“And what business isthat?”
The three of us exchanged looks. “It would be best if we discussed that with him directly,”Raidensaid.
The two guards shifted. “Ryujin does not grant an audience to just anyone,” the second guard said. “Is he expectingyou?”
“Well, no,” Raiden admitted. “But we’ve come a long way just to see him. Don’t you think he’d at least be a little interested to hear why we’ve gone through all thistrouble?”
“Nobu,” a melodic voice drifted through the waves, and the guards turned. My mouth dropped open at the sight of aningyo—a Japanese mermaid—swimming out toward us from one of the coral towers. Her lower half wasn’t exactly what I envisioned in a mermaid—instead of one long tail, she had three, covered in persimmon-colored scales and tipped with long, translucent fins. Her upper half was completely bare, with flawless alabaster skin and high, perky breasts that were partially covered by the thick mass of black hair that flowed from the top of her head in waves around her. And though her face was beautiful, she had shimmering orange horns curling from the top of her head, and some kind of strange burnt orange tattoo slashed across both of her highcheekbones.
“Who are these humans?” she asked, curiosity gleaming in her iridescent eyes as she looked us over. Her ruby lips curved into a smile, exposing sharp fangs, and a shiver crawled down my spine. “They looktasty.”
Raiden stepped forward, his stance wary. “I am Takaoka Raiden,” he said, and the three of us bowed. “These are my friends, Shota and Aika. We came here to speak to Ryujin. Can you take us tohim?”
Theningyofluttered her eyelashes at Raiden. “That depends. What can you offer me in return?” She licked her lips seductively, and I felt a sudden flash of jealousy at the way she was looking at Raiden. But slapping theningyoin her pretty, albeit fanged, face wasn’t going to get usanywhere.
“Please,” I said, stepping in front of Raiden before he could respond. “An evil shaman named Kai has taken my mother prisoner. We are trying to get her back, and we think Ryujin might be able to help, if only we could talk to him. Isn’t there any way we can gain an audience withhim?”
The flirty smile vanished from theningyo’sface, replaced by a sympathetic look that made me hate her a lot less. “Well why didn’t you say so?” She tossed a skein of hair over her left shoulder, exposing one of her nipples. Shota made a choking sound behind me, and Raiden coughed. “Of course I’ll take you to see him. Kai’s escape is the most exciting thing we’ve heard about in centuries, and my father is bored to tears. He’ll be happy to talk toyou.”
She waved at the guards to open the gates, then turned around and floated through them as if she hadn’t just flashed all of us. I glanced sidelong at Raiden as we followed. His cheeks had reddened, though he wore his default stoic expression, and I wasn’t sure if I should be amused orannoyed.
And what do you have to be annoyed about, anyway?I chided myself.He’s a man. I’m sure his cheeks would turn just as red if you lifted up your shirt and flashed him rightnow.
My face flooded with embarrassment at the idea, and that was when Raiden turned to look at me. “What are you blushing about?” he asked, arching abrow.
I lifted my chin. “I could ask you the samequestion.”
Raiden rolled his eyes. “Come on. At least I didn’t suck in a lungful of water like someone else we know.” He jerked a thumb towardShota.
“What?” Shota asked defensively. “Fish are kind of my specialty, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s not every day you get to see a mermaid in the flesh.” He eyed theningyo’sretreating back. “That’s one fish I won’t be taking out my sushi knife for,” he muttered, and I choked back alaugh.
“My name is Amabie, by the way,” theningyosaid as the palace doors swung open, revealing a hallway made of crystal that glowed with phosphorescent blue algae. Red, purple, and gold coral ran through the crystal floor, making it seem like we were literally walking across a reef as we entered. “My apologies for not introducing myself earlier—it’s been too long since we’ve had human visitors.” She flashed a fanged grin over her shoulder at Shota, whose eyes wentwide.
“Amabie?” Shota echoed faintly. “As in Amabie of theHarvest?”
“The very same.” She laughed at the astonished look on his face, and the sound was magical, like a faerie running her fingers over the strings of an enchanted harp.My mind suddenly filled with memories of sunny days at the park and hot summer evenings lying in the sand and watching the sunset. “I was only joking when I said you all looked tasty earlier—I don’t eat humans. Although I’d be willing to taste that one,” she added, licking her lips as she looked atRaiden.
“I’d appreciate it if you could keep your fins to yourself,” I said in an acid tone, putting myself in front of Raiden. Amabie’s blatant interest in him was getting my back up, though I wasn’t sure why. After all, it wasn’t as if I owned him, right? And besides, what kind of person did that make me, getting possessive over Raiden when I was still struggling with the feelings I had forShota?
The last thing you should be thinking about are romantic relationships,Aika.
Amabie raised her eyebrows at me. “As you wish,” she said, throwing a flirty glance toward Shota. “That one is cuter, anyway.” She winked, drawing closer to him. “You look like you could handle a girl likeme.”
Shota laughed. “Trust me, you don’t want to get anywhere near me,” he said. “I’m a sushi chef bytrade.”
“Ilovesashimi,” she purred, running a hand down his arm. I gritted my teeth as jealousy flared in me. “You should cook for mesometime.”
There was a beat of silence, and for a second, I thought Shota was going to flirt back. But instead, he looped his arm through mine and pulled meclose.
“Sorry,” he said easily, ignoring Raiden’s glare. “There’s only one woman I cook for these days, and I don’t think she’s up forsharing.”
Amabie huffed, then turned around, her tails flicking a spray of bubbles in our faces. “Your loss,” she saidhaughtily.
I glanced down at Shota’s and my intertwined arms as we followed Amabie through the palace. Raiden didn’t look pleased to see the two of us holding hands, and once again, I felt like a disloyal bitch. I wished I could talk to them about what was going on between us, because it was obvious that there were some strong feelings brewing, and yet none of us wanted to acknowledge what washappening.
But we had more important things to think about, and now was not the time for this conversation. Unable to handle the growing tension between the three of us, I pulled away from Shota and focused on oursurroundings.
Opalescent sea shells decorated the walls, and above, more golden coral snaked across the ceiling like a series of chandeliers. Instead of having lights attached, iridescent fish flitted amongst them, casting glittering light every color of the rainbow across the coral-laden crystal floor. Even that was different here, though, because instead of stretching out like spider webs through the crystal as it had in the floor outside, it writhed beneath our feet like pink seaanemones.
