He grabbed her wrist, forcing her palm flat on his sternum. “If you’rethataggravated with me, then carve my heart from my chest, little fang. I told you it belongs to you, and I meant that utterance with every ounce of my essence.”
Tearing herself free from his hold, she shook her head. “Now isnotthe time for this, Ace. We have far graver things on our hands. Not only this woman whom Ellira seemed to hand off to us, but whatever thefuckyou’ve been up to.”
“She came from Caspian’s ship,” he offered, lifting a single finger as Leilani went to reply. “Before you jump down my throat again, let me finish.” Waiting briefly, he only resumed once she released an aggravated sigh. “The reason Iknowsuch a fact is because of the wood we found her on. That dark oak does not belong to any other pirate crew, let alone those who sail with the royal crest, because Caspian fucking Vayne threatened to execute anyone idiotic enough to copy him. Thankfully enough, it seemed to be a plank stored on board for repair. I’m unsure how or why she snagged it, but I could give a fuck less about the nuances when it points to the fucker still being alive.”
“And who is Caspian?—”
I interrupted Percival before he had the chance to ask. “One of the most deadly pirates on the sea. He’s worked with my father. I haven’tmet him directly, only in passing, but he certainly is all the rumors have made him out to be.”
“Yeah? Did yourfatherhappen to inform you that he used to be my best friend?” Alastair’s tongue trailed across his teeth, a deep-seated wrath flaring in his golden stare. “That motherfucker betrayed me years ago and nearly killed me.Heturned his back on me when we both bear the royal crest, just as he is the reason you caught me in those godsawful hallways of the palace that was once your home?—”
“That place wasnevermy home,” I snarled, my nails biting into the flesh of my biceps. “And it never will be. My father is a sinisterfuckwho I will never and have never followed faithfully.”
“Regardless, she was on Caspian’s ship. And, with the uncanny way we found her, I believe she has deep ties with the goddess of the seas.”
“And you know that how?” I questioned, ignoring the agitation that peppered every syllable.
“Because I was told something about Caspian Vayne. By whom? I cannot disclose.” A soft chuckle rolled from his throat, the darkness that consumed his irises in the galley returning. “Apparently, your father tossed him over the edge of a ship when we were young, and what was once sky blue morphed into crimson. The reason his eyes shifted, alongside his demeanor and thirst for power, is that one of Ellira’s eyes was in the cove. Theonlyreason Caspian is alive is because of the goddess who blesses our sails. The essence of the ruby lives within him, which means?—”
“If your assumptions about her are correct…” Leilani whispered, her eyes glancing over at the woman. “That would mean, based on old folklore, that she is a Marked Daughter, and Caspian is drawn to her because of her soulbound ties to Ellira.”
“And why do you believe he isdrawnto her in that manner? He could merely be intrigued by her. I mean, she’s gorgeous.” Percy’s voice rolled from behind me, his utterance an inherent fact.
“Because…” Alastair hummed, tucking his hands in his pockets as he walked further into the room. Positioning himself at the edge of the bed, he kept his back to us. “Caspian Vayne chases afterno one,but hewashuntingfor her with a desperation that contradicts everything he is.”
Metal sang, and a dagger was removed from his waistline in a flash. An ethereal voice rolled through the cabin, one that could’ve easily been equated to a siren’s lure.
“Whoever thefuckyou are, and however thefuckyou know Caspian Vayne… I want himdead.”
CHAPTER 28
Unwrapped Wrath
SYORAN
“What thefuckdid you just say to me?”
The growl that rolled from Caspian matched my internalized self-loathing. I was just as angry at myself as he was. I’d fallen into Rohen’s trap and allowed her free roam of the ship. When I brought the idea forward, Caspian had been more than against it, only deciding to allow it if I kept my eyes on her.
Something I’dfailedto do. And because of that failure, more than half of our crew members were butchered byherhand.
“Isaid,” Saph continued, her demeanor mirroring his. “We are in the Sea of Ellira, nearing the Dark Ocean bordering Thornebay,Captain.”
“How?” My question came as a near-whisper.
I was already toeing a fine line with the man who fisted a whiskey glass tight enough that it’d cracked, and the last thing I wanted to do was enrage him further. Caspian’s temperament was not one anyone wished to toy with. The boundary between his playful ire and his blooming wrath was clear, and the release of the latter was not something anyone would survive.
Well, no one but Sapphira fucking Maris.
Where I’d attempted to grant him enough room to release without adding more to his searing flames, Sapphira was the polar opposite. She always elected to push him until he was beyond the point of return, a man blinded by the years of torment that coiled beneath his skin.
While I was familiar with his intensity when he was angry, the sudden eruption of his insurmountable indignation was rare. It was something I witnessed in only a handful of instances, each time ending in a bloodbath. It was a release of carnage. I’d watched him, ahumanwithout any influence, tear a man limb from limb with his bare hands.
His trauma and compounding rage had shaped him into a ruthlessness I was worried would devour him whole. And in time, watching his unraveling ensue at a rate that only seemed to increase day by day, I’d only become more fearful of not if, butwhenit would take place.
The liquor bottle trembled on his desk as his palm collided with the dark oak. “I am not in themood,Sapphira.”
Unwavering, his tone presented a line, one I’d prayed to the gods for all of our sakes she wouldn’t cross. My gaze remained fixed on her, and my jaw feathered with the slight tick curling at the corner of her mouth.
