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  My hair and the hem of my dress fluttered in the sea breeze. The Indian Ocean was as dark and foreboding as ever, except for the whispery rushes of tiny waves caressing the shore. As usual, nobody was about.

  There were only six shacks at Bob’s Bay, all of them dark except one. A warm glow emitted from the window of the shack several metres away, but I knew the old man who stayed there wouldn’t see anything out here in the dark of night—or even expect to.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Lauren said in a low, shaky voice, followed by a giggle. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to finally meet him. This’ll make it so real.’ She grinned at me. ‘I won’t be able to call you a head case after this.’

  I giggled nervously and narrowed my gaze at the dark water as I tried to spot Marko.

  ‘What if he doesn’t show?’

  Lauren shoved me hard in the shoulder so that I stumbled forward. ‘Of course he will.’ But I could tell by the unsteadiness in her voice that she was thinking the same. Maybe she was even starting to doubt my story about an underwater city. I couldn’t exactly blame her. My ex-best-friend, Zoe, had given me the flick because of it, so I hadn’t told another soul about it.

  ‘Maybe we should go in for a swim,’ I said, my feet touching the water. It felt surprisingly warm as it swirled around my ankles, then my knees and thighs. ‘He might be waiting for me to get in.’ I glanced down at my dry clothes, wondering if I should have worn bathers.

  Lauren stared at me for a long moment and then grinned, her eyes widening to the shape of two moons. ‘Okay; as long as he doesn’t grab our ankles and drag us under like Robbie did to you.’

  A loud splutter erupted from my mouth as I recalled the moment Robbie, Marko’s head guard and best friend, had dragged me under the sea a year ago. The terror of not knowing who or what had taken hold of me was still hard to shake, despite our later friendship.

  ‘I’m going in,’ I said, bringing my palms together high above my head and diving into the warm, mid-summer ocean. In the blissful underwater silence, all I could hear was the frantic thudding of my heart.

  When my head broke the surface, I swam back to Lauren, who stood in the water, thigh-deep. She was staring at something behind me, her mouth hanging open.

  I turned slowly, my pulse racing.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HE HAD COME.

  As I had imagined, he looked just like a god of the sea, standing waist-deep in the water, his bare chest glistening in the light of the moon, his dark hair dripping wet and his steely blue eyes piercing through the darkness.

  ‘Marko,’ I whispered.

  He moved closer until only a metre or so of water kept us apart. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but the one thousand and one butterflies swirling in my stomach held me rooted to the spot.

  ‘You came,’ he said, breathing hard. He’d obviously been plagued with similar doubts.

  ‘So did you,’ I said, my lips trembling.

  His gorgeous mouth curved into a smile. I smiled back, enjoying the delicious warmth spreading through my chest.

  Drops of water dripped down his face and neck, and down his lean, muscular body, and I couldn’t help but think of how achingly beautiful he was.

  Marko stared back at me just as intensely, his eyes hovering over my face for ages before dipping to travel, slowly, down to my waist, and back up again. He swallowed thickly and looked away.

  A quick glance down and I saw that the wispy summer dress Lauren had dressed me in was clinging to my breasts like I was on the cover of Zoo magazine. I wrapped my arms around my chest and felt my cheeks burn.

  Lauren coughed and cleared her throat.

  ‘Oh.’ I gestured towards my sister as she moved in to stand beside me. ‘Marko, this is Lauren. Lauren, Marko.’

  Marko bent his head and shook my sister’s outstretched hand.

  ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lauren.’

  ‘The pleasure is mutual,’ said Lauren with a wink. The sight of Lauren’s beaming flirty smile made my heart drop a little. It was a smile reserved only for the boys whom Lauren thought worthy of her. But Marko kept his eyes on me throughout, and I felt stupid and selfish and horrible for getting jealous of my sister, considering this was goodbye for who knew how long.

  ‘Are you ready?’ Marko asked. He’d moved in closer so that his hand brushed mine. I wrapped my fingers around his and held on tight. A soft smile curved his lips but then he frowned slightly and looked away, in the direction of the black horizon.

