12. Catalina

12

CATALINA

I’m trying so hard to be good. This is the first meal I’ve shared with another person in weeks, and it’s like I’ve forgotten how to be human. More than that, I’m sharing it with Thane.

The conversation is awkward as we eat, mostly because I’ve never known when to quit and Thane is as serious as a heart attack. He takes everything I say as if it’s fact, which is slightly terrifying.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been taken seriously before.

I’m the outrageous one. Not the class clown—my mother would have locked me in a closet before she let me embarrass her in public like that—but the one who always pushes the limits with a smile on my face. I can’t do that now. Not when Thane’s dangled such a tempting carrot in front of my face.

I grin a little at the metaphor. I am nothing if not always on brand. Focus, Cat. “Thank you. For the, uh, distraction on the way here.” Talking about how he made me cum all over his fingers probably doesn’t fall into the realm of good behavior, but if I don’t say something beyond commenting on the food, I’m going to burst. “I’m not normally the nervous type, but?.?.?. what’s the opposite of claustrophobia? I think I might have that. At least when it comes to the great open ocean or whatever.”

Thane studies me as intently as he always seems to. As if every word out of my mouth is the god’s honest truth. How horrifying.

Finally, he takes a long drink of his goblet. “Would you like to learn to swim, Catalina?”

No. Absolutely not. I’ve had my fill of water, and while it’s very pretty to look at from the various windows about the tower, so is fire, and I certainly don’t want to jump into the fireplace. “I’m very much in love with not drowning.”

“You won’t drown.” He nods at the bracelet around my wrist. I probably should have taken it off once I realized the swimming trips weren’t going to happen regularly, but I find the weight of it comforting. Also the fact that it means I can’t drown. That’s a pretty intense security blanket.

“I might get eaten.”

His grin is quick and devastating. “Only if you’re very, very good.”

Is Thane?.?.?. flirting with me?

This should be familiar. I flirt as easily as I breathe. But that’s always been with normal people who want the normal things from me. They’re entirely within the realm of expectation. Thane is not. He’s so serious all the time. If he’s flirting, then?.?.?. I don’t know.

I reach a shaking hand for my goblet, mostly for something to do. “As much as I’d like to sit on your face and ride until dawn, I’m more worried about whatever might be down there with sharp teeth and a hankering for human flesh.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be there.”

As sexy as it is to think this big kraken man is going to protect me from predators in the deep, I remain unconvinced. He’s bigger than me, but that doesn’t mean he could take on a literal kraken. “What are you going to do? Glare at it with disapproval until it begs for mercy?”

His grin flashes again, lingering a little longer this time. “My magic is more than deterrent enough.”

Magic.

I blink. “What are you, King Triton?”

His brows draw together. “Who is King Triton? He’s not a territory leader in this realm.”

Right. Of course. Pop culture references will fly right over his tentacled head. “He’s not a real person. He’s a cartoon, which is a whole bunch of drawings put together to make a figure look like it’s moving and?.?.?. You know what, never mind. It’s not important.” I sneak a glance at him, sure I’ll see the signs of him checking out on this conversation. The glazed gaze. The fidgeting, trying to find a smooth conversational exit. Maybe even some rolled eyes at my rambling.

Thane watches me as if I’m divulging the world’s secrets. His dark eyes are intent, and he’s still in a way that should probably feel predatory but makes butterflies erupt in my stomach.

I lick my lips. “Um. Anyways. I’m convinced swimming will end with me as fish shit, so I would like to pass.”

“Catalina.” The firmness in his voice makes me shiver. “You will be here for seven years. My territory is over ninety percent water. Learning to swim is not optional.”

He’s probably right, but I’m stuck on something else. Obviously I knew the demon deal was for seven years; I read the contract before I signed it. But I hadn’t really thought about what seven years in this tower would do to me. “I can’t stay here,” I burst out.

He flinches. “Unfortunately—”

“I don’t mean with you.” I don’t pause to see if that’s what he really intended with his statement. “I mean in this tower. Alone. Going out of my mind. It’s torture, Thane.” I was doing a good job of pretending I am totally fine with this setup and maybe that it’s even kind of cute that he wants to protect me from chefs wielding knives, but a couple weeks have me climbing the walls. I don’t like to think of what state I might be in after one year, let alone seven.

The teasing on his face disappears as if it were never there in the first place. “I intend to keep you safe.”

“Keep my body safe, maybe. If you really meant to keep me mentally and emotionally safe, you wouldn’t lock me up.”

“You are not locked up.” He pushes back from the table. “You are not a prisoner.”

“Cool, so I can leave whenever I want.” I shove back too and rise. “Guess I’ll go now.”

Thane rises too. “By all means, Catalina.” He motions with one long-fingered hand. “Shall we?”

I’m riding high on frustration, which has never been a good emotion for me. I don’t know how to deal with it, so I don’t deal with it at all. Instead, I do whatever it takes to stop feeling that way. Right now, that means action.

