her from Hudson and Honour’s view. Nylah drew closer still and gently brushed the broken stone at Kyree’s neck with their fin.

“I know.” Kyree held the stone up in her hand, feeling the spark of it thrum at her touch. ”We have to see if it works or not.”

“It might still be able to work?” Hudson’s voice had taken on an interested tone while Honour pulled back a little farther from them both.

“It’ll work.” Honour’s voice was gentle and filled with emotions Kyree wanted to know.

“How do you know?” Hudson narrowed her eyes at Honour.

“I felt it spark when I touched it earlier,” Honour spoke as though she revealed some dark secret.

“You felt it?” Hudson’s emphasis on the word made Kyree’s breath catch a little in her throat.

What had happened while she spoke to Milan about the stones? She had known Honour didn’t trust her, but there was something more. Something Honour continued to hold close to her chest. Honour hadn’t let Kyree nearly as close to her thoughts as to her body.

Kyree understood that connections could be different for others. She knew the body and the mind weren’t always given at the same time. But she still hoped this could be the beginning of true connection, for all of them.

“Feeling a spark doesn’t mean the soul is still contained.” Kyree focused on the stone in hand. “It could simply mean it broke recently and there’s still lingering energy.”

“If you can feel it, does that mean you’re a witch as well?” Hudson turned to Honour, eyes wide and mouth twitching as though unsure whether to smirk, smile, or remain solely shocked.

“No,” Honour snapped immediately. “I’m not a witch. There are many mers in the upper soundings who can feel the energy of life.”

“There are many in the lower soundings as well.”

“Yeah.” Hudson had decided on a smirk. “Witches.”

“I’m not a witch,” Honour growled, her tone low and threatening.

“What’s your issue with witches?” Hudson goaded. “You took Milan’s potion easily enough, so what’s the deal?”

Honour narrowed her eyes at Hudson, while she kept her mouth closed, her nostrils flaring as she contained anger or frustration. Perhaps both.

“All right. I want to try and reach Soulara again.” Kyree knew life with these two would be intense, but this bickering wasn’t getting them anywhere.

“Through Nylah?” Honour easily came back into the new topic.

“Yes.” Kyree nodded and held out her hand. Nylah swam eagerly onto the top of Kyree’s palm, nuzzling into the soft flesh.

“Will you require our strength again?” Hudson asked.

“Do you have enough for me to take even more?” Kyree lowered her lashes, the intentions clear as she looked from Hudson to Honour. They both smiled, and the three moved into a circle, hand in hand as Kyree called upon Nylah to reach out to their soul.

“Oh.” The word escaped Kyree before she could let it. It had been much easier to reach out this time.

“What is it?” Honour asked, her voice edged in worry.

“It’s good. I can see them.”

Silence settled over them as Kyree continued to focus. The image in front of her rippled in a way that seemed altogether wrong and unnerving.

“They’re somewhere strange.” Kyree sank into the image, trying to find details surrounding Soulara and Autumn. But nothing was quite clear enough for her to understand what it was. That, and it was hard to figure out what the strange items were.

“Strange?” Hudson squeezed Kyree’s hand as she asked. “Strange how?”

“The world around them…the water doesn’t look right.” Kyree wasn’t even sure she’d be able to describe it if she wanted to.

“How?” Honour asked.

“It’s too still. There’s no movement.” It felt stagnant too, but Kyree wasn’t sure how to explain that one. It felt slicker that it should have—slimy.

“None?” Honour and Hudson asked at the same time.

“No. It moves, but only closer to where they are.” She shook her head despite knowing Hudson and Honour still had their eyes closed. She knew it, just as she knew how complicated things were between the three of them. During their sexual exploration of each other, no complications were considered. Now, it plagued her thoughts.

“No?” Honour prodded as the silence stretched too long.

“The water, it only moves and ripples around Soulara, not Autum.”

“They aren’t in the water,” Honour spoke, her voice flat and certain.

“Where are they then?” Hudson asked.

“They must be in the sky—a prison in the sky. And Soulara is in a bubble of water. No wonder Nylah’s soul can’t get closer.” Honour sounded worried.

Kyree could feel it in her soul. How were they supposed to rescue a princess when none of them could leave the safety of the water? “They’re alive. I see them talking to each other.”

“Can you hear them?”

“A little.” Kyree squeezed her eyes tighter as she focused harder on Soulara and Autumn’s lips. “Not enough to make out the actual words they are speaking.”

“We have to go back to Reine.” The connection dropped without warning as Honour let go of Kyree’s hand.

Kyree opened her eyes to see Honour had let go of Hudson’s hand as well and now swam side to side as though waiting for Hudson and Kyree to get ready to leave. It wasn’t an inability to be ready to leave, but the exhaustion the connection and too-fast disconnection had caused Kyree that consumed her in a pit of sleepiness she couldn’t escape.

“What the hell?” Hudson snapped. “We can’t just head to Reine. What’re they going to do?”

“They need to know where Soulara is being held. King Pregtox needs the information—as the King and as Soulara’s father.”

