5. Eros

Sunshine jumps into my arms.I smell like human filth. We took Castor's plane back to Athens since now the Kraken have what they want—my sister. The Kraken weren't about to give me a lift back. Marina chose to go of her own accord—that's what Stavros's source said.

I have to talk with Tristan Bellucci, governor of Vitrom. And by talking, I mean I'm contemplating how many distinct ways I can kill him with no one finding out.

Marina went on her own.It's a little mantra I keep testing to see if it feels right. While someone else might find it hard to believe, I fucking know my sister. She has ten thousand pounds more spunk than Kai. And zero common sense. Like, none.

"Are you okay?" Sunshine's soft hands land on either side of my cheeks.

Castor bumps my elbow on his way out of the elevator. "I'm coming in. I'm not going to ride back up the elevator with my sister dry-humping her mates." Castor throws his thumb over his shoulder.

I want to do a heck of a lot more than dry-hump Sunshine. I kiss her on the lips. She melts in my embrace, not giving a sinking fuck that I smell like rotting shrimp shells. When I pull back, her eyes are dilated and glazed over.

"I'm glad you're home," she murmurs. "But really, are you okay?"

I want to pour out every last detail of the minutes I was away from her. But there are things she's better off not knowing. "I'm... I don't know what to say." Usually, I go with fucking fantastic even if I've been knocked down by a tidal wave. But right now, I don't. It's hard to see anything positive. Anything other than Sunshine standing there. I don't want to be doom and gloom. But my own sister went off with the Kraken, and the damn ministry used it as a ploy to get me to do their bidding. I'm still trying to find a way to prove the image of her on the video was fake. I should never have fallen for it.

Nico locks the elevator behind Kai and her pod.

I incline my head to it. "That's new." Finally, we're making security even stronger. I know Castor has some high-tech things installed, but sometimes low-tech can go the distance. Nothing like a set of titanium bars to shout no thank you, unwelcome visitors. "It's a good idea. It will keep the riffraff out. And by riffraff, I mean you." I raise my eyebrows at Castor. It's not that I'm not appreciative of how he helped me find out about my sister. It's more the way he stared at me the entire time we were on his jet. Or how neither one of us said a word about why we were whizzing through the water in his fancy solo.

"Yeah, we got special permission from Nole. It really keeps the rotten shrimp shells out." Holter glares at Castor.

"Or in." Castor takes Sunshine's hand and squeezes it. He's oblivious. "It's nice to see you, Annabelle. You look good." Castor kisses each of her cheeks, and suddenly I'm jealous. I'm not the only one. A quick glance at Nico and Holter reveals them looking the same way.

"Castor. Do you want me to call you an elevator?" Nico's voice drops.

"No, I'd like to be here when Eros talks to Annabelle about our trip."

"Your trip?" Sunshine turns from me to Castor.

"Yeah, I hitched a ride back on Castor's plane." I move Sunshine to angle her away from the golden heir. I loop my arm over her shoulder and walk her into our apartment.

Her wide eyes take in Castor. "You went to save Marina, too?"

"I was in America, yes," he says like a seasoned politician.

"Were you able to save Marina?" Sunshine asks with a breathy lilt.

Castor jumps in. "Turns out his sister didn't need any saving. Or there's the possibility that she didn't need any saving." Now he's all chatty. Almost twenty-four hours of nothing and now he's jumping in telling my mate about my sister. I control my desire to clock him.

Annabelle scrunches up her nose. She's caught on that I'm upset. "Right, it's been a long trip. Let's get everyone inside."

Inside, Holter hands me and Castor glasses of seaweed gin, and I've never seen anything as tasty. I throw it back in one gulp. "Thanks."

"You didn't like riding on his plane?" Sunshine smiles at me. I can't help but wonder if she's remembering I was all too willing to hop on a commercial round-trip flight to bring her back home where she belongs.

"No." I've been on a plane a few times, and that's a few times more than most citizens of the Veiled City. But I don't like it. "It's not natural being in the sky. I'd rather swim the whole way home next time. But flying is faster than swimming, I'll give you that. And it's brought me home to you." I kiss the side of her head, breathing in her apple scent.

"I kind of like planes," Castor says, sipping a second drink.

She shrugs. "I'm not sure how I feel about them. I guess they're okay."

"Well, you'd like his. It's nice." What am I doing, talking up Castor? He doesn't want to be part of our pod.

Castor is smiling at my mate. And now I get it. Now I get why Nico doesn't want Castor around here. Annabelle likes him. Like, likes him likes him, and he's playing with her. He can't have her, and he knows it. Yet he can't stay away, and I get that too. But the real test is going to be if he can keep away. He'll have to be a better male than me because I wasn't able to. She's my everything. So no, there's no way I could ever stay away. Really, he's a fool to even try.

Holter bolts the door behind us, and soon we're sitting in the living room like some sort of strange dinner party held by Castor's mother. I fully expect a butler to bring out a tray of too-small appetizers any minute.

Sunshine reaches over and grabs my hand. "You really believe Marina left on her own? Why would she make a video?"

"Yes, that's been running through my head too." I squeeze her hand. "Castor's..."—I consider my next words carefully—"...contact has gotten word to the Kraken for me."

