I can’t see straight!

Anna stumbled out of the party, dragging Kai with her to the gardens. They looked like gardens, she couldn’t tell with how much her vision was blurry.

Damn. I shouldn’t have drank too much!

They got to the garden. It was a lot more quiet here, and the cold air wrapped around her overstimulated body like a chill hug. It was far enough that the music was low but still there. And there was no one around.

Anna spotted a stone bench behind a tall ledge and quickly pulled Kai over to it.

"Sit." She commanded.

He obeyed wordlessly, staring up at her with blank yet conflicted eyes.

Anna grabbed his hands, inspecting them. His knuckles were raw and bloody, but somehow the cuts were starting to close up. It looked like they hurt, a lot.

"What was going through your mind?" She sighed in exasperation. She quickly focused her healing spores over his hands. "Attacking someone like that? At Thalia’s birthday party? Sure I don’t care much about that last part but—"

"Don’t you remember him?" Kai cut in, his voice sharp like icy waters.

"Remember who?"

Kai’s jaw tightened as he rose to his feet. "You really don’t remember him? Or are you playing dumb right now?"

Anna took a step back, her heart slipping a beat. "I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Kai. Who was that man? Why did you—"

"You really don’t remember. That’s impossible. There’s no way you won’t fucking remember! How could you forget? How dare you?!"

"If you would just stop speaking in fucking—" Anna trailed off, her words left unfinished .

The memory came back. The very first set of original memories she’d gotten.

The giant fish tank. A younger and more emaciated Kai. The man that gave him to the Princess Orchid.

That same man was Villis.

Recollection clouded Anna’s features. She glanced at Kai, unsure what to say to him.

"So you do remember." He said, nodding to himself. "How could you even forget, cutie? It was the day you got a shiny new husband. I for one won’t be able to forget that day even if I died." As he spoke, he stepped closer to her, while she stepped further and further back till her back hit a solid wall covered in vines.

"Kai..." she whispered, shaking her head. "I...I’m sorry. You might not believe me but..."

"Wrong." He met up with her, one hand slammed into the wall while the other gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. You’re all wrong. Apologies? Sorry? When did you start saying those words?"

"Shit.." Anna hissed.

AI Orchid appeared. "I told you so. You keep doing stupid stuff and everyone will know you’re a fucking fake!"

The alcohol cleared from Anna’s eyes, replaced by something in between fear and fascination.

"I gave you my teeth and you cried." Kai said, his eyes flicking to her mouth. "You let me sleep in the same bed as you. You call me "Kai" like you’ve forgotten you used to call me "Mako". Tell me, cutie, why?"

Anna swallowed thickly. "I would if I had an explanation. I swear it, I’m fine. It’s just...let me go okay? Let’s talk about this. Your hand, I need to heal your—"

He held his hand up for her, showing her his knuckles. They were smooth, not a single cut in sight.

"You’ve also forgotten how fast I heal. I thought you extensively detailed it in your journals. Time of regeneration: approximately three minutes and twenty seven seconds, a significant improvement from the last entry. Remember?"

The more he spoke, the more Anna realized how fucked she was.

Her heart raced furiously, her spores flickering between pink, purple, and white. The first two she could understand, but white? What did white mean?

Why was Kai looking at her that way?

"Tell me," his voice dropped low, almost seductive. His grip on her chin loosened and he traced his fingers over her smooth cheek. "Am I going crazy? Or did something happen to you?"

Heat crawled slowly up Anna’s chest, neck, and face. A different kind of heat. Different from the buzz of alcohol, or fear, or even anger.

Something ravenous.

Her chest heaved, and her lips parted wordlessly. "Kai..." she gasped, her eyes pleading. "I don’t know...I’m just as confused as you are."

"Liar. You’re a liar, cutie. Which is funny because you’ve been a lot of things," he leaned in, his warm breath fogging on her lips, tasting of sweet wine and something darker Anna didn’t dare name. Yet, she found herself gravitating toward him. Like there was a powerful force between them, one she couldn’t withstand no matter how hard she tried. "But confused? You’ve never been confused. And you’ve never been a liar either."

Anna’s breath hitched. The realization slammed into her, leaving no room to breathe.

In that moment, she knew what the white spores meant. She felt it. And judging from the look in Kai’s eyes, his pupils blown so wide that all traces of blue was gone, she knew that it affected him too.

His eyes fixed on her lips.

Oh.

Oh.

A thrill of fear and excitement ran down her spine. Her heart lurched. She knew she should do something, turn her spores a sharp purple, shove him off her and pretend she has no idea what he’s talking about.

Will that work? He has so much evidence against me, he’ll just corner me another time.

But fuck...this feels good. So good. When last was I held this way? When last did someone look at me this way?

Kai looks ready to devour me. Is that in the literal or other sense? Maybe I shoulda—

His thumb brushed her lips, pulling down her plump lower lip and watching it snap back into position. Hunger flared in his eyes. Anna swallowed hard, her breathing coming harder and faster. Her head swirled, and her white spores brightened and wrapped around them like a cloud of mist.

"You..." Kai said, his voice rough and heavy and dark. "Fuck."

His lips slammed into hers.

It was less a kiss and more an interrogation. He kissed her hard and desperate, like he could uncover the lies by tasting them off her lips.

