Page 49 of Of Song and Darkness

The crew members who crowded around very wisely chose that moment to busy themselves elsewhere.

Kai stepped toward me. “Rhea…”

I snarled. “Don’t you dare say my name. After what you did, you are not fit to speak it.,”

Kai’s eyes bore into me, but that did not stop the anger that oozed from me like ink from an octopus.

“And I see that you received your reward.” My gaze skimmed the perimeter of the ship. “But let me guess, the conditions of the agreement have not changed, have they? I’m sure the sea witch still wants me dead.”

“She does.” Kai didn’t even attempt to conceal his ploy, which ignited my anger like whale oil to a flame.

Kai stepped closer, which was the mighty pirate captain’s mistake. I snatched a dagger he had strapped to his belt. Anger and hurt pulled a veil over my eyes. All I could see was red. I leaped from the railing, dagger raised, aiming for the black heart that resided in this pirate’s chest.

Kai latched onto my wrist, stopping my attack. He banded his other arm around my waist, and my body dangled above the deck as he pressed his muscled torso to mine. He twisted until I was forced to release the dagger. It fell to the deck. The way he held me so gently and intimately, even after I attempted to kill him, confused me, igniting my fury. I used my tail, sweeping his feet from beneath him. We both crashed to the deck. He was on top of me in seconds, subduing my next assault.

“Get off of me,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

He pinned both of my arms above my head. “Not until you calm down.”

I thrashed violently beneath him, trying desperately to dislodge him. His rigid body was so close to mine, and his masculine scent teased me, further poking at the open wound in my heart. I screamed through my frustration. I couldn’t get him off me. Sirens were strong, but this evil being of a man was as solid as a mountain. I went deadly still, stopping all my vain efforts to free myself and hurt him.

“Why did you do this?” My voice cracked with unexpected emotion, and only then did I realize I was crying.

The tears increased as my tail split and I once again had legs. Kai stood, pulling me up with him, but he refused to relinquish his hold. He crushed me to his chest, his eyes swirling with too many emotions for me to read.

He released me, pulled his shirt over his head, and handed it to me. I quickly donned the shirt, cursing its intoxicating scent of fresh salty air and spices. I folded in on myself, hugging my arms across my chest and making myself as small as possible.

Kai took a step toward me. “You were just a means to an end.”

I recoiled. I didn’t know why I expected him to lie to me to soften the blow. That was not who he was. His blatant truth hurt worse than him reaching into my chest and crushing my heart with his bare hands.

He stepped toward me so quickly that I did not have a chance to evade his touch. His hand reached for my face, his palm brushing my cheek as he anchored me in place by wrapping his fingers around the back of my neck. I tried to ignore the flash of remorse in his eyes, refusing to fall victim to another one of his schemes.

“Then go ahead,” I urged. “Kill me.”

I stood as tall as possible, laying my vulnerability at his feet.

The pressure of his fingers increased on my neck. “I didn’t come here to kill you, Rhea. I came to save you.”

I scoffed at his words, allowing my regard to travel up his bare chest and stopping at his eyes. “Do you honestly expect me to believe a word you say?”

He released me, letting his hand fall back to his side. “No, but I hope my actions speak louder than words.”

Kai turned away from me. “Cael! Get this ship underway. Let’s get out of this godforsaken wasteland.”

My bruised heart skipped a beat as the men began preparing the ship to sail. Against all common sense, I stepped toward Kai. “We can’t leave.” Kai turned to me with a stern expression on his face. “We have to stop the Dark Hydra.”

Kai quirked a dark brow at me. “I didn’t come to stop the Dark Hydra. I came for you.” He closed the distance between us. I desperately wanted to believe his words, but no matter how hard my feelings pulled toward him, I refused to relinquish.

“Why?” The word tumbled off of my tongue before I could swallow it back down. I didn’t want to know why. If I allowed myself to wonder why, I was allowing myself to believe his words were true.

His menacing glare seemed to swallow me whole as he searched my face. I could see the war that was waging in his stormy eyes. “Because you are the only thing in this world that I have ever cared about.”

Kai broke me all over again with his words.

Warm tears flooded my eyes, clouding my vision. “I want to believe you.” I choked on the words.

Kai reached up, his rough thumb brushing away my tears. “Then you should because I have never spoken truer words.”

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