"And you haven't heard anything back?" Sunshine asks even though she knows the answer.

I shake my head. "Nothing other than one direct message: Marina went on her own, and the Vitrom governor had nothing to do with it."

"That's it? They didn't give you anything else? Like letting you talk to her?"

"Knowing the Kraken, Annabelle, there's little chance they will. Our relationship with them is murky. It's based on our mutual hate of the Vikings," Nico adds. He's not a fan of the Kraken or the Vikings. The half-krakan Kappler Banard might be Nico's one exception—I know he was the big tech guy on Nico's old ship, the Centauri.

Sunshine squeezes her lips together. It's her tell. She's thinking too hard. I don't care what I smell like or how tired I am—I need her in my arms. I give a tug and pull her to my chest.

"I want to help Marina." Sunshine puts a hand over my heart and leans into me.

"I did as much as I could," I reply. "I wanted to protect your family too."

Castor's lips turn down.

Sunshine flinches. "What? Did you find something out about Marlee? Is she hurt?"

"She's okay, Sunshine. Your aunt too." I grit my molars together. Whomever ordered them taken wanted them alive, or they'd have been turned to ash in the warehouse.

"Thank goodness. Where are they? Do you know why they haven't messaged me back? If you know they're okay . . . ?" Sunshine looks from me to Castor. Castor, who has his piercing blue eyes fixed on my mate. Sunshine stops, and her hands drop to her side. "There's something else. It's bad. What is it?" She moves toward Castor.

Castor's eyes flit over her. "No, it's nothing serious. At least, not on the scale of everything else going on." He turns the block around. Ophelia Drakos—Castor's mother—and two of his fathers are standing at the door upstairs, outside of Castor's apartment. "Mind if I stay a while?" He turns on what he thinks is a charming smile.

"Of course, we would love to have you stay with us as long as you like," Annabelle replies. Her eyes fall back on me.

"Just a little while," Castor says.

"Hiding from mummy and daddy?" I laugh.

Castor raises one of his perfect eyebrows. "Not hiding. Deferring. You should know how that goes."

"Touché," I say.

"Stop!" Annabelle has her hand out in front of her.

Holter shakes his damn head at me.

"You're right, Sunshine. Castor is a guest in our home. I shouldn't berate the male."

She cocks her head at me. "He's not a guest, and you know it."

Nico rumbles a loud, uncomfortable groan.

"Do you have something you want to say, Nico?" Castor leans back. And fuck, if I have to step in between the two of them to keep a fight from happening... yeah, that's not something I want to do. But I will, for Sunshine. I'll keep her mate and the male she has a crush on from killing each other. It's a fool's errand, but I'll do it.

Nico glares again. Nothing like two long-time friends who know exactly how to rev each other up.

Castor shrugs. "Maybe you can't find the words."

"For the love of Poseidon, Drakos, do you have a death wish?" Holter has his shoulder in front of Nico's, giving the golden prince a half-second to dodge if he should need it.

But Sunshine beats both Holter and me to the punch. She plops herself in Castor's lap and pats the cushion next to her. "Nico, come sit next to me."

Nico's gone still. Hell—we're all frozen. It's a brilliant play by Sunshine, and one that shows how much she trusts both Nico and Castor. She's made herself the mediator.

"Nico," she says, this time without patting. "I would love it if you sat next to me and your best friend."

"You are my best friend, Little Krill."

"Well, thanks. That would be sweet if it didn't sound like a threat on Castor's life." Her tone isn't condescending, but it is rather similar to my primary school teacher when she tried to wrangle the lot of us from the sculpture garden—Castor, Nico, Atlas, and myself.

"It is both." Nico moves to the sofa with slow, plodding steps but doesn't sit.

"Yes, I think we all know that. Now, would you sit next to your oldest friend?" Sunshine smiles.

"Holter is my brother. He's my oldest friend."

"We don't need to get into semantics here. Sit." Her tone slips into a naughty podlet address, and I like this version of Sunshine. "What are you smirking at?"

It takes me a minute to realize she's talking about me. "Sorry." I fold my hands in my lap, properly scolded.

"I've been worried about all of you." She turns to each one of us. "It's a lot. If... no, not if. We are going to figure this all out. What happened to Richeal, where Marina, Aunt Blair, and Marlee have all gone. We're going to be a team." She's got her arm looped around Castor. But she reaches for Nico and pulls him onto the sofa.

He leans back, and it's only then I realize that all three of the sharks are hovering outside the window, above Sunshine's head.

"We need theories to disprove," she says. "Let's start from the beginning. You two must be tired, hungry, and want to get cleaned up. So let's go over things one more time. What exactly happened in Boston? And don't leave anything out this time. I want all the details." She leans back, grinding her ass across Castor's lap, and places her feet on Nico's stomach.

Holter sits on Castor's other side, and Annabelle leans back, giving Holter a peck on his cheek.

"Castor, you go first." She kisses his cheek too.

"Me? Right." He takes in a sharp breath. Good luck having any brain cells while holding her.

My smirk is back because watching the golden prince squirm gives me a microscopic amount of fun.