Chapter 17
Caspian’s POV
Pearls.
Pearls scatter the floor around my feet, bouncing onto the hard wood and rolling off in every direction. I pull away from Viviane only far enough to see the horrified expression on her beautiful face, and suddenly everything falls into place.
Every sign, every clue, every hint that’s appeared since we met lurches to the forefront of my mind, puzzle pieces locking themself into place of their own accord.
“Viviane.” She won’t look at me, stubbornly clamping her stunning eyes shut. “When those girls trapped you in the classroom, why didn’t you shift?” I ask, voicing the questions I previously spared her. Shifters are not shy about nudity, so why had Viviane been so upset over having her clothes stolen, why hadn’t she covered herself by shifting? “Why didn’t you break down the door yourself or go out the window? You were only on the second floor.”
Viviane cracks her eyes open, her features twisted into a forlorn grimace. “You know why.”
I drop my forehead to hers, wishing I could spare her the pain but determined not to leave any room for further misunderstandings. “I need you to say it, Sweetheart.”
She hiccups, “Can you put me down?”
I set Viviane gently on the couch, but she rises and tip toes into the kitchen. My mate glances nervously to the closed bedroom door as she wets a few paper towels, eventually returning to my side. If all the other clues were not already enough, this would have been sufficient to prove she was not a shifter. I can hear Marina’s steady slumbering breath as clear as day – and so could any of my kind.
Viviane leans down and scrubs at the ankle with the damp towels, slowly revealing a stark white brand on the outside of her leg. “Nerissa wasn’t lying.” She murmurs, her usually lyrical tones thick with emotion. “I’m a mermaid.”
Viviane is watching me as if I might burst into flames at any moment. I reach for her, but she reflexively backs out of my reach. “I don’t understand.”
“We use a pheromone spray.” She says, as if this clears up everything. “We didn’t pick cats, that’s just what we got.”
“No. “I reply slowly. “How do you have legs?”
Her head tilts in confusion, “It’s standard practice. We all get The Cut when we turn 13.”
I rise so quickly Viviane bolts, and I have to drag her out of the corner. When she still won’t settle I tug her into my lap, using our connection against her. After she relaxes a bit, I press, “What are you talking about – who all? That surgery has been illegal for more than 30 years.”
It’s not often anyone looks at me as if I’m naive, and it feels especially odd coming from my sheltered little mate. “You don’t really believe that do you?”
“It’s a fact,” I state simply, my thoughts racing a thousand miles ahead. “There are dozens of interpack treaties protecting mermaid rights.”
Viviane sighs. “Having treaties doesn’t mean people obey them.”
My stomach churns, bile rising in my throat. “Who?”
She shakes her head, trying to rise and failing when I lock my arm around her middle. “Look, we were already leaving. You don’t have to make a fuss exiling us, we’ll go quietly.”
“Excuse me?” I hiss, growling when she continues to squirm. Viviane stills, submitting physically even if she will not emotionally. “You’re not going anywhere.”
She begins trembling, the movement so faint I cannot see it, but I can certainly feel it. “Please, my mother is ill, you can do whatever you want with me, but please spare her.”
My temper detonates. I can feel my fingers digging into Viviane’s hip, but I can’t seem to loosen my grip. “Are you suggesting I would harm my mate?”
She twists in my arms, giving me an incredulous look. “But don’t you see? I can’t be your mate. I’m not a shifter.”
My wolf snarls in my head, seeming to like the idea of claiming her right here and now to put an end to such doubts. “I don’t give a damn what should or should not be possible. You’re my mate, I knew it from the first moment I heard your voice, from the minute I smelled you, the second I saw you.” I progress gruffly, “And now, kitten. You’re going to tell me everything.”
Viviane’s POV
Caspian is glaring at me almost as viciously as he had when he first arrived tonight. I’m not sure what to make of his behavior. He’s acting as if he doesn’t know about the violations mermaids experience in most packs and still insisting I’m his mate, but that could easily be a strategic move to get me to open up.
“Why do you want to know?” I ask cagily.
Apparently this was the wrong thing to say. “Do you truly trust me so little?” Caspian grumbles.
“You’d do no differently in my shoes.” I promise, “We keep secrets for a reason – the truth is dangerous.”
Caspian cocks his brow. “Well I’ve got news for you, Viviane.” He remarks silkily, “disobeying an Alpha is dangerous too, and if I were in your shoes, I’d ask myself which is worse: being a good girl and telling me what I want to know now, or waiting until I lose my temper and compel it out of you.” One of the heavily corded arms circling my waist releases, and then his strong fingers are holding my chin captive. Caspian’s face is only a few inches above mine, his black gaze relentlessly boring into me. “I’ll learn the truth either way, it’s up to you to decide what mood I’m in when that happens.”
My teeth gnaw my lower lip. Logically I know he’s right; I should do as he says. Yet every instinct for self-preservation I possess insists I trust no one, no matter how badly I want to. “I can’t.”
His disappointed sigh cuts me to the core, “Very well.”
I always thought Alpha’s commands were imposed in a shifters’ mind; some voice overpowering their thoughts and ordering them to obey so convincingly they had no choice but to give in. But I don’t hear Caspian in my head, there is no persuasive or commanding voice to order me around. Instead, my body betrays me without a single word from him. My muscles move without permission, as if responding to signals from his brain instead of my own.
The words leave my tongue even as my mind remains entirely free of thought. I speak for half an hour, the story pouring from my lips while I remain trapped in some sort of hypnotic daze. When it’s all over a small pile of pearls has accumulated in our laps. I feel wrung out and used, drained of my secrets but far from unburdened.
I’m fighting to hold back more tears when my senses return, so raw and fragile I’m certain I’d shatter with a single word. I expected anger from Caspian, and though fury whirls among the maelstrom of emotions seething behind his eyes, his outrage is not directed at me. Instead I find my own pain reflected in his expression, so fervent and genuinely understanding my heart aches.
I’m surrounded by Caspian on all sides, so deeply ensconced in his embrace I’m not sure how to get back out – though I have no interest in doing so. His own eyes well as he strokes and pets me, “You don’t ever have to be afraid again.” He promises. “No one is going to hurt you anymore. I will kill anyone who tries.” His deep voice is hoarse and thick with emotion as he squeezes me, crushing my cheek to his chest, “And we will make the Bloodstones pay. You have my word – we will stop them even if it’s the last thing I do.”
When I tilt my face up and he drops gentle kisses on my mouth, I taste his tears on his lips. I dissolve in seconds, my last shreds of resistance slipping away into nothingness. For better or worse, Caspian has brought the skeletons out of my closet and though it still seems too good to be true, I want to take advantage of these precious moments where I feel loved and protected.
No matter how I feel when the sun rises tomorrow, in this moment I know I’m safe. Even if this all turns out to be a dream, even if Mom still makes me leave, I’m going to enjoy this bliss as long as I can.
My tears fall freely, grieving for the child I once was and the life I might have led, as well as the woman I’ve become and the future I’d imagined for myself. The last few hours have already set changes in motion I cannot begin to expect or understand, but one thing is clear: this phase of my life is over, and nothing will ever be the same again.
