“If someone’s going to be full of me, Sweetheart, it’s you.”

A snort escaped me, but we were interrupted before I had to think up a decent comeback.

“Triton!” A woman’s voice called out, and the king stopped. He looked over his shoulder, and I looked with him.

It was the alt woman from the beach on Earth. She jogged up the beach, dripping wet and dressed in a crimson cropped top-thing that covered her breasts and had extra bits of fabric hanging down seemingly at random. She was wearing a short skirt of the same material, and while it barely covered the goods, it had even more of those random dangling strips.

The clothing didn’t look bad, necessarily. It definitely looked intentional. I’d just never seen anyone wear anything like that before.

“The selkies were watching for your portal. You need to get inside and get your bride claimed quickly.” She looked at me. “What’s your name?”

At least one of them cared.

“Aria,” I said. “And I never agreed to be his bride.”

“In our world, accepting a kiss seals a mating bond. It’s far more powerful than the human version of marriage. Look at your arm.” She gestured toward me, and I looked down at my tattoos.

They looked normal.

“Here.” The king lifted a hand to my shoulder and tapped my skin lightly.

When I looked, I nearly jumped. There was a large, pearly white marking on my skin, and whatever energy it contained seemed to swirl within it. “What the hell is that?”

“The mark of the sea’s throne. Triton has it too.” The woman gestured toward the king. When I turned, I noticed his tattoo was on the opposite shoulder from mine.

“We can explain more later. Right now, we need to get you inside, where it’s safe.” The woman waved me toward the castle, but Triton didn’t start moving again.

“Breathe, Rayna. Even the selkies won’t make a move against me on my own beach.” He sounded amused.

Rayna made an exasperated sound. “Do you really want to test that theory?”

“What’s a selkie?” I checked.

“If my brother doesn’t get you off this beach, you’re going to find out soon.” Rayna glared at the king. Triton, if she had used his name rather than a nickname.

I hoped it was a nickname, because I wasn’t sure I could handle knowing I’d accidentally married myself to a mermonster named Triton. Wasn’t that the name of Ariel’s dad in The Little Mermaid?

Yikes.

“They’re like us, but their other forms are seals,” the king explained, finally starting to move forward again.

“They’re more dangerous than they sound,” Rayna cut in, falling into pace beside us.

“I don’t want to come face-to-face with a seal any more than I want to meet a whale with teeth up close,” I said bluntly.