Seduced by the Sea Lord

Chapter 26

When Blake emerged from the pristine, ginormous yacht—with a helicopter pad—in his crisp white suit, holding a sparkling glass of wine, Lucy was hit with the gut punch of shame.

He was still fit and strong. Healthy as the day they'd anchored here together, when she dove for what looked like a dropped flashlight and turned out to be a million-dollar Sea Opal. They had laughed and danced, screamed and planned. The future was amazingly bright, and they were a young couple who had just won it all.

His half had drained into leaky investments, while hers had paid off their student loans, credit card debt, and tanked businesses.

And yet, here they were, back in the same place a decade later. He looked exactly the same. Older, with less hair on top and longer sideburns to try to disguise it, but otherwise, he'd been lifted by their breakup.

She was the one dripping wet on his yacht, hungry and half drowned, with her new husband under arrest.

Blake's scorn said all that and more.

"That's a new look for you," he said, arching his brow.

She covered herself. In the ocean, her whole body changed and felt different. Even when she'd faced down the council leader fish stick, she'd never felt this exposed.

No way in hell did she want to reveal that she'd gained superpowers.

"I was reliving the old days," she said. "Back when clothes were optional."

He wrinkled his nose. "That option expired."

The insult stung.

Torun grunted and struggled beneath the blades of his captors. Oh, yeah. Her pain hurt him too. Lucy had to be strong for both of them.

She blazed back at her ex. "At least I can put on clothes. Naked or not, you're still a backstabbing asshole."

"Ooh, clever." He sneered at her and motioned to the mer. "Ailan, take them below."

Ailan and other warriors lofted Torun and carted him, struggling and grunting, down to the hold after Blake. Two reached out as if they were going to grab her. She glared. They hesitated.

"Why are you taking orders from a human?" she demanded.

One warrior grimaced. "He is your husband."

"God, for the last time! He's not my husband. He's my ex."

"Torun touched you. Your husband threatened to expose us. He is owed justice."

"First of all, your twisted 'mer logic' doesn't apply. In the air, the woman always chooses." She jerked her thumb at her chest. Their brows rose in shock. "Always. And second of all, Blake's the one who left me. Torun owes him nothing but a punch in the face."

The two warriors frowned at each other.

"Furthermore, the man you're helping right now is your worst enemy. The only thing he's going to do is steal your Sea Opals."

"No one can do that." The one warrior shook his head confidently. "They are beyond air-breathing humans."

"Except in the cave close to here, right? That has plenty."

"It cannot be entered by a non-mer."

"I entered it."

They regarded her blankly.

"Before I drank the elixir, I entered the cave."

"Lies." The closest warrior lowered his trident at her. "Go to your husband."

Crap.

"My husband is Torun," she insisted. But they didn't believe her. The look in their eyes was the same as the HR person calling her in for the conversation about her place in the company.

She paused to tug on clothes from the luggage Blake had stolen from her trawler and descended at trident-point to the hold.

The warriors had thrown Torun into a clear fiberglass cage reinforced with steel. Blake locked the door and pocketed the key. Beside it rested her equipment, Cash's surveying logs, and diving gear.

Her heart started beating. What had happened to her crew? Where was the Sea Opal she'd left with Gracie?

"I need days to deal with this home-wrecker," Blake told Ailan. "Weeks, actually."

"We return at sunrise," Ailan said. "You will not reveal our existence to the human world."

"I wouldn't dream of telling anyone else about you," Blake said with a smarmy tone to the warriors.

Of course he wouldn't. Announcing to the world that mermen existed would get in the way of him stealing their Sea Opals.

"This man is not my husband!" she shouted at the warriors.

Ailan paused.

The warrior who had pulled the trident on her murmured in Ailan's ear. "She claims this male left her."

"He left me for a size-one model. He divorced me because I couldn't have children!"

"Aw." Blake's tone dropped to deadly monotone. "That's not true."

That jerk.

Ailan narrowed his eyes. "Your argument is between humans. It is not our business." He strode to the doorway.

"Wait!"

They all disappeared up the stairwell. Distant splashes meant she was on her own.

Lucy bunched her fists and whipped to face her horrible ex. "You divorced me."

"I know." He sat in a metal chair. "Aya's a size five."

She started to snarl.

Wait.

Was that...?

On the table beside him rested a spear gun.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"

He picked up the gun andwaved at a chair. "Why don't you sit down?"