7. Nico

Annabelle bouncesinto the pod room, and while I'm happy to see her mood improved, I'm also baffled by it. I thought for sure that, upon finding out her cousin and aunt were on the Omicron, she might fall apart, but I should have known better. My Little Krill is strong.

I reach for her hand. "Are you doing, okay? Lachlan is a good male. Too good—it really is shocking he ever rose to commander. And Nole's mated. He will make sure nothing happens to your cousin and aunt. They are safer there than back with your spineless uncle."

Eros told me they don't know what happened to him. The security team hasn't found any evidence of him escaping. But they wouldn't find any evidence of his corpse either if he'd been in the building the females were taken from. Our long-range missiles destroy all traces of organics. We developed them specifically for operations like this. As much as our government doesn't want to acknowledge it, we have been involved in human politics for way too long. They control the resources of the planet, and while we don't like to admit that we need things from land, we do. The only way to keep our vast city going is to take what we need. And taking what we need while continuing to be a myth to them means using stealth. As much as we hate it, we need humans. We've been using them for raw materials for a long time. And while their technology hasn't come anywhere near ours, eventually they are going to find us.

I'm going to put out feelers with my guys still on the ground. Because if the missile didn't take the ass out, I'm going to take him out with my own hands. I'll enjoy him knowing that I'm doing it for Annabelle, that his last fearful breath was taken because he caused pain to my mate. Then I'll find a hagissa to bring him back to life and do it a couple more times. Not that I've thought about it too much. But I have found a hagissa near Boston and one near Athens. It would be worth the price. Maybe I've thought about it more than I should have.

I hold out my arms for Annabelle. "Your cousin will be fine," I add.

Little Krill's shoulders drop. "Marlee—ugh, yes," she says softly. "We can talk about her in a minute. There is something important I want to ask you."

There's a thud in my chest. I've been too distracted. I should never have allowed Castor into the apartment. Hell, I told him to stay away, to stop the gifts and the meddling in our pod life, and he mostly has. But this? No. If it's what I think it is, it's gone too far. "No," I growl out because of the look on her face and her being alone with Castor for that amount of time. She's convinced him to join our pod.

"Nico, you don't even know what she's going to ask us. It could be ‘Do you want Nico to get first dibs tonight,' or ‘Should Holter be the only person allowed to cook out of the pod.' Or ‘Should I wear a gag?' You know, things you want to say yes to." Eros cocks his head at me.

"She asked him to be in the pod." I wave my hand to the hallway.

Holter ricochets back with my words. "Really, Belle? Is that what you wanted to talk to Castor about? What did he say?"

"He said yes."

"Fuck no." I grab my face. And when I open my eyes, both Holter and Eros are hugging Little Krill. "Did you not hear what I said?"

"Yes, of course we did. We're ignoring you," Eros tosses over his shoulder.

A growl rumbles from my core.

"Seriously, brother. The thing you told everyone was going to happen your whole life is happening and you're going to stand there and growl at us? If anyone should be growling, it's me." Holter's arms are around Annabelle's and Eros's backs; they're a tight circle.

"It's not safe to have him in the pod." I'm grasping at minnows.

Holter leans in and whispers to Annabelle. I feel my eyes narrow. He knows I hate it. I hate whispering. Even with my advanced hearing, I can't pick out what he's telling her.

She turns to him, and her lower lip moves out. "I'm not going to do that." She gives Holter a quick kiss on his cheek, and he shrugs and falls back onto the bed.

"Relax and float, big guy. How is the golden boy not safe?" Eros sits on the edge of the bed and pulls her into his lap. "Castor isn't going to hurt Sunshine. He loves her. Even you, with your oblivious thick skull, should be able to pick up on it."

"I didn't say he didn't love her. I said it's too dangerous. Whoever carried out the attack on the lobby?—"

"Is going to be just as upset no matter who Belle mates." Holter tugs Annabelle onto his lap, away from Eros. Her blue eyes are glued to me, though. She hasn't pleaded or asked again. She's letting Holter and Eros argue it for her.

I bypass them both. "You understand what I'm saying, don't you, Little Krill?"

"I hear your words." She holds up a finger and moves off Holter's lap to sit between the two of them. "I hear you say you think bringing Castor into the pod will be dangerous. It sounds like an excuse—" She stops abruptly.

Holter and Eros are both facing her. And I expect her to say more, but she doesn't.

Eros leans over. "Is there a but in there, Sunshine?"

"But... it's up to Nico to figure out why he's making excuses for himself."

This doesn't feel like the win I want.

"So you're going to accept Nico's no?" Holter looks upset, and he's had a beef with Castor his whole life. "I don't think Castor's family had anything to do with Richeal being killed anymore."

"I know." I nod. I should be happier that Annabelle is listening to me. But the pit in my stomach is open again. What does she mean by figuring it out myself? Her blue eyes haven't moved away from my face. I can feel myself heating as if she was touching me. "Little Krill."

"It's okay, Nico. I know that when you're ready, you'll tell us."

