Anna

Banks
Hard To Get
The Syrena Legacy #1.5
 Part 1
Toraf checks his pace, allowing Rayna to close some of the distance he’d put
between them since leaving Galen and Emma standing on the beach. This is a
habit of his, he realizes, to slow down for her so she can catch up. She’s
always been insecure about being slow, especially since her twin brother
Galen is so fast.

Now is not the time to nurture her, idiot. You just kissed Emma. No amount of
nurturing can save you from Rayna’s wrath.

When he senses that she’s within in visual range, he launches forward again—
partly because he wants her to see him swim away from her, but mostly
because he’s not ready to talk about what happened yet. His fin swirls a
nearby group of jellyfish into a whirpool. Normally this would be a treat for
him, to scatter the jelly fish in different directions. Sometimes they even—

Concentrate, half wit! She’s getting closer!

What will he say? Where should he start?

What have I done?

He shakes his head. I had to do it. The twins needed to be shaken up. Taught a
lesson. It was the most efficient way to get through to both of them.

Well, idiot, you’ve efficiently earned yourself a busted lip when Rayna
catches up to you. Galen already pounded your guts into a mess of bruises.
Now you want to attract sharks with fresh blood?

Toraf scowls. No, she won’t bust my lip this time. I saw her face. She’s
heartbroken.

Which is more than he’d hoped for. And worse than he’d intended. He wanted
to startle her to her senses. To make her jealous. Not to shred her heart to
pieces. In retrospect, he admits it probably wasn’t the greatest idea. Galen’s
fist didn’t exactly tickle. Plus, Emma tried to squirm out of his grasp the
whole time—awkward.

Stop acting like a fingerling. Finish what you started. End. It.
Even now, torn and under attack by his emotions, it doesn’t feel right to swim
away from Rayna. Not when all he wants to do is fold her up in his arms and
cuddle her senseless. But cuddling her senseless hasn’t gotten him anywhere.
Sure, kissing Emma was drastic, and from Galen’s reaction, possibly life-
threatening. But if this is the only way to get through to Rayna, Toraf refuses
to regret it. He needs her to see that they’re meant to be together.

So, it’s painfully counterintuitive when he speeds up again. He can just

imagine what Rayna’s face looks like as she watches his the force of his wake
swoosh the seaweed and disburse schools of minnows as he leaves her behind
—again.

He’s not, however, far enough away yet to miss her corresponding growl. It’s
a promise of retribution.

Toraf finally reaches the edge of the big shelf where the bottom of the ocean
inevitably drops off and the deep water begins. His eyes adjust to the darkness
ahead. There are no fish around. No crabs. Not even a hint of creel floating in
the current.

He sends out what his mentor Yudor calls a thick ripple. Only Trackers can do
it. And only Toraf has the ability to send one this big. It leaves him like an
invisible net gliding through the water, capturing the pulse of other Syrena in
the area and reporting it back to him. Only Rayna is close.

Which means their impending confrontation—and his possible impending

busted lip— will be a private affair.

His stomach feels like a ball of string unraveling, loosening, tightening,

unknotting. He’s going to have to explain himself. And he’s going to have to
do it without losing the upper hand—and more importantly, without losing
Rayna. He’s not sure he’s ever successfully explained himself before. Usually
he talks himself into more trouble. And he can count on no fingers how many
times he’s won a confrontation with Rayna.

This will be different. It has to be. You kissed Emma. You. Kissed. Emma.

“Toraf,” Rayna says, breathless. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” There is
no anger in her voice. Which makes Toraf want to curl into a ball. Something
bad is about to happen.
“Of course I heard you. You’ve scared away every fish in the drop off.”
You’re getting a busted lip you’re getting a busted lip you’re getting a busted
lip….

She stiffens by his side. He fights the urge to comfort her. And the urge to
protect his face. But this has to get worse before it gets better. He knows it.

She seems to sense this, too. “We should talk about this.” Still, her voice is so
gentle, so innocent.

Which is very very scary. “About what?”

Her hand slides onto his forearm and squeezes. “About her.”