  ‘Ready.’ I glanced at Lauren, whose face was beginning to crumble, and I let go of Marko’s hand and went to her.

  ‘So this is it,’ I said. They were stupid, clichéd words, but the only ones I could manage with such a tight throat. ‘Look after yourself and Nana and Pop.’ I wrapped my arms around her cool, shaking body. ‘Tell them I love them so much…and that I’m sorry.’

  Lauren started to bawl, but after half a minute she stopped and wiped at her eyes, her chest rising and falling with heaving breaths. She looked at Marko. ‘I want to speak to you alone, just for a moment.’

  Marko looked at me and I shrugged, too choked up to speak. Lauren was doing the sisterly thing, looking out for me. She was probably going to give him a lecture on keeping me safe.

  Marko followed Lauren to the shore where they both stood, heads bent. It was too dark to see their expressions, and their voices were too low to hear, but I could tell by the way their hands were waving about their heads that it was an intense conversation.

  When they returned, Lauren smiled at me. She seemed reassured. Marko, however, appeared almost angry, his jaw tight and hands clenched into fists. Something she’d said had changed his mood. Worry lines creased his forehead. But when he met my gaze his eyes softened.

  ‘It’s time, Miranda.’

  Lauren’s cool, skinny arms encircled my shivering body in one last hug. When she drew back, fresh tears shone in her eyes.

  ‘Happy eighteenth,’ she croaked.

  Again it was strange to think it was my birthday. The past two had been terrible. This one was sad and exciting at the same time.

  When I disentangled myself from Lauren, Marko opened his hand and revealed a small white tablet.

  ‘You need to take this.’

  I groaned inwardly, recalling the bitter taste and the horrible side effects of the drug.

  ‘Can I not this time?’

  ‘You must take it—for safety reasons. If you open your eyes while in the pod you could be…’ Marko hesitated, ‘you could be blinded.’ He shook his head. His eyes were all dark and intense for a moment before he sighed and seemed to relax again. ‘The next time we travel, if we need to travel again, I’ll let you do so awake. I promise.’ He glanced over my shoulder at Lauren, for some reason, and I thought I saw a flash of a worried frown. But he quickly hid it with a smile that didn’t touch his eyes. ‘Please take it, Miranda.’

  Reluctantly, I picked up the small white tablet, half-hoping that if I stalled Marko would put it in my mouth himself, the way Robbie had done the first time—with a kiss. But Marko watched and waited until I popped it onto my tongue.

  Bitterness filled my mouth, a taste so horrid I wanted to spit it out. But I couldn’t, because Marko was watching me intently. The only consolation was that, as the tablet dissolved and the drugs took effect, he drew me into his arms and held me close against his solid body, my cheek resting against his chest. His skin was cold, like marble, but the hammering of his heart soothed me into a dopey lull.

  Lauren must have moved in, because I felt her cool hands on my shoulders and her damp face against my cheek. She whispered something in my ear that I couldn’t quite make out—something about sisters, and how they should never part.

  Then the darkness swallowed me whole.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MY FIRST THOUGHT, as my eyes snapped open, was of Lauren. Though my rational side knew it was unrealistic, a part of me had hoped to wake up in Marin with my sister beside me.r />
  But here I was, alone, in a different room to the one I’d stayed in the last time I was here—a much larger one.

  I yawned and stretched out my limbs like a starfish, tugging the satin sheets from my body in the process. Cool air prickled my skin where my T-shirt nightie had ridden up and exposed my legs. I shivered and curled up into a ball, my head still heavy from the drugs, and wondered who’d undressed and re-dressed me. Hopefully it had been Anne, one of the maids whom I’d gotten close to last year. I cringed to think of Marko seeing me all floppy limbed and, well, naked.

  Stifling another yawn, my thoughts returned to Lauren.

  She would have driven home by now. My grandparents would now know I was gone—that I’d left them behind.

  Emotional agony stabbed at my heart and head, chasing away the grogginess of sleep. The lowliest creature on earth couldn’t possibly feel as low as I felt right now.

