9. Annabelle

I pokemy head into the corridor. Somehow, it's even quieter—or maybe I'm listening harder. They're not in the bedroom where Eros keeps his extra things. The next bedroom is completely empty. I check the bathroom; it has some towels hanging in it. I don't know why, but I check behind them. And it makes me laugh at myself.

Living room, kitchen, other bathroom, laundry room—even the airlock is empty and completely dry. I should have given them a perimeter. No, they wouldn't leave me alone. The pod room has only Eros sleeping in it, my lounge nothing, and our primary bathroom the same. I stop and watch him lightly snore.

What the heck, maybe they did leave? I've always thought of myself as good at this game. And then it dawns on me. Yeah, I'm not as smart as I think I am. My mates are basically Navy Seals. The Heroes of Hestert?tten. I'm thinking of places where Marlee would hide. Under cushions on the screen porch or under a pile of hay. I make my way down the hall and look up. Nico has himself pressed against the ceiling, his arms and legs spread wide.

"Found you." I jump to touch his body, but when I do, he wiggles left and right and I miss each time. Then out of nowhere, my jump gets twice as high and I smack him on the stomach. My sudden ability to fly definitely comes from Eros's arms around my waist, lifting me like a ballerina.

"She tagged you," Eros says. His laugh is light and airy.

"With your assistance." Nico lands on the balls of his feet as if auditioning for a touring production of Spiderman.

I turn in Eros's arms. "I'm sorry we woke you."

"You didn't."

I glare at him.

"I've had enough sleep without you." Eros leans in and gives me a kiss.

I put my hand on his chest and push. Eros tilts his head in confusion, and I smile. "Sorry, it's just, where's Holter? We were playing a game. And I haven't found him yet." I don't want him to feel like I did at my sixth-grade class party where I was the last person hiding and everyone forgot about me. I missed them cutting the cake.

"I'm here, Belle." Holter steps into the hallway.

"Where were you?"

"Enjoying you walking right past me, over and over." He kisses my neck. "That makes me the winner. And now I'll have my prize. I like this game." Holter nods at Nico, who's looking a little like a sore loser; at least, it looks that way. It's hard to tell, being upside down and all. Holter has me over his shoulder. He lays me in the middle of the bed, and his eyes flick to my lips. He's holding the ties to my robe. "This needs to come off. Yes?"

"Yes," I hiss out.

"Good." He unties me so slowly I want to rip the ties out of his hands and do it myself. But I'm patient. His blue eyes glow in the low light.

"Where were you?"

"Nearby. I'll never go far."

"That's not answering my question."

Holter dips his head and kisses behind my ear. "No, Belle. It's not. But I like this game. I don't have any secrets from you."

I nod like I'm not dying from curiosity over how I missed him. His lips are on mine, a gentle brush to start. But he takes control and suddenly knowing is a whole lot less important.

Kai meets me in the front foyer of her parents' penthouse. It's remarkably empty compared to every other time I've been there. Holter's come with me. He's reclining on the gigantic foyer sofa, his block in hand. I'm not sure what's got him so distracted, but after he said hello to Kai, he sat down.

"It's quiet around here." I give Kai a hug. Her mate Dar sits next to Holter, also on his block.

"Mom and her mates are downstairs in their other apartment."

"Oh." I understand the subtext. Ophelia is older, not dead. The Grand Dame Duchess of the Glyden Dome, she has fifteen mates, only seven of whom live in the penthouse. The others live in an apartment below her. Ophelia says that the humans say three's a crowd, but mermaids say seven is sleeping with a foot in your ear. Or something like that.

Kai smiles at me. "Humans are different in a lot of ways." She shrugs and pulls me in for another tight hug. "You're going to be okay."

Has Castor told her? Does she know Nico has vetoed him from being in the pod? "Is your brother here?" I whisper, not that Holter and Dar can't hear me. But I know Holter will let me have a private conversation with Kai if I want. Heck, he'd let me have a private conversation with Castor if I wanted.

"Which one?"

I raise my eyebrows at her.

Kai gives me an exaggerated wink. "No, he's not here. I saw him at dinner last night, though. He didn't look great, and I'm always the loving sister?—"

Dar chuckles but doesn't look up from his block.

"He didn't look great, so I asked. It was obvious he didn't want to open the can of sardines in front of Mother. So like a good sister, I cornered him in the hall. I had to tickle him, but he told me about what Nico did. He's on the way back to Athens in the morning."

My head bobs. "Oh, so he's still in the city?"

"Yeah, but . . ."

"Should I give him some space?" My stomach tightens. I don't want him to leave, but I know he needs to get back to work. He's already spent so much time away from Athens. But Nico's going to need him around to realize the real reason he vetoed Castor.

