AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He hissed the last words out, muttering to himself as he walked further down the cells.
“First flying demons, water spirits, pirates…what next? Leviathan?”
I shuddered, hoping that wasn’t a real creature.
Adrian turned back to me and waved his hand at a cell in the back as we approached it.
“Visitor, lover boy,” Adrian muttered, leaning against the bars.
Jacques looked up from where he was sitting. As I approached, he laughed and rolled his eyes. There were patches of blood on his clothes, his hair slick and greasy from his time on the sea. He looked animalistic compared to the night we first met. The only thing that was the same about him was the devilish look in his eyes, as if he were going to take me to hell with him.
“Were you injured?” I asked, looking at the blood on his sleeves.
He raised an eyebrow as he held my gaze. “You’re concerned?”
He then glanced between Adrian and me, narrowing his eyes.
“I wanted to thank you for coming for me—” I started.
“Don’t bother. I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t been foolish enough to get taken in the first place.”
I huffed, my mood shifting and appreciation suddenly depleting.
“You didn’t let me finish,” I replied. “I said I wanted to thank you…and I would have if you had done your job properly.”
Adrian snorted.
Jacques glared at me. “Why are you down here, exactly?”
I gripped my pants, hands sweating. “My father…how is he?”
Jacques scoffed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes as if I was the most boring person in the room.
“He’s gone a bit mad,” he said. “His temper has reached an unhealthy height. Your letter calmed him down some, but there are many who think he’s going to put himself in the grave with his outbursts.”
“Outbursts?” I asked. “My father doesn’t have outbursts. He’s the most level-headed person I know.”
“Not when his daughter’s been kidnapped by pirates, he isn’t.”
Jacques opened his eyes again, looking again between Adrian and me.
“Although…” Jacques added, drawing out the word. “It would have proved useful in your letter to let him know how comfortable you are among the company of thieves.”
“What do you mean?”
Jacques looked me over intensely, as if his eyes were burning the clothes off my body.
“You’re wearing a man’s clothes,” he said. “By the style, I would say they’re his.”
Jacques nodded at Adrian. Adrian only shrugged with a smirk.
I huffed. “That’s not your concern.”
“I think we both know it is.”
Jacques stared hard, his eyes going right through mine. It was as intimidating as it was captivating. I was nearly entranced by it until Adrian’s hands came around each side of me, trapping me between him and the bars.
I felt him over my shoulder as he spoke to Jacques.
