I shook my head. “I can’t leave theislands.”
I couldn’t explain it, even to myself.
But I belonged to the islands, as much as the islands belonged to the sea. Something tethered me here. It always had; otherwise I’d have left years ago.
It alwayswould.
“What are you going to do?” he asked calmly. “Hide here on a cursed island for the rest of your life?”
Mihaunain the stars, I knew it made no sense. Especially to him, a Calderian man who’d never had to work a day in his life. Who’d never fallen in love with roots and ash and the songs birds sang in the early morning before the dew had left the leaves.
But I couldn’t think of a strong enough argument to shield me from his doubt, so I simply stood there, meeting his eyes in silence as the ocean wind shifted my hau bark skirt around my thighs.
Kye exhaled, tension leaving his body with his breath. I tried to read whatever it was that flashed behind his eyes. Disappointment, maybe. Pity. Waves broke along the sand, shells brushing past our ankles.
“You're sure?” Kye finally asked.
Throat tight, I nodded.
He offered me his hand, digits loosely splayed as they hovered in the air, and waited for me to take it.
Curious, I obliged him, watching his fingers curl around the heel of my hand. His skin was warm from the sun, his palm calloused and rough. He ran his thumb gently over the back of mine, sending heat dancing under my skin.
“I’m glad to have met you, Maren,” he said, capturing my gaze with molten eyes.
“I’m glad to have met you, too.” My mouth had gone dry, but the corners of my eyes burned with moisture.
He sighed, the sweet, cool scent of mint leaves tumbling off him as he raised my knuckles to his mouth and pressed them to his lips.
A thermal wave hit me in the wake of his breath and skin against my hand. My mouth parted on words that my tongue couldn’t speak, my pulse simmering through my veins. Kye released my hand, leaving me flushed and dazed among the palms as he turned and climbed into his rowboat.
PART II
THE BLOOD
18
Frozen in the aftershock of Kye's mouth on the back of my hand, I watched as he cast off. His eyes remained on mine as he rowed away, though he never waved or tried to shout. His little boat drifted to the south, shrinking until it vanished under the curve of the blue horizon.
Two pairs of eyes appeared at the water’s edge, sending a shiver down my spine.
My toes curled, seeking the reminder of sanctuary in the dry sand where they couldn't reach me. The Naiads rose out of the water only to their chins. Across the shallows, they stared at me.
My arms crossed, fingers dug into my own skin. I bared my teeth, waiting for them to speak, but they seemed inclined to wait as well.
“You tried to kill me,” I finally said when I could no longer stand it.
“We did not,” Nori answered, her voice as calm as evening dusk.
I lowered my chin. “You killed the sailors, Nori.”
She gazed at me unflinchingly, and though she took her time to answer, there was no qualm in her words. “We did.”
My mouth opened and closed.
I’d been sure they’d deny it—had desperately hoped they’d deny it. The pit in my stomach grew again, as hard and rotten as it had been the morning I’d woken to find my father waiting for me with a cup of tea.
My chest heaved; my knees wobbled. My hand slid across my middle, and I was sure I’d lose the bile of my empty stomach. From the corner of my eye, the Naiads pulled in, creeping onto shore on their elbows and tails.
