25. Nico

I'm trying notto kill Castor while his dick is inside my mate. It's not good form. My stomach clenches, and I can feel both Eros and Holter watching each movement I make. Killing him isn't going to happen, no fuck.

She loves him.

It's obvious on her face. I can't kill him now. I should have done it sooner. There were plenty of opportunities during secondary education to take him out, but I've never been one to dwell on hindsight. I'm not even fooling myself. I couldn't hurt Castor, just like I couldn't hurt Holter. And I suppose even the asinine Zaffiro now too. Instead, I roll off the bed and get supplies to clean her up.

Little Krill slumps on Castor's chest. She's done. I know we've all helped her, but damn, I like being the one who takes her over the final edge.

I blink away the squint I'm giving Castor. I've come four times since we started, but I'm ready to snap out of my hole like a giant eel. Tension sits in my neck. I'm not a fool. I didn't rise through the ranks by being ignorant of my surroundings. I'm outnumbered here. And worse, the one who matters the most—the one who is my Moon and Tide—wants something, and I want to give it to her. I do.

Being a strategic thinker is hard. Others don't see the path that they are building in front of them when I can see the entire town miles down the road. If he joins us—fuck, when he joins us—it's going to divide our dome. There will be those who want nothing to do with us because we broke the master plan of Ophelia, the Grand Dame Duchess of Glyden. That will be only the beginning. There is a faction out there that doesn't want Annabelle here. Old Nico would run into battle and slaughter them in their beds with no thought of recourse. In the past, I could have done that. Now? Now I have someone who matters. Someone they could retaliate against. Keeping Annabelle safe is the only thing that matters.

I'm not going to let anything hurt her. Well, nothing but me.

I'm off the bed and into the bathroom when I hear the faint buzz of the computer down in the other wing of the apartment. I toss Eros the supplies and raise my chin at Holter.

"Fuck off." He turns back to Annabelle but lifts his head. "The communicator."

Out the door, I hear him following behind me. I get it. I don't like leaving Annabelle either, not even for a second, when the city is falling apart around us. Even if we are only going to the other side of the apartment, to the office on the other corridor. But Eros is with her. He's much more than I thought he was. I suspected he'd had a deal, but I never would have thought it was as an agent of the security council.

I grab a towel from the wall near the airlock and race to the other side of the apartment. I slide into the seat, pressing the connection at the same time.

Kappler's face fills the screen as I pull the robe closed. He gives me a weird grimace. "Commander."

"Nico," I correct him.

"Portsmouth," he counters, and I give him a nod of acceptance.

"What do you have for us?" It's dark in the room behind me. But it's equally dark behind Kappler. The lights are out for a night rotation.

"We surfaced so the crew could contact family."

"That's very admirable of Broderick." I would never have guessed my former first officer had such a soft heart.

"I understand that it wasn't his idea. Orders from the king."

Interesting. I've known Atlas for a long time, and so far, there isn't a decision he's made that's made sense to me. Granted, I don't mind handing the Vikings their ass on a platter and sending them to Valhalla.

I nod, hoping he gets to the point. If it's bad news, I might need to go the way of Atlas and go soft on him, letting him have one set of bad news at a time. The door eases open. It's Eros. He stays out of the view of the camera. My stomach tightens.

"Right, it's no secret we're on the way back. The news of the packages is out there too. I contacted my cousin. Marina Herod is there."

Eros steps into Kappler's sight, and the half-Kraken adds, "She's okay. For now."

"What do you mean by ‘for now?'"

"Kraken aren't like Dorian," Kappler says.

I grip my knee. Marina is my family now. If they hurt her, I don't care how many fronts we're at war with, I'll make sure Atlas puts me back in as a commander.

Eros taps my shoulder, pushing me out of the way. "What do you mean?" Eros scowls at the Tinom.

"I mean it's true that Marina was taken. But she's been sending letters to someone there for a year. She made promises. She gave her word she would come."

"And when she didn't... they fucking took her," Eros states, crouching next to the communicator.

"Yes," Kappler says.

"They will give her back." I lean over Eros's shoulder.

"You've met a full-blood Kraken, right? They don't do anything they don't want to do. I'm thinking you have some Kraken blood in you, Portsmouth," Kappler growls.

Holter laughs. "Rumor has it you're friends with the Kraken king. Have a talk with him? Every Kraken I've known loves a good bribe... except you."

