“Yes.” Eina ducked, unease filling her stomach. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention. It often left her feeling like she could dispel that morning’s seaweed breakfast all over the place.
“You think that our leverage will suddenly appear at this party?” Loriella frowned. Sympathy clouded her eyes. “Young Eina, thank you for your suggestion, but I’m afraid we’re going to need more than a party to help us figure this one out. Leave this to your elder sisters.”
There was another twittering of laughter, but Loriella cut it off with a curt wave of her hand. Eina wrapped her arms around her waist and blushed down at the stone floor beneath her tail.
“Great going, Cascade,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth. “Now, I’m the laughing stock of the whole mermaid colony.”
Cascade giggled again and swam close enough to reach out and softly caress Eina’s nose. “Dear friend, if you want them to take you seriously, you’re going to have to take things into your own hands.”
She regarded the water sprite with distrust, her eyes narrowing. Cascade had a talent for getting her into trouble. “The last brilliant idea you had got me four weeks of sea cucumber duty.”
A shiver ran down her spine. She could still feel the squishy bodies of those cucumbers as she harvested them from the ocean floor.
“A minor oversight.” Cascade shrugged. “How was I supposed to know the difference between a whale watcher and a whale hunter?”
Cascade’s insistence on punching a hole in a passing whaler’s boat had been more than a minor oversight. Eina was passionate about protecting her fellow sea creatures, so she hadn’t even paused to question the plan. But as it turned out, the boat actually belonged to a whale watching company and instead of doing the environment a favor, they managed to dump twenty innocent people into the Bering Sea who had to be plucked from the water by a passing cruise ship.
“And the pearl escapade?”
“My source swore it was the giant black pearl of legend,” Cascade said with a flourish of her tiny hands. “If I had known it was an unexploded bomb left over from the human wars, I never would’ve suggested we harvest it.”
Eina groaned. The sprite had an excuse for everything. If she continued to follow her advice, she might not live to see her twenty-ninth year. Her sister’s efforts at hatching her as a young merfish would’ve all been for nothing. It took years of stored up energy for merfolk to create their offspring. They didn’t just spring up from the sea foam like Aphrodite.
“Go to the wedding,” Cascade said with a twirl, her hair flowing out around her. “See what you can learn. If nothing, then no harm will come out of it. But if you learn something vital, it could be your chance to shine among your sisters.”
Eina’s eyes flashed with untamed excitement. There really was no harm in just milling about at the wedding, soaking in all the information she could on their targets. No one had to know. And besides, she’d always been curious about vampires and werewolves. In her mind, they were all horrid creatures with flashing fangs and bad breath. She’d like to see one of those up close for herself.
“For once, I think you might be on to something,” she whispered to her friend. The meeting around them had once again dissolved into an argument and no one was paying her any attention. “I’ll go to the wedding and bring back our leverage. That’s a promise.”
“Oh, goody.” The fairy clapped her hands. “I can’t wait to see what you find.”
Eina’s lips curled into a pleased smile. She’d always had the desire to attend a wedding. There was something about the whole affair that made her young heart flutter with excitement. It was time to see what this kingdom of Monstrana was all about.
And just maybe, she’d also find the key to assuring a spot for their fledgling mermaid country at the table of supernatural kingdoms.
Chapter Three
Leo spun the lovely Duchess Beatrice around the dance floor, chuckling at her jokes and nodding when appropriate. The waif-like blonde vampiress was one of his grandmother’s recruits. A foreign dignitary meant to tempt him into settling down. She was certainly doing her best to fulfil the ticket. At one point, she even mentioned that she’d love to take a midnight ride on the back of his motorcycle later tonight.
She’d done her homework.
“If you’ll excuse me, Duchess,” Leo said with a bow after the song had ended. “I’ve hogged your attention for far too long. If I don’t let you dance with one of your many admirers tonight, I’m afraid someone might put a target on my back.”
Duchess Beatrice blushed and looked around for a sign of her admirers. In truth, she was quite beautiful. He wouldn’t be surprised if half a dozen men jumped for the chance to ask her for a dance the moment he stepped away. He was counting on it.
“Very well, your highness.” She returned his bow with an elegant, sweeping curtsy. “But don’t think I’ve forgotten about that motorcycle ride tonight.”
An amused smile twitched on his lips. She really was determined. “Of course. Enjoy your evening.”
He found his escape among a crowd of men smoking cigars near the open doors to the garden. Rodrigo stood at their feet, his pink nose sniffing the air appreciatively.
“I see you’ve already shrugged off the potential suitors,” he said, leaping to the top of the nearest table. He eyed the unlit cigars with the tiniest hint of envy. “That didn’t take long.”
“I’d say it’s a new record.”
Leo grinned and leaned his elbow on the table. His eyes scanned the crowd and took in the sight of radiant Princess Stasia in a fluffy white wedding gown with her arm wrapped around her new husband’s back. Leo liked Billy the moment he’d met him, but he still didn’t understand why a guy like that would trade his life of independence to be shackled to the next werewolf queen of Monstrana.
“Leo, I’d like to talk to you.”