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Kona and Mark hadn’t come face-to-face with each other since that last violent battle with Tiamat, and I was okay with that. There was no need to rub Kona’s face in the fact that, in the end, I had chosen Mark over him or to remind Mark that for eight months I’d chosen to be with Kona instead.
But as I was making my way to the front of the rock, I caught my foot on one of the rough edges and pitched forward. I stretched my hands out in front of me in an effort to break my fall, but I never hit the ground. Mark reached out a hand to grab my arm at the same time Kona caught me. So instead of smacking into the sand, I collided with Kona’s warm, broad, naked chest.
His arms wrapped around me—out of habit, I’m sure—and behind me I swore I heard Mark growl a little. Kona responded by pulling me closer to him and pressing a soft kiss to the spot where my cheek met the corner of my mouth.
I shoved him away, annoyed beyond measure. He’d spent the last four months ignoring me, treating me like I was completely beneath his notice. And while I understood why—though I hadn’t meant to, I had hurt him at a time when he was already vulnerable from the loss of his parents—that didn’t mean I was going to let him kiss me. Especially not when I knew he was doing it in a juvenile attempt to antagonize Mark.
An attempt that was working if the sudden tension in my boyfriend’s body was anything to go by. The second I got free from Kona, Mark pulled me to him, my back to his front, and wrapped both arms around my waist. At the same time he shot a don’t-touch-my-stuff look at Kona.
Normally I would have shrugged him off—I had absolutely no interest in being fought over like a shiny new toy—but the very air around me felt explosive. One wrong move on my part and I had the feeling that this barely civil meeting was going to go up in flames.
So I stayed put, giving Kona a wide berth as I asked again, “What are you doing here?”
The look he gave me was a touch snide, a touch annoyed, and loaded with arrogance. It was pure selkie king, a trick he never would have used on me before. But things had changed between us, and despite my best intentions, I found myself withering under it now. Exactly as he intended.
“Playing errand boy,” he answered. “Believe me, it’s not a role I enjoy. ”
“So why take it on?” Mark demanded, his arms tightening around me. “There must have been someone else you could have sent to run this errand. ”
Kona eyed him with distaste. “Being king isn’t all about giving orders. It’s about serving my people and delivering disturbing news even when it’s easier to send someone else. ”
“What happened?” I demanded, latching on to the only part of his sentence that mattered.
Kona inclined his head, held out a hand. “Walk with me?” Mark stiffened. “I don’t think so—”
“There are some things humans don’t want or need to know. ” Kona said the word human much like I would say cockroach.
“Tempest doesn’t keep secrets from me,” Mark told him, taut and furious.
Kona laughed, actually laughed, and it was my turn to contemplate violence. It was hard enough to keep a relationship going with Mark without Kona deliberately sabotaging us. Then I remembered that it didn’t really matter, that I was planning on breaking up with Mark anyway.
But it did matter. I couldn’t just stand around and watch while Kona poked a stick at Mark like he was an animal in a cage. I didn’t care who Kona was or what he wanted. Some things just weren’t right. “Stop it!” I hissed.
He didn’t answer, just smiled benignly like he couldn’t imagine what I was talking about. I snarled back, even as I reluctantly pulled away from Mark.
He wasn’t happy, but at least he let me go without a fight. “Fine. I’ll be right here if you need me. ”
“What do you think I’m going to do to her?” Kona demanded. “Get rid of whatever brainwashing you’ve thrown her way?”
“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” Mark sneered. “Although maybe I should be. You’ve already proven you can’t protect her when she’s with you. ”
“And you can? What are you going to do, throw your surfboard at the big, bad sea witch?”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t ask Tempest to sacrifice herself to save me. ”
“Bullshit!” Kona was up in Mark’s face now, fists clenched and face livid. Mark wasn’t backing down an inch, though. “You seem to have forgotten. She nearly got herself killed saving you not very long ago. ”
“Just me, huh? Funny, I seem to remember you being there too. But I guess I can see how you might have forgotten—considering you kept fainting whenever stuff became a little too intense. ”
“Really? You want to play this game?” Kona demanded. “The guy who had to run back to the surface just when things got interesting?”
“I was out of oxygen!”
“One more reason it sucks to be human, huh?”
Mark flinched almost imperceptibly, but Kona obviously caught it because he relaxed suddenly, a superior look on his face as he finally found the weakness he’d been searching for. “How does it feel knowing you’ll only ever have half of her?” he asked, his tone almost conversational now. “Do you lie awake at night wondering what she’s doing? Who she’s doing it with? Knowing that no matter how much you want to, you can’t reach her? You just have to wait around until she remembers you exist?”
I’d heard more than enough. “Stop it!” I hissed, maneuvering myself between them. Then I slapped a palm on each of their chests and shoved them. Hard. Which, I admit, probably wouldn’t have had much effect if I’d been using my human strength, but I threw a hefty dose of power behind the push and both guys stumbled back a few steps. They nearly fell, would have if I hadn’t stopped them with the same telekinetic hold I’d used on my father that morning.
Of course, neither one of them was paying attention to what I could do—not when they were both so pissed, at me as well as at each other. Their anger didn’t bother me. After all, I had plenty of my own to bury the guilt under. But that didn’t mean I was going to put up with them attacking each other like two junkyard dogs intent on marking their territory.
I took a deep breath, counted to ten. And let the anger go even as I searched for words that could reach them. They didn’t magically pour into my head, but at least I got an idea of where I wanted to start. “Look, I’m not going to do this with you guys. I’m sorry—you don’t know how sorry I am that I mixed everything up like this. I know it’s my fault, and if I could go back and change everything that happened, I would. But since that’s not possible, can you at least not beat the hell out of each other?”
I turned to Mark, put a soft hand on his arm. “If it’s about Tiamat, I need to talk to Kona. Can you give us a few minutes? I promise it won’t take long. ”
Mark nodded, but he didn’t look happy as he took a couple steps away from us.
I looked at Kona next. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked pissed, more pissed even than when he’d been going after Mark. I decided to ignore it. At least he and Mark no longer looked like they were about to throw down any second.