Three Rings (The Fairytail Saga) (48 page)

Ivyanne was confused. ‘How?’

‘Because we just, uh, kissed a bit? A
lot
?’

Ivyanne shook her head, not allowing the guilt to creep over her. There would be time for that later. ‘I meant,
how
did you know? How did you get in this closet when I wasn’t even aware it was here? If someone here has known you’ve been alive this whole time I’m going to-’

‘No,’ Tristan said quickly, frowning. ‘No one here knows-I couldn’t even tell mom and dad that I survived.’ He sighed heavily, tucking his shirt in. ‘I feel bad about it-but I had to lay low. I had an ally, just not one here.’

Ivyanne had already come to the correct conclusion, she was certain of it. ‘Adele, right?’ she guessed, making a face. ‘I mean, I thought she was trying to corner me until she shoved me in here. But I don’t get
why
.’

Tristan grinned. ‘I’ll explain fully later, preferably over a cup of chai. But for now let’s just say that she’s a double agent-Ardhi thinks he’s got her cornered but he’s wrong.’

‘And Sherri?’ Ivyanne asked quickly.

Tristan rolled his eyes. ‘Sherri’s only working for Ardhi. She was brought here to tempt him away from you....and Adele said that people think
Lincoln
turned her?’

‘We did.’ Ivyanne sagged to get confirmation that Lincoln’s ‘gift’ had been staged. He was going to be devastated. If it came down to a bloodbath-she was going to take the blonde interloper out in a heartbeat. ‘I
knew
she was rotten! I can’t believe I didn’t see the connection though-it’s the most obvious one! I’m an idiot.’

Tristan cocked his head. ‘Are you kidding me? I was expecting to shock you with all of this! Seems like you’re pretty switched on though. What
do
you know?’

Ivyanne studied him for a moment. ‘That Ardhi tried to kill you so he could pursue me...that he arranged two blonde mermaids to work on Lincoln to take him out of the equation?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Am I warm?’

‘Sizzling hot.’ Tristan was gaping at her. ‘When did you work this out? And
how
?’

‘About forty five minutes ago...well, that’s when I connected him to you-only I assumed he’d found you, killed you and hidden the body.’ Tears came to Ivyanne’s eyes, and she took a tentative step forward. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered softly. ‘If I’m right..I’m so, so sorry that you went through that.’

Tristan stepped up to her again, enfolding her in his arms. ‘I was so grateful that you hadn’t come,’ he whispered. ‘It was...unimaginable.’

Ivyanne pulled back. ‘Where have you
been
?’

Tristan shook his head. ‘It’s a long story, but basically, I was lost at sea for two weeks while I made my way back and didn’t fully understand anything until I got to Norfolk, following a gut instinct, and found Adele who filled in the blanks. She’s been helping me since.’ His expression sobered. ‘Ivyanne if we manage to diffuse this situation, I want her to be accepted, okay? She helped Ardhi, but under protest. She’s made up for it now.’

Ivyanne couldn’t help but notice the possessive tone in Tristan’s voice as he spoke of Adele. It unsettled her, but she shoved it to the back of her mind. ‘Okay,’ she said softly. ‘Whatever makes this easier on you.’

Tristan kissed her quickly. ‘Killing Ardhi is the only thing that’s going to make this easy on me.’

‘
Can
we kill him?’ Ivyanne asked. ‘I mean, he brought down a
plane
. That’s pretty powerful!’

‘Attacking from a distance with a few friends yeah, he’s tough.’ Tristan smiled. ‘In person and alone, surrounded by dozens of us-I can still knock him out. Which if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go do right now.’

Ivyanne shoved him back firmly. ‘Tristan stop and think this through. If you go out there half-cocked, then you could get yourself killed.’

‘
Almost
killed,’ Tristan grunted. ‘I’m good at not
quite
dying.’

‘Well I’d like to keep it that way.’ Ivyanne said. ‘Right now Ardhi thinks I’m into him and avoiding my fiancé- and that’s buying us time. But we can’t confront him with all of those humans around.’

