I looked around, taking in a few of the faces for the first time. Sure enough, their eyes were on me. As soon as they realized I was aware of them, like Lelas, they instantly focused on anything and everything around them. Even if they’d all been staring daggers at me, there was still no one talking.
“No one is saying anything about me, Lelas. They’re not saying anything at all.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she turned to me imploringly.“Please, Brett, I will explain later. Please, let us just continue with the meal and then retire for the evening.”
“Just tell me what you mean.”
“Actually,”the cool, crisp voice cut into my mind,“you are right. We cannot hear what she’s saying. However, we can hear you most adamantly.”Syleen’s lips tightened as I turned to her. She looked over at Lelas for several long moments, and Lelas turned away as if in reprimand, blonde hair floating to settle over her face. After a few more seconds of glowering at Lelas, Syleen turned back to face me.“Was there something you were wondering?”
Still no first name, but I guess nothing is better than a demon or gay reference. I shook my head, letting it fall as my eyes traveled down to a small crab crawling in front of me. I could still feel her gaze drilling into the top of my skull. The crab made a jerking motion and then hurriedly shuffled away. For a second, I didn’t understand what had caused such a reaction. Then I noticed my fists clenched in the sand close to where the crab had been. The water around them wavered as heat began to radiate from my skin. I stared, letting the unrecognized anger flow through me, causing the water to boil around my hands, then forcing the heat back into my core. I still couldn’t quite tell how it worked or how I controlled it, but whatever the process, I was thankful for all the practice I’d done with Therin.
My body recognized what my brain had not. I was done being submissive. It had been bad enough with my grandfather, with the vampire. No more. And definitely not to the mermaid bitch who thought herself queen. Making sure the fire was still under control, I raised my head back up to face Syleen. From my periphery, it was obvious I had everyone’s attention. It seemed the circle was wider than previously. Even Lelas had scooted away.
Syleen met my gaze, but her eyes wandered down to my now unclenched fingers before darting back up to me.
I focused on her with all my might. I wasn’t going to take the chance I would get the communicating process wrong. Not this time.“Actually, Syleen, I wanted to know what everyone was saying about me, since I was the topic of conversation.”
Syleen’s gaze shifted from my face to Lelas and then down to my hands.“That was not a conversation you were to be privy to. If you needed to know, you would have been invited into the discussion.”
I continued to stare at her. I was not going to lose. She might not know this was a power play, but I was willing to bet she did.“A conversation about me would indicate my need to know, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I did not inquire as to your concerns.”
I felt the heat rush through me again. An image of her bursting into flames exploded in my mind. A part of me was instantly repulsed by such a violent urge. Another part of me let the image linger, reveling in the writhing form. Still, I forced the inferno back before my hands could give me away.
Syleen’s gaze slipped from my face and darted to my hands and then back up again. Maybe I hadn’t reined it in soon enough.“Need I remind you of the consequence for unleashing your demon heritage here?”
Dividing my focus equally between her and my hands was more difficult than I wanted her to know, and I fought to keep my words steady.“Banishment. I’ve got it. Banishment if I explode. Banishment if I accidentally start fornicating with an unsuspecting merman. Banishment if I so much as belch at an inopportune time. Nope, pretty much got it, Syleen.”
“Your tone might be a disservice to you, demon-born.”And there it was.
“Oh, please forgive my tone, my queen.”
She looked like she was going to speak, but I cut her off with a wave of my hand, causing a small cloud of sand to stir up in front of my knees.“I know you’re not the ruler, Syleen. You don’t have to act like you’re queen of the world in front of me.”
“I never claimed to be a queen or a ruler of any kind. However, I am your host, as are we all. It is my job to keep our tribe safe. From danger both physical and otherwise.”
“Otherwise? What you think—”
“I think you still are not in control of your demonic fire.”
Breaking her stare, I looked down at my hands. Not so much as a tendril of heat.“I don’t see anything on fire, do you?”
“Again, Brett, you may desire to watch your tone.”
“I don’t give a…”Brett? She just said Brett. It shouldn’t make a difference, but as stupid as it was, it did.
Silence fell between us as we stared at each other. As my body relaxed, the rigidness of her gaze lessened.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Wasn’t sure what had changed. Maybe nothing, but it felt different somehow. I knew she didn’t have any more fondness for me, but maybe she knew she couldn’t walk all over me—not that she’d know that expression. Sure, she could still banish me, but I was obviously done with the patronizing verbal insinuations and insults. Maybe saying my name was her way of letting me know that she understood.
I decided to try again.“If there is an issue that concerns me, Syleen, I would appreciate having some input in the matter. At the very least, some awareness of the discussion.”
She took several moments, as if pondering my words, or maybe just my tone. If I hadn’t been staring at her as intently as I was, I wouldn’t have noticed her gaze darting over to Zef. I think I saw him give the smallest of curt nods before she looked back. Without as much covert effort, she then looked at a mermaid across from her, who also gave a nod. When she turned to a final person and didn’t look back, I followed her gaze. Therin sat, a little farther outside the circle than anyone else. He didn’t make any response as far as I could tell.
Finally, as if giving in to boredom, she reached forward and plucked one smaller root out of the pile. Delicately, she placed the plant in her mouth and chewed with luxurious slowness.
Using every bit of willpower I possessed, I sat on my crossed legs and waited.
