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This time, I remembered to close my fist when I punched Lukas.

He snatched my hand and tugged me close. “You’re shockingly violent for such a small woman.”

“Be nice to her, she’s my friend. How many times do I have to tell you?”

He smiled at me and let go. As he walked away, Selena said, “Maybe he needs a drink.”

“Maybe. Did you eat yet?”

I watched as she opened several drawers. Finally, she grabbed a baggie full of what looked like old, dried-up tuna fish from a can. “Breakfast in bed. But the fish are hungry—let’s go.”

We walked out of the kitchen, around a corner, and finally down a long hallway. “What is that stuff?”

Her face split into a huge grin. “You really wanna know?” I nodded, not at all sure I did. “It’s human flesh.”

CHAPTER 26

Cassia

My feet skidded to a stop. “What?”

Selena glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah, Elijah had these fish, they’re really cool. They’re red, blue, and huge like koi. They eat flesh. They’ll eat any kind, but they prefer people. They drink blood, too.”

The fish I’d seen in the water that day with Lukas came to mind. “Are they in the water, here?”

“There’s not really water here. Underground, lots of it. There’s a few streams, brooks. A couple ponds but there’s no ocean or big lakes or anything like that. So, no, there’s none of these particular fish. There’s mermaids though and they will eat you.”

“Great. Note to self—stay out of the water.”

Selena laughed. “The streams are fine but yeah, I wouldn’t go in any ponds or anything like that. We use them for garbage disposal, anyway. Of the people kind.”

She pushed open a door and bright sunshine filled my gaze. A couple uniformed men seemingly appeared out of nowhere and started following us. They looked almost like ninjas.

“Your guards, I’m assuming?” I hitched my thumb over my shoulder.

“Yep,” she replied, sounding none too thrilled. “With your arrival, Elijah’s being a little extra.”

“What do you mean?” I stopped and waited for her to do so as well. “I want to put my feet in the grass for a minute.”

“Ha. Yeah, I get it. Well, because he expected retribution from First Realm people. And what better way to weaken him by taking me away? It's annoying, but I understand.”

I flopped on my butt and dragged my toes through the soft green grass, letting the sun warm my skin. A couple passers-by gave me a quick smile before looking away. My skin flushed. I knew I was being silly, but I wasn’t going to stop, not because a few people thought I was weird.

It’d been ages since I felt grass beneath my feet, and I’d never trusted Central Park or any of the other green spaces in the city—I’d seen too many things.

Selena squatted beside me. “When you’re done rolling around in the dirt like a puppy, we’ve got fish to feed.”

I giggled. “Fine, let’s go.”

The koi pond I’d spotted was actually part of a giant fountain. Multiple streams of water gently trickled from the top of a multi-tiered feature and cascaded from the different levels into the tank below. Large lily pads with pretty, blooming flowers floated on the surface as orange and yellow fish mingled with blue and red, playing peekaboo from below large, emerald green leaves.

“They aren’t eating each other?” I asked. A sprinkle of human flesh was tossed onto the surface. I may have spotted a small piece of bone.

The fish began lurching toward the surface, sending splashes of water over the edge. “Here fishy, fishy,” Selena cooed. “No, they’re spelled.”

“Oh.” Peering over the edge, I spotted sharp, vicious teeth. For something so beautiful, they sure could do some damage. “They ever bite you?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, God no. They wouldn’t dare.”