  When Lauren had whisked me away to Bob’s Bay, there had been hardly any time to stop and consider the magnitude of what I was doing. It had been thrilling, scary even. But now that I was here in Marin, I felt sad and a little depressed.

  Gritting my teeth, I shoved my negative thoughts aside and eased myself into sitting position. The side effects of the drugs were affecting me, heightening my emotions—that was all. Hopefully after those effects subsided, I’d feel much better and would be able to focus on my reasons for coming back to Marin.

  I looked around. The room was huge, though not as big as Marko’s or Sylvia’s quarters had been, which I’d likened to the size of a four-by-two house. The bed, a king-sized four-poster, was much plainer, without the mermaid and merman carvings or pearl studs of my old one. Still, it was beautiful; rich, dark wood with red undertones, and adorned with white silk scarves that billowed above me like soft clouds.

  ‘Marko,’ muttered a male voice I didn’t recognise, from behind the double doors.

  I yanked the sheet up to my chin.

  Whoever was behind it had obviously been watching me through the crack. It gave me the creeps. Part of me had hoped to wake to Marko, or Robbie—like last time. I could do with a friendly face or two.

  A single door in the opposite far corner of the room opened and Marko stepped through it.

  Immediately, my heart sped up.

  He could have walked into my life for the thousandth time and I still would have been startled by his beauty. And it wasn’t just his physical attractiveness—a gorgeousness that was all piercing-blue eyes, long dark lashes, full lips and gracefully long limbs—it was everything about him: a combination of untouchable regality, underlying sensuality and an inner vulnerability, which he hid from almost everyone around him except—I liked to think—me.

  I sighed. Not just in appreciation, but also in relief. Marko was here. Everything was going to be fine.

  Through the doorway where he entered I caught sight of his bedroom: his bed, with the black satiny sheets, and the dark shape of his piano. My stomach fluttered at the memory of him playing it for me, and the hungry kiss we’d shared on the bed afterwards. The way he’d pinned me down, stared deep into my eyes and asked me if I could be happy with him in Marin. I hadn’t given him an answer then, as I’d still been confused about my feelings, too afraid of what I’d felt inside for the person whom, at the time, I should have hated.

  ‘You’re awake.’ Marko stopped at my bedside. He was dressed in his favourite colour, black, which made his pale skin almost glow. His blue eyes were bright, his lips lush and ruby-red as though painted with wine. His long legs were impressive in the knee-high boots he wore—boots with daggers strapped to them—and the fitted black trousers that outlined his thigh muscles. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him and wondered, in a moment of stupid self-pity, how a guy like him could have ever been interested in me.

  Concentrate, Miranda.

  ‘I woke up just a minute ago.’

  ‘How are you feeling?’ He bent forward and lightly traced the back of my left hand with his thumb. ‘May I?’

  At that moment, a wide goofy smile spread across my face. He wanted to hold my hand. He was going to tell me how much I still meant to him. But then I realised, cheeks burning, that he only wanted to check my pulse, like Robbie had done when I’d first arrived in Marin last year.

  Get out of my system, drugs, and let me focus.

  ‘Sure.’

  He wrapped his long, warm fingers around my wrist, engulfing it and making me feel delicate and small, even though I was way too curvy to be, and sat down beside me. Heat radiated from his body, as well as a hint of aftershave and his naturally woodsy, manly scent.

  From the corner of my eye I watched his lips move ever so slightly while he counted. This was nice. Marko almost holding my hand seemed to have settled the sea of unease in my stomach. Except…it was having the opposite effect on my heart.

  ‘Your pulse is a little high, but nothing to worry about. It’s perfectly normal for your body to react under present circumstances.’ He flashed a half-smile. Was he implying that his presence excited me? How right he was.

  ‘I meant being in Marin, of course,’ he added, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

  Somebody coughed outside the main double doors to my room.

  ‘Is there a guard posted outside like last time?’ I frowned. Surely the castle was a much safer place with Damir locked away.

  ‘He guards my door, not yours. Don’t worry. You’ll enjoy a lot more freedom this time around. Except—’

  ‘Except?’

