8. Annabelle

The swim might have workedout the kinks from being inside for so long, but it didn't push out my frustration with Nico. Eros and Holter are letting me have space while we wait for Nico to get home with the food.

"You ready?" Holter ducks his head into my little study. "Nico's back. They gave him extra tots, you know, for being the return of Poseidon and all."

"Seems fitting." I turn off the translator and tuck the journal to the side.

A few minutes later, we're all eating in silence. Like there's nothing going on. No missing Marina, no issues for Eros with the security council, no cousin and aunt barreling through the ocean with fear racing through their bodies. I guess there's no evidence of that, but I'm guessing. Guessing, I hate guessing. I like facts.

"How's your food?" Eros nods. "Fuck, there's something else." He points with his fork. "When we were meeting with the half-Kraken, Stavros, I found out that Braesen has a lab in a cavern under their dome."

"A lab?" I drop my napkin on the table. "What kind of lab? I thought all the labs were in the science domes?"

"They are." Nico takes a long drink, then his glass clinks on the table. "I've never heard of any labs in the catacombs." He leans into Eros.

"The Kraken half-breed said they did tests on him in a Braesen lab."

I swallow too big of a bite and cough. Holter, sitting next to me, puts his hand on my back. "I'm good. Why would the Braesen have a lab hidden beneath their dome?" A deep burning fills my gut. Did Richeal find out about it? Is this why she was killed?

"It's against policy." Nico takes another bite of his food.

"Yeah, well, so is what the security council has had me doing for the last ten years." Eros raises his glass at Nico.

"I suppose it could be true," Nico counters.

"It's true. Stavros is from Braesen, and he told us himself. That's why he was willing to get me the information about Marina. He wants us to bring change to the city."

"You really think it's true? That Marina went willingly and the Vitrom governor is just taking credit for her disappearance? It seems awfully odd that she would just race away. How do you explain the recording of her begging for you to help her?" I'm talking about Marina, but inside I'm tumbling the idea of what a Braesen lab could really mean around in my head.

Eros nods. "Marina is not... Well, there are a lot of things Marina isn't. She doesn't think things through. And as a result, my parents treated her like a podlet long after she wasn't one. If she came across a charming Kraken who told her all the right things, one who maybe lied about what he was, then yeah, I can see her hopping into one of their transports. And I can also see the Kraken using it as a way to line their pockets." He raises his eyebrows at me. "I've sent the tape to be analyzed. I'm confident it wasn't her. She wouldn't have lied to me. I'm sure she even left some long-winded note about her suffering at the hands of our parents and how now she's going to go off and be her own female." He looks at his plate and whispers, "At least, I hope that's what's happened. Because there's no way to take on the entire Kraken state."

"No, there's not. It's better to have the Kraken on our side." Nico takes another bite.

"Agreed," Eros says. "Holter, did you know about the caverns?"

"Because I'm a geminae? I wasn't in Braesen. I was too busy swimming around the city to keep up with you."

"It's true." Eros shrugs. "You were a bit of a pain in the fluke. But look at you now."

"Suck it." Holter cocks his head at Eros. "Did Richeal work with a Braesen scientist?"

Nico puts down his glass. "I think she did, maybe. For a long time I didn't realize she worked outside the pod at all."

"Do you think your mother might have done research on a Kraken?" I immediately wish I could pull what I said back in.

"No. She would never." Nico's forehead furrows. "I mean, I don't think she would. I suppose. I was young, and Muster and Alder talk about her like she hung the moon. To me, she was my mother. She meant warmth, safety, love. But those are just feelings. I didn't know her. I don't want her memory soiled, though. We need to find out more about this, but quietly."

"Sure, we can just bust into Braesen." Eros hops out of his chair. He snags his fork and holds it like it's a trident. "I'm sure they won't care if the second coming of Poseidon barges in and says, ‘Show me your caverns full of illegal labs.'" He puts his other hand on his forehead and peers over the dining room table like he's looking for something or playing charades badly.

"Eros." I giggle. Because sometimes we just need his lightheartedness. I motion to his seat.

"Yes. Well. What do you think we should do, then?" Eros plops down.

"We need a plan to get in there," Holter adds.

"Maybe Kai can help. She told me that her mother has some of Richeal's library in her penthouse."

"What? That's the first I've heard of that. I thought all her books were in the back of Alder's closet." Nico's frowning.

"That makes sense, though. They were close friends." Holter finishes his last bite and pushes the plate back.

Eros jumps back up. "First, we go and talk to Kai. And then we get into Braesen and find that lab, if it even exists."

I pick up a few plates and the platter.

Nico growls. "First, we do the dinner dishes."

"Look at you, becoming all domesticated and tame." Eros laughs, taking the plates from my hands.

"There's no domesticating me." Nico kisses the shell of my ear, heating my core. Why do I like it so much when he does that?It makes me forget how frustrating he is.

"No, Eros. First you get some sleep. We all saw you almost falling asleep in your tots." I place my hand on his arm.

"No, Sunshine. There's something I need more than sleep." His grin glistens in his eyes. He takes my hand and leads me down the hall to the pod room. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." I glance over my shoulder, but neither Holter nor Nico are behind me.