Toraf shrugs off the contact and faces her. Hopefully she can’t hear his heart
beating against his chest. Especially when he says, “I think you’ve got things
confused. This isn’t about her.”

He sees the exact moment her temper inflates like a raft. Fury dances in her
eyes, making them a lighter violet. She crosses her arms.

Busted lip busted lip busted lip! Does his panic show up on his face?

“It is about her. It’s about you kissing her.”

“Me kissing her is none of your business anymore.” Whoa. Where did that
come from? Bloodied lip is one thing, death is quite another.

“I’m your mate. Everything you do is my business, Toraf.”

Toraf loves the sound of that. It’s the first time Rayna has ever accepted it out
loud, the first time she’s claimed him as her mate. He wants to hear it again,
but he’s guessing she won’t repeat herself. That would be too generous.
Especially under the circumstances.

Still, it’s too early in this game to melt at mere words—words she can twist
later at her convenience. He crosses his arms, mimicking her haughty poise.
She hates to be mocked—Galen does it all the time because he knows it’s the
best way to inject ferocity into her thick skin. And Rayna’s ferocity is always
bound to entertain.

Except right now, Toraf doesn’t want entertainment. He wants Rayna. Not
getting injured would be nice too, but mostly he needs for Rayna to want him
the way he wants her. He didn’t even realize how desperately he needs this
until just now.

“You’re singing a different song than when you left, princess,” he says.
“When you and your fool of a brother took off, you were of a mind to unseal
us. What changed?” He’s just a bit proud of himself that his voice didn’t
crack. He wonders how long his courage will last.

Especially since he can see the poison lingering on the tip of her tongue, a
cache of sharp words ready to stab him. But to his amazement, the slashing
never starts. In fact, her face softens. He has to work very hard not to let his
jaw drop open. He’s never seen her rein in her temper like that. He wasn’t
aware she was even capable of it. And he certainly doesn’t trust it.

“I knew this was coming,” she says, turning away from him. “And I know I
deserve it.” What is happening here? Who is this person who looks and talks
like Rayna? Then again, she must be thinking the same thing about me.

She whips around, startling him. “But why her?” Her eyes look so big. So
vulnerable. Is she playing a game? Of course she is. But what are the rules?
Are there rules? He wants to turn and swim far far away from here.

Toraf swallows. It’s the only thing he can do, what with her hypnotizing glare
and all. Plus, he doesn’t want to say anything, not when his words may
change where this conversation is heading. He doesn’t trust himself not to
taunt her, not to ask leading questions. Not get a broken nose. He wants her to
tell him how she feels, all on her own.

Without his help.

Is that so much to ask?

Probably.

When he doesn’t respond, she swims forward, brushing her hand along his
cheek. His high hopes float somewhere in between them, waiting for her to
continue with...Well, with whatever it is she’s doing.

Finally, she sighs. “Emma has everything already,” she says. “She has the
human world at her fingertips. My brother chasing her imaginary fin. And
now you kissing her lips. What makes her so special? What does she have that
I don’t?”

Aside from what he would call ‘disgustingly wrinkly skin’, Toraf can’t
answer that. And he shouldn’t. Rayna is coaxing herself out, letting down her
guard, and he should let her. He should encourage her. It’s just that her touch
is causing his fin to twitch…

Her eyes fall to his belly. His reflex is all vanity, to suck in his gut or puff up
his chest—or both. But she would notice if he did it now. She would notice,
and she would prey on it. Oh, would she have fun with that.

Instead, she traces a finger over the muscles of his abdomen. Is that
admiration in her eyes? I hate this game!

“Did Galen hurt you?” she whispers. “He was hitting pretty hard.”

Indeed he was. In fact, Toraf was surprised just how provoked Galen had
become over a simple kiss. But that’s Galen’s problem. Right now, Toraf’s
only goal is not to talk. Words are his enemy. Words get twisted. Explanations
change conversations. “I’m fine.”

She drops her hand. “Toraf. Talk to me. You can’t hold out forever.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re going to tell me what just happened. And then you’re going to
explain to me why I shouldn’t take a lionfish spike to your head.”