  Marko half smiled again and scratched his chin, his lashes lowering in a way that made my stomach flutter. ‘Except…you’ll have to put up with me being next door.’ With raised brows he leaned back, resting on his arms, and motioned with his head towards his bedroom. ‘Do you object to being this close to me?’

  I stared into his eyes, my pulse racing, and shook my head. ‘No. I like… I’m good. I mean…it’s fine.’ Heat seared my cheeks.

  ‘Good,’ he said after a pause, his voice soft and gravelly at the same time.

  The urge to lean forward and be close to him, to touch him, was so strong I had to tuck my hands beneath my thighs. It was far too soon to make moves. I couldn’t yet gauge if he still had feelings for me. And anyway, there were other things to do first, or there would be no Marko to make moves on. I had to ensure Sylvia wasn’t planning fratricide, and that Damir was still safely locked away in his cell, or even better—dead.

  ‘As long as you don’t snore,’ I said, grinning suddenly.

  He shook his head and chuckled. ‘Kings don’t snore.’

  ‘Well, we’ll see about that,’ I said with a soft laugh.

  ‘What about you last night?’ He crossed his long legs at the ankles and leaned back on his elbows, grimacing. ‘I couldn’t sleep for all that moaning and groaning you were doing.’

  The laughter inside of me died instantly and I immediately sat up straight.

  ‘What?’

  Marko must have seen the red in my cheeks and the horror in my eyes because he stopped grimacing and his face softened. ‘I’m only joking, Miranda. You slept beautifully, in fact.’

  ‘Did you spy on me and watch me sleep?’

  He uncrossed his legs and shifted slightly.

  ‘I was checking on you, to make sure you were alive, that’s all.’

  I nodded, but still didn’t like the idea of being knocked out and doing God-knows-what during my sleep while Marko, or anybody for that matter, watched.

  Marko sighed and gazed around the room before sitting up straight. He seemed to be itching to say something, but was holding back for some reason. Maybe he wanted to confide in me about Sylvia, or maybe he wanted to talk about us.

  ‘This is—’ he paused to clear his throat, ‘Robbie’s old room.’

  I sucked in a sharp breath at the sound of Robbie’s name.

  Marko’s shoulders immediately hunched and he began drumming his fingers against his knees. ‘It’s the closest room to mine.’ H
e set a jittering hand down on the bed, an inch away from mine.

  ‘Is Robbie here?’ Are you friends again?

  Marko sighed and shook his head.

  ‘He lives on the outskirts of the city and looks after the greenhouses. There’s not much he can do at the castle now that…’ Marko’s voice trailed off. He sat forward and raked both hands through his thick, dark hair. He’d let it grow a little, and the ends were curling slightly.

  ‘Did something happen to Robbie? Is he okay?’

  Marko stared at me for a long time. His lips parted, as though he was about to share something, but instead he shut his mouth and shook his head. ‘Robbie is happy where he is. I asked him to stay here but he declined my offer.’

  Why would Robbie not want to stay in the castle? I just couldn’t imagine six-foot-tall, well-built Robbie fiddling around with seedlings. He was so much better suited to being a guard. Perhaps things had remained uneasy between Robbie and Marko after Sylvia had lied about the treason thing. I’d have to visit Robbie soon and find out the truth for myself. And make sure he was okay. It just seemed so wrong to not have him wandering the castle hallways.

  A shudder made its way down my spine at the thought of Marko not having the true protection Robbie had once provided. What if Damir still had spies working in the castle—men who could be guarding Marko’s door at this very moment?

  ‘Are you cold? I have extra blankets in my room.’ Marko pulled the thick bedcover up and over my lap, but quickly drew his fingers away when they touched my bare skin. He cleared his throat and shifted away from me, choosing to sit at the very end of the bed. It was like he was making sure not to touch me.

  Embarrassingly, and without warning, tears pooled in my eyes.

  Marko saw the tears and his eyes turned dark with worry, but I waved his concern away with a hand and smiled. ‘It’s just the stupid side effects of the tablet. This happened last year.’

  He nodded and said nothing for a while before he stood up.