26. Annabelle

I tipmy head back and rest it on Holter's chest. And blink. I'm exhausted. Mermaid hormones are the worst. Why do females always get the worst of everything? I mean, I had a fantastic time, and with a little more food I could go— What in the ever-loving cod am I thinking? But then Holter smells really good.

Focus. "So, what does that really mean for Marina? Do you think Atlas will really be willing to negotiate with them?"

Holter wraps his arm around my waist, and I want to close my eyes to go to sleep. Nico wasn't wrong when he said I need more rest. But he was one step away from treating me like a child, and I'm not having that, so now I have to stay up even if I have to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks. Have I seen toothpicks while I've been here? I'm not sure that I have. Maybe. I glance at the door to the kitchen. Shoot, I really am too tired. I should get up and go back to the pod bed, but I don't think I can move my feet again. Walking out to the living room was all I could do.

"...I think." Holter says into my ear. I didn't hear anything he said before that. I glance over at Eros.

"What Holter is saying, Sunshine, is that Atlas is going to be a little busy. And asking for a favor when he's got to be wrangling a school of sardines is not the best of ideas."

"Right, that makes sense." I roll my head to the side, pressing my ear to Holter's skin. It's nice hearing the vibrations of him talking next to the thud of his heart. Something warm lands over my feet, one of the throws I bought back when we were setting this place up. I give it a tug and pull it up to my chin. The four of them are still talking, but it's nothing. The same thing over and over.

I let my eyelids slowly close. I want to shift—not shift, sift—through the evidence and figure out why the dome came down. Why do the Kraken have Marina? I mean, I know why, but how... I'm too tired. I hear them talking until I don't.

I wake in the middle of the pod bed. How they moved me without me feeling it, I don't know. I should work on that. My feet are tingling and asleep. It makes me think of my mother. I would wake up crying. My orange tabby cat liked to sleep on the base of my back. He was twenty pounds. My mom would rub the bottom of my feet until the pins and needles stopped. It's a wonder it didn't happen every day. It's weird that it's happening now.

I reach under the sheet and massage my toes. I wonder what she would think of this place? What she would do about any of it? Dad always said my curiosity came right from her. But then, I'm too young to remember much. Spare moments. And if I think about it hard enough, I can almost remember what she smelled like. It might not even be true anymore. And that hurts.

I dig my thumb into the arch of my foot and close my eyes. How scared are Marlee and Aunt Blair right now? The second they dock, I'm going to get them out of here. Castor's brother can take them to Athens and get them on the next plane back to Boston. They don't deserve to have to live through anything like I have. It's too much.

Now with Marina taken? Sure, I understood what a dangerous place this is. All the things I saw on the Centauri? Here too—the Maelstrom coming down. Marina taken by the Kraken. I'm spiraling out of control, and the darn numbness in my feet isn't going away with the way I'm pushing.

"Augh," I scream out. I'm so frustrated. I can't make anything work. I have no idea what Richeal was trying to work on. It's so far above me. A kindergartner reading my dissertation would have a better chance of understanding her work than I have do. I rip the sheet off my legs, trying to get a better grip on them.

"What is it?" Eros yells from down the hall, and heavy footsteps pound the marble tile floor. Castor's and Nico's shoulders collide as they come through the door, and I momentarily forget the numbness and tingling in my feet and laugh. They look like clowns coming through the door at the same time. They bounce off each other like billiard balls until they get through the door. Eros and Holter are right behind them.

"Belle?" Holter jumps on the bed. He moves my hand away from the bottom of my foot. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, my foot—no, both of them—fell asleep. It's fine. This used to happen all the time as a kid." I'm holding his eyes, but he doesn't believe me. "Really, it's no big deal. It's nothing at all. This happened all the time as a kid."

"You had scales pushing through your skin as a kid?"

My heart thuds, and I slowly turn to look at my own feet. There, under Holter's thumb, is a patch of purple scales pushing through my skin. "Is that normal? I mean, I know it's not normal. I'm not normal. I'm never going to be normal again."

"Belle. You were never normal."

I look at him. What the hell? And as much as I don't want to, when his blue eyes hit me, I burst into tears.

"No, Belle, no. Don't do that." He pulls me into his arms. But when he does it, he stops rubbing my foot and a sharp pain rockets through my leg. It shoots up on its own accord. And I kick Eros in the chin. He grabs my leg, holding it. It pulls me out of whatever bag of hormones this is.

"Oh, no. Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to do that; it just happened." I wipe a tear from my cheek.

Eros's smirk is back. "No, Sunshine, you didn't hurt me. You'd have to try a little harder. You can later if you like."

Nico groans. "Do you have to be such a cod fish, Zaffiro?"

"Our mate is smiling again. So yes, Poseidon, I do." He laughs. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes, and no. It tingles, itches, and it's numb."

"So yes," Castor says, sitting on the other side of me, taking my other foot in his hand. "Tell me if it hurts or if you want me to stop."

"Never." I lean back on Holter's chest, and my eyes slowly close. It feels so much better when they are rubbing it. "What do you think this means? Am I going to get a tail?" I open my eyes. The four of them are talking without talking. "No, no secrets now. What do you think this means? Why now?"