"Tell us. Tell him." Holter cocks his head. "Do you want one of us to tell Castor? I can."

"No. I'll tell him." Annabelle slowly stands, her eyes still focusing on me. "I'm the one who asked him out of order."

"He'll understand." Eros squeezes her hand. "We can come with you."

"I'll do it," I say. It's half-shout. I never shout.

"Nico. It's not your responsibility." Annabelle's calm, too calm.

"No, but you're right, he is my best friend. And he will have questions." I nod and make my way down the hall. I half expect her to stop me, or to follow me, but she does neither.

Castor sits stiffly on the sofa. He's cleaned up the dishes that were on the end table, something I'm sure he hasn't done often in his life, living with a dozen servants in his parents' apartment for most of it.

"Hello." He tilts his head to the side, but his downturned lips tell me he's not surprised to see me. "You vetoed me."

I give him a curt nod. "It's not safe."

"When has it ever been safe here? That's something I'm planning on changing."

"And by mating into this pod, you'll be making your bid for king that much harder."

"Maybe, but I don't care anymore. I can't mate Saraphina or someone like her."

I raise my eyebrows at him because Saraphina has had a thing for him for years.

"Sure, I could mate Saraphina. But I don't want to. I don't want to touch anyone else. Mating someone else would be wrong. I'd be thinking of Annabelle. That wouldn't be fair to them or to myself. And I can't live the bachelor's life. After the disaster that is Atlas, it's going to be a long time before we can have another single king again. Whether I'm king or not doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm with Annabelle. If I can't be king, I'll find another way to make change happen."

"You've really thought this through?" I scrub my hand over my chin.

He stands up. "Honestly, no. But I haven't been the same since I've been away from her. That, and I cleaned up." He motions to the tidied salon.

"You didn't finish it." Holter's jacket is on the floor.

"I did a good job." He stares back at the clean room.

"Not the room, your plan. One, there is no plan. You didn't think it through."

Castor shakes his head. "I can't think about anything else. I raced to America to find her missing relatives, missing a board meeting. I've never asked you for anything, Nico."

My eyes widen.

"Fine, I've never asked you for anything truly important. This is everything to me."

"No."

"It is."

"My answer is still no." I cross my arms over my chest.

"You're being an ass."

I cock my head at him. When did being called an ass ever change my mind about anything? Never.

"Please."

I smirk. Because my mate didn't say please. A little voice in the back of my head clangs. She knows if she said please, you would have given it to her. You would live in Boston for her. You would change the tides for her. She didn't say please because she was letting me decide. Whereas I can say no to Castor. I can say no to my best friend. "No."

He nods. His face firms. Someone who doesn't know him might think this isn't affecting him at all. But that's Castor holding it all in. Holding it all back.

He strips his shirt off, and I scowl at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving via the airlock. I don't think I can see Annabelle right now. It... I'll go. If you change your mind?—"

"I won't."

"If you change your mind, let me know." He says it again over me, then he's through the hall into the airlock. I follow him out. The sound of the airlock filling is going to attract Annabelle. And it does.

"Castor?" she asks, her eyes wide.

"He's going."

"Oh." She nods. Her lips pucker in thought, and for a second, I feel the judging stares on my skin. But not from Annabelle. It's from Holter and Eros standing behind her. The two of them have their heads cocked at the same angle. Like I'm the villain here. I suppose I am. But it's what has to be done. We can't all just eat raspberry pastries and drink sugar tea all day long. You have to have your seaweed and tuna steaks too.

"You'll be okay." I nod at her.

Annabelle's chest swells with a large breath. "I should go check on the sharks. Make sure they're not agitated by Castor leaving."

"Not on your own." I can hear the final chamber empty. Castor will be long gone before she gets outside, but she shouldn't go out there.

"Nico," says Eros, "she will not be okay, and neither will you. But I'll go with her. A little movement will do us all good."

"I'll come too." I reach for my shirt, but Holter's hand hits my shoulder.

"I need help with something in the kitchen."

"What?" I cock my head. "You don't need any help in the kitchen."

"No, I don't. But you need to give Belle some space. Eros will stay with her. She's not going to go and do anything hotheaded. You've got that routine all worked out for yourself." He puts his hand up like he would when we were young and he expected me to pin him for saying something stupid. "Let's go." He moves around me.

"She'll get over it. She doesn't even seem upset."

"Poseidon, and I don't mean you." He grabs my shoulder. "Are you that much of a cod's head that you can't tell she's holding it together for you? So you better get over yourself. You're not vetoing Castor because you don't think Belle will be safe. You're not even vetoing Castor because you think he won't become king."

I hold up two fingers. "Then why?"

"Yeah, apparently I'm not allowed to tell you."

"What the fuck?"

"You're to figure it out on your own."

"There's nothing to figure out."

"I told her you wouldn't be able to do it."

"That's because there's nothing to figure out." My toes clench against the marble floor.

"Right. You know, I think I'll get something delivered. I'm going for a swim with Eros and Belle. Don't come."

I glare at Holter's backside. What the hell?