Anna’s hands moved, grabbing onto his shirt. Her claws tore through the material. She had zero control over them. The heat in her gut burned brighter, threatening to take over her entire body. She gasped and he swallowed the sound. Her eyes drifted shut and she leaned into the kiss, returning it with the same intensity. His teeth grazed her lip, breaking skin and drawing a bead of blood. She didn’t mean to, but she moaned. The sound of it too soft, but not unnoticed by him.

He pulled back, his eyes wide, his breaths quickening. He didn’t speak, but his eyes said volumes.

Anna read the silent questions in his eyes. He wasn’t asking for permission. He scanned her face, searching and searching.

She realized that the situation was still in her control. Part of it, anyway.

She tightened her grip on his shirt and nodded.

He leaned down to her lips. His tongue darted out, flicking over the blood on her lip, lapping it up. He groaned, before his lips met hers again.

Harder. The heat between them building like a volcano about to erupt.

Anna kissed him back, shivering with pleasure, her thighs pressed together as if that would help anything. She threaded one hand through his hair, tugging till his hair tie came loose, soft locks spilling over his shoulders. He pressed her into the wall, his body cool and hard, flush against hers.

Her crown slipped, rolling off her silky hair and down to the ground. She didn’t notice. Neither of them did. The crown rolled and rolled and came to a halt in front of a pair of shiny shoes.

Leon bent and picked up the crown.

The metal was warm, her scent still clinging to it.

Leon looked up. Anger and frustration rushed through his body as he watched them kiss. He had expected a lot of things when he came here, and this was not even in his worst case scenarios.

He tugged on the collar of his shirt. It felt like a living creature, strangling the life out of him. His head felt hot, his mind scrambled with the same question.

Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why?!

Is this why she chose to go without him?

So she could kiss another man?!

Leon would have chalked it up to Kai’s unpredictable manner. But no. She was kissing him back. Her fingers in that shark’s hair, her back arched into him, and those sounds...

Leon grit his teeth so hard he heard a crack.

Those sounds. Those breathy little whimpers. Soft, and full of want. She’s making them for fucking Kai. She wants him and not him.

Leon had never heard those sounds from her. Not even by accident. And he had known her the longest.

Kai? Why? Why was it him?

His fist clenched around the crown so tightly that the metal bent and warped.

Leon’s mind twisted, dark thoughts filtering in front every angle. Deep down, he didn’t understand why he was so angry to stumble upon the scene. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was how much hatred and anger boiled in his heart.

They still hadn’t noticed him. Still tangled in each other, oblivious. And she? She was so lost in Kai that she didn’t even notice her crown was gone.

He hated it. All of it.

Leon tugged his collar loose again. His tie came free and it still wasn’t loose enough.

He turned and walked away, his mane glitching, his eyes glowing, his features changing. He needed to get out of there. Immediately.

Kai pulled away from the kiss without warning. Anna blinked up at him, disoriented, panting hard, her lips red from the kiss.

She tried to speak but before she could open her mouth, his hands came up and clamped around her neck.

"You’re not her." He growled, his face twisting into anger. "You’re not her! She would never...she would never let me kiss her! She’d never moan for me!"

"Kai..." Anna gasped, her eyes wide. The euphoric feelings in her veins quickly morphed to anger. She grabbed his wrist, hitting, trying to get him off her. Pressure built in her head and her lungs burned as she struggled to draw in much needed oxygen. "St...stop..."

"She would never care," Kai whispered the last word like he couldn’t believe he was saying it.

"I can’t..."

Anna’s eyes met with someone over his shoulder. AI Orchid.

"Who are you?" His grip tightened.

She became afraid. Minutes ago he was kissing her passionately and now...

The look in his eyes was dark, wild and terrified.

"If you don’t answer, I’ll snap your neck."

Anna knew he wasn’t bluffing. She’d seen enough of his madness and volatility to know that he would snap her neck like a toothpick and still walk out like nothing happened.

Dark spots encroached into her vision. Her throat hurt, everything hurt. Her spores turned a dark purple, but that didn’t make Kai budge one bit.

AI Orchid glowered at her. "Don’t you dare."

Tears filled Anna’s eyes. She choked on a sob, a trapped breath of air. Her grip on his wrist loosened while his only got tighter.

"I...I’m not...her..."

Only then did his grip let up.

He let go of her neck and stepped back. She immediately doubled over, gasping and inhaling large gulps of air. Tears streamed down her eyes and she coughed violently.

"You’re not her?" Kai asked in a voice so calm no one would believe he just kissed and strangled her in the space of one minute.

Anna touched her neck, wincing at the bruise already forming there. "I’m not,"

"Anna Carson, don’t you dare reveal your identity! You’ll be punished. I’m warning you, keep your mouth shut!"

Anna didn’t listen to AI Orchid. She didn’t even glance at her. She kept her attention on Kai.

She straightened, walking shakily over to the bench. Kai watched her, his expression unreadable, calm like the deep sea.

Amidst AI Orchid’s screams and warnings, Anna told Kai everything. By the time she was done, AI Orchid was gone. Kai hadn’t spoken a word.

Anna braced herself for the punishment. Whatever it could be. Nothing prepared her for the barrage of images flooding into her mind.