She gazed at him, impressed all over again by how attractive he was. He didn’t make her skin hum and buzz the way Marcus did, but he was having an actual conversation with her, instead of yelling, which made for a nice change.
“You can tell your father I’m doing everything I can,” she said, not quite beseeching. “I haven’t seen anything obvious to tell me what is going on, and my magical senses just tell me there is something, but I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of this soon. Then your people will be able to return to their homes.”
White teeth gleamed in a tanned face as he gave her a charming smile. “Not to worry, darlin’,” he said. “I’ve got complete faith in you. Now how about we see which one of us can catch the largest wave? The loser can treat the winner to dinner tonight, after you get in from your diving.” Brown eyes twinkled at her. “That way, even if I lose, I win.”
*
KESH WATCHED BEKA walk away carrying her board tucked under her arm. She turned around at the edge of the road and waved, and he gave her a big grin, not letting it slide into the sneer that lurked behind it until she was gone from view.
A lovely girl, she was. Pretty to look at and all heart and earnest Human emotion. Not at all like the Baba Yaga who preceded her, thank the gods. Now that one, she would have been tough to fool. But this silly girl? He already had her wrapped around his finger.
That Brenna, she was a piece of work, she was. She and Beka had used this as a home base the last few years before the Queen of the Otherworld had dragged Brenna kicking and screaming into retirement, and he’d seen her do a thing or two that the High Queen might not approve of, had she but known.
Not that Brenna wasn’t still poking her nose in, behind the scenes. She and Kesh had found a few small mutual goals, and she’d even given him advice on how to deal with the current Baba.
According to Brenna, her replacement was insecure and uncertain of her abilities. Which was a damned good thing, as far as Kesh was concerned. There was no way he was going to let one inexperienced Baba Yaga ruin his carefully laid plans.
The discovery that she’d been poking around had initially alarmed him, and he’d engineered this meeting on the beach to find out how far she’d gotten. And while he wasn’t happy about the samples she’d taken, it was clear that she had no clue as to what he’d been dumping in the ocean for the last few months. He’d just have to make sure she never found out.
One way or the other.
For the moment, his plan was simple: he’d take advantage of her vulnerability, woo her and stay close so he could keep track of her progress, and sabotage it as necessary. Kesh thought that, lacking confidence as she was, it would be easy to distract and mislead her, while charming her into trusting him completely.
In fact, he’d had a rather brilliant flash after meeting her in person. She was, after all, stunningly pretty, and sooner or later he would need to take a mate to give him heirs for this new kingdom he was building on land. There were a few women among the Selkies he’d persuaded to follow him when he left, but none of them particularly appealed to him for the long term. If he played the game just right, he could not only exact his revenge, but also end up with the massive powers of a Baba Yaga to add to his own.
Of course, if that didn’t work, he could always kill her.
NINE
BEKA AND FERGUS got to the Wily Serpent just before ten. Marcus was already there, along with an unexpected guest.
“Hey, Beka,” Marcus said, nodding his head neutrally at Fergus. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m bringing along a friend of mine today. This is Tito. He gets chemo with my da, and I’ve been promising him a day out on the water. Thought I’d take advantage of my father not being around, and take Tito out to watch you dive. The two of us can throw a line in while you’re doing your thing.”
There was something eager and a little vulnerable about the way he asked; after all, he could have just told her the boy was coming. It was his father’s boat. But it was clear to Beka that he wanted the boy to have a good time. And if that meant a truce for the day, it was just fine with her.
“Hi Tito,” she said, climbing on board and stowing her gear out of the way. “I’m Beka, and this is my dive buddy Fergus. Nice to meet you.”
The boy stuck his hand out politely and shook hers, then extended it to Fergus, his eyes bright as stars in the night sky. “That’s cool,” he said, looking down at Fergus’s hand and turning it sideways so he could get a better look. “You have little webs between your fingers. Does that help you swim?”
Marcus cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “Tito, dude, it’s not polite to comment on people’s, um, oddities.” He shrugged an apology at Fergus, who just laughed.