He throws his hands up. “I would, but talking to you is exhausting. It doesn’t
get me anything but a swollen eye or a missing tooth or a lionfish spike. I get
it. You don’t want to be mated to me. So go unseal us.” Well, he didn’t mean
to say that much, but at least he ended on a negative note, right? Instead of
what he was really thinking; that the idea was laughable, her swimming
around the expanse of the ocean without him trailing behind her like a sucker
fish. Triton’s beard, but she needs him.

He just wishes she would get around to realizing it. And then, of course,
saying it out loud would be nice. And meaning it, even better.

So he must be doing the right thing by swimming away from her now.
Because after all, she keeps following him around like a sucker fish. A little
part of him appreciates the change of pace. Her chasing him. Who would have
thought? At the very least, her attentiveness must be a good sign, right?
Right?

Or she might be trying to find a good place for a lionfish spike.

With Rayna, anything goes. She’s as unpredictable as a ground trembler. It’s

one of the things he loves about her. Not when it hurts, of course, but just the
fact that she can—and does—change course without notice. There’s never
getting bored with Rayna.

Still, still, he’s not expecting what she does next.

Before he can even flinch, she grabs his arm and spins him to face her. The
waft of the sudden movement doesn’t catch up with them before her lips press
into his. Her touch roams everywhere, places it had never been, and certainly
not ever been in a pleasant way like this. Hands that used to form a fist now
caress his chest, down the length of him, tracing a line of steam to the place
where his skin turns to fin.

She ropes her arms around his neck and somehow his traitorous arms have
welcomed her, pulling her closer so that his lips can better devour her. He has
fantasized about this moment so many times, but his expectations never could
have prepared him for this. For her appetite, her thoroughness. It’s almost like
she’s making a point. And then he realizes. She is making a point. She’s
trying remove all the traces of Emma left on his lips, and replace those traces
with herself.

She still doesn’t understand the real issue between them. The issue that
existed before he kissed Emma.

And that is why he pulls away. It’s something he never thought he could do.
And by the look on her face, neither did Rayna. Her eyes are full of questions.

Toraf has some of his own. “Why did you do that?” He sounds gruffer than
he’d intended. He can’t help it. His frustration roils in his stomach,
threatening to swallow him from the inside out. Not to mention the
inconvenient desire racing through his veins. Toraf decides kissing Rayna is a
major life event.

She drifts slightly back. “Are you serious?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Rayna. This isn’t what I want.”
She sucks in a big breath. Then another. “What are you saying? That…That
you don’t want me?”

“No! Yes. I mean, I want you. More than you know. But not like this. Not
when it’s about her.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What I’m trying to say is, I didn’t kiss Emma.”

“Um. You did, actually. I saw you do it. Watched the whole time, in fact.”

He waves his hand in dismissal. “That wasn’t a kiss. Not a real one.” Taking
his hand in hers, he pulls her closer. “What we just did, that was a real kiss.
Or at least, I thought it was. Until I realized…” He runs his thumb over her
fingers, savoring how soft they feel when they’re not twisting a bruise onto
his skin. He wants that softness again. And again and again. Which is why
this is going to be hard to say. “Until I realized that you’re just competing
against Emma. That it’s about her, like you said. Not about us. I don’t want
that.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but they both know her reaction is too
immediate, too defensive to be authentic. Disappointment swirls through him.
Will she shut herself off? Will she hide her true feelings yet again?

No. He won’t let her. “Rayna.”

But she reclaims her hand and puts it squarely over his mouth. “No. You
didn’t want to talk, remember? So now you’re just going to be quiet and listen
for once in your life.”

He can do that. He would love to do that. At least, he thinks he would…

When she’s satisfied that he won’t offer further commentary, she nods. “Look.
I know you think I’m jealous of Emma.”

Think? She said as much herself! He raises a brow.

She huffs, fidgeting with the strings holding her pink bikini top around her
neck. “Okay, fine. I am jealous of Emma. What’s not to be jealous about? She
gets to live on land like a human, but she can come and go in our world when
she wants. And then there’s Galen.” She rolls her eyes. “Can he be more
obvious about his infatuation with her? I’m his sister and he’s never paid that
kind of attention to me. Have you seen the way he looks at her? Is she really
that interesting?”

