“Well, I’m just grateful you met me downstairs,” I admitted with a wry laugh a little while later as we walked into the penthouse together. “I have no idea how to get onto the property without an escort.”
Chen laughed too, but we both stopped short when we saw Han standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that led out to the lanai.
All the beaches in Hawaii were public by law, and we no longer had an official royal family. But from behind, dressed in his usual summer suit with the ocean and beach laid out in front of him, Han looked like a monarch surveying his kingdom. And even before he turned around to face us, I could tell he was particularly displeased with one of his subjects.
Chen could too. He wrapped his fingers around my arm like he was afraid I’d run away again just as Han turned around and beckoned us forward with one hand. And when Chen brought me further into the room, it felt a whole lot like I was the mortal getting dragged in front of the Fae King to answer for my crimes.
I set my face and my tone to unbothered before saying, “Hey, Han. How’s it hanging?”
Han didn’t answer. He just flicked his eyes to Chen and said something in Cantonese. I had no idea what he said, but I swear Chen disappeared into the ether—like another magical being, just winnowing away. After he was gone, Han’s eyes flicked back to me. And it took me a few tense moments to realize he was waiting for an explanation.
So I dragged out the pitiful speech I’d prepared. “I had a job interview for this summer camp gig—it’s run by my old surfing coach, one of my dad’s best friends. And I’m barely keeping all of this a secret from my parents, so there would have been a ton of questions if I’d just pulled up in a car with a driver. But you know, I’m back and safe, just like you wanted. And the good news is, I got the job. Yay!”
I’d hoped my yay would get a little smile. It didn’t. I couldn’t find so much as a glimmer of amusement in the Fae King’s upturned eyes.
Several beats passed by. I waited for him to get mad. But he said nothing. Just stood there, staring at me.
“So, I have a sunset class later on,” I said carefully. “I’m just going to go to my room to catch a nap before it starts.”
I waited for him to protest. To say something like, “What part of ‘You belong to me’ don’t you get?” But he continued to stand there, frozen like a statue. So unsettling, but better than getting yelled at or ordered around, I guess. So I threw him a shaka and awkwardly side-stepped away to hide out in my temporary room.
I had to admit it wasn’t a bad retreat. The place looked like a hotel room, with high-end everything. Plus, it had its own sliding window door entrance to the lanai. I’d grown up completely inland, but the view made me understand why apartments like this commanded millions of dollars.
I’d spent a lot of time out here since I arrived, but I seldom saw Han. He’d closed all the sliding glass doors, leading inside when he came out to order me not to play my ukulele before noon. And he’d warned me that leaving them open was a security risk he didn’t want.
But that was the first and last time I ever saw him out on his lanai. He didn’t seem to ever swim, and he was usually gone by the time I got back from afternoon classes and asleep when I woke up—at least until I did something to bring him out of his room, cursing and hissing at me.
Speaking of which? Was he really not going to chew me out about taking off for that interview? Guess not. I found him sitting on the couch when I came out dressed for class in the surf shorts and rash guard I’d left to dry on the lanai after that morning’s Dawn Patrol class.
“See ya later,” I said, throwing him a shaka. Then I rushed out the door. He didn’t try to stop me. And I had a great time that evening, teaching Chen and a bunch of intermediate tourists how to safely surf at night without any incident.
“I’m getting pretty good,” Chen said as we climbed out of the car in the open-air garage underneath the complex’s building.
“Yeah, you are!” I gave him a high-five as we walked to the elevator doors. “And you get free coaching in exchange for having to watch me all day.”
“I don’t mind,” he assured me. “The guys back in RI aren’t going to believe it when they see me on the board.”
