The knock on her door made her jump.
“Ariella?” Her father’s voice was oddly stilted. “You need to come out. We have a visitor.”
Her stomach dropped.
No. Not tonight. Please, not tonight.
But she already knew who it would be, and she fought back tears as she stripped off the dive suit and pulled on a loose, concealing robe before joining her father.
Merrick Bane stood in the center of the main lab like he owned it. In a way, he did.
He was immaculate, as always, dressed in clothing that cost more than everything she and her father possessed combined. Dark fabric that somehow managed to look both understated and obscenely expensive, cut to emphasize the sharp lines of his body. His shoes were polished to a mirror shine, unmarred by the salt and rust that coated everything else in the village. His hands, emerging from perfectly pressed cuffs, were manicured and pale and cold.
His hands were always cold. She’d made the mistake of shaking his hand once, years ago, when she’d still been naive enough to think he was just another investor. Touching his skin had felt like touching something dead.
“Ah.” Merrick’s voice was pitched low, soft, the kind of whisper that forced you to lean in to hear. “There she is. The jewel of the ocean.”
Her bioluminescence dimmed, pulling inward like a creature trying to make itself invisible. It didn’t work. Merrick’s flint-colored eyes tracked the light anyway, following the patterns on her skin with the same expression a collector might wear while examining a rare specimen.
Because that’s what I am to him. A specimen. A prize.
“Mr. Bane.” She made herself walk into the room, made herself stand with her spine straight and her chin lifted. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Clearly.” His gaze swept over her still-damp hair, the loose unflattering robe, and the bare feet leaving wet prints on the floor. “I understand you had an eventful day.”
Her eyes cut to her father, who was hovering near his workstation with the anxious energy of a small animal in the presence of a predator.
“She was caught in the storm,” Anton said quickly. “Off-course. An accident. The data I’m collecting shows that her lung capacity has actually improved under stress conditions, which suggests?—”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s fascinating.” Merrick didn’t look at him. His eyes remained fixed on her with an intensity that made her skin crawl. “But what’s this about a rescue? In Vultor territory?”
How does he already know?A quick glance at her father’s averted face answered that question.
Merrick took a step towards her, and she forced herself not to retreat. “The Vultor clans are… volatile. Unpredictable. If they believed that one of my assets had trespassed on their land?—”
“I’m not your asset,” she snapped. Her father made a small distressed sound, but she refused to back down.
“Oh, but you are,” he said pleasantly as he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
The touch sent a wave of revulsion through her body so strong she nearly gagged. His fingers were exactly as cold as she remembered, corpse-cold, and they pressed into her skin with a possessiveness that made her stomach turn. Her bioluminescence dimmed to a pale silver before she could stop it.
Merrick noticed. Of course he noticed.
“Fascinating,” he murmured. “I’ve always wondered what triggers those color changes. Emotion, you’ve said?” This last was directed at her father, who nodded eagerly.
“Yes, yes. They respond to her neurochemical state.”
“Indeed.” Merrick’s thumb traced a small circle on her shoulder, and she felt her skin try to crawl away from the contact. “I’ve made quite a study of your work, Doctor. And of your remarkable daughter.”
His eyes met hers, and she saw it there—the hunger. Not sexual, not entirely, but something colder and more calculated. He looked at her the way a man might look at a painting he intended to hang in his private gallery or a ship he planned to add to his fleet. Or a piece of living technology he intended to own.
“Your father’s debts are considerable,” Merrick continued, still holding her gaze. “The funding for your modifications, the research, the equipment, the lab space—it all adds up, I’m afraid. And the returns have been… disappointing.”
“I’ve brought you everything I’ve found,” she said. “Every mineral, every sample, every artifact from the trenches?—”
“Yes. And yet the balance remains.” His hand tightened on her shoulder, just slightly. “I’m a patient man, but I think it’s time to proceed with the other alternative for repayment.”
Her father stepped forward, wringing his hands. “Mr. Bane, if we could discuss the timeline?—”
