Chapter 11
Viviane’s POV
The pack house isn’t what I expected. I always pictured a cold, stuffy mansion. Instead it’s warm and welcoming.
Caspian blows smoke into the air, watching me out of the corner of his eye. “First time here?”
I nod, looking around the party with unbridled curiosity. Guests mill around packed gaming tables, dressed to the nines and juggling drinks. I don’t recognize many people, but based on their appearances I suspect they’re Academy students. The few faces I do know from Asterion High are far from friendly. I’ve only seen them from afar – apparently I lack the pedigree to be invited to their exclusive cliques.
“I don’t get to host often.” Caspian explains, steering me forward with a possessive hand on the small of my back. “But the Alpha is away on business.” The corner of his mouth twitches, “parties here are a bit different.”
“I wouldn’t know.” My face flushes, more from the heat of his touch than any embarrassment. “I’d never even been to a party before last week.”
Caspian blinks in astonishment, offering me a glass of some clear liquid. “Truly?”
“Yes.” I confirm distractedly, eyeing the drink with suspicion. “What’s in that?”
“Just a little liquid courage.” His teeth flash against his dark skin, and then his mouth is at my ear. “You can’t be good all the time, Viviane.” His lips brush against my skin with every word. I feel suddenly feverish, reveling in the frissons of pleasure his deep voice sends down my spine. “Come on, break one rule. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
It was the wrong thing to say.
My body tenses up, and I know my disquiet is visible on my face. I wrap my arms around myself protectively. Faces hurtle through my mind, ghosts torn straight from my nightmares and haunted memories. There are too many to count, too many mermaids I watched die for simply “breaking a rule.”
Caspian clenches his teeth, his jaw ticking dangerously as he studies my expression. “You’re never going to get over this are you?” He demands gruffly, the hand at my back curling into a fist. “You’re never going to accept me. You think I’m a bad person.”
If there is one thing I can recognize instantly, it’s the face of a wolf about to strike. My heart speeds up to a deafening gallop, “I never said that.”
“You don’t have to.” Caspian scoffs, “I can see it in your eyes. You’re afraid of me.”
I can’t meet his gaze. Fear is natural and logical, it’s a critical instinct that helps us survive. I know this. So why does being frightened of Caspian make me feel so ashamed?
“Why did you even come here if you think so poorly of me?” He questions, shaking his head.
Before I can think of a safe answer, cheers erupt from a nearby roulette table, drawing Caspian’s attention just long enough for me to make a break for it. I slip through the bustling partygoers, feeling rather than hearing Caspian’s growl when he realizes I’m no longer beside him.
I don’t stop until I’m sure I’ve lost him, though I have a sneaking suspicion that staying near the future Alpha would be the fastest way to find Nerissa. Instead I wander through the opulent house without any true sense of direction, keeping my ears pricked for the sound of my ex-step-sister’s nasal voice.
I finally find her hanging on the arm of a shifter I think I recognize from last week’s fight. She’s fawning all over him, her skin-tight dress leaving very little to the imagination.
I sidle up next to them, hissing her name.
Nerissa can’t hide her surprise, her hazel eyes bulging comically out of her head. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.” I pronounce firmly.
Extracting herself from the shifter, Nerissa clasps my forearm in a fierce grip and pulls me into the hall. “This is incredibly inappropriate.” She declares haughtily, “You have no business crashing this kind of event.”
I ignore her, “What did you do with my necklace?”
Triumph blazes through Nerissa as she pulls a familiar gold chain from the neckline of her dress, untangling it from a mass of layered necklaces. “What? You mean this necklace?”
“Give it back.” I snatch for it, but her shifter speed thwarts me.
“Why would I do that?” Nerissa asks incredulously. “It’s mine now. You were supposed to be helping me at the talent competition and instead you used the opportunity to bewitch Caspian. You stole him from me with your magic, so I’m going to use this little trinket of yours to take him back. It must have some power if you want it so badly.”
“Nerissa, it’s just a necklace.” I groan. “It’s important to me because it’s a family heirloom.”
“I don’t believe you.” She snaps.
Surely Nerissa isn’t so delusional that she thinks wearing a mermaid charm can give her our powers. “I’m telling the truth. I can’t bewitch people, that’s all just shifter superstition– stereotypes.”
“You hypnotized an entire room, I saw it!” She insists.