Have you seen the way I look at you? he wants to yell.

Besides, if Galen paid the kind of attention to Rayna as he did Emma, then
they’d have a serious problem. If Rayna hasn’t figured out by now that Galen
feels the pull for Emma, who is Toraf to tell her? And why is this an issue?
This has nothing to do with us.

Not that he doesn’t sympathize with Rayna; he does. The twins have always
been close. It seems that ever since Emma came stumbling in, Galen has been
more reserved with both his time and his feelings. It was bound to happen
eventually.

And Toraf couldn’t care less. This is exactly what he didn’t want this
exchange to be about. It feels like his patience is hemorrhaging into the
current around them.

Rayna notices. She appears to adjust what she’s going to say. “So, I am
jealous of Emma. But it’s not the reason I kissed you.”

Triton’s trident, she wields anticipation like a weapon! “Rayna—”

“I love you,” she blurts. She seems as surprised as he feels.

“What?” I love you. I love you. The words lace through him, but he doesn’t
dare feel them. Not yet.

She runs a hand through her short adorable hair, a habit she shares with her
brother. “Oh, come on. You heard me. I love you, Toraf. I’ve loved you
forever, as long as I can remember. When you kissed Emma, I thought I was
going to die. Right there on the beach. Dead. The thing is, it doesn’t matter
who you kissed. Yes, I’m jealous of her, blah blah blah. But for this one thing,
it doesn’t matter that it was Emma. It could have been anyone. All that
matters is that it wasn’t me you were kissing.”

And just like that, she stole his breath. His speech. His heart—well, she’d
relieved him of that a long time ago. I’ve loved you forever. As long as I can
remember.
Is this really happening? “But you said you wanted to unseal us. That you
never wanted to be mated. That I took your freedom.” She said a lot of other
things too, something about him being as ugly as a rockfish. Or was it an
urchin? He couldn’t remember, but he’d rather not anyway.

She thinks for a moment, then nods. “But don’t you see? You did take my
freedom. If you would have waited, I would have come to you. I knew I had
to mate eventually, and I always wanted it to be you. But I wasn’t ready yet.
You shouldn’t have done what you did.” She eases away from him,
grimacing.

He knows the expression all too well. She’s about to flee. To swim away,
leaving him with a confession, a stolen kiss, and a scolding. To end the
conversation by leaving it wide open, unresolved. The way she always does.

“Rayna,” he says softly. “If you love me, if you wanted to mate with me, then
what is the problem? Help me understand.”

She slips further back. “I shouldn’t have to help you understand.”

“Rayna—”

“You never asked!” she blurts. “You never asked, you just did it. You sealed
us and I wasn’t even there. You stole my dreams from me, and maybe they
were the silly dreams of a lovesick fingerling. But I always thought you do it
the right way. That you would take me somewhere special. Like a new
shipwreck you’d secretly found, or an island you thought I might like. You’d
be nothing but serious, and you’d tell me how much you loved me and ask me
to be your mate. But you didn’t. You went straight to my brother when I
wasn’t even there! And then I find out because I overhear you telling my
brother about it. When were you going to tell me?” At this, she covers her
mouth with both hands but she’s too late to stifle the achingly real sob that
escapes between her fingers.

He swims toward her but she backs away. “Rayna, please—”

She holds up a hand. “No. That’s not all. You wanted me to talk. So let me
talk.” She takes several more breaths, clutching her side as if she’s in pain.
Tiny lacerations start to rip a painful network on Toraf’s heart. I’ve been so
stupid.
“As if that weren’t bad enough, Toraf, you never apologize. I waited and
waited for you to come to me and tell you how sorry you were for taking me
as a mate without asking. But not once did you say you were sorry. No matter
how many hints I gave you, no matter how upset I was. You laughed it off.
You laughed it off right up until you decided to pull Emma into your arms and
kiss her. Not me. Her. Then, then, you let me chase you half across the ocean,
as if I had done something wrong—”

“Oh, Rayna. My princess. I’m so sorry.” Each time he starts for her, she backs
away again. “I’m so stupid, princess. Please. Listen to me.” But he can tell by
the way her lip quivers, by the way she squares her shoulders, that this
conversation ended long ago.

