Bite the Big Heartache (Monstrana Paranormal Romance 2)

She bit her bottom lip and considered Cascade’s words. This really was her chance to shine. She had to speak up, or she’d never take her place among her sisters.

“Excuse me?”

There was too much arguing over the idea of sending another message to the throne to allow her small voice to be heard. She cleared her throat and tried again.

“What about the wedding? Has anyone considered the wedding?”

This time, two dozen pairs of eyes turned her way, making her want to shrink into the basin floor. Loriella kicked her powerful fin and peered into the crowd. “What wedding?”

Eina’s cheeks colored and she willed herself to breathe. It took Cascade prodding her in the ribs for her to straighten herself out and speak again.

“The royal wedding between the werewolf princess and her betrothed. It’s this evening. Every supernatural delegation will be there. Maybe, our leverage will make itself clear.”

Eina had been observing the wedding preparations from the shoreline. Ships full of exotic passengers from every continent and supernatural line had lately begun arriving, despite the approaching storm season. She’d itched for a closer look, but couldn’t take the chance. If her sisters knew she was mingling with the Monstranians, her loyalty

could be taken into question.

Loriella swam her way with two strokes of her tail and pierced her with a stare, years of wisdom reflecting in the pools of her brown irises. A flutter of laughter followed in her wake as several of the mermaids pressed their slender fingers to their mouths.

“A wedding?” The ancient mermaid twisted her mouth in thought.

“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.

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