Page 22 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

Amber flecks turned white in fiery rage as Katrin's eyes went wide. Ander. Her mind began to race with all the possibilities of why she was on this ship. Was it Nexos? Was it another isle that wanted to stake claim to Alentus? Was it one of the continents trying to invade and colonize their people? Ander was not a farmer’s son.

A sour taste stirred in her throat. He knew everything. She laid herself bare to him that day in the mountains. A fool. He must have been laughing to himself as she described all the ways they broke her the last time. Gaining ideas on what she could and could not survive. What she would give up to make it home alive. That for which she would die. The first time she shared that piece of her soul with someone she trusted and it was all a lie—in vain, to an invisible enemy hiding in the shadows.

Creaking wood echoed back and forth, Ander leaned back in the wooden chair watching her. A stupid grin curved from ear to ear flashing those shiny white teeth. Katrin would have to play this carefully, hide the dagger Ander had not found on her, work her way slowly toward him, distract him with confusion or curiosity like a cat stalking its prey.

With each light step she took toward the man, she reminded herself she could not kill him yet. Not until she figured out the lay of the ship, how many men made up the crew, where they made port. Yes—she would not kill him—but a little blood wouldn’t hurt.

“You have a good night’s sleep, Aikaterine? I always find the crashing of waves to be a soothing melody.” Ander’s voice was a sweet poison sliding from his mouth like freshly made olive oil. It almost halted Katrin in place. Almost.

For just a moment she felt calmed by it, at peace, like that day in the mountains when she first followed him home. The way his eyes sparkled slightly, and crinkled at the corner when she spoke. But now he’d taken her, from her home, from her people. The audacity to speak to her with such lightness to his words. Like they were friends. Like they knew each other.

Katrin hacked a small laugh. “Oh do you? I generally prefer to be sleeping on solid ground. In my own bed. Not locked away on some, dare I say, pirate’s ship.”

The sound that left his mouth this time was again a shock to Katrin’s system. His laughter filled the entire cabin with a warm and fair-weathered melody. “I don’t know—you looked pretty at peace to me. I could have sworn you were even drooling.”

Instinctively Katrin brushed the corner of her mouth with her free hand. It was dry. Red began to seep across her cheeks. Insufferable. This man was utterly insufferable.

Her face went numb, stripping all emotion from her eyes, her lips, her cheeks, no longer allowing them to look flushed. The same look her father was known to give those who underestimated the power of the God of Death.

“I would not test me, Ander, if that even is your name.” She stalked closer to him, the glimmering hatred building behind her eyes. He looked nervous, that is, until he began to laugh again. Until his eyes narrowed and darkened and his grin turned pure feral.

“I do not impersonate other’s names, unlike some people. But I am curious—what would you do, Aikaterine? If I tested you?” Sultry words replaced her threatening ones. “Come at me with that dagger of yours?”

Inches from where he sat, Katrin came to a deafening halt. His brow arched over those sea-swept eyes, as he picked a piece of dust off his shirt. “What? You think I don’t know what hides behind your back? That when I brought you aboard this ship, I did not see it strapped at the top of your thigh?”

Her lungs clenched at the thought of him seeing any part of her bare again, especially that high up her leg.

“I’ll admit, it is quite adorable seeing you reach for it. I like a girl who can hold her own.” Ander looked around the room, flipping some strange pendant she could not make out between his fingers. “Where exactly do you think you could scurry off to aboard my ship?”

Katrin’s fiery white glare held his gaze firm, the corner of her upper lip twitching. Her control was slipping, burying further down into the abyss of her soul. “I am not a rat.”

“Perhaps. Fine then, Aikaterine, give it your best shot.” He held his hands up, beckoning her to attack him.

Men always seemed to underestimate her. Yes, he was tall, towering at least eight inches above her. And yes, she could see his muscles through that thin linen shirt, ones she didn’t even know existed. But Katrin had fought many men his size before and won.

That was one piece of her Ander did not know. Vigorous training every morning. Even when rain ripped through Alentus, or the summer