"That's up to you." She sucks in her lower lip. Her eyes flick to Dar and Holter on the sofa. "I was really hoping we could be sisters. But I don't want my big brother hurting. Maybe I should go and kick Nico in the shins?" Kai kicks her leg out, and her belly shakes.

"No, Nico needs to come around on his own." I smile. "But thanks for the helpful offer. I might take you up on it some other time."

"That's me, helpful. I'm really excited to show you Richeal's books." Kai leads me down the long hallway back to the library. I've spent some time in here but not as much as I would have liked. But then I didn't have a block or any translator tech before, and now I have access to both. And with Eros back, I can get over to Zaffiro and use the better translator. With that and the rest of Richeal's books, we might find the answers we are looking for.

Our steps echo on the parquet floor. The place is so beautiful and ornate, like something out of a castle, or pictures I've seen of the Vatican. Marble statues and painted frescoes on the ceiling. We pass the ballroom, where the guys and I had some special time on top of the grand piano.

Kai stops short of the room I stayed in when I first got here, her old pod room. "Here it is. Her books are on the top shelves near the corner. You have to use the ladder to access them. That's mostly one of the reasons why I liked looking at them so much. What little podlet doesn't like using a ladder, and one on wheels?" She points high up. I've been in a few professors' homes back in Boston. One of them had a fancy library with a bookshelf ladder, but it wasn't necessary. Someone tall could have reached even the highest of shelves.

"Exactly." I breathe in the smell of books. What is it about them? It makes me think of the first day of school, wearing my new school outfit. The smell makes me think of possibilities and endless days in faraway places. "This room has Beauty and the Beast vibes all day long."

Kai snaps her head to me. "Beast?"

"Oh, it's a story and a movie. This smart girl who likes to read is taken captive by a prince. A prince who has been magically changed into a beast until he learns what true love is."

"Like you." Kai laughs.

"No, not like me." I'm no beauty.

Kai puts her hands on her hips and cocks her head. Even the podlet in her belly gives me a judgmental attitude with the way it points at me.

I shrug, and Kai puts her foot on the first rung of the ladder.

"No, let me climb up." I put my hand above hers.

Kai pushes out her lips but then nods and steps down. "I suppose that makes sense. Dar would be upset if he saw me on a ladder."

"I would be too."

She throws her hands up in the air. "I'm pregnant, not sick. Why is everyone acting like I'm sick?"

"I know." I test the ladder's lock and climb up to the shelves that Kai pointed out. The system is quite ingenious. At regular intervals on the shelf, there is a little board that pulls out so you can place your books on it to look at them without climbing back down. Ten feet up doesn't look that bad from the ground, but here, looking down at Kai, I really don't want to fall. Book after book I pull out has a face plate with Richeal's name. I carefully flip through each tome, but three shelves in, there hasn't been so much as a pencil mark. I climb down and move the ladder before trudging back up.

It's my third trip up the ladder, and when I need to move, I don't want to waste any more time. "Kai, can you just push me to the next spot?"

"Sure." The brakes on the ladder squeal as she releases them.

I wrap my hands around the rails while Kai moves me. I tilt my head down for my short ride. It's kind of fun. "Whoa, back up a little." I laugh. No, that was fun. It's been a long time since I've gone anywhere. I'm going to have to talk to the guys. If being pushed on a ladder in a library is exciting, I need to get out more.

"Are you having fun up there?" Kai asks.

"Tremendous." I laugh.

Kai pushes me back to where I began, with too much force. She takes a step back and looks up at me. "Should I stop here?"

She's far from the shelf I'd been looking at. "Too far, back it up." I laugh again. "Beep, beep, beep."

"What are you doing?"

"That's the?—"

"Oh, cod crap, the fun-snatchers are coming." Kai puts the brakes on, and her head snaps to the door.

"What are you doing?" Dar glares at Kai and then me.

"Nothing." Kai has her hand on her hip.

"Belle?" Holter's standing next to Dar. "Come on down. I'll bring you the books."

I glare at him down my nose. "I'm fine, Holter. But move me a little to the left."

"Come down, Belle."

"It's a ladder, Holter. Just move me."

His eyes turn to slits, and he huffs, but he moves me to the left.

"I'll be back." Kai has Dar by the hand and pulls him in the direction of her old room.

"You doing okay up there?" Holter holds on to the ladder like it might come away from the wall.

"Yes." I rummage through another ten books, and boom. "I've found something." I set the book full of Richeal's code carefully on the retracted shelf on my left and continue with the rest of the books I can reach. I want to dive into the book I've found, but I have to do my due diligence and make sure there isn't another one with her notes in it.

I pull three more out, and there behind them is a long wooden board. If I hadn't been tired and had continued pulling them out one by one, I would have missed the plank at the back of the wall altogether.