"A year," Eros whispers. He scrubs his hand over his face.

"I've met Gerrard Legend, the Kraken king, but I would hardly call us friends. I'm sorry I can't help you. Me contacting him directly would only hurt your chances of getting her back. I'll see you soon enough. We'll have to get a drink, Holter. Weird coming back home again so soon. Not like the old days where we were out for years at a time. Fighting Vikings, exploring..." Kappler sighs. "Gotta go. We were each given five minutes to reach out to our family." The signal goes dark.

"That's not much time left to contact his kin." Eros clenches his eyes tightly shut. "You were on with him for at least four minutes."

"He's never liked his family, anyway." Holter tightens his towel around his waist.

Eros sinks down to the floor, his back pressed against the wall. He shakes his head, then runs his fingers through his hair and leaves them there, holding his head up. "We should talk to Atlas," Eros says, his head still bent to the floor. "But..." He raises his eyes to Holter and me. "He's the last person I want to talk to with Michio missing. Granted, I'm no stranger to lying to officials, parents, siblings... fuck, anyone."

Holter steps up. "You don't have to. We can do it for you."

"Yes," I say. "Atlas and I had a friendship in the past. He's gone a bit rogue over the last few years, but then again?—"

"So have you," Holter interrupts.

"I'd call it ‘decisive leadership.' Others have called it different, yes." I'm not sure if Atlas will be much help, but we should try.

"Atlas is your friend," says Holter. "He came straight to see you when he came back to the city. Ophelia had to kick him out."

I nod and reach for my block, but like Holter's and Eros's, it's locked in the rubble of the Maelstrom. "What if the lobby explosion wasn't terrorism?" I back away toward the door.

Eros flinches and stands. "It's never just about one thing."

"Correct. But taking down a major symbol of our people? It's a pretty clear ‘fuck you' if I've ever heard one."

Holter glances behind me, and I sense her before I turn around. Her eyes hold mine before they flick to Eros and Holter. Castor's behind her.

"Belle, you need more sleep."

"I'm not tired." She's clearly lying. Her shoulders slump, and there are dark circles under her beautiful blue eyes. In them there's a fire burning. She's not happy.

"You need to go back to bed," I say.

"You need to come with me." She smiles and I almost cave, but she's done.

"No, you need to sleep. Now." I resist the urge to point to the other wing of the apartment.

"Sunshine? You know we'd fill you in once you'd gotten enough rest."

Her lips purse, and I can see her thinking it over. Would they, wouldn't they? Her eyes land on me; I'm clearly in the "wouldn't" camp. We both know it. Now that Eros has said we'd fill her in, I suppose there's no stopping telling her.

Her finger comes at the center of my chest, and I don't mean to take a step back, but I do.

Eros gives a solid chuckle, and I shoot him a look. He smirks. "What are you, scared of our mate's finger now?"

"What have you guys been talking about without me and Castor?" She lightly taps my chest.

"Right, I have a theory," I say.

"Theories are the best place to start. We won't have anywhere to go without them. What is it?"

"The Maelstrom was taken down, not for destruction, but to get something from it. Every person who entered the governor's chamber had to turn in all their tech. There were some of the most powerful people in the Veiled City in that chamber today. If someone is looking for information and they had the tech behind them, they would be able to find it." I brush her braid away from her face.

She gasps. "But to take down the building? It's so drastic. It's a historical monument."

Holter scrunches his face. "A what?"

"A historical monument, like someplace where all your history has happened," she said, moving her hands animatedly around her face.

"Oh no, Sunshine. They're building a new Maelstrom. It's surprising it's lasted this long."

"Kings order new buildings?" Her eyes are wide.

"Oh, no, it's not the kings. We like building things. Making them better. Different. Well, Zaffiro is a bit different—we like adding on. Anyway, most of the buildings you see are new."

"New? Oh."

Holter nods. "The new Maelstrom is scheduled for completion in two months. It's on the eastern side of the city. The old one would have been torn down."

"But—"

"It wasn't an accident. I mean, I thought it might have been while it was happening. But definitely not now." I arch an eyebrow at her.

She nods. "What's the rest of your theory?"

"The lockers. Almost everyone who is in charge of the government was there. Those lock boxes had not only our blocks but every piece of tech of the governors." Her mouth turns to a perfect o, and her finger lightly lands on my chest. I take it and kiss the pad of her finger. "And Little Krill, we have news about Marina."