Hard to Get

Part 3

Toraf finds Rayna trailing one of the big human ships—Rachel calls them cruise ships—that make regular trips from the main land to clusters of islands in the warm water. Sometimes when she’s lucky the humans will throw things overboard, as if to leave something of themselves behind. Too bad they don’t know that the objects never touch the bottom—not if Rayna’s predatory hands hover nearby, anyway.

Rayna wastes no time in sentimental greetings. “Go away, Toraf.”

“I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

She doesn’t so much as glance back. “I’ve heard that before, haven’t I?”

He catches up to her and grabs her arm. He hates to actually force her to listen. He hates to force her to do anything. Which is what started this whole mess. He releases her arm, and to his relief, she stays put.  

“I had to seal us, princess. I couldn’t let you mate with someone else.”

Rayna crosses her arms. She’s trying her best to appear bored, he knows, but the hurt is still buried deep in her eyes. “Don’t do that, Toraf. Don’t pretend that I made you believe I was interested in mating with someone else.”

“No,” he says softly. She never even hinted at an attraction to anyone else. And anyone that showed her more interest than was appropriate was either corrected by himself or by Galen. “You didn’t show interest. But your father…” Can he really tell her? Should he really tell her? It seemed like a good idea when he left Grom behind in the minefields. But now his confidence seems to draining from his fin.

Rayna’s eyes grow big as sandollars. “What about my father?”

There is no turning back now. “The truth is, princess, I didn’t take away your freedom. I gave it back to you. Your father was going to seal you to Kumen. I had to intervene.”

“Kumen? The old Archive? He swims so slowly even fungus has a chance to grow on his fin! My father wouldn’t do that. You’re lying.” But she doesn’t really believe he’s lying. She doesn’t, because her whole air of poise seems to crumble beneath the words.

As he pulls her to him, he tenses up, preparing for her to resist like she always does. He’s more than pleasantly surprised when she doesn’t fight. Not even a little bit. He’s not sure if that means she’s not mad anymore, or if she simply doesn’t care enough to be mad anymore.

He’s hoping she’s mad. Furious. After all—and especially with Rayna—anger is better than indifference. He’d learned that lesson many, many times.

“Why? Why would he do that?”

Toraf realizes there’s no delicate way of wording things. And he knows that even if there were, Rayna would see through the threads and find the net. He sighs. “Your father was getting concerned about the fact that you hadn’t chosen a mate. He even told me and Galen that it was unheard of for a female Triton Royal to turn twenty seasons without choosing a mate.”

“So? He always griped about that. And not just me, he was furious that Galen hadn’t sifted yet either.”

He shrugs. “I guess it bothered him more than we all thought. Sometimes you have to take his old bluster seriously, princess. Trust me on this. One day, when Galen and I were passing through the meeting chamber in the Royal Caverns, we overhead your father talking to Kumen. We heard Kumen offer to take you off his hands. That you would enjoy living in the Cave of Memories with him.”

Rayna gasps.

Toraf nods somberly. He remembers the hot jealousy broiling in his stomach. The complete violence he’d felt toward that poor old Archive. The way his fists seemed to ball up at the mention of his name. Even now.