Nico takes my hand in his and turns my palm up so I can see it. The marking is darker. The circle is more complete. "I don't know what it means, Little Krill. But we can have the doctor come and take a look at you."

"Are you sure? I thought we didn't want anyone to know that I don't have a fluke form?"

"I'd rather have you safe. Fuck the rest of the city. They're nothing to us." Nico kisses the middle of my palm and then turns it over and kisses each knuckle.

"But..." I don't even know what the "but" is going to be. Because I'm not sure I care now either. "I want my family safe. Marlee, Aunt Blair, Marina, Michio. All of us. All of you. I don't want to have to fight. I will, though. I will fight. We can do great things together."

"We can do great things because of you. You and your extraordinariness have changed this city for good." Holter presses a kiss on the top of my head.

"I know what you were trying to say before. I'm sorry for?—"

"You never have to be sorry for having emotions, Belle." He presses another kiss on my forehead. "Now we'll take turns massaging your legs until you fall asleep or don't want it anymore. Get some more rest." Holter looks at Nico. He gives a nod. "Tomorrow's a big day. We have a plan to get both the translator from Zaffiro and get to the silo. But we need you to come with us. The four of us talked it through while you were asleep. The plan doesn't work without you. Like we said before, taking you out isn't safe. Hell, if we could come up with another idea, anything, it would be better. But we'll only do it if you are feeling better. Are you okay with that?"

"Heck, yes." They are going to let me go with them. That's more than I ever hoped for. I figured when they went to find Michio, I'd be left behind with a babysitter or ten.

Nico growls, and I keep my eyes from flicking to him. No doubt he doesn't want me to come.

"I'm sure I'll feel better after a little more rest."

"Say the word, and we'll have the doctor down here. Fuck the curfew and lockdown." Eros keeps rubbing my leg. "Nico isn't the only one who thinks you should stay."

"I don't think I need the doctor. It's just my skin, and I'm tired, but I know that happens after a mermaid hormonal need."

Four sets of eyes don't believe me.

"Really, I'm going to be okay. You were right before, though, Nico. I need more sleep, so maybe just one of you stays to rub my legs, if you want to. You don't have to." I move from Holter's chest to the mattress below. He fluffs my pillow. Nico pulls the sheet over the top half of my body. Unlike them, I can't sleep without something on top of me. I used to sleep with a weighted blanket, but now I have three males—sometimes four—who like to act as my blanket instead. That doesn't mean I don't have to have a sheet over me. I have woken up pinned to the bed by it before with Eros on top of it on one side and Nico on top of it on the other. Then again, that was one of the best night's sleep I've ever had. Though that might have been because of the four orgasms I had the night before.

This time when I wake, the bed is full of three males. Nico's not here. My heart races. I crawl down the end of the bed, trying my hardest to not wake them, but I know I do.

"Where are you going, Belle?"

"Bathroom."

"He's in the communicator room."

I nod. Holter's so insightful, it's like he can read my thoughts. He grabs my hand as I round the side of the bed. He brings it to his mouth and kisses my palm. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes. I've had enough sleep now."

"And your legs? How are they?"

"A lot better. You could be a professional masseuse." And I shudder at the thought of him touching someone else, even if it was for medicinal purposes.

"Only your private masseuse." He lets go of my hand. "Don't stay up too long. Make him come back to bed too."

I lean over the bed and give him a kiss. Eros's and Castor's eyes are cracked too. "I'll be back." I run my hands over his hair, and Holter closes his eyes.

I make my way through the living room. The sharks are slowly moving around the big window. I stop and put my bare palm against the glass for Mickey to tap. He wags his tail, and I head down the other hallway. From under the door, a light shines. I open it slowly. Nico has pulled a chair into the corner. His head is bent over his tablet.

"What are you doing?"

"Some things never change. I don't sleep before a mission. I'm running models and scenarios of what might happen. Preparation is even more important than skill in a battle."

"Battle?" The word hits me across my chest.

"Every mission, even when a shot or punch isn't fired, is a battle. Battle of wits, if you must. It's something we have to be prepared for, Little Krill. You are my moon and tide, and I wish to the deepest chasm that you didn't have to be involved in this, but it's the strongest plan. And I know how you want our family to be safe. You said as much last night. Do you remember everything?"

I glance down at my legs. But they're my normal peach translucent version of white. "Maybe?"

"I didn't think you would. When you fell asleep, you gave the deepest of sighs. And the scales rescinded into your skin. Then you rolled over onto your side and began to snore."

"I don't snore." I laugh and take his tablet out of his hand and sit down on his lap. "Well, when my cousin used to run cross-country, she called it going to battle too. Not the same thing, I know. I know. But she always wanted to make sure that she had enough sleep and the right food. Are you going into... battle fully prepared?"

He smirks at me. And it hits me. He wasn't preparing. He was trying to find another way, any other way, to keep me from going along on the mission.

"I don't even know what the plan is, but Holter said there was no other way. You've said it yourself before. He's one of the smartest males you know."

"True." He pinches his eyes shut. "Fine. Back to bed for both of us." He stands with me in his arms.

"Wait, tell me what the plan is."

"Can't—that's part of the plan."

"Oh."