Page 21 of Of Song and Darkness

I casually stepped in front of her, blocked the man, and tossed him a small silver coin. He fumbled to catch it and then looked at me in awe at the amount I had given him. The harshness of my gaze dared him to press the matter further.

He walked away from us without another word. “Fresh fish! Get your fresh fish!”

I turned, and Rhea’s eyes beheld mine, but I couldn’t blame her, really. The man had shoved it in her face. I gripped her wrist and continued pulling her along beside me as I tried to ignore her inhaling the raw fish fillet. Once she finished her breakfast, I pulled out a bandanna from my pocket and handed it to her.

“You have fish on your cheek,” I said when she looked at the rag like she didn’t know what I wanted her to do with it.

She took it from me and wiped her face, but the fish particles still remained on her skin. I took the bandanna from her hand and stepped toward her, wiping the fish from her face. She blinked up at me a few times. I realized how close I was to her, but for some reason, I could not make my feet move to put distance between us.

“Cap, we have a problem with the supplies!” Cael yelled from up the road, snapping me from the trance.

I continued up the path with the siren close in tow and did not miss the looks of unadulterated lust that the men were throwing her way as we ventured up the narrowing street. I had hoped the baggy men’s clothing she wore would downplay her sensual, lithe body, but obviously, I was wrong. The desire to slit every man's throat that looked at her threatened to overtake me, but that was stupid. Why would I care if they ogled the sea demon? I squared my shoulders and picked up my pace, trying to put distance between me and my murderous thoughts. I stopped only when I reached the building with a broken sign that read Turronto’s Tavern.

“The owner of the lumber shack is inside,” Cael confirmed, clearly aggravated with the man. “He said he was going to charge us double for the supplies we needed. Something about payment due from the last time…”

“That filthy bilge rat,” I cursed under my breath. “He lost those supplies fair and square last time in a card game.” I booted the door open, and it crashed against the wall, causing all attention to turn to me as I entered.

The people inside parted as I made a beeline for the rear of the tavern where that leech liked to hide in the shadows.

“Captain Kai, it is a pleasure.” Dante’s words dripped with sarcasm as I stopped in front of the table where he was sitting.

“You seem to be causing my men some hardship. The fact that they have not run you through yet really astounds me,” I answered and sat down in the chair next to him.

My crew would not dare lay a finger on him in reality. Dante ran this hovel of a port, and anyone who raised a hand to him would not likely make it back to their ship in one piece before his men fed on them like a school of barracuda.

I felt Rhea’s presence behind me, and when Dante’s eyes lifted from mine and took on a sheen of desire, it was confirmation that she was at my back.

“What is this nonsense about charging us double? You know bloody well you lost that game of cards for the last supplies we purchased.” The anger I forced behind my words drew Dante’s attention away from Rhea and back toward me.

“It wasn’t a fair game,” Dante whined, banging his tankard of beer against the table. I watched in mock fascination as the contents spilled over the lip of the cup and splattered onto the table.

“You do realize you were playing with a pirate. Fair isn’t exactly in my vocabulary.” I scoffed. “Besides, I didn’t make the bet, and I didn’t make you drink. It was your own fault that you were so drunk that you couldn’t even read the symbols on the cards.” A wicked, cocky grin graced my lips, and Dante’s face reddened with anger.

He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and stood up. I instinctively placed my hand on the hilt of my sword as he walked beside me, but I was not his target.

“I’ll let bygones be bygones if you allow me a romp with your redheaded lass here.” His voice dripped with libido as he gripped Rhea by the wrist and wrenched her toward him.

Rhea’s body collided with his, and the contact sent a bolt of angry electricity up my spine. Rhea hissed and raised her hand to strike him, but before she could retaliate, I latched onto his wrist and squeezed.

One of his bones snapped under the pressure, but the sound could not be heard over his high-pitched screaming. Before I could think better of my actions, I slammed his palm against the table, pulled out my dagger, and stabbed it through the back of his hand, anchoring him to the table.

He continued to wail, and my men drew their swords as his goons stood and attempted to save their worthless leader.

“Look what you did to my hand!” Dante sputtered the words as he desperately tried to suck in air in between his bouts of panic. Satisfaction oozed through my being as the table became stained with the miscreant’s blood.

I leaned toward him and growled in his ear. “Touch her again, and you won’t have to worry about your hand because I will cleave you to the brisket, savvy?”

My gaze traveled to Rhea, who stood at the ready. If she was shaken at all from the encounter with Dante or the gory display, I couldn’t tell from her demeanor.

With my hand still on the hilt of my knife, I sat back down in the chair. “Tell your men to stand down,” I threatened, slightly shifting the blade.

Dante screamed so loud I thought it would shatter the glass in the room.

“Now,” I threatened, giving the dagger another little jerk.

“Take your seats!” Dante whimpered through his pain, and his men immediately sat down.

“My men are going to load the supplies we need into our boats…at cost,” I added for good measure, “and then we are going to pretend like this little unfortunate incident never happened.” I smiled at the tears that ran down Dante’s wrinkled, worn face.

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