10. Nico

Where in thehell are they? I pace along the window again. Eros is just looking at his block. For a male whose sister may or may not have been taken by the Kraken, he's remarkably calm.

Eros throws his head over the sofa, looking at me upside down. "Would you quit glaring, and for the love of Athena, would you stop pacing? You're making me nauseous."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reviewing the report the system made on Marina's video."

"And?"

"And it's not conclusive." He rights himself on the sofa.

"Oh."

"Yeah." He shakes his head. "I guess I wanted to accept what seemed the most reasonable."

"The one thing I've learned is that it's never the most reasonable answer that is the truth. It's also never the most complex."

"Right." He nods. "I need to find her."

"We need to find her."

"She's not your problem."

"We're in the same pod. My problems are yours, and yours are mine. But first we need to figure out what's going on with our mate."

"Sunshine's upstairs." Eros points.

"Maybe. It's been a long time," I growl.

"No, she's upstairs, the Drakos penthouse." He turns his block over, and it shows a beacon dot.

"Her block isn't traceable." Holter has sent me several messages, but none for the last hour.

"No, it's not. But the tracer I placed in her shoe is. It's human tech, so basic that whoever attacked the lobby isn't going to even think of looking for it."

"Damn, that's brilliant." I glance at the Zaffiro clown fish.

"I know. She's upstairs still. But you're right, it's been long enough. We should take a trip up and see what's going on. I've messaged both Sunshine and Holter, and I haven't gotten anything back yet. So yeah. Let's head up there."

The elevator doors open to the floor below the penthouse. And I grip my hand in a fist at my side. The last fucking thing I need is a chat with Ophelia, the Grand Dame Duchess of the Glyden Dome and Castor's mother.

"Nico, Eros." Ophelia smiles at us. Her elaborate silk robe is pulled tight around her. Four of her mates are crammed into the elevator with us. "What are you going upstairs for?"

"Annabelle is looking at some of Richeal's books."

"Oh." She pulls her robe tighter. "And why is she doing that?" Ophelia stands a little taller. She glances at one of her mates.

"She's become enamored with our science." I don't believe Ophelia and her mates had anything to do with the deaths of my parents. Not like Holter did for such a long time. But on the off chance she did, I wasn't going to give her the opportunity to cover things up.

"Yes, well, she's a smart mermaid." Every time Ophelia calls Little Krill a mermaid, I try to not like her more, but I can't help it—I do. Damn, the duchess knows how to push buttons.

"Indeed, she is."

"So they're in the library?" Ophelia takes her delicate steps fast enough to keep up with the long legs of all the surrounding mermen. Before the door, she floats to a stop. "I can take it from here." She puts her hand on Julius, the mate closest to her. The disapproval from the rest of them rolls off. "I'll be fine, really."

"You always did like to play with fire, O." Prescott smirks. "Don't stay up late. We have more things we need to take care of." He pivots, and his cloak floats down the hall behind him. The others follow.

Constantine, the youngest of her mates, moves last. "Not everything needs to be dredged up." He shakes his head.

"Constantine. You know, maybe you should stay," Ophelia says.

His smirk turns into a grin. "Yes, love."

Ophelia moves out of the way, letting Eros, Constantine, and me inside.

On the floor next to Annabelle and Holter is a long board. Ophelia picks it up. "I thought you might have found that."

Annabelle holds up a looseleaf notebook. "What did we find?"

I turn to Ophelia "What is this?"

Ophelia raises her chin at Constantine, and he closes the door to the library. "That's your mother's life work. Work that got her killed. Work that doomed her. She made me swear to keep this safe until the day came that the city was ready for change." Ophelia leans over the table, her finger swiping over the strange, unreadable language of my mother's. She picks up a blue leatherbound book with golden inlay and hugs it to her chest. "And now is the time. Yes, now is the time. You know, you were both loved so much by her. She never held you, Holter, but she was thrilled to know that you were on the way. It was right before your birth that she had her big breakthrough. At least, that's what she called it. She wouldn't tell me what it was. Said it was too dangerous for even a Drakos to know." She places the book back next to the other papers.

Constantine shakes his head. "There've been secrets sleeping in the city for a long time."

Ophelia's normal smile vanishes. "How did you find it, Annabelle?"

"If I hadn't been tired and had continued pulling the books out one by one, I wouldn't have. But when I pulled three books out together, the false back didn't line up perfectly with the shelf above. And here it all is." She fans her hands over the top of the stack of papers yellowed with age.

"Your mother was fond of analog. She said it kept things more secure. But not secure enough to keep her alive."

My blood boils. "If you've known about this for this long, why haven't you said anything? All these years, Father and Dad haven't known what happened."

"You're right; they didn't know. It was her biggest heartbreak to not tell them. But she knew...she knew that if they knew, they would want to take immediate action. And the time wasn't right. It's so fitting that you are the one to shake things up. You who made us come out of our bubble. You who brought us all the way out into the world with the humans. But we're still not ready. The Dorian people weren't ready for your mother's work, and that hasn't changed."

Constantine cleared his throat. "Well, you're right. Nine out of the ten domes aren't ready, but Braesen? They've known a good part of this for a long time. Generations, if your mother was right."

My eyebrows shoot up. Constantine grew up in Braesen. I'm about to ask what he means when Annabelle leans forward.

"They have a lab, in the caverns under their dome. Do you know who killed Richeal?" Annabelle asks. She holds her focus on Ophelia. And I've never been prouder. The Grand Dame has brought grown males to tears with just a glance.