Tristan smiled down at her. ‘Well if Adele’s done her job, Lincoln’s probably already gotten the humans out of here-which gives us a small window of opportunity to corner Ardhi in front of a lot of our kind.’

Ivyanne’s eyes widened. ‘Does Lincoln
know
?’

Tristan shook his head. ‘I told Adele to keep the details to herself-as far as Link knows, the message came from
you
.’

‘You’re quite crafty, you know.’ Ivyanne swallowed. ‘Adele too. Seems like you two make a, um, good team.’

Tristan shrugged. ‘We should. We’re very alike-and we’ve spent the last week and a half together....’ his voice trailed off, his brown eyes widening. ‘Oh my god! You’re jealo-’

Ivyanne placed a finger to his lips, unable to bear the words. But yes, the idea of him and Adele having spent weeks together working for a common goal-
alone
- unsettled her traitorous heart. ‘Ssh,’ she said softly, finding herself transfixed by the sensation of his lips against her fingertips. It was making her crave him. ‘I’m way too mixed up to address that right now...’

Tristan kissed her fingertip gently, his eyes not leaving hers. ‘I didn’t lay a hand on her,’ he murmured, moving his lips down to her palm in a tender, erotic way that made her toes curl in her fancy heels. ‘
You’re
the love of my life. I should never have left you.’

Ivyanne sighed as her heart fluttered away but her mind sank into logic. She didn’t want to say what had to be said. ‘But you
did
Tristan-then you
died
.’ Her voice shook. ‘Lincoln is a good man and I love him so much…. and I gave him my hand.’

Tristan sagged against the wall, the light going out of his eyes. ‘I knew you’d say that,’ he said softly. ‘And it’s okay. I never allowed myself to hope that me returning would change anything.’

The ring on her hand was burning hot. ‘But it
does
,’ she admitted, feeling the stitches holding her heart together break apart again. ‘Just in what way, I don’t know.’

Tristan looked up hopefully. ‘Really?’

‘Maybe,’ she whispered. ‘Once again, I need time.’ She shook herself off. ‘Actually no, I need to kill something. I go out and you follow in five, okay?’

Tristan grinned. ‘You get him in your hands, I’ll do the rest.’

Ivyanne nodded, kissed him quickly then turned to the door, heart pounding as she opened it and glanced down towards the kitchen and bar. It was all clear.

‘What the f-’

Ivyanne looked to her left to see that she’d opened the door right on Sherri, who’s eyes were round with shock. A packet of cocktail stirrers fell from Sherri’s hands to the floor. The door must have missed Sherri’s nose by inches in the cramped hallway.

‘You’re screwing some guy in the cupboard at your own
engagement
party?!’ Sherri squeaked.

‘Shit!’ Ivyanne grabbed the girl by the throat, squeezing as tightly as she could while wrapping her other hand around her mouth, dragging her back into the storage room. ‘Tristan-
help
!’

Sherri was thrashing against her, yelling against Ivyanne’s hand, heating it with her breath. Ivyanne’s heart was racing but her grip unrelenting. Tristan leaned over the girl and helped wrestle her to the floor.

‘Hey there Sherri! I’m Tristan Loveridge. Y
ou
know, the guy who you helped kill?’

Sherri’s face went white.

‘Think you can handle her while I rally the troops?’ Ivyanne asked, backing away and thinking of what she had to do next.

Tristan gripped Sherri by the throat and lifted her off the ground, tossing her horizontally into some shelving. Sherri crashed on to the floor and landed awkwardly, whimpering.

‘My pleasure,’ he said, pinning her head to the ground with his shoe. ‘But if you want her alive, handle it quickly.’

Ivyanne grinned, backing out of the room. ‘When did I say I wanted
that
?’ She glared down at Sherri’s squirming form, secretly wishing that she could have two minutes locked in a closet with her-Sherri would be coming out purple for all the trouble she had caused.

‘Thought
Lincoln
was hard to get? Well try this one, loser.’ Ivyanne slammed the door behind her.

29.

