Chapter 114 Queen of the Sea
488words
Ember turned with a straw to her lips, slurping on her milkshake. Her eyes fell past me on the woman behind me. She released the straw. "What's going on?"
"Uh, we can't talk here. We need to get back home."
Her eyes didn't move from the woman. "Who's this?"
"Long story," I said stiffly. "Can we just go, please?"
Ember nodded, sliding her milkshake closer to mine waiting on the center of the table with a long sigh. "What a beautiful waste."
"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you." Admittedly, on a better day, I'd dive right into them, but my appetite had dried out completely and I felt like I wanted to throw up.
She waved it off, getting up onto her feet and hauling our bags from the floor. "It's okay. There's always next time."
I took a few bags from her, turning to the woman behind me that I refused to acknowledge as my mom because I still didn't know if I could trust her, or if she really was who she claimed to be. "We need to take the raft back to the island. We can talk there."
"Is she there?" she asked.
"Who?" I frowned. "If you're talking about my mother, no, you're not going near her until we can confirm who you really are."
Her face darkened. "You don't trust me?"
"No," I said frankly. "You can't expect me to trust someone who just waltzed up to me and claimed to be my mother."
"What?" Ember's eyes bulged, turning onto the blonde woman. "You're her mom?"
"No," I turned to Ember. "Let's just go. I need to see your grandpa. He might be able to help."
"Sure." Ember's reluctant gaze moved to me and she offered me an encouraging smile before she twisted around and headed for the exit. We trailed after her, and none of us uttered another word to each other until we reached the island.
To say the boat ride over was uncomfortable, would be an understatement.
My supposed mom kept smiling at me, while Ember's eyes kept bouncing between us, filled with questions. I tried avoiding their gazes altogether, trying not to overthink the situation.
Kayn sat on the porch with Hector and they seemed to be in a heated argument as we walked up.
Hector snorted, about to say something to Kayn, when his eyes fell on the woman. "Holy sea cucumbers. You can't be real."
He stood up, gaping with his mouth half-open at her. Kayn's eyes flicked toward her and he frowned. "Who's this?"
Hector swallowed. "Kayn, you remember I told you about the queen who had gone missing and about the mysteries about her disappearance?"
"I briefly remember something like that," Kayn admitted. "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"
Hector gulped. "That's the queen."