"Not officially." Ophelia pauses. "I don't know who killed your parents. I never have. But Richeal was afraid of something, or she wouldn't have asked me to keep her papers. She wouldn't have asked me to do a lot of other things." Other things. The words ring in my head. What other things?

I'm about to ask when Constantine paces behind us. "I've heard of a cavern. It's rumor, of course, one they use to threaten podlets who don't behave. Then again, it's been a long time since I lived in Braesen."

"So you were threatened often." Ophelia laughs.

"Yes." He smiles back but then drops his gaze to the table. "There is some truth to it, though."

Annabelle straightens her shoulders. "I want to see it."

"No," I say. Eros and Holter nod at me.

"That would be too dangerous, Belle."

"Plus, you can't just go into another dome. Not unless you're invited," Constantine says.

"Braesen love animals." Annabelle leans away from the table.

"It's true." Ophelia places her hand on Constantine's shoulder.

"I like animals." Annabelle smiles.

"Animals like you back. In fact"—Holter turns to Constantine—"M32, the great white shark you trained as a guard, is obsessed with Annabelle."

"Oh, my. You're not in danger, are you?" Ophelia takes Annabelle's hand.

"Oh, no. Mickey would never hurt me."

"Mickey?" Constantine's eyebrow raises.

"I've named the sharks who are guarding our apartment. Mickey, Chompers, and Sharknado."

"Oh, well. That's interesting." Ophelia smiles at Annabelle. "I don't think it's a good idea, but I see the gleam in your eyes. It reminds me a lot of Kai. So I know what I say isn't going to keep you from doing it." Ophelia purses her lips.

"But we will." I raise my chin to Ophelia.

"That's cute that you think you can control a mermaid. The only person who can control a mermaid is the mermaid herself. Males," she scoffs. "But do be careful and remember that you represent Glyden first and then our new age." She pats Annabelle's arm, and her eyes flick to Annabelle's fingerless gloves. "Not to put any pressure on you." The way she's being so reasonable, I have to wonder if she knows what happened with Castor yesterday. "Nico." Her voice drops to the scrape of a hagissa. She knows. "The papers are yours, but do keep them safe. And dry." She glares at Holter when she says it.

"We will," Holter promises Ophelia.

"Good night, Annabelle and your males." Ophelia's robes flutter as she and Constantine leave the room. Her glare stays with me as the door vibrates shut. She doesn't want Castor in our pod, but anyone rejecting one of her podlets, even the podlet of her best friend, had a penance to pay.

Annabelle glances up at Eros. "Do you think we can get some of the papers to Zaffiro and the translator tech? I've tried scanning them with my block, but nothing comes up."

Eros nods. "Yes. But can we do it tomorrow?"

"Are you okay?" Annabelle cocks her head at Eros.

"He's just found out that the recording might not have been faked. That they might really have captured Marina," I add.

"No." Annabelle tosses her arms around Eros's neck. "How can we help? How can we get her back?"

"I don't think you can. I don't think anyone can help."

Annabelle looks from Eros to me. "Castor could help. He's acting as Nole's proxy while Nole is on the Omicron. That's how he got in to speak up for Nico. Right?"

I nod. "True." The look of disappointment on her face when she talks about Castor to me is palpable. I don't want her to feel this way about me. But having Castor in the pod? It's not going to help anyone.

Annabelle pulls her block from her pocket faster than an orca going in for the kill. Her thumbs race over it with speed and ease. Damn, she's adapted to our ways and our tech faster than I figured out anything back on land my few times there. The block buzzes, and she smiles. "He's coming upstairs."

"Of course he is." I keep my eyes from rolling.

The door opens within minutes, and Castor storms across the room. He stops inches away from Annabelle. Close, too close. He tucks a strand of hair behind Annabelle's ear. "And all of this was up there my whole life? That's baffling. I would never have known. But I guess that's the whole point."

"Yes." She nods. "But this isn't the only reason I asked you to come upstairs." She messaged him quickly and did it in neutral territory, making it harder for him to turn down. "The message from Marina might be faked, we don't know. Can you go talk to the governors?"

I can see the pain on his face. And I should care about the harsh words he's biting back like, "If I was part of your pod, Marina would be my responsibility too. I would have no option but to help her." But he doesn't say it. Instead, he glares at me. I'm doing this for his own good. For her own good too. He can hate the messenger. I'm used to being hated. He can hate me all he wants. I don't think my Little Krill hates me, but she's not happy with me. It's okay, she'll get over it. They both will. I don't let any emotions show on my face as I look back at Castor.

"I'm the representative of Glyden. I'll go talk to them." Castor cocks his head at Eros. "But your brother is a governor too. Don't you think it would be best if he's there as well?"

"I've messaged Michio. I've even shown him the evidence that it might not be faked. But he's of the opinion that it's something she would do. And he's not willing to risk his seat. Even for our own sister." Eros's forehead wrinkles, and I can't help but think we aren't hearing everything. I'll ask him what happened when we have a moment alone. That's for sure.

"I'll do it," Castor says, looking into Annabelle's eyes. "But I'm not doing it for your pod or for Marina. I'm doing it for you, Annabelle."

"Thank you, Castor." She says his name slowly. And I want to yank him away from her. I've never felt such rage burning in my gut.

"I'll message the governors and see if I can get a quorum to help Marina." Castor beelines out of the room.