off to his right. Because… Well, there was no reason. Just a deep sensation he wasn’t supposed to stop here. He had already come this far knowing there was no point. Perhaps, he was just delaying the inevitable. Or perhaps…
Perhaps…
A shadow cut through the distant sunlight. Fish swam beneath the curved hull of a vessel.
His heart jumped.
He had found Starr’s boat.
Three
Thunk.
Thud. Thud.
Thunk.
Someone walked across the deck overhead.
Starr slowly came out of her comatose state.
Was that…?
“Starr?” A soft masculine voice called down the stairs. “It is Gailen. From Atlantis.”
Her mouth stayed shut. Her fingers trembled but couldn’t move.
She felt like she wasn't inside her own body. She couldn’t respond. Extreme depersonalization. That’s what her therapist called this.
“Starr?” Gailen’s voice receded.
He was leaving.
She sat upright and rested her shoes on the floor. Slow, deliberate motion. Inhale, exhale. Inhale. “I’m in here.”
Too quiet. He might not even have heard her. She closed her hands into fists and rested them on her knees.
Thud.
He had heard her.
Thud thud thud.
He was coming down the stairs. “Starr, Queen Elyssa sent me to—” His hand rattled the doorknob.
“Don’t come in.”
The rattle stopped. “Queen Elyssa sent me to find you. We have been looking for days. The other warriors turned back, but I… Are you okay?”
Prickling warmth seeped into her chest. They had been looking for her. Someone had. And this warrior with a firm, upbeat voice, Gailen, hadn’t given up. The warmth melted away the plastic film, and she stood. “I’ll survive, I think. But I’m allergic to the peanuts scattered all over the ship. I’ll put on my protective gear and meet you on the deck.”
“What is allergic?”
“Allergies. Peanuts make me sick.”
“Peanuts? They are small and brown, right?”
“Yes.” She pulled on her gown and gear. “That’s why I can’t come out. Someone dumped them all over.”
Thunk thunk thunk. Creak. He had disappeared up the stairs again.
She dressed and pocketed her last EpiPen. Fear fought with exhilaration. She had been rescued. All she had to do was hold out until she reached the platform.
Calm descended over her. And the room receded a little. She was still too emotional. And that was dangerous.
The film kept her safe.
She checked her protection systematically. Mask, hood, eyewear, gloves. Fully covered, she cautiously opened the door and climbed the stairs.
A nude man with iridescent orange tattoos knelt and swept peanuts into a cupped palm. He was fit, the way all mermen were in pictures, and his knee rested at the right angle to block her view of his male member. He glanced up at her with an open smile and lifted his hands full of the honey-roasted peanuts. “This is the last I found.”
Oh, thank goodness.
She really was rescued. Everything was going to be okay. “Thank you.”
Gailen did a double-take. His jaw dropped, slack, and he blinked as though stunned.
Huh?
But he shook off his surprise. “Where did you want these?”
“As far away as possible.”
He strode to the deck and dumped the peanuts over the side.
She followed.
He turned and held out his hand. “I am Gailen. Nice to—”
She backed off. “Wash your hands.”
His smile faded.
Part of her felt bad, but the film wrapped her in protective coating and sharpened her tone. “If even the smallest bit of peanut dust touches me, I’ll react.”
“Peanut dust?”
She nodded.
He opened and closed his hands. The thumbs didn’t move with the rest of his fingers. They jutted out and angled down toward his wrists.
Oh, had he thought she didn’t want to shake his hand because he had a mild deformity?
But before she could ask, he hopped over the railing and plunged into the ocean.
That was one way to wash your hands.
She pulled off her mask and leaned against the railing.
He looked so free diving just beneath the water. There were no boats in any direction, and she hadn’t heard any motors, but he had found her. How? She was a small needle in an oceanic haystack.
He surfaced. Seawater dotted his brow and sparkled on his skin in the afternoon sun.
It warmed her arms.
He kicked out of the water and grabbed the railing. His feet stretched out in fins, but as he pivoted over the hard metal, they shrank. By the time he landed on the deck once more, they were ordinary human feet.
Gailen was inhumanly beautiful.
In profile, he was a little taller than her, but every inch of his body flexed, hard with rippling muscle. The iridescent tattoos flashed like an Orange Crush soda can. The colors looped across his muscle in generous swirls. And in his eyes, warm