Chapter 11

Arya

A gentle touch trailing up and down my back slowly roused my consciousness, and I woke to find my face nestled on a warm chest. With a rush of apprehension and something akin to regret, my eyes widened and I lifted my head.

"Morning, gorgeous," Kendall cooed as our eyes met.

We slept together last night! Fuck!

I sat up, hugging my sheets over my bare boobs and awkwardly tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Uh, hi," I said stupidly. "You—um—you stayed."

A frown invaded the boyish charm on his face. "Well, you were sleeping on me, and I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh." I nodded, having absolutely no idea what to say.

What the hell did this mean? Did he think we were a thing now? Did I want us to be a thing? I had no fucking clue what I wanted, I only knew this was painfully awkward.

He sat up, too, putting a comforting hand on my bare shoulder. "Hey, about last night… We don't have to make a big deal out of it if you don't want to."

I hadn't been expecting that. I paused, then looked up at him over my shoulder, trying to gauge his emotions.

He looked sincere. Not like he was trying to brush me off as a one night stand, or like he was just telling me what I wanted to hear as a way of winning me over. In his eyes, I saw someone I could trust.

"Really?" I asked, my brows pinching upward uncertainly.

He nodded. "I know you're going through a rough time and that things are…"—he shook his head, as if searching for the right word—"confusing right now. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. If that means telling Cora to back the fuck off, then I will. And if that means being your boy toy every now and then, well, sign me up."

He flashed me a sexy grin, and I couldn't help but giggle, my cheeks no doubt turning pink.

"Are you sure?" I asked, schooling my expression. "I don't want you to ever feel like I'm using you. I just don't think I'm ready for any kind of commitment right now."

He lightly traced the back of his knuckles down my arm, sending shivers racing over my flesh.

"You can use me anytime you want." His voice was husky and sensual, making my core tighten with fresh desire. "Consider me your bodyguard with benefits."

He moved his teasing fingers to my spine, sweeping them slowly up the way he had while I slept, then brushed his lips over the crest of my shoulder. My eyelids fluttered closed as I lost myself to the sensations.

I tilted my head backward to face him, looking up at him with our lips a breath apart. There was no denying that I wanted him, or that I felt safe with him. He didn't thrill me the way Tobias did, and maybe that was a good thing. Maybe we could just be friends and still enjoy each other's company—and bodies.

He leaned in to meet my waiting mouth with his, but suddenly his body froze beside me, his eyes going blank.

"Kendall?" I whispered, staring at his face in confusion.

Fear crept up inside me when he still didn't speak, didn't move. Did…did I do something?

The memory of the vampire going statue still at my command flashed before my eyes for a split second, and panic gripped my heart at the fear that I had done the same to Kendall. Without even trying!

"Kendall?" I asked more loudly, pulling away from him.

He still didn't move, just remained stuck in that position with his hand raised where my back had been.

Just as I was about to run out into the hall naked screaming for help, his eyes blinked and he straightened his posture, looking at me with an almost dazed sort of look.

He shook his head at seeing the concern on my face. "Sorry about that."

I stared at him for a moment, willing my pulse to slow down. "W-what just happened?"

He let out an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck and biting his lower lip. "I had a vision. Sometimes, they just kinda sneak up on me. Sorry, I hope that didn't freak you out too bad."

"Oh," I said, relief melting my panic knowing it wasn't my fault. "Nope, just confused the hell out of me."

I offered a nervous laugh in hopes of dispelling the tension. "How often does that happen to you?"

He shrugged, blowing out a breath. "Hard to say. Sometimes, they happen in clusters, several times a day. Other times, I can go months without a vision. That's why I'm training with Celeste. So that I can use the sight at will like she does."

I cocked my head, fascination over the topic growing now that my anxiety was subsiding. "So, Celeste never has random visions like you did?"

"Oh, she definitely does," he retorted. "But when she does, they're usually important. Not some stupid shit like me where I see myself eating a bowl of cereal."

I laughed. "Is that what you saw just now?"

His gaze lingered on mine for several seconds, like he was debating sharing. "Something like that."

