My mind drifted off on a tangent as Kai considered my question. I knew from reading a book in the library that many of the merpeople spent much of their lives underwater. Which begged the question, how did they, um, have sex?
Needless to say, the textbook I’d read hadn’t coveredthattopic.
“What’s the spell for?” Kai asked, interrupting my musings about the sex lives of merpeople.
“Um, to find someone important.” While my instincts told me I could trust Kai, I didn’t feel comfortable telling him who that person was.
He peered up at me through long eyelashes. I tried not to stare at his deliciously muscled shoulders or the tiny shells woven into his braided hair. They were so darn pretty. Like little colorful beads.
Was that a merpeople style aesthetic?
I added it to my list of questions.
“So you want me to pull off a scale for a spell to find someone you refuse to name?”
Well, when he put it like that… yeah.
“Yes?”
He considered my request for a moment before surprising me with his own request.
“You can have a scale if you let me teach you how to swim.”
My jaw dropped. “Swim?” Despite being surrounded by water, my throat dried up. After my last experience in the water, I wasn’t all that keen to dip a toe in again. Or any part of me, for that matter.
“Yes. You nearly drowned the last time you came here. I don’t want to—” He broke off abruptly, giving me the impression he’d said more than he wanted to say.
“I grew up in an arid climate. There was a pond on the farm, but the livestock used it as a water source, and I didn’t like the creatures that lurked in there.” I shivered at the memory of Willow throwing frogs at me one time. Horrible creatures. Thanks to her prank, I developed a major phobia of frogs.
“Being able to swim is important.” He made a good point. And besides, even if I didn’t feel any affinity for the water, the thought of getting up close and personal with Kai had my magic sparking with delight in my chest.
Outside, the wind had picked up, and the trees beyond the warm cocoon of the pool building swayed back and forth. I wondered whether Alaric was having a meltdown again. Storms seemed to coincide with his bad moods.
Although he’d been surprisingly pleasant to Glynda and me, it wouldn’t surprise me if the next time we crossed paths, he was back to his usual asshole self.
“Okay, I guess swimming lessons would be a good thing.” I wasn’t sure whether Maverick would like the idea of another male touching me, but surely he’d see it was sensible if I learned how to swim.
I’d run the idea past him later. Although knowing him, he was already waiting outside for me. He always seemed to know exactly where I was.
“In that case, I’ll give you a scale.” Kai pulled himself out of the pool and perched on the tiled edge. I watched with fascination as his longtail dangled in the water, swishing from side to side. “Do you have a blade?”
“Blade?” Stars, did removing a scale require slicing into his flesh? The very idea made me queasy.
Unease slithering through my veins triggered my magic. Small embers floated up into the air. I looked at Kai and saw a small glowing mark appear on his shoulder. It looked like a rune, but I couldn’t be certain. He cringed under the weight of my curious stare before twisting his upper body so I could no longer see it.
The distraction helped calm my magic, allowing me to focus.
“My scales are extremely tough,” he explained while staring at a fixed point over my shoulder. “And it’s difficult to remove one. They’re a defense against predators.”
My heart sank at the idea of hurting the merman. “I didn’t think about that.” More sparks fluttered into life.
“Just as well I came prepared,” Zane announced cheerfully when he blinked into view a foot away from me.
I jumped sideways in shock before falling into the pool with a scream. And for the second time since arriving at this school, I almost drowned.
Maverick patiently combed my wet hair while Zane leaned against the fireplace. It amused me that my grumpy bear had accepted the incubus’ presence in our lives. I still had no clue why Zane continued to stick his nose into everything, but whenever I asked him, he fobbed me off.
I’d placed Kai’s scale in a glass jar, which Maverick then hid under a floorboard. The scale wasn’t valuable as such, but witches and mages coveted rare items like that. The last thing I wanted was for someone to steal it.