"I talked to them about having some alone time. Unless you want to have us all together?" Eros kisses the base of my neck.

"I always want all of you. But now I'd like to be alone with you too." I take his hand and lead him to the pod bed. He takes my lips with his. His kiss is demanding, his hand in my hair.

He pulls away and smiles down at me. "You are the most beautiful female on the planet."

"I don't... Thank you. I love you." I kiss the underside of his jaw.

"I love you too, Sunshine." He kisses the top of my nose. His rough fingers grasp the bottom of my tunic, and it flies over my head. I fumble to do the same with his. It's difficult with his mouth attached to my nipple.

"Eros, take off your shirt."

He grasps it from the bottom while kicking off his pants, and his lips are back on my chest almost instantly. My leggings are gone too.

"I've missed you." He looks up at me. And then I'm over his shoulder; he jumps on the bed and walks us to the center before carefully letting me down to the mattress. He falls next to me. Our lips tangle together. He's drinking me in like I'm air. We break apart, and his breath is ragged. I run my fingers through his dark hair.

"I missed you too. You must be so tired." I smile at him, an idea forming. "Roll over on your stomach."

"Sunshine?"

"Just do it."

He does and I straddle his behind.

Eros twists his neck. "This isn't how things work." He laughs.

"I want to give you a massage."

"Again, not how they . . . Oh, that's nice."

I push into the muscles around his shoulder blades. The noises coming out of him make me giggle.

"This is good. I've never had this done before."

"Well, I'm glad to be your first for something." I use my elbow to work on a knot.

"You're my first for everything. Nothing before you counts. Right there. Damn, Sunshine."

The noises he's making grow less and less, and I can tell by his breathing he's fallen asleep. I want him so much, but he wouldn't have stopped until he'd made me come three times, and he needs sleep more than he needs sex. No matter what he thinks.

I gingerly roll off him and lie down. He rolls to his side. And like a claw, his arm rakes me to him, pinning me down. I stare at his long eyelashes. He's out. As much as my inner mermaid wants to claim him, own him, taste him on my lips more, he needs to sleep. I'm sure he's gone days without any.

In the dim pod room light, I watch him breathe. My happiness at him being home can't be contained. But then I remember what all we're fighting for. And my eyelids are droopy, and I know I should fall asleep. But my thoughts keep racing about meeting up with Kai. I lift Eros's heavy arm and wiggle my way out of bed. I toss my robe on and tiptoe down the hallway. The garden lights are on, and one of my sharks—Mickey—sees me and follows me along the glass.

I put my hand on the glass before I turn the corner into the living room. I don't know why, but I don't want the other guys knowing I'm up. I've left my block in my office.

I peek around the corner. Nico and Holter are cleaning up the dishes. I know they're not biological brothers, but the way they stand and move is so similar that I forget sometimes. Mickey taps the glass.

I pull my head back and wave at him to stop. I motion for him to go the other way. Then I give the hand gesture to go. Neither works. So I run back down the hallway. I know this works. He'll chase me like we're playing tag outside. He races ahead and I pivot, running back the other direction. I dart behind the large armoire and then duck beneath the sofa. Honestly, I know the guys are going to hear me. But running and hiding makes me feel like I'm getting away with something.

I crawl along the floor and dart to my office. It's comical. Really, there's no way they didn't hear me.

I grab my block from next to the translator and message Kai, asking if I can come over tomorrow to look at Richeal's books. I don't expect her to reply, not with the chaos she brought on herself. I open the journal I was working on. This time I'm searching for the word Braesen in Dorian. I imagine if she was going to talk about the Braesen labs, it would be in her code. The one I can't decipher. And I'm right. I don't find any mention of the Braesen in anything I've translated so far. But it was worth a shot.

I jump when my block buzzes.

I'd love the company, Kai sends back. See you tomorrow.

There's a knock on the door. Holter and Nico fill the doorframe.

"What were you doing, Belle?"

"Oh, searching for Braesen in the notebooks."

"I mean back in the living room. Crawling?"

"I . . . Playing a game."

"A game?" Nico steps into the room. "What sort of game? With the shark?"

"No, I guess with the two of you. It's called hide-and-seek."

"Is it now?" Nico's tone drops.

"Yeah, one person is ‘it' and the others hide. But I suppose I was playing that you both were ‘it.' Marlee and I used to play all the time as kids. Maybe that's why I decided to play."

"And what does the ‘it' player do?" Nico leans forward, and I'm not sure why I'm getting so wet.

"They chase the others until they catch them. And when they catch them, they tag them, and then that person either becomes ‘it' or has to help the first person find the others."

Nico grunts, "I will be ‘it.'"

"No, that's not how it works. You don't get to decree yourself ‘it.' Plus, people usually don't want to be ‘it.'"

"Well, I do. So there is no problem."

"Nico, you're missing the point. Let Belle decide."

I look between the two of them. I really wouldn't mind being chased. "I'm ‘it.' One, two, three..." Neither of them move. "You're supposed to hide." I cover my eyes. "Four, five..." They both walk out of the room. "Six." I better not give them too much time. "Ready or not..."