Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(66)

“Too loud!” I grumbled, rolling to my feet. “And I was just bringing dessert.” The thought of Aphrodite in her perfect body eating one of my cupcakes made me giggle again. “You should eat several, you could stand to gain a few pounds, you’re too skinny.”

She gasped, Smithy groaned, and I crawled out of the hut. The water looked so lovely I didn’t even think about it, I just slid over the edge of the pool as the sounds of screaming and yelling continued on the surface side of the water, now muffled.

Someone tugged on my hand, and I opened my eyes. The mermaid smiled at me, row upon row of sharklike teeth flashing at me. I wasn’t afraid, though. I just smiled back, my fangs dropping down. Bubbles rolled up out of her mouth, and I knew she was laughing. I clasped her hand with my own, and she swam with me across the length of the pool.

With a shove, she heaved me out of the water and onto the deck at my yaya’s feet.

“Time to go, Alena. I think you’ve done enough here today.”

“Enjoy the cupcakes!” I yelled over my shoulder. The crowd gave a tiny cheer, and Achilles waved and blew me a kiss. I waved back and even blew him a kiss back like we were grand friends. Like he hadn’t tried to kill Tad and I hadn’t cut his legs.

With Ernie on one side of me and Yaya on the other, I wobbled out through the house, dripping water and giggling. Narcissus met us at the door. “I hope you enjoyed your visit.”

“Oh, totally! Oh my God, you are so hot.” I slapped his ass the way Yaya had, and he yelped, his eyes bugging wide.

I fell into the car—it wasn’t like there was a door to open anymore anyway—and strapped myself in.

Ernie and Yaya were talking, their voices flowing over me in a smooth dialogue that sounded like Chinese to me.

“Merlin’s house. I want to give him a cupcake!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“Holy shit, she’s drunk as a skunk,” Ernie said. “Yes. We’re going there right now.”

“Good.” I flopped my head back and closed my eyes. I must have slept, because what felt like seconds later we were stopping again.

“Here we are,” Yaya said. “Alena. Are you feeling better?”

I swallowed once and ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth. “Feels like I’ve got cotton candy stuck to the inside of my mouth.”

“Yes, but how is your thinking? Are you going to break into giggles when someone says ‘penis’?” she asked.

I stared at her, shocked. “Why would Merlin say ‘penis’ exactly?”

She rolled her eyes. “Look, I wanted to see how drunk you were. The nectar is working out of your system, so go ahead. Take him his cupcake.”

I scooped up the final venom cupcakes, undid my seat belt, and stumbled out of the car. My clothes were still damp, my hair was a mess, and I could feel the alcohol on my breath, hot and uncomfortable.

I hurried up the steps to Merlin’s house. He’d fixed the door I’d kicked in and replaced it with one made of steel. I had a feeling it wouldn’t stop me if I really wanted in. I rapped my knuckles on the door twice.

“Who is it?” came a muffled reply.

“Alena. I want to talk. I want to apologize.”

The door opened and Merlin stood there, wearing nothing but a pair of black silk pajama pants. His hair was slicked back as always, and his eyes roved over me slowly.

What was it with all these shirtless dudes? I mean, if I was going to see anyone shirtless, I wanted it to be Remo. Not Merlin. Not Smithy (no matter how nice he might have looked).

“You came to apologize at five in the morning?”

“I don’t sleep much when I have someone trying to kill me.”

He snorted and made a motion with one hand for me to come in. I stepped through the doorway, surprised to see that the main room was empty. Every time I’d gone to see him, there had been a gaggle of Super Dupers playing poker or hanging out with him.

“Why are you really here, Alena?”

I stopped next to the table and set the cupcake down. “I heard a rumor you were going to work for my husband as a lawyer tomorrow; I guess that’s today, now,” I said. “I’m hoping that’s wrong. That you wouldn’t . . .”

He smiled at me. “He’s paying me very well, Alena. You understand it’s not personal.”

I clenched my hands, fighting the urge to reach over and strangle him. “I would think you’d want me to win. To gain rights back for all Super Dupers.”

He laughed and slid into a chair. “You don’t understand, and I don’t expect you to. You still see everything as black and white. Most of the world does. Us against them, but the truth is, Alena, they need us to be dangerous. They and we both need them to be prey. I want the Wall down, but other than that, I don’t want things to change. Fear works in my favor, you see.” He pulled the lid off the cupcake container and swiped a finger through the icing.

I held my breath as he popped his finger in his mouth.

“I see.” I turned my back and headed for the door.

“What, no threats? Not even going to try and beg?”

I kept walking. “No. What’s the point? You’ve made up your mind, and I’ve made up mine.”

His laughter followed me out the door. “You are going to lose everything tomorrow, Alena. Or I should say today. If you’d behaved yourself, I would have helped you. But you just had to go and be difficult. You must get that from your mother’s side.”