“I held their attention for the length of a song, that’s it.” And Caspian had been far from hypnotized.
For all the good my words did, Nerissa might as well have her hands over her ears, childishly chanting “la, la, la” to drown out my logic. Her attention is locked on my face as if, in this moment, we are the only two people on the planet. “You just don’t want me to take Caspian from you.”
Frustration consumes me little by little, and my hands curl into fists at my sides. “I Don’t. Want. Caspian.”
“Yes,” A low voice says behind me. “You’ve made that very clear.”
If I was truly the shifter I pretend to be, Caspian’s sudden appearance would have been enough to make me jump out of my skin. Instead I flinch violently, yelping while Nerissa hurriedly stuffs the necklace back into her dress. Strong hands catch my waist, “Easy.”
Chase steps forward on my other side, cool and calm amidst all our high emotions. Recovering quickly, Nerissa produces a beatific smile, batting her eyelashes. “Caspian, how long have you been standing there?
“Not long.” He remarks cryptically, “would one of you like to tell me what’s going on?”
It may sound like a question, but we all know it’s an order.
“Oh nothing.” Nerissa lies smoothly. “Just girl talk, you know. Nothing to worry yourself about.”
“And you?” Caspian’s muscular chest brushes against my shoulder blades, and all the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Is that your story as well, kitten?”
I’ve told a thousand falsehoods over the last five years, but for some reason, I cannot bring myself to lie to Caspian. I crane my neck back, looking up into his piercing blue eyes. The intensity of his scrutiny makes my knees go weak. “She stole something from me. A necklace.”
Caspian arches his brow, “Is this true, Nerissa?”
“It’s not what you think.” She beseeches him, “I’m trying to help you.”
“And how exactly is lying to your future Alpha helping him?” Chase wonders aloud.
“Nerissa –”
She raises her palm, cutting me off. “No, Viviane. I won’t let you do this.” Actual tears well in her eyes as she looks between Caspian and Chase. “She’s an unregistered mermaid. She was using the necklace to enchant you.”
The room is spinning, whirling round and round so quickly that my surroundings are reduced to a hazy blur. Nerissa’s words hang in the air between us, brittle and bitter – dripping with venom. At first I do as I always have, and freeze in the face of abuse.
However after a moment a new wave of awareness assails me, a realization that this time is not like all the others. For once, I don’t feel powerless. I don’t feel alone.
“If you really believe that, then show him.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “Show him this magical necklace I’m supposed to be using to entrap him.”
Nerissa hesitates, her features twisting with uncertainty.
“Go ahead.” Caspian instructs.
Reluctantly, she does as she’s told, revealing the simple nautilus.
Chase takes the necklace, examining it. “A shell?”
“A shell.” I confirm. “No more dangerous than any other.”
Caspian’s hands leave my waist only long enough to take custody of the nautilus. “I have to say, if Viviane wants to seduce me, she’s got an odd way of showing it, Nerissa.”
“Thank you,” I sigh, reaching for the necklace.
Caspian jerks his hand away at the last moment, holding the jewelry out of my reach. “Not so fast, mate.” He purrs, “I didn’t say you could have it.”
Caspian’s POV
Viviane’s jaw drops, “But I– she… it’s mine!” She finally exclaims.
“It was.” I allow, “but I think I might need to hang onto it, just to be safe.” I don’t believe for one second that my mate is a mermaid or that she has any designs on winning me. First because the suggestion is preposterous – years ago mermaids who survived captivity did come to Asterion for asylum, but Viviane is much too young to be one of them. Second, Nerissa has done nothing but lie from the first moment we met.
Even so, the disgruntled look on her normally timid countenance is too adorable to resist.
She pivots to face me, and I have to resist the urge to rip the sunglasses away from her beautiful eyes. “Why do you wear those things?”
Viviane ignores the question, “Please, Caspian.” She implores, the sound of my name on her sweet lips cutting me straight to the bone.
Clever kitten.
“How about a wager?” I suggest.
Her nose crinkles in confusion, “what kind of wager?”
I leave Viviane’s side only long enough to swipe a lone die from a nearby craps table. Pocketing the necklace, I hold the small white cube up between our bodies. “If I roll a four or higher, I’ll let you have the necklace.”
“And if it’s below a four?” She replies warily.
I smirk, “Then you owe me a kiss.”
