Chapter 416 Manipulation

Wave appeared inside one of the apartments in the High Tower instead of his Mermaidia’s room, and he yelled in exasperation, water gurgling out of his mouth and splashing onto the person’s floor because it would now take him time to find her penthouse after failing to appear there directly. This was what he got for being struck by the sea witch.

Wave had been messing with the sea witch’s portal to protect his Mermaidia, but she had struck him with her powers, and now he had lost his sense of direction, which was why he hadn’t been able to return to his companion after leaving her to see the mermaid trapped inside that big nobody-water tank.

“But I have to find my Mermaidia and tell her what her sister said,” Wave whispered to himself so he wouldn’t forget that too. If only his Mermaidia were a real mermaid, she could have fixed him after the witch struck him, but now it would take time for him to recover, and Wave hated his fate.

Wave crawled across the floor like a water snake, wishing that in his next life he would be given to a real mermaid who wasn’t in love with the enemy and who would always want his company.

He was moving along, trying to mind his own business and get the hell out of the apartment he had somehow found himself in, when he suddenly saw a foot coming down toward him. Wave quickly shrank back, curling into himself as he watched the foot land exactly where he had been only a moment ago.

“Shoot, how did water end up here?” came a female voice.

When Wave looked closely, he recognized her as his Mermaidia’s friend, the one she always kept around, the one he thought talked too much and laughed too loudly. He also thought she was far too beautiful for a werewolf.

Zoe, who had been walking toward her desk to jot down a new design idea, frowned at the puddle of water on her floor and wondered how it had gotten there. She lived alone, and there was no reason for water to be sitting in the middle of the room.

Without thinking too much about it, she fetched a mop and cleaned it up. She had just finished cleaning the water away when her phone suddenly began to ring on her desk. She looked toward it with a frown. Getting a call at this time of the night was unusual for her, and this was normally the time she spent working.

Zoe dropped the mop without ceremony, and it landed right on top of the water creature hiding from her sight, splitting him cleanly down the middle. Wave huffed in annoyance, glared at her back, and spat more water onto the floor just so she would have to clean it again.

However, Zoe was too busy wondering who could be calling her to hear the sound of the water splashing. She reached her desk and picked up the phone. The moment she saw the caller’s name, her eyes widened, and she answered immediately.

“It’s about time, Nicolas,” Zoe complained the instant she picked up.

Hearing that name, Wave, who had been about to sneak away, stopped and frowned, his watery face twisting with anger.

The other monster who had hurt his Mermaidia.

He immediately changed direction and crawled closer to listen to their conversation so he could report it to his Mermaidia if anything useful came from it.

Zoe didn’t wait for Nick to reply before speaking again.

“I’ve been trying to call you ever since we left Grim Pack, and you haven’t been answering any of my calls anymore. What has gotten into you, dear cousin?” she asked, feeling tears prick her eyes because Nick had always been more like a brother to her, and having him ignore her when they had always been so close hurt deeply.

“I guess you haven’t heard then,” Nick said through the phone, his voice sounding strained and hoarse, as though he had been crying.

“Heard what? Are you all right?” Zoe asked worriedly as she left her desk and walked toward the glass wall, biting nervously at her nails.

“How can I be all right after what Vee did, Zoe? I can never be all right again. We trusted her. We did everything we could for her sake, but… this is how she repays us.” He forced his voice to sound as though he were struggling to hold back tears, silently thanking his luck that Zoe hadn’t been told everything.

Nick had called her tonight with a plan already in mind, but that plan had changed the moment he discovered that Sebastian, that fucker, and his beloved hadn’t told Zoe about his love for Vee. That worked in his favor because it meant he could still use Zoe as an ally.

“What did Vee do? What’s been going on lately? I feel like nobody is telling me anything.” Zoe said anxiously, no longer knowing what to think.

Ever since that night when Vee had disappeared, Zoe had noticed a huge change in her sister-in-law. When they returned, Viola had gone ahead without waiting for her, almost as though she were angry with Zoe. Normally, they texted each other every day and chatted in their group chat, but when Zoe logged in afterward, neither Viola nor Nick had come online, and she had been left feeling terrible, wondering if she had somehow done something to ruin their friendship.

Zoe had wanted to go to Viola, but she had decided to give her some time. However, Nick’s words made it seem as though there was much more to the situation than she had realized, and she suddenly felt anxious.

Wave, on the other hand, listened to the conversation and huffed, wishing he could tell this beautiful monster she-wolf that the man was talking to was about to lie. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the ability to speak to anyone except his Mermaidia.

“I… I don’t even know how to start this, Zoe, but I have to tell you. Your brother has banished me from Silver and sent me away to live with the packless.” He cried over the phone, sobbing so convincingly that Zoe’s heart lurched with panic.