My freedom.
Mihauna, I was a coward. I should have stayed in Leihani.
I rested my head on my knees, listening to the sighs of the ship and cursing myself. I was a coward—but I was an even bigger fool. A fool drawn in by golden eyes, warm hands, and the scent of crushed mint and rain. I should have stayed in Leihani and explained myself. They probably would’ve tied me to a stake and set me aflame. But at least I’d have been able to look my father in the eye and tell the truth.
I couldn’t now. Kye had taken even that.
And for all the stars in the sky, I couldn’t imagine why.
The hatch banged open, and I scrambled to my feet.
Kye dropped down from the ceiling.
He reached above him for a tray he’d left on the floor. Pausing where he stood, he stared at it. “Dinner,” he said, smirking at the single bowl in the center. “Though I’m afraid it might not be to your taste. What was it you said was your preferred meal?” He pretended to wait for my response.
Sitting in the corner, the heat of my anger warmed my skin, andMihaunaif the air didn’t crackle and burn around me.
Kye snapped his fingers. “Unsuspecting men. That was it.” He set the tray on the floor, nudging it through a gap in my cell with the toe of his boot. “You lure unsuspecting men to the water so you can kill them and drink their blood. That’s almost as comforting as the story of the bat-shit lava woman.”
That did it. Whatever unburnt kindling remained within me lit at his mockery of Nahli, and I grabbed the bowl, my arm curving through the bars to throw it at him.
Lumpy gray stew flew through the air, my aim befouled by the dark. It missed him entirely, and he didn’t even flinch. He stared at me as we both listened to the bowl clatter to the floor.
“Well, I knew it might not be your favorite, but throwing isn’t necessary.”
“Just leave me alone.”
“I see you’re wearing my jacket.”
I ripped it off and launched it to the opposite side of my cell, immediately regretting its absence as cool air assaulted my arms.
Curled up as tight as I could, I glared at him in the dark, warding shivers from my body. I’d already felt the pronounced dive in temperature when the ship left warm Leihani waters. Everything felt constantly wet, though it was dry to the touch. The air was damp and heavy in my mouth, thick with the taste of mildew.
It was achingly, miserably cold, but I refused to sit here and allow him to taunt me over a jacket.
Kye reached overhead once more, producing a second tray.
Thoroughly annoyed that he'd somehow known I’d destroy the first meal, I watched as he laid it on the floor, then sat in front of my cell door, tasting a bite. He swallowed slowly, goosebumps along his throat faint in the dark. Ladling the greasy liquid, he let the congealed contents drop back into the bowl. It smelled rotten. My stomach lurched.
His eyes flicked to me in the dark. “Open wide, island witch,” he cooed.
“I saved your life,” I whispered, burning.
“I saved yours. We’re square.”
A sound came from the open hatch, soft footfalls across the deck. Someone was waiting for him just up the ladder.
“Then you betrayed me,” I murmured. “Fair’s fair, I’ll do the same to you.”
“Hard to be betrayed by someone you don’t trust,” he said, taking an impulsive chunk off my piece of hardtack bread. He chewed, his nose scrunching. “Aalto and back, that is truly terrible. Enjoy.”
His eyes skittered to his jacket. Smirking, he rose, leaving the stubbed butt of a candle on the floor as he climbed the ladder and out of sight, hatch swinging closed behind him.
The candle burned for an hour before flaming out on its own, leaving me wrapped in my own quiet thoughts.
21
Afight broke out the following morning among the sailors. I heard it through the deck above my head, male voices shouting at one another, blunt objects crashing as though they’d been thrown, though I couldn’t make out what was said. It only lasted a few minutes, then all went quiet.
