Already waiting for me were two people I hadn’t seen since my engagement party.
Angus and Mina Durand. The parents who might’ve wanted a son, but they’d never wanted me.
“What is this?” My father’s voice was thunderous. “I got reports that someone had broken through the gate into the…”
“Alpha Blue’s containment unit?” I asked, my voice sharp. The disgust welled in me, giving me power I’d never held before when facing them. While I had known they were problematic, I hadn’t realized the depths of their complicity. “They were holding my partner hostage,” I said. “And we grabbed them, so now we’re leaving.”
“We had an arrangement with Frederick, to try to salvage some of the deal after your failure,” Angus said, arms crossed, looming over me like he always had. Except this time his posturing didn’t shrink me down the way it used to. Because after witnessing the strength of my lover, I could see how weak this man truly was. With all of Angus’s posturing, he was terrified to step an inch outside the rigid society he’d been born into. He was fragile glass, one bat away from shattering.
“Oh?” I challenged back. “Didn’t think you made deals with monsterkind.”
Trying to plead with him for my sake would get me nowhere. But I was well aware of one thing he cared about.
Appearance.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice sharp.
“Sofia, the pictures?” I called to the car, and she tugged her phone out fast, flipped through, then leaned out to pass it to me. I showed the screen to my father, of Frederick being carried away, his mermaid tail fully showing. “Those are going to hit the nearest news cycle the second we send them in. If I were you, I’dget away from the blast zone as fast as possible. But if you don’t let us go, I’ll make damn sure to expose the deals you made with him. We’ll see how your business fares after a blow like that.”
“Elrich,” Mina chided, even though the reprimand was hollow and empty. My father gaped, opening his mouth and closing it like a fish.
I stood there with the phone in hand, clutching it tighter. My heart reeled from the confrontation, but a buoyancy rose inside me as well, a groundswell of energy that had been building, building, building all these years. I’d spent so long cowed by them, but no more.
I was free.
My father’s face turned purple as he processed, and I waited, hands balled into fists. Would he…? I resisted the urge to chew the inside of my mouth or glance to the car, facing him this time. Not backing down.
“Let them out,” my father snapped, then he turned on his heel and stormed to his car. Mina glanced between us, her eyes wide with shock. “Come on,” he barked at her, before he hopped back into his vehicle.
Michel passed me a broad smile and pressed the button to open the gates.
My heart thumped hard. I’d done it.
I’d stood up to them.
I swallowed, my throat dry, and I headed back to Sofia’s car. Once I slid into the seat, Ursuline captured my face in their hands, and they crashed down on me with a bruising kiss. I savored every second of it, the endorphins pumping hard through my veins, the exuberant joy rising like a tide to the point it overwhelmed me.
Sofia glanced back at both of us and winked. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
With that, we drove through the gate and out…into our freedom.
Chapter 31
Three days of waking up beside Ursuline, and they weren’t enough. I didn’t know if I’d ever get enough. I rolled over in bed, reaching out for them…except their side of the bed was empty. The sheets were cold.
I blinked and then rubbed my eyes before pushing myself upright. The room was the same one we’d been staying in at the Spires all week, a safe haven while we figured our situation out. In the days that followed after we escaped my parents’ manor, Sofia had forwarded the photos to the news outlets. Articles were plastered everywhere with Frederick Triton’s image in true mermaid form. Some tried to argue it must be altered, but others began to put the pieces together about how he’d managed to control the orichalcum trade this way, and then the stories spiraled from there.
Except his retreating to New Atlantis wasn’t good enough. He’d ruined so many lives down below, and knowing he’d continue to do so made my chest ache.
A cough sounded at the doorway.
Ursuline leaned against the frame, taking up the whole space. They wore a loose black tunic with a low V that exposed a good amount of their chiseled chest. Their silver hair was slicked back, the strands tamed, and a lazy smile tilted their lips. Fuck, the sight of them knocked the breath from my lungs. Their dark eyes held a voracious hunger as they scanned me over, and when they glided forward on their tentacles, I squirmed in place. My cock was still hard from waking up, and the sight of them turned me on effortlessly.
“Where did you go?” I asked.
“I was working on finishing touches,” Ursuline said, sweeping in. They plunked down next to me on the mattress and leaned in. I met their lips at once, savoring the sweetness of their kiss, how it made my whole body wake up. Gods, I loved them with everything in me, and I could barely believe they loved me in return.
Ursuline wove their fingers through my hair and tugged. They drew back, tenderness in their gaze that traveled straight to my heart. “You’re perfect, sunshine.”
