Heads or Tails (31 page)

Grace stopped, lifting her face to his, her eyes smoldering in the low light. ‘Or I could spike
your
water and we could let our defenses down together.’

There was no chance of that happening. Ever since the night he’d gotten hammered of one rum and had ended up with Sherri in his lap, he’d sworn off booze. Lesson learned. Lincoln sighed and disentangled himself.

‘Grace... don’t, okay? You need to behave yourself, especially in public. Your brother wants everyone to think you’re the lady you aren’t, Lolita. You owe him that much.’

‘Well-then let’s get somewhere private!’ Quick as the slap of a tail, Grace dragged him to the left, so that they crashed through the gardens next to the deepest and seldom used diving pool. She had him against the pump shed before he had time to even realize what was going on.

15.

‘Ivyanne I
said
get in
side
!’ Lachlan snapped, using his body to propel her back into the laundry while Sahori covered them with a raised rifle.

‘Jesus guys! Can’t anyone keep this crazy bird locked down for thirty damn seconds?’ Garridan demanded, holding the towel Joyce had thrust at him in place around his hips with one hand, as he half-carried, half-dragged a wet and bewildered and
furious
looking Tristan over the threshold with the other arm.

‘You try it!’ Camus snapped, rubbing the arm that had come between Ivyanne and Tristan minutes before on the lawn. She’d shoved him into the pool fence. ‘It’s like trying to hold onto an oily, violent
slinky
possessed by a
sea demon
!’

Ivyanne barely heard them. She clawed at Lachlan’s arms as he tried to restrain her.  ‘Tristan!’ She yelped, ducking under her cousin’s bracing arm and flinging herself up against Tristan’s wet, bloody t-shirt-pressing her face against it and sobbing in relief at the feel of his steady, though accelerated heartbeat against her cheek. A hand tried to swipe her free but she shoved Garridan into the door jamb.

‘Garridan let GO of me! He’s hurt!’ She pulled back, scanning Tristan for injuries. ‘I need to see!’

‘Of course I’m hurt! Someone just threw an
ocean
at my god damned
head
while I was standing on rocks!’ Tristan snapped. His hands caught her shoulders and he shook her. ‘What in Neptune’s name were you doing outside?! I was coming after him! I would have
had
him if you’d just let him make it to the water!’

‘You were alone!’ Ivyanne cried. ‘You called for back-up but they were too far away!
Someone
had to help!’

‘
No. They. Didn’t
.’ Tristan snarled, over-emphasizing every word. ‘
They
should have been locked in a secure room.
They
should have realized that
they
were the target and that
they
were going to piss a lot of people off when
they
got in people’s way!’

‘I know and I’m sorry! I freaked out okay?’ She exclaimed.

‘No! Not okay! Really,
really
not okay!’ Tristan’s eyes flashed dangerously. ‘Dammit Ivyanne you have
one
job-stay safe so we don’t have to worry about you! I know you think I signed up for this gig to get into your pants but I actually take you not getting killed by Ardhi pretty fucking seriously!’

‘I know!’ Ivyanne wiped tears away from her face. ‘But you guys have spent so much time just standing around with guns that I kind of forgot why in the heat of the moment!’ She rested her forehead against his chest, tears wracking her body. ‘And now you’re hurt because of me and I’m so sorry! You have every right to be mad!’

Tristan’s pushed her back again and gaped at her, incredulous. ‘
That’s
what you’re worried about?! My injuries? Ardhi got
away
Ivyanne! Because of
you
! And that means he can come back for you!’ He looked at Garridan, eyebrows near his hairline. ‘Are you
hearing
this shit? She doesn’t get it! Two weeks of training us and it didn’t occur to you to put a
leash
on Miss Fix-It here?’

Garridan held up his hands in a demonstration of helplessness. ‘I ordered her to stay in the surveillance room!’

‘I’m sorry.’ Joyce said, sounding guilty. ‘I should have blocked the door.’

‘It’s not your fault Joyce,’ Lachlan muttered, inspecting the red welts on his arm Ivyanne had left as a token of her lack of affection. Seeing them made her cringe. ‘It’s like trying to wrestle an octopus. Garridan I think that should be the focus of out next training session-how to restrain the queen.’