And with it, possibly their last chance to reconcile. “Rayna, there are so many
things I need to tell you. I didn’t steal your freedom. I gave it back to you.
Please let me explain.”

“Stay away from me, Toraf,” she says. “Stay away from me for now on.”

And then she’s gone.

 Part 2
Toraf finds Grom, the Triton king, in his usual haunt—hovering listlessly over
the barren human minefields. He knows Grom has sensed him for some time,
but the twins’ older brother doesn’t acknowledge Toraf until he sweeps up
beside him.

Grom chuckles without looking at the younger Syrena. “Don’t worry,

minnow. Rayna didn’t unseal you.”

Toraf clears his throat. “I know. I came to…I came to unseal her.”

This catches the king off guard. His voice is part shock, part amusement when
he says, “Is my sister more than you can handle after all?”

“You know how I feel about your sister,” Toraf snaps. Then he softens his
tone. Grom is Rayna’s older brother, yes. But he’s also Toraf’s king. He
deserves more respect than that.

But Grom doesn’t seem perturbed. In fact, Toraf’s outburst seems to concern
him. “Toraf, what is troubling you?”

He feels like his heart has been quartered and used for bait. So this is what
guilt feels like. He’d never thought to feel guilty about what he’d done,
because up until today, he always knew it was the right thing to do. He always
knew he would mate with Rayna, and even though the circumstances weren’t
the best, he did what he thought was best. He thought that in time she’d
accept that. But after seeing Rayna’s tears, the way her tortured words caused
a riot in his chest…He was wrong. So wrong.

And so was Emma. Rayna wasn’t playing hard to get. She wasn’t playing at
all. She was hurt. Really, truly hurt. And she’d been waiting for Toraf to do
the right. Instead, he did the exact opposite. She will never talk to him again.

Unless he tells her the truth.

Toraf faces the Triton king. “I have to tell her why I did it. She’s hurting,
Grom. She doesn’t trust me anymore.”

Grom sighs. “We agreed this it was best to keep it a secret. That if she finds
out what Father—that she would be devastated if she knew the truth. You
were okay with that. What changed?”

I kissed Galen’s love interest in front of her, he wants to blurt. “I owe her the
truth,” is what he says instead. “She’s my mate and she will be for the next
three hundred years. That’s a long time to have to hate someone, don’t you
think?”

“Did you ever stop to think telling her could make it even worse?”

“What do you mean?”

“That if she’s mad now for some reason or another, telling her you’ve been
hiding something important from her all this time isn’t likely to be the healing
balm you’re looking for.”

“Wounds can’t heal until they’re clean,” Toraf decides as he says it. “And the
truth will at least clean things up between us. And eventually— hopefully—
things will heal.”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“Do I have your permission to tell her?”

“Would it really make a difference?”

At this, Toraf swims away. Grom is right. He’s going to do this whether or not
he has Royal permission. He might as well not stick around to hear the words
that may make his next move an act of treason.

Grom lets him go without a word.

 Part 3
Toraf finds Rayna trailing one of the big human ships—Rachel calls them
cruise ships—that make regular trips from the main land to clusters of islands
in the warm water. Sometimes when she’s lucky the humans will throw things
overboard, as if to leave something of themselves behind. Too bad they don’t
know that the objects never touch the bottom—not if Rayna’s predatory hands
hover nearby, anyway.

Rayna wastes no time in sentimental greetings. “Go away, Toraf.”

“I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

She doesn’t so much as glance back. “I’ve heard that before, haven’t I?”

He catches up to her and grabs her arm. He hates to actually force her to
listen. He hates to force her to do anything. Which is what started this whole
mess. He releases her arm, and to his relief, she stays put.

“I had to seal us, princess. I couldn’t let you mate with someone else.”