Before he looked away, I caught a cryptic glimmer in his beach-wave eyes, and I knew it was something more than that.

I opened my mouth to pry, but he interrupted me.

"As much as I would love to let you use me again this morning, you should get breakfast before you have to meet with Letti."

Tension bunched the muscles across my back. "Wait, what?"

He grimaced. "Yeah, I never got a chance last night to tell you that your first session with her is at eleven. We got a little…distracted…"

I ignored the suggestive look on his face and whipped my head toward the clock on my nightstand.

It was already ten-fifteen.

"Fuck!" I hissed, flinging the sheets off me and propelling myself toward my closet to hastily shimmy into a uniform. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

He leveled a flat glance at me. "You actually expect any guy to disturb a hot naked girl who's sleeping on him?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, shoving my feet into a pair of pants.

He scooted to the edge of my bed and watched me. "After what you told me last night, I thought it might be better to blow her off. Ask Celeste to assign someone else."

"And let that bitch think I'm afraid of her?" I shot at him as I pulled my shirt over my head. "Not a chance."

"Well, do you at least want me to walk you over there?" he offered. "I could give Letti a subtle warning."

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I'll handle her and her little trio on my own."

He frowned and nodded.

"But thank you," I added, sitting on the bed beside him so I could pull on my shoes.

"Do you have any plans after?" he asked, and now that I was fully clothed, it was incredibly obvious how very naked he still was.

I felt a smirk tugging at my lips and gave him a coy sideways glance. "No. Why?"

A sexy grin spread across his face. "I thought you might like to go on another swim in the lake with me. You know, for an extra-curricular tutoring session."

While his words were corny as hell, their insinuation ignited a wild excitement in my belly. After the mind-blowing experience we'd shared during our last swim, I was insanely curious to explore that part of my sexuality, and he was the perfect teacher.

Okay, maybe he did thrill me a little bit.

"As long as Letti doesn't drown me with water manipulation, I'd love to," I joked.

He chuckled. "Mermaids don't drown."

"Ah, but you forget that I'm a terrible mermaid," I countered.

"I beg to differ." His eyes raked over me, making my skin burn under his hungry scrutiny.

I bit my lip, letting my gaze slide down his body and snag on the growing stiffness between his legs. He really was insanely gorgeous.

I pushed myself off the bed before I could change my mind. "Okay, I have to go."

My whole body blushing, I ran out the door and scurried down the hall. While I did have fifteen minutes to spare to grab a snack beforehand, my appetite was M.I.A. at the moment. Besides, wasn't there some rule about not eating before going swimming? Actually, did that apply to mermaids?

I rushed past the dining hall and speed-walked across the lawn to the pool building, my hurried thoughts shifting from the promise of Kendall's proposal to the shit show I was about to swim into.

I would never understand how Celeste thought it was a good idea to stick me with Letti. Didn't she know how much that bitch hated me? Some seer she was if she couldn't see the disaster this was undoubtedly going to be.

I also felt a bit jilted by Celeste. Not that I expected her to hold my hand forever, but her passing me off on someone else felt like she was rejecting me, too. Celeste clearly had expectations of me when I first came here, and I definitely hadn't lived up to any of them. Maybe having to endure Letti's presence one-on-one was my punishment for being a disappointment.

Letti was already in her swim top when I entered the mer training room, and the snobby brunette rolled her eyes when she saw me come through the door. I mimicked the gesture and went to the locker room to take my time getting into my own swim top.

So much for my plan of pretending she didn't exist.

I heard the door open behind me as I aggressively shoved my locker closed.

"Look, neither of us wants to be here, so can we just get this over with?" Letti said with a snide tone as she strode toward me.

"Wow, something we actually agree on," I said, not bothering to conceal the disdain lacing my words. "Fine, what great things do you have to teach me?"

Letti flipped her hair off her shoulder as she preceded me into the training room. "Plenty. Not that I expect you to pick up any of it."