‘Slippery when wet,’ Tristan muttered, glaring at her with narrowed, dark eyes. ‘I remember.’

Ivyanne bit her lip, knowing he was mocking her and wondering how he managed to make it sound sexy anyway. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I tried to shoot him but
someone-
’ she turned and gave Garridan a pointed glare- ‘hasn’t taught me how, or even how to release a
safety
. So before you all burn me at the stake hear this:
I
had a clear shot
twice
. I had him sitting like the duck you all hoped for and when the gun failed, I tried to pull him to me-and brought the sea by
accident
.’ She turned back to Tristan, satisfied to have seen a hint of contrition on Garridan’s face. ‘And for what it’s worth-he’s not out to kill me. He wants something that’s worth more, and that’s a quote verbatim!’

‘Worth more?’ Garridan parroted, momentarily distracted from his ire. ‘To you-or to him?’

‘Beats me. It’s not like I had a cup of tea and biscuits at the ready to sit him down for a chat. But he was going to leave that threat behind and scram as always-but then he spotted Tristan and decided to get all purple power ranger!’

‘Hmm…’

Garridan turned to Sahori, who was pulling the door shut behind her.‘Did
you two
have any luck?’

Sahori shook her head. ‘We heard Tristan cry out and abandoned what we were doing-not that we were even close to catching the one
we
were tailing.’ She looked at Lachlan. ‘He was
fast
, wasn’t he?’

‘Yes that-or he went up a tree and we were chasing a scared roo instead,’ Lachlan said. ‘Either way, if they come back for the car-I’ll be waiting. My feet are killing me now-someone’s going to pay for making me jog!’

‘You’re amusing.’ Sahori said. ‘I like that.’

Lachlan blushed.

‘Damn it!’ Garridan glared at Ivyanne again. ‘I still cannot believe that you left the house, Ivyanne. And to rescue a
guard,
of all things!’ He shook his head. ‘Tristan’s here for one simple reason-t
o chase bad guys in the dark
. I know you’re feeling guilty right now but can you imagine how much worse it would be if Tristan had gotten electrocuted?’

‘Tristan’s invulnerable to that!’ Ivyanne protested.

‘He was
last
month.’ Garridan pointed out. ‘If you’ve learned to whip the ocean like a magician with a tablecloth since then, who knows how Ardhi’s managed to develop his own powers?’ He frowned. ‘And even if it had failed-what if that wave had smashed him against the rocks before I could pull him clear?’

Ivyanne dissolved into tears again. She didn’t need that pointed out to her-she’d seen how she’d endangered Tristan up close and in technicolor. She buried her face back into his chest again and mewled. ‘I’m-’

‘Yeah yeah, we know.’ Tristan pushed her free and limped past her, into the kitchen, cursing rapidly as machine gun fire, leaving Ivyanne hugging herself and alone behind him. Garridan, Camus, Sahori and Lachlan filed after him-for once not badgering her to go first. ‘Unbelievable!’

Ivyanne wanted the earth to open up and swallow her, and then realized that she had to be mighty careful about what she willed to happen from then on lest the earth complied and took the guard out instead!

‘For what it’s worth-if that was Camus, I probably would have taken off to his aid too.’ Joyce patted her shoulder as she passed by and smiled a conspiratorial smile. ‘It’s not the mermaid way, to sit idly by while our men fight our battles. You’re very brave, and very strong, my dear. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Tristan who got in your way, not the reverse.’

‘I heard that Joyce!’ Tristan snapped. ‘For the love of god woman, don’t encourage it! Why are human women allowed to come out of the kitchen but mermen who act like actual men require repression?’

‘We need a suffrage movement of our own,’ Lachlan agreed.

‘And maybe lock them in the kitchen for awhile and see how they like it...’ Tristan griped.

‘Hey mer
man
-if you want this mer
maid
to do
her
womanly duty and heal you, you’ll watch your tone.’ Joyce said this with good humor as she entered the kitchen. ‘Okay! Let’s see what injuries we’re dealing with here!’

Ivyanne hurried in after her, amused by the sexism allegations. Mermen took the woman’s last name in most cases, and couldn’t give a human woman a mer child-that was it. And those restrictions actually bound the
women
more! Ivyanne rolled her eyes and exchanged a smile with Sahori, who looked just as amused. Clearly, Ivyanne pulling the ocean up and then beating the men out of her way had bruised a lot more than limbs!

