She kissed me back.
My heart felt as though it meant to beat free of my chest altogether. The kiss was slow, careful thanks to her rows of shark teeth, but somehow that made it all the more delicious. She tasted of salt and the sea. When her fingers found my hair, sinking into the half-pinned locks, I moaned against her mouth.
I longed to climb onto the makeshift bed with her. But we were in the middle of the library, with only a flimsy curtain between us and anyone who chanced by. So I pulled back reluctantly. My breath came short and fast, and so did hers.
A grin curved her mouth. “Pretty cuttlefish,” she said, twining my hair around her fingers.
My cheeks grew warm, and I glanced away in embarrassment. “I’m not pretty.”
“I say you are.” Her hand withdrew, and when I looked at her again, a slight frown curved her mouth. “I thought you didn’t…how do you land people say it? Like me? Not as friends, but as more. This.”
I blinked in shock. “Of course I do! You’re—you’re amazing.” I gestured at her vaguely. “You’re beautiful and strong and funny.”
“But you didn’t like the squid,” she said, as though making an argument.
“The squid? What…oh.” Realization dawned. “You’re the one who left the squid on my windowsill?”
“How else was I to court you?” She must have read my shock in the expression on my face, because her brows drew together. “This isn’t a human custom?”
“Not…not quite.”
She shook her head in frustration. “I should have asked Mother. Or my brother.”
The idea of her asking Dr. Whyborne how to court me caused me to feel faint. “I’m glad you didn’t.” Then something else occurred to me. “Your mother…Heliabel…knows you like women? Not just men?”
“I have male friends, but I’ve never wished for them to be more,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Why? Have you?”
My face could have fried an egg. I tried very hard not to think of her brother, and failed miserably. “S-Sometimes. Is that all right?”
She gave me that slow grin again. “As long as you like me better.”
“Always.” I took her hand, a bit shyly. She immediately curled her fingers around mine, the tips of her claws resting lightly against my skin.
I wanted to stay like this forever. Well, not like this, precisely. I wanted to kiss her again. Warmth collected between my thighs at the thought we might do other things, as well.
Aware I was blushing furiously, I cleared my throat. “The ketoi. Were you able to warn them?”
Persephone withdrew her hand. “No,” she said, her voice a growl of frustration. “The librarians have no summoning stones.”
“And Oliver took mine.” My shoulders slumped. “But surely your people will worry when you don’t return?”
“Of course.” Her scowl deepened. “But they can’t walk the streets openly during the day. That is why we have the hybrids, to be our eyes and ears on the land. But those who are known to us are either taken captive or have fled.” Persephone shook her head. “Foolish. I underestimated the danger.”
I wracked my brain, trying to think of some solution. “What about your father? He has some way of contacting your mother, surely. I could go to Whyborne House with a message for him.”
“Mother is done with her life on the land,” Persephone replied. “Perhaps I should have given Father a summoning stone, but I wasn’t certain I wanted him to have one. Stupid.” She sighed. “I have made many mistakes, it seems.”
“You couldn’t have known.” I took her hand again.
“Still, we aren’t without allies.” She straightened. “The librarians have fought for us once before. And they aren’t vulnerable to the siren’s song. Mr. Quinn?”
His shoes tapped on the floor, and he ducked beneath the curtain moments later. Heat flooded my face—I’d forgotten he was so close. Had he heard the things we’d said to each other? Would he sneer at me in disgust? Tell anyone else?
Tell Dr. Whyborne?
Mr. Quinn appeared unruffled. He bowed to Persephone. “How may I serve?”
“Do you have a ship?” she asked.
“One can be procured immediately,” he said. I hoped his assurance stemmed from the fact one of the librarians already owned a boat of some sort, and not from any plan of acquiring one forcefully.
She nodded. “You fought against the Fideles in July. Are you prepared to fight again?”
Mr. Quinn looked as though she’d offered him a treat. “The librarians are at your disposal, Widdershins.”
“The Fideles have taken a ship, and intend to use foul magic against my people.” There was a commanding note in her tone I’d heard only once before, the night she’d fought the old chieftess in the grand foyer. Something stirred in me to hear it, and I found myself sitting straighter. “We will find them, and we will stop them.”
“At once. Rest here, and I shall return the moment we’re ready to move.” Mr. Quinn bowed again and vanished back through the curtain.