“And what about Soulara’s mother?” Hudson asked.

“She said she knew Soulara hadn’t been hurt. For all we know, she’s known where Soulara is the whole time and has done nothing to help her.” Honour nearly spat the words, the anger rippling through the water.

“Oh.” Hudson’s top lip curled back, and she sneered. “Is that what all of this is about?”

“What’s this ?” Kyree asked, keeping her voice calm and soft despite the heat filling her chest. It gnawed on the pit of her stomach.

“Is that why you hate Milan so much? You think she doesn’t care about Soulara, and you, you care about her just a little too much?” Hudson approached Honour, pushing into Honour’s space.

Honour’s face reddened, and her jawline bulged as she clenched her teeth together.

“Honour?” Kyree asked softly.

But before Honour even turned Kyree’s way, Hudson kept going.

“Were we just something to pass some time, something to play with and fuck while you waited until you could rescue your little princess and get her back? Does she even know you’re in love with her?”

“What?” The word exploded from Honour’s mouth. “You think the only way I can care about and love Soulara is to be in love with her? With wanting to fuck her?”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” Hudson challenged, swimming directly into Honour’s face.

“You’re wrong.” Honour didn’t blink and didn’t hesitate. “Just because you use sex and fucking as a way to control others doesn’t mean everyone does. I’m not the one who plays games with sex.”

“I told you that wasn’t what that was.”

Kyree snapped. “That’s enough.”

The water was so tense. Kyree could cut it with a reed. They all stared at each other. Well, Honour glared at Hudson, and Kyree was at a complete loss for words.

Finally, Honour sank back slightly. “I have to go. I have to make sure King Pregtox knows where Soulara is. He’ll help find a way to rescue her and Autumn, without them being casualties of this bloody war.”

“I understand.” Kyree nodded. And she did, even if she didn’t want to. Even if it broke her heart. Because maybe there was some truth to what Hudson accused her of.

But Honour had the right to leave. Kyree always saw and acted beyond her own wants and needs. That’s why she was here in the first place, wasn’t it? She understood and cared about the effects things had on others, not just herself. It was the biggest difference between her and Hudson. Despite Hudson’s softness that snuck through at unexpected moments, she hadn’t known loyalty the way Honour or Kyree had. Such ideas had never been rewarded or seen as strengths. And yet, this was the breaking point.

They’d only just begun and now they were going to end.

“Hudson, the war is bigger than us.” Honour shook her head slowly as she backed away, already pushing them out.

Kyree wanted to cry. She wanted to sob and yell and scream, but she had no words for either of them. She didn’t know what she could do or say that would make a difference.

“I’m not going there. You two do what you want. But I’m not following you to Reine. I’ll find my own way to fight the Talon.” Hudson smacked her hand through the water, her cheeks tight with pain.

“So you did lie to me, then.” Honour’s words were steeped in anger. Kyree could feel the shudder in the water as Honour fought to bite back a barely contained fist of emotion.

“Which time?” Hudson smirked, but Kyree saw the lie in her arrogance. She was hiding, just like Honour was.

“We were just distractions to you, nothing but a little play to bide your time, to get what you wanted?” Honour seethed between closed teeth.

Hadn’t Hudson just accused Honour of the same thing?

Kyree looked between Hudson and Honour. Something inside of her cracked. The jagged line within her was not entirely unlike the one that broke the soul stone around her neck. How had she ever thought that a relationship with the two of them—two mers so bent on getting what they wanted and seeing that their way was the only way—would work? It wouldn’t.

“Please don’t go, Hudson,” Kyree whispered.

“You’ve got the general here,” Hudson said, saying Honour’s title like it was an insult. But she avoided Kyree’s eyes. “You’ll be safe enough. And soon she’ll have the King’s guard protecting you. Like you’ll ever fucking escape that.”

“Hudson,” Honour said. Her tone softer, hints of a plea behind the name.

But Hudson didn’t turn back, and Honour didn’t say anything else.

In the heavy silence, Kyree watched as Hudson’s tail grew smaller as she swam farther away from them.

“I’m sorry,” Honour whispered.

“I don’t entirely know what you are apologizing for. We all make our own choices.” Kyree breathed through the pain in her chest. She’d never felt something like this before, like her soul was about to be ripped and torn out of her, broken and shattered. Maybe she would meld with the stone pressing against her skin.

“Will you come with me to Reine?” Honour’s words were laden with other questions. Kyree hoped she understood what they were.

“Yes.” Kyree couldn’t smile. The pain was too much. She’d made her own choices, just as they had.

Honour smiled, and with a small bow, she moved on her way. Kyree took one last look at the now empty space, the place that Hudson had held—the place she’d always hold in Kyree’s heart. She sent hope and safety following after Hudson, praying it would be enough to find her again. Maybe their choices would be different in the future.

With a fortifying gulp of water, she turned back around and took her place beside Honour.

She made her choice.

But she had never made one before that had felt right and wrong all at the same time.