But it wasn’t the time to ask if she needed to kiss some wounded egos better. She was already in enough bad-books. ‘Is it bad?’ she asked, stumbling wet and dirty into the pristine kitchen with the others in time to see Tristan vault himself up onto the island bench, groaning.

Tristan extended an arm to her. ‘
You
-stay
there
. You’re bad luck!’

‘A few superficial cuts-nothing too bad.’ Joyce hovered around him, inspecting his flesh. ‘One on your scalp, a few on your arms...you’re limping though-where’s the pain?’

‘Shin,’ Tristan muttered. ‘And my back is killing me.’

‘You’ve got a bruise,’ Camus said from behind. ‘Your shirt’s almost sliced to ribbons back here so I can see it.’

‘I’ll go get an ice pack.’ Garridan said.

‘One for his ribs too-’ Lachlan indicated to Tristan’s bloody side. He’s got only a nick here, but part of his Ivy is turning purple.’

‘I was sliding down the rock feet first when the wave hit,’ Tristan complained, tossing Ivyanne another dirty look. ‘To hide behind a
bigger rock
, I should point out, where I would have been
safe
.’

Ivyanne wrung her hands, wondering how long it would take for the word ‘Sorry’ to lose it’s value if it hadn’t already?

‘Well it’s a big one with some grazes around it, but no broken skin. I dare say they’ll heal overnight.’

‘
This
won’t,’ Joyce said softly. ‘This one is pretty deep.’

Ivyanne looked down to see that Joyce had rolled up Tristan’s pant leg and was wincing. When Ivyanne saw the congealed and painful-looking laceration-she flinched.

‘Oh my god! That’s-’

‘To the bone.’ Joyce agreed. ‘I’m going to need to stitch it up, but Tristan
you’re
going to need to shower first so I can clean it out.’ She stood up. ‘I’ll go get some saline-when you’re ready to get out of the shower, pour a few tubes of it over the injury and come and see me, okay?’

‘Okay.’ Tristan said, cringing as he pushed his jeans back down. ‘Thanks Joyce.’

Joyce straightened, blushing. ‘No problem. Nicest looking leg I’ve ever had to examine, I’ll tell you that.’

‘Hey..’ Camus muttered.

‘Is what it is.’ Joyce slapped her husband on the backside as she passed him by. ‘But
you’ve
got the tush, hon.’

Tristan chuckled as Joyce hurried off, and in the corner, where she’d backed into in guilt, Ivyanne even smiled. It was funny that a woman who appeared to be in her late forties and happily married, would not even be immune to Tristan’s natural splendor.

Could that be me in one hundred years time?
She asked herself.
Happily married to Lincoln and yet still checking out the heartthrob of my coronation era? Could some harmless flirting be enough to ward off these pangs?

Camus was smiling too, his offense forgotten. ‘I’m going to go check the locks,’ he said, headed for the front door. ‘Back soon.’

‘I’ll check the locks upstairs. Then I’m going to go shower,’ Sahori said, shouldering her weapon again and running her braid in front of her eyes with two fingers. ‘I have twigs in my hair. I don’t like that very much.’

‘Soaking in the tub for me-my feet are killing me,’ Lachlan complained again, shuffling after her.

The room cleared. Tristan glanced over at her, and his shoulders sagged. ‘You’re
still
here?’

Ivyanne ignored his not-so-subtle hint to scram. ‘I really am so sorry I got you hurt,’ she whispered, standing close to him and taking his hand. From that one touch she could tell that he was practically vibrating with anger and it added to her unease. Had she damaged his trust so irrevocably that he wouldn’t get past it this time?

‘You’ve said that…’ he responded in a monotone.

‘Do you need painkillers? We have some lying around-something strong for emergencies. It won’t last long with your metabolism, but it’ll help a
little
.’

‘I’ll do without, thank you,’ Tristan said stiffly. ‘In fact, if you really want to help me out...you can seriously just go up to your room, okay?’

Ivyanne inhaled sharply, stung. She’d seen Tristan mad at her before-but never had his anger been accompanied by the desire to be
rid
of her.