It’s half tempting to set Zyke on him, then sit back and watch the carnage unfold. Rhordyn would put up a good fight, but that’s half the fun.
‘Treasure in his pocket. Can’t eat angry man with treasure in his pocket.’
‘Don’t be silly. You’d just have to chew gently for a change.’
Rhordyn clears his throat, crossing his arms again. “Did you give her the talon?”
“I did. And I hope she guts you with it.”
His chest shakes, and a bout of deep laughter rolls out of him.
“Is something funny?”
All humor seems to melt off his face, transforming it back to the sterile starkness I’m used to. “Not really, no. Believe it or not, you and I are on the same side. At least until you drift further across that very vivid line.” He jerks his chin at me. “You know the one.”
He saw the kiss, then.
Good.
“We’re not on the same side, Rhordyn. Not since you doomed my people.” I steal a glance at the tower poking high in the sky, half glazed by a lick of moonlight. “And Orlaith needs me more than she needs you. All you do is knot up her head, then leave me to untangle the mess.”
He looks out across the ocean, and I take the opportunity to study the lump in his pocket more thoroughly.
Zykanth perks up.
It looks heavy. Sizeable. The edges are perhaps a little jagged, but sometimes it’s those sharp bits that really define a piece. Set it apart from the others smoothed by the polish of water and time.
I bunch my hands, stuff them in my pockets.
Take them out again.
“When was the last time you took a trip to the island, Malakai?”
My heart lurches.
I follow his gaze to my outstretched hand, unwittingly reaching for his pocket. With a start, I snatch it back and knot my arms, mirroring his stance.
“I saidwhen?”
I don’t answer. Don’t dare spit a lie that will no doubt be picked apart. Don’t give him the glory of dissecting the pieces.
Rhordyn shakes his head, a low growl caught in the back of his throat, a look akin to disgust splashed across his face. “I didn’t doom your kind. You did that yourselves.”
A hiss rips out of me, lips peeled back to expose sharp incisors and even sharper canines—teeth threatening to lengthen and duplicate until my jaw is packed full of a deadly cavalry.
“It’s only a matter of time before the wrath of The Shoaling Seas takes a bite out of you, and then what? That girl has losteverything,and you have the nerve to offer her something so temporary?” He cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowing.“Or are you prepared to give up your beast for her?”
Fury bubbles inside me with the force of a thousand waves.
My muscles bulge, bones splintering under the pressure of keeping Zyke contained, jaw popping over and over. Even my skin begins to itch and sting, and I know that if I were to glance down at my legs, I’d see patches blooming with scales. I’d see frills sprouting from my ankles, maybe even my toes.
Rhordyn clicks his tongue, looking me up and down. “I didn’t think so.”
I crack my head from side to side. Bunch my hands into fists.
“We are on the same side, Malikai. The side that’s no good forher.” He steps close, until I can see the smoky swirl of his unsettling eyes, like a storm cloud just swept over them. “So, next time I catch you kissing Orlaith, I’ll stick you through the heart. I don’t care if you’re the first or last of your kind, if you’re on two feet or none. Consider this your first and final warning.”
It’s not the threat that catches me off guard, but the conviction in his tone. It’s his eyes that look more empty than full, despite his keen attention. A look I’ve seen too many times in Orlaith’swisteria stare.