I stalk ahead of Thane out of the room and down a damp hall. Another time, I’d lag behind so I could marvel at how smoothly he moves on his tentacles. There’s a hypnotic element to the rise and fall of his body as he shadows me to the stairs. Not right now. I’m too keyed up.

It’s only when I reach the bottom that I realize my mistake. Of course, I can’t leave. I can’t swim. Which the bastard knew when he threw that gauntlet at my feet.

I spin and give a mocking slow clap. “Congratulations. You’ve made a fool of me. Well done, asshole.”

He’s obviously clenching his jaw, which I would find satisfying if I wasn’t so embarrassed by marching down here. And now I have all the damned stairs to climb again.

I’m going to have an ass of steel after all this. Too bad I can’t even enjoy the thought of bouncing a quarter off it right now. “I’m done,” I say.

A tentacle lashes the ground in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, but when I look up to meet Thane’s gaze, he’s just as reserved as he always is. The only indication that he’s anything less than calm is the way his tentacles shift around him.

I prop my hands on my hips and glare. “Is this the part where you shove me into the water and forcibly teach me to swim?”

Thane blanches. “That is torture.”

Is it?My mother just called it learning the hard way. I learned a lot of things the hard way. I shrug. “It would get your point across.”

“My point, Catalina, is not to torment you.” He points at the water. “I will take you wherever you want to go.”

“What’s the catch?”

“There is no catch,” he grits out.

I don’t believe him. Not for a second. In the past few weeks, I’ve considering coming down to this pool more than a few times. All I’d have to do is jump in. As he said, I can’t drown. There’s no guard standing here, forcing me to stay in the tower. Only my own fear acts as my jailer.

Except that’s not the truth. There is danger in this world, and he’s as much as admitted it.

“If I tried to swim out of here without you, would I make it?”

He goes still, his tentacles freezing in place. That’s answer enough, but I want to hear him say it. I hold his gaze until he shakes his head shortly. “It’s possible but unlikely. There are predators in the bay that don’t bother my people, but you are not one of my people.”

“So. I am trapped.” I don’t know why he’s so determined to argue with me. “A princess in a tower, except I’m no virginal innocent waiting for my Prince Charming. I guess that makes you the monster, huh?” Calling Thane a monster isn’t kind, and it sure as fuck isn’t smart. There’s nothing stopping him from leaving me in a huff and not coming back for a few weeks.

Or a few years.

What am I going to do? I don’t think the demon deal considers mental and emotional harm. How could it? It’s such a nebulous thing to articulate, especially when my indicators of what really constitutes harm aren’t exactly reliable. More than that, Thane isn’t trying to hurt me. He’s just being ham-handed about things.

“I want to show you something,” he says abruptly.

“Okay?”

The word is barely out of my mouth when he sweeps a tentacle around my waist and slides into the water, taking me with him. The water closes over my head with a whoosh, and my instinctive need to hold my breath only lasts a moment.

I clutch the thick tentacle around me, mostly for the comfort of stability even if I have no control in this moment. Thane drags me deeper, though I distantly note that he’s not going nearly as fast as he could. I expect him to head toward the opening I can see, the jagged rock tunnel illuminated by whatever plant populates the walls. Instead, he twists and takes us back toward the tower.

Well, that was a short trip.

Thane dips beneath an outcropping of rock, and later I’ll appreciate how deftly he maneuvers me after him, ensuring I don’t drag along the sharp-looking walls of the tunnel around us.

We emerge into light.

I blink and look around. A different type of light is in the water now. It’s pale and soothing, and I’m still trying to figure out why when Thane begins his ascent. Once again, he does it slowly, though I think we can’t be more than thirty feet below the surface, and the pool descends much deeper. Still, it’s a level of caring I don’t know how to deal with. He’s still angry with me, but he’s not letting his anger direct his actions.

He’s not turning it on me.

We surface, and all I can do it stare. Above us is a gently spiraling opening of rock that leads directly to the sky. It’s late afternoon, so the sun isn’t directly overhead, but there’s plenty of light to see by.

Three waterfalls pound down from various heights. The sound is strangely lovely, the rush of water constant and just loud enough that I could drown out my own thoughts if I wanted to.

The rest of the space is all rock formations that are mostly half-submerged in a handful of pools. The one we just emerged into is the deepest and obviously the only one that opens to the greater body of water. Thane carries me onto a shallow rock shelf and sets me carefully on my feet.

I turn slowly, taking in details I missed before. The overgrown patch of flowers in the center, where the sunlight must linger the longest. The openings at the top of the waterfalls that look quite a bit like doorways. The strange look on Thane’s face, as if being here pains him.

The last observation gets me moving. I take a careful step toward him, and then another. He doesn’t shift his tentacles out of my path but doesn’t use them to hold me at a distance either. I pick my way through them until I can press my hands to his chest. “Thane?.?.?. Why did you bring me here?”