A Thousand Salt Kisses Later (Book 2 of Salt Kiss series)

Seriously, Eek.

I swam into the ball on Jasper's arm, and there was the inevitable hush that I had been dreading. Jasper squeezed my hand, and we sailed past the onlookers, the seaweed ribbons from my corset streaming out behind me.

After about ten painful seconds the noise started up again, and I let out a shaky breath. It always felt so embarrassing, like I was some kind of swimming scandal. I suddenly felt racked with nerves; all that confidence that I had felt before in my room rapidly dissolving.

I led Jasper over to a quiet corner so that I could compose myself. A merman appeared with a box of camuls and I eagerly stuck my hand into it and guzzled down three in one gulp.

"Bit stressed are we, darling?" asked Jasper, wolfing down his own capsules.

"Just a bit" I hissed tensely. "Who's here, anyway?"

I had not yet dared to look around.

Jasper surveyed the hall with his chocolate eyes. "Err, everyone," he said.

My heart somersaulted to the extent that I thought it was going to come spinning out of my mouth.

"Are they looking?" I asked, nervously.

"Mmm," replied Jasper. "Here and there."

Oh, God. That means 'yes'.

"Is Llyr here?" I asked.

"I can't see him, actually," said Jasper.

"Hmm," I said. I still felt absolutely petrified and was suddenly questioning everything. What am I doing here? Could I really actually stand out enough next to Kara? I wasn't even a real mermaid. I was just some kind of... strange accident. What had I been thinking earlier?

"Maybe I should just go back to my room," I tremored.

"You will have to murder me before that happens," said Jasper firmly, zoning into my thoughts. "You are incredible and just remember, this might be the absolute last time you see him before..." he trailed off, but there was no need to complete the sentence. "Look, you've come so far, don't give up now," he finished.

I swallowed. "Okay," I said, now filled with a little more determination. "Let's go then."

We launched off slowly to peruse the event, and Jasper put his arm around my waist and gave me an awkward kiss on the cheek. I swallowed a giggle; his wooden attempt to appear heterosexual was pretty blatant.

I decided to force myself to look around me. Beautiful mers from Evergreen and The Jewel hovered in little groups, dressed up to the nines, their tattooed torsos swathed with pastel-colored gemstones.

As we swam through them, I was relieved to see warmth in their faces; some smiled, winked and waved. I smiled back, relaxing slightly. I had been expecting some hostility, given their rapturous reception to Kara some weeks back, but it appeared the crowd was not bothered by my presence.

"Are they pretending to be together?" I heard one mermaid whisper to another, as we passed.

As much as I loathed being talked about, overhearing this snippet of gossip picked me up even more. If it were really that obvious to the guests that Jasper and I were faking it, then Llyr wouldn't believe it either. Just as I had hoped.

"Look above you," Jasper sang excitedly.

I smiled at him curiously and then hung back my head. Hundreds of blue and green tails hovered over us, as guests socialized in small huddles in the waters above, some were even right up by the ceiling. I laughed in awe; I had never seen a vertical crowd before.