Rayna crosses her arms. She’s trying her best to appear bored, he knows, but
the hurt is still buried deep in her eyes. “Don’t do that, Toraf. Don’t pretend
that I made you believe I was interested in mating with someone else.”

“No,” he says softly. She never even hinted at an attraction to anyone else.
And anyone that showed her more interest than was appropriate was either
corrected by himself or by Galen. “You didn’t show interest. But your
father…” Can he really tell her? Should he really tell her? It seemed like a
good idea when he left Grom behind in the minefields. But now his
confidence seems to draining from his fin.

Rayna’s eyes grow big as sandollars. “What about my father?”

There is no turning back now. “The truth is, princess, I didn’t take away your
freedom. I gave it back to you. Your father was going to seal you to Kumen. I
had to intervene.”

“Kumen? The old Archive? He swims so slowly even fungus has a chance to
grow on his fin! My father wouldn’t do that. You’re lying.” But she doesn’t
really believe he’s lying. She doesn’t, because her whole air of poise seems to
crumble beneath the words.

As he pulls her to him, he tenses up, preparing for her to resist like she always
does. He’s more than pleasantly surprised when she doesn’t fight. Not even a
little bit. He’s not sure if that means she’s not mad anymore, or if she simply
doesn’t care enough to be mad anymore.

He’s hoping she’s mad. Furious. After all—and especially with Rayna—
anger is better than indifference. He’d learned that lesson many, many times.

“Why? Why would he do that?”

Toraf realizes there’s no delicate way of wording things. And he knows that
even if there were, Rayna would see through the threads and find the net. He
sighs. “Your father was getting concerned about the fact that you hadn’t
chosen a mate. He even told me and Galen that it was unheard of for a female
Triton Royal to turn twenty seasons without choosing a mate.”

“So? He always griped about that. And not just me, he was furious that Galen
hadn’t sifted yet either.”

He shrugs. “I guess it bothered him more than we all thought. Sometimes you
have to take his old bluster seriously, princess. Trust me on this. One day,
when Galen and I were passing through the meeting chamber in the Royal
Caverns, we overhead your father talking to Kumen. We heard Kumen offer
to take you off his hands. That you would enjoy living in the Cave of
Memories with him.”

Rayna gasps.

Toraf nods somberly. He remembers the hot jealousy broiling in his stomach.
The complete violence he’d felt toward that poor old Archive. The way his
fists seemed to ball up at the mention of his name. Even now.

“Galen and I thought it best to wait until Grom became king, since it appeared
your father’s mind was already made up,” Toraf continues. “I was going to
ask you, I swear I was, but you missed his kingship ceremony. You and your
idiot brother were walking around on land stalking wrinkly humans,
remember? So I had no choice but to ask Grom by myself, without you
there.”

She lays her head down on his chest. He loves having her there, but not under
these circumstances. The fight has left her. And if she doesn’t have fight in
her, then she isn’t truly Rayna. Maybe Grom was right. Maybe he shouldn’t
have told her the truth.

“Can you forgive me, Rayna? I thought I was doing the right thing. I’ve been
so stupid. It’s a wonder I can even swim straight. I’m that much of an idiot.
Worse than that. I’m—”

It startles him when she snickers into his chest. With the crook of his finger he
gingerly lifts her chin up to him. Her eyes are full of mischief. The unfiltered
kind, the kind that means she’s genuinely amused at his expense. Out of
nowhere, she bursts out laughing.

Hard. Uncontrollably. Insultingly.

He gives her a few moments. Then a few more. She’s in no danger of

stopping to catch her breath.

Toraf clears his throat. She holds up his hand, gesturing for him to give her
another moment to compose herself. She takes several more moments to
compose herself. Schools of fish dart around them, giving them a wide berth.
The cruise ship is long gone. Even the trail of its wake is dissipating on the
surface.

He knows this is a good sign. He hopes this is a good sign.

Finally, she stops guffawing. The familiar surge of What now? rushes through
Toraf. Which he loves.

“So let me get this straight,” she says, suppressing a giggle. “You sealed
yourself to me without my permission to stop my father from sealing me to
someone else without my permission?”

