Page 23 (1/2)

I laughed because that hat she wanted from me, but it was hard--especially when I looked into Liam’s forlorn little face I’ll see you later, I told hiave ed hi all over hie I wanted to project

Then again, nothing down here was living up toup to everyone else’s?

Chapter 12

I grabbed dinner on the way to Hailana’s chaht it was shrimp ceviche and kelp salad, which were both delicious, especially the way thefor a burger and fries, which was funny since I was never h, I practically salivated at the thought of a steak And don’t even get me started on how much I missed Cherry Garcia ice crea to the Councilthe brand-new scar that ran the length of my calf Thank you, Zarek, I said silently The cut was bad enough that I wouldn’t have wanted to walk on it if it wasn’t fully healed When I got to Hailana’s chambers, everyone turned to stare atthe fact that Hailana’s entire Council was present But I’d done the best I could--shifting back to my human form had been crazy difficult this ti at the end of a long, polished table carved froalleon (I knew this because she was very proud of that table and took every chance to extol its heritage) On either side of her were Veracruz and Rafael, the two mermen she trusted almost as much as she’d trusted my mother Both wore fierce frowns on their faces, which softened a little when they saw me but by no means disappeared completely

Next to Rafael was Alastair, the newest addition to the Council (even newer than I was) He’d been a member of Hailana’s staff forever, but it was only a few o that she’d seen fit to promote him to the Council Mahina said it was because they’d been having an affair since forever and Hailana hadn’t wanted to show favoritism, but I wasn’t so sure One, because she’d had no trouble showing favoritis, before she realized what a pain in the butt I was going to be And two, because Alastair, despite his very austere naine hi At least not voluntarily

Next to him was Faith, who had been one of htout for me and I liked her a lot, except I could never quite shake the feeling that she wasn’t really seeingwho she wanted to see--namely, Cecily

And finally, across from her sat Violet, who I absolutely adored Hailana couldn’t stand her, only put up with her because she was her sister, but I thought Violet was the coolest h she was aler Her bikinis were skimpy, her body jewelry plentiful, and I’d never seen her when she didn’t have solittering abalone shells and ribbons in the same shade of hot pink as her tail

I hurried across the roorateful that she was the one on this end, especially since the alternative was sitting next to Sabyn Which so wasn’t an option, considering iven ainst hie around his bicep At least he hadn’t gotten away coed my presence and I relaxed a little as the conversation continued to ebb and flow aroundyou, Hailana, this is it!" Rafael’s fist slammed down on the table "Tiamat will be here any day now and we are completely unprepared"

"We are not unprepared," Alastair answered "Our defenses are better than they’ve ever been Halaina’s powers are at their peak And noe have Tempest and Sabyn to help us If Tiamat comes, we’ll be ready for her"

"I think you mean when she coed

"That won’t be now," Faith told the herself on the beach instead of locked in aabout the fate of her entire clan