I clenched my fists, fantasizing about wrapping my fingers around Letti's little bobblehead neck and strangling her until her face turned as blue as her tail. The wound to my pride from the sim room "prank" was so fresh it burned, but I knew that someone had to take the high road here, and it wasn't going to be Letti.

"If this tutoring thing is going to work, we have to put our personal feelings aside and be adults about this," I said. "So, how about we leave our mutual hatred at the door—only for as long as we're in this room."

Letti looked at me sideways under thick black lashes, then shrugged. "I guess that sounds reasonable. Besides, if I can't turn you into a true mermaid, what does that say about me?"

I rolled my eyes.

Letti gracefully lowered herself to sit on the pool's edge, positioning herself almost as if she were posing for Vogue Magazine. My lips twisted in disgust. Especially when I realized why.

Letti's feet and legs slowly and elegantly merged into a beautiful, dark blue tail. She was showing off for my benefit.

I watched with jealous admiration at how easy Letti made it look. It still hurt every time I transformed, the popping and adjusting of the bones causing me to perform what had to be a very unappealing dance in the water.

But Letti made no movements whatsoever, like the transition was as simple as breathing. And what was more, Letti wasn't even wet! She had shifted completely dry.

Smoothing my face to hide my envy for Letti's skills, I asked, "How do you do that?"

"It should be a simple thing for all mer, really," Letti said in an airy tone.

Narrowing my eyes, I loudly cleared my throat, and Letti scoffed and let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess I've never really thought about it," Letti said. "Mermaid is the form we're born in. Human is the form we shift into. I think your problem is that you have it in your head that your legs are the real you, but they aren't, and you're fighting yourself. Try thinking about it like your fins are your true legs, like your scales are your true skin."

I raised my brows at Letti's attitude adjustment. What she said was actually helpful .

I sat down next to Letti, adopting the same pose, and closed my eyes to focus. Of course, I would think my legs were my real form. I'd had them under me all my life. I'd never known anything else. But I couldn't deny how natural—how right— it felt to be in the water.

Be the real you. Be the real you. I chanted in my head, over and over.

I imagined myself in the lake again, surrounded inside and out by the cool blue water. In my fantasy, I twisted about in it, feeling my tail bend and curl, feeling the water flow around my fins. I imagined that the water was my life, that I was born to swim. I felt at peace.

But nothing happened. Nothing changed. My toes still wiggled in front of me, unfused.

"Hey, that's a start." Letti's voice made me open my eyes.

"Huh?"

I looked from Letti's face to my legs, and my mouth fell open with a high-pitched gasp. The skin of my calves and shins were covered in a thin layer of shimmer. My scales had started to come out!

"Don't get too excited just yet," Letti chided. "It wasn't a full shift. You still have your legs out. But if we keep at it, we might make a real mermaid out of you. Eventually."

The small hint of encouragement in Letti's voice was almost impressive.

"Thanks," I forced out.

Letti eyed me for a moment as if that was the last thing she'd ever expect to come out of my mouth. "Yeah, well, don't mention it. Seriously. Don't. I can't have my friends thinking I'm helping you. Unless you begin to excel, in which case, I taught you everything you know. Got it?"

I shook my head in irritation. "Whatever you say."

Her eyes lingered on me for a bit longer, and I finally said, "What?"

She shrugged. "You know, about the other night—"

I raised my hand between us to stop her, anger quickly flooding me. "Don't. I don't want to hear whatever bullshit you're about to say. You had your fun, and it's over. And because I'm not a total asshole like some people , I'm not going to rat you out. But if you ever cross me again, I'll go to every length at my disposal to annihilate all three of you. Got it?"

Her eyes were wide as she gawked at me like I'd just slapped her. "Well, I was just going to—"

"Save it!" I snapped. "We have work to do. So shut the hell up and teach me something."

She pursed her lips and looked away as she composed herself, adopting that perfect posture again with forced poise.

I willed my heavy breaths to slow, struggling to keep my vengeful wrath at bay. I'd go along with this ridiculous assignment and do my best to succeed. But I meant what I said. If she tried anything on me again, I'd destroy her, even if I had to resort to human ways to do it .