Lincoln spotted Ivyanne barreling out of the narrow corridor between the kitchen and the bar, and didn’t hesitate to rush over to her. He had her in his arms before the saloon doors had swung shut behind her. ‘Thank God!
There
you are!’

Ivyanne looked up at him, her gaze slightly unfocused at first. Then, it melted into an expression of pure apology.

‘Lincoln,’ she whispered, catching his jaw in her hands. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Sorry for what? Lincoln asked quietly. He noticed instantly that her eyes were red, making the vivid green iris’s neon in contrast. ‘Is everything okay?’

Ivyanne shook her head as she pulled a strange ring off her finger. ‘That’s why I’m apologizing- you threw a beautiful party, and now I’m going to have to wreck it. Just like I wreck
everything
.’

Lincoln took her elbows. ‘You don’t,’ he said quickly. ‘What are you talking about? Is it about Ardhi and Adele and-’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Bane
told
you?’ She glanced over his shoulder, scanning the room. ‘Okole puka!’

‘Yes. And my dad is giving the
non
mer guests a wine tour right now. But I don’t know how long he’ll be able to contain them.’

Ivyanne nodded then disentangled herself from his embrace and held his hands
between their chests, squeezing tightly as her focus came back to him.

‘It’s bad Lincoln-so much worse than I thought. There’s so much-’ she shook her head, her slightly tousled hair whipping about her hips. ‘I don’t have time. In fact, I have four minutes.’

Lincoln felt a chill race down his spine. ‘What can I do?’

Ivyanne leaned up and planted a swift kiss on his cheek. ‘Stay clear of Ardhi- no matter
what
happens, but don’t leave my sight.’ She dropped his hands and walked away before he could protest, making a beeline for the centre of the room where Ardhi was dancing with his sister.

⁓

‘If you want to cook so badly...ask Lincoln to transfer you to the kitchen.’

Pintang shook her head. ‘Rory is his sou chef-he’s been in college for two years. I can’t just steal his job like that.’

‘Then go somewhere else,’ Ardhi said. ‘This isn’t the only mer friendly resort in the world you know.’

‘Well, that’s what I’ve been thinking. Actually, I was talking to Bane and he said that his parents might-’ Pintang’s eyes swept to the side. ‘Hey Ivyanne. Where have you been?’

Ardhi glanced over his shoulder and found Ivyanne standing in the centre of the room, staring at him with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. He was elated to see her-she’d been MIA for almost an hour by then and Adele had returned ages ago.

‘Have you been crying?’ he asked, dropping Pintang’s hands and wondering what Adele could have said.

Ivyanne nodded, her expression miserable. ‘You
know
what I’m going through,’ she said softly. ‘You did it to me on purpose. How can I enjoy my engagement party when you...?’ She wiped at her eyes as her voice trailed off.

‘Oh my god,’ Pintang said, her blue eyes full of concern. ‘What am I missing
here?’

‘Nothing,’ Ardhi said quietly, reaching for Ivyanne and pulling her into his arms. ‘Ivyanne’s just trying to cope with...a change of heart.’

‘Are you serious?!’ Pintang squeaked, turning to gape at Ardhi. ‘Since when?’

Ardhi was thrilled that Ivyanne was breaking down over him, and amazed that she was doing so in front of witnesses.

She loves me,
he thought, astonished.
She really loves me. This is finally happening!
Ardhi ignored his sister and her horrified expression, stroking Ivyanne’s hair and whispering in her ear. : ‘It’s okay, sweetheart....but you’ve got to pull yourself together. Dance with me okay? We’ll make it look like we’re having an innocent dance while you get a hold of yourself.’ Even as he said it, Ardhi looked up and flushed to see that more than a few people had noticed and were watching the tender exchange with bewildered expressions, especially Isabelle Londeree and her youngest daughter. ‘You don’t have to decide anything right here and now. I know how you feel.’

Ivyanne lifted her face. ‘You do?’

Ardhi nodded and swayed her in a gentle circle. He could see Pintang backing away. ‘Yes, and that’s enough for me for now. We’ll worry about how to handle Lincoln later.’