“Well, when you put it like that...Um. It’s just that it sounded a lot more
romantic and worthy in my head…But yeah. That’s what I did. More or less.”

She throws herself at him and his first instinct is to protect all the vulnerable
parts a Syrena male has to offer. But her intent is not to hurt him. Instead of
twisting his neck into a knot, she uses it to pull him down for what has to be
the best kiss in the history of all Syrena.

“I have a secret to tell you too,” she whispers. He appreciates the fact that her
tone is not so much amused as it is full of hunger. Hunger for him.

Still, Toraf’s not sure how many more secrets he can take. “Out with it,” he
says, nuzzling her ear. Her instant shiver is just to his liking.

“Kumen wasn’t asking Father to seal me to him. If you or my boneheaded

brother had half a brain, you would’ve looked further into it.”

Obviously she’s still in denial. But he vows to himself to be patient for as

long as it takes. He owes her that much. More than that, he loves her that
much. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Even Grom agreed with us
when we told him about it.”

“If you would have looked further into it, you would have discovered that
Kumen was asking my father for permission to mentor me. To train me to
become an Archive. You think that floating corpse would have the guts to
mate with me? Have you lost your mind? And if Grom agreed with you, that
was clever on his part. He knew of Kumen’s interest in me. He just let you
believe otherwise. Not sure if you noticed, but Grom doesn’t like me very
much.”

That’s true enough. But would he really have steered him so wrong? Toraf is
doubtful. “But Rayna, you’ve never demonstrated Archive aptitude. And why
would Kumen want you to live in the Cave of Memories?”

She rolls her eyes. “Clearly Kumen thinks I do have the ability to be an
Archive. You’re always saying I never forget anything.”

“I just meant that you’re an exceptional grudge holder.”

“Well, grudges are my specialty. But I can remember lots of other things too.”

He can’t deny this. She remembers each and every human treasure she
collects. Things she should have forgotten seasons ago. And during fights, she
can quote him word for word what’s he’s promised her and failed to do. He
knew it was a skill—he just didn’t realize it was a genuine aptitude.

Now Toraf feels heat rush away from his limbs and into his face. He wonders
if this is how Emma feels when she blushes. Thankfully Toraf’s skin is too
thick to reveal the blood pooling in his cheeks. He can keep his mortification
somewhat private. “So. So…I did take your freedom,” he says finally. “For
nothing.”
“Yes. You did,” she says sternly.

He pulls away from her. “I’ll go talk to Grom. Have him unseal us. Possibly
relieve him of a tooth or two, if no one’s around. But I’ll make it right, Rayna.
You’ll see.”

Before he can turn to leave she has hold of his arm again. Push and pull, he
thinks to himself. Welcome to life with Rayna.

“I swear by Triton’s trident,” she says through clenched teeth, “If you unseal
us I’ll never talk to you again.”

He stiffens. “I…I know that we’ve already covered that I’m an idiot. But…I
don’t understand what you want me to do here. At all.”

She scoffs. “Let’s say you and Galen didn’t have the intellect of a clam. And
let’s say you hadn’t felt forced to do what you did…You eventually would
have asked me to be your mate, right?”

“Rayna. I already asked you hundreds of times before, remember. Are…Are

you sure you’re meant to be an Archive? Not everyone has the memory—”_

“Yes, yes,” she waves her hand dismissively, “But you would have kept
asking me until I said yes, right?”

She’s leading up to something. He can feel it. He grins. “Of course I would.
What kind of question is that?”

“So if you would have kept asking, and I eventually would have said yes—
and I really would have Toraf, I was so close already I promise—then why
don’t we pretend that’s what happened, and just stay sealed to each other?”

Is this really happening? Is he finally getting what he’s always wanted? “You
want to stay sealed to me? Even after everything I did?”

She takes his face between her hands and smiles. There is no mistaking the
affection in her eyes. And there is no mistaking the warmth radiating through
him. “Especially after everything you did.” She leans in to brush her lips
against his, but stops herself. Tantrum lurks beneath her newly formed pout.
“Except the part where you kissed Emma. If you ever put your lips on anyone
else again—”
But he cuts her off—by putting his lips on hers.