Wickedly Wonderful (Baba Yaga, #2)(26)
The discovery that she’d been poking around had initially alarmed him, and he’d engineered this meeting on the beach to find out how far she’d gotten. And while he wasn’t happy about the samples she’d taken, it was clear that she had no clue as to what he’d been dumping in the ocean for the last few months. He’d just have to make sure she never found out.
One way or the other.
For the moment, his plan was simple: he’d take advantage of her vulnerability, woo her and stay close so he could keep track of her progress, and sabotage it as necessary. Kesh thought that, lacking confidence as she was, it would be easy to distract and mislead her, while charming her into trusting him completely.
In fact, he’d had a rather brilliant flash after meeting her in person. She was, after all, stunningly pretty, and sooner or later he would need to take a mate to give him heirs for this new kingdom he was building on land. There were a few women among the Selkies he’d persuaded to follow him when he left, but none of them particularly appealed to him for the long term. If he played the game just right, he could not only exact his revenge, but also end up with the massive powers of a Baba Yaga to add to his own.
Of course, if that didn’t work, he could always kill her.
NINE
BEKA AND FERGUS got to the Wily Serpent just before ten. Marcus was already there, along with an unexpected guest.
“Hey, Beka,” Marcus said, nodding his head neutrally at Fergus. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m bringing along a friend of mine today. This is Tito. He gets chemo with my da, and I’ve been promising him a day out on the water. Thought I’d take advantage of my father not being around, and take Tito out to watch you dive. The two of us can throw a line in while you’re doing your thing.”
There was something eager and a little vulnerable about the way he asked; after all, he could have just told her the boy was coming. It was his father’s boat. But it was clear to Beka that he wanted the boy to have a good time. And if that meant a truce for the day, it was just fine with her.
“Hi Tito,” she said, climbing on board and stowing her gear out of the way. “I’m Beka, and this is my dive buddy Fergus. Nice to meet you.”
The boy stuck his hand out politely and shook hers, then extended it to Fergus, his eyes bright as stars in the night sky. “That’s cool,” he said, looking down at Fergus’s hand and turning it sideways so he could get a better look. “You have little webs between your fingers. Does that help you swim?”
Marcus cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “Tito, dude, it’s not polite to comment on people’s, um, oddities.” He shrugged an apology at Fergus, who just laughed.
“I do not mind,” Fergus said, grinning at the dark-skinned boy. He leaned down and whispered, “Can you keep a secret? I am actually a Merman from an undersea kingdom; that is why I have webs between my fingers.” He held up one bare foot and said in a more normal tone, “Toes, too, see?”
Tito’s face was a study in conflicting awe and disbelief. “I never heard of a Merman,” he said, dubiously. “I thought there were only Mermaids. And they’re made up.”
Fergus snorted. “If you do not have any Mermen, how would you get more Mermaids, eh? As for made up, well, maybe they are, and maybe they are not.” His grin grew wider, and the boy matched it with one of his own.
“If you’re a Merman, how come you don’t have a tail?” he asked.
“Because then your friend Marcus might mistake me for a big fish and bring me in to market,” Fergus said with a laugh. “I do not think I would like that.”
“I’m finding something fishy about this whole story,” Marcus said, but he was smiling too. “You’re as bad as my da with the ridiculous fairy-tale nonsense. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” He turned to Beka and Fergus. “I gave the guys the day off, since we were just going out for a few hours so you can dive. Can you give me a hand casting off?”
Tito gave Fergus one more admiring look and trailed Marcus up to the front cabin. The other two started releasing the ropes that kept the ship attached to the dock.
“Really?” Beka said under her breath to Fergus. “A Merman from an undersea kingdom?”
Fergus winked, eyes twinkling in multiple shades of green like the changeable ocean. “He did not believe me, did he?” He coiled the last rope neatly and used a gaff to push the boat away from the old wooden dock. “And it made him smile. I think this is a good thing.”
Beka sighed. She hoped the boy was winning his battle, but either way, she was all in favor of giving him a great day out on the water if that’s what made him happy. The fact that Marcus was going out of his way to help the kid made her see him in a different way. Maybe he wasn’t such a grumpy pain in the butt after all.
Of course, that might mean he was only that way around her, which was kind of a drag. But considering that when he’d met her, she’d just sliced a big hole in his net and let all his fish get away, and then followed that up by bribing his father to let her use the boat when Marcus didn’t want her to, she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised he wasn’t all that pleased to have her around. Maybe she should have baked him cookies or something. Or had Chewie bake them . . . she sucked in the kitchen.