Driving forward, she slammed her shoulder into my chest, sending the two of us toward the door of the galley. Willfully, I gave her the reins, intrigued by just how far she would go and surprised by thestrength she concealed within her slim frame. With her free hand, she found the dagger she clung to like a lifeline, and as my back met the wall, she raised it to greet my Adam’s apple.
“I will fuckingkill you,Caspian Vayne.”
Craning my head to the side, I grinned. “Yeah, will you,Rohen Levitte? Because last I checked, you’ve been presented many opportunities to do just that, and you’ve allowed them to slip from your hold everyfuckingtime.”
“I don’t have to explain my decisions to you.” Seething, she pressed forward, the sharpened steel nicking the scar that resided there.
“Go ahead then, little siren.” My tongue danced over my lips as I reached down, securing a far harsher grasp on her wrist. With the blade under my control, I forced her closer, granting the blade access to bury deeper into my skin. “Since you wish for my death so fondly, draw my blood and claim my life as yours,darling.”
Her brow dipped, an influx of clashing emotions consuming her entrancing emerald stare. Where there was bloodlust, wrath, and an undesirable urge to do exactly as she claimed, something else lingered, something preventing her from summoning my blood with her preferred weapon. Catching its presence, I studied it for a moment, unable to decipher what it entailed.
But I knew it was the furthest thing from hatred.
Tightening my grip, I pulled her closer, her chest coming to rest just below mine. Her breath hitched, lips parting just enough for it to become audible. With our bodies pressed together, that same spark reignited with a flame that was unwilling to die, no matter how much she wished to suffocate it.
“Well,” I crooned mockingly, leaning down until my forehead met hers. “What are you waiting for?”
Silence enveloped us, our gazes locked on one another with every intention we wished to unleash. Where she wanted to gut me, I wished to drown her. Where she yearned to gain autonomy, I desired to lock her away. Where she craved to witness my last fleeting breath, I craved to devour hers.
We were far too similar, in far too many dangerous ways, and I knew the unrelenting loathing between us would not cease until Elaros opened his arms for one of us.
“Fuck you,” she growled between clenched teeth, her arm shaking as she battled between mind and heart—between logic and instinct.
My fingers unfurled from her wrist, providing her with one last opportunity to end me if she so pleased. But she didn’t. Instead, her internalized conflict continued, and the way her breath hitched in my proximity, along with the looming threat she presented but lacked in execution, did something to me.
“Oh, my little siren.” My cock twitched, and I bit my cheek with enough force to draw blood, its coppery tang stabilizing every intrusive ideation. “If you wish to partake in such activities, you know where my quarters are.”
“I will cut off your pathetic excuse for a prick before I ever?—”
Leaning forward further, my lips brushed against her ear, and I leveraged the very dialogue she’d so willingly tossed my direction. “Careful, Levitte, I may start liking the way desperation smells on you.”
“I fear, Captain Vayne, that you may be confusing desperation for disgust, but don’t fret, I’d expect nothing less from someone as self-centered as you.”
“Self-centered?” I chuckled, pulling away from her only to tuck a loose strand of her damp hair behind her ear. “Oh, darling, it’s called owning the assets you know you have. Though if you’re that keen on gaining insight, I’m sure Saph wouldloveto enlighten you on just howlargeI am.”
The clearing of a throat confirmed my suspicions, my eyes lifting to find the woman I’d just referenced standing a few feet behind Rohen. “Captain.”
“Ah, the woman of the hour.” Shoving Rohen away from me, I moved past her, training my stare on Saph. “Is there something you need?”
“We just received mail via pigeon.” She shifted, revealing a rolled piece of parchment, extending it to me backhandedly.
“From whom?”
Allowing her billowing agitation to lead the charge, I quickly became the target she wished to unleash on. “Oh, none other than Alastair Seridean. It appears your best friend has risen from the dead with a score to settle,love.”
CHAPTER 21
Other Royalty
ALASTAIR
“And to which gods do I owe the grace?”
The king lifted his chin, his soulless gaze attempting to devour my soul. “Perhaps the dark goddess, she was the one who ordered you back with such urgency.” He hunted for a break in my composure but came up empty-handed, even as I stood before him alone.
I’d elected to leave my crew docked on the shores of Darswyth for many reasons, the biggest being that none of them knew the entirety of my truth.
Caspian and I initially crossed paths as cellmates, forced to listen to one another’s tortured screams, familiarizing ourselves with the scent of the other’s blood and piss, and fighting to survive while the leashes of the crown coiled around our throats.
