AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m also a trader. We are more inclined to be civil than barbaric with that line of work.” A smudge on her sleeve caught his eye, and he had his hand moving before he could think about it. He rubbed it off with a frown, then flicked his gaze to watch her stupefied distrust bloom into place. “For the record, I don’t trust you, either.”
“Obviously.”
“But we made a deal, and I’m upholding my end of the bargain. That means I’m going to be gracious to you and Maddox as long as you are here and do not interfere with our schedule.”
“You are bound to break it.”
He puzzled over the statement, said with so much conviction that it had to come from the bottom of her heart. Then it clicked.
“Someone betrayed you in the past. Someone close to you, and now you think that everyone will betray you.”
Nicola gasped, but the half-second of her dropping her mask told him he was off in the right direction. Her hand went up to rest on his chest, perhaps to push, but he caught it and held it where it was.
“You don’t know me enough to say that.”
“I’m good at reading people. I know you think the world is going to betray you, but trust me when I say there are people who won’t.”
He should know, considering what he had gone through to get here. Bitterness came and went before it registered that he was still holding her.
“I know that,” she said after a while, albeit reluctantly.
She was warm. She wasn’t supposed to be warm, and he found himself inching even closer as he tried to make sense of why she was. Vampires were cold. Vampires were ruthless, but perhaps her current living situation had taken its toll on her, he thought as she stood vulnerable before him. He had caught glimpses of her kindness to Moon and had not missed the hours she spent working hard to fulfill her tasks within the ship. She made him wonder a lot, at hours when he shouldn’t be wondering, but getting some much-needed sleep.
And she was getting under his skin. He didn’t like it.
“If you need better quarters or more clauses to the deal, I’m always open to negotiations.”
The words broke the moment and she snatched her hand from his grasp. He took a deep breath and stepped away.
“No new quarters. I don’t want your crew to have even more of a reason to dislike me.”
“Then try to get along with the crew.” He held out a hand. “Including me.”
She stared at his hand as if it would bite, then shook it. Like the first handshake, electricity sparked and had him biting back words, unsure how to react.
“I will,” she promised, and he detected the hint of challenge there.
She left the cabin, and it wasn’t until the door had closed that he finally let out his breath amid the sizzling cloud of energy that came with her.
He watched Arty approach her and braced for another fight to happen. When it didn’t, he continued observing as Arty seemed to get into some sort of apology, and Nicola nodded in acceptance, then shook the man’s hand. The two dispersed, and the earlier chaos was forgotten.
The days flew, and she made an effort to do as she promised, eventually working with Wheeler one night.
There was no fight in the following days, and the two seemed to get along better. Arty invited her and Maddox to partake in a weekly drinking session and Isaiah joined, mostly out of curiosity over how she would fare. She didn’t look at him once during the affair, so he settled down with Maddox in a corner.
“Are you her guardian or something?”
“Or something.” To Maddox’s credit, the reply was prompt, almost as if it had been practiced.
“You have to be. You are half-human, and as far as I know, on that island, it means you need to serve.”
“She doesn’t need service. And she’s not like that.”
“Her lover, then.”
The look Maddox sent him said he was prying too far, but the lack of denial had Isaiah’s stubbornness rising. He glanced at her once more and paused when his gaze caught hers and realized she had been looking for a while. Curiosity swirled in her green graze, but she stayed where she was.
Isaiah lifted a glass in her direction, nodding once. After a few seconds, she did the same and broke eye contact, returning her attention to what Arty was saying. Somewhere along their conversation, pleasure bloomed in her eyes, and a grin broke from her lips. Isaiah caught his breath at the suddenness, the streak of brightness that seeped into his senses.
