Kit’s tail tightened.
Seche stared boldly at Nick’s face, and Nick didn’t back down from his gaze. “A magnificent promise. What would it cost?” Wry disbelief edged Seche’s voice.
“In exchange,” Nick said, “don’t mess around with capture or interrogation. Just kill her.”
Seche’s tail hooked. “Deal.”
Kit’s breath released on a shaky exhale at Nick’s side. Nick looked, seeing a flash of fear in Kit’s face, and after that was gone, imperfectly repressed anxiety. Nick’s fingers twitched to reach out, but he suppressed that instinct. Instead, he turned the hand in his lap palm up, and in a mere second, Kit’s tail was there, winding into his grip. “What’s wrong?” Nick asked.
“That will involve kits going to Vi’s estate.” Kit’s voice was strained. “While merfolk are incensed against us.”
“Going to Vi’s estate with me,” Nick pointed out. “And I’ll make sure nobody gets hurt.”
“They didn’t kill anyone on Lady Desre’s ship,” Ios pointed out.
“They didn’t come near the ship in the first place,” Nick said.
Ios’s head cocked to the side. “They caught up with it hours after we made our escape.”
Nick had been looking at Kit, trying to reassure him through eye contact that he wasn’t trying to lead his friends into an ambush. It was only because he was looking that he saw the surprise that filled Kit’s face. Nick blinked, not registering the words at first.
He turned slowly to Ios. “Are you screwing with me?”
The crude phrasing seemed to delight Ios. “No.”
“Hours?Hoursafter I was gone, they decided to check that ship?” Nick repeated, outraged. “For fuck’s sake. Where’s the river? I’m going to go yell at the water until those assholes find me.”
Ios chuckled, though there was something fearful in the sound.
“The timing is…odd.” Kit’s brow creased. “None were hurt?” he double-checked.
“Not that our scouts could tell,” Ios confirmed.
Seche was looking thoughtfully between Kit and Nick. “That plan is agreeable,” he said.
“What plan?” Kit frowned.
“Nick,” Seche addressed him. “Tomorrow, I will bring you to the river where we can call for the merfolk. We have scouts along the banks all the way from the ocean to the slopes of Aridia; we will find them without difficulty.”
Kit’s frown deepened, his blue gaze remaining fixed on Seche. “That is Valor’s decision, is it not?”
“Nick was left in my care, actually,” Seche said. But something about him softened as he took in Kit’s troubled look. “General or not, Valor couldn’t possibly use the one you’ve imprinted on to his advantage.”
Ios’s tail thumped Seche’s backside.
“Nor would we,” Seche added. Without missing a beat, he reached out, snatching Ios by the tail and yanking the kit halfway out of his chair. Seche cast Ios a warning look, and though Ios inclined his head in submission, his eyes were nothing but defiant.
Nick digested the turn the conversation had taken. He’d thought he’d have to sneak away. He’d thought he’d have to somehow convince Valor to send him off to Vi’s estate with a guide. He hadn’t expected to just be taken at his word that hewanted to help. And oddly enough, there were no doubts or disbelief stirring within him; he believed Seche.
Playful squeals and yelps interrupted them. Half a dozen kids abruptly surrounded his chair, all carrying wooden buckets filled with water. They sloshed dangerously, but they all managed not to spill anything.
“Frog,” the nearest one declared, setting it down right next to Nick. Nick peered in, and immediately his nose was scrunching. They started laughing.
“That is disgusting,” Nick said flatly. It was, exactly as Kit had described: round, slimy and green. But what Kit hadn’t mentioned was that it was the size of a football, the slime was a paler green that looked like snot, and its eyes were set so far apart it looked plain derpy. “Seriously, that is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. Do you have one in all the buckets?”
The next kit came in with his bucket. “This one is a boy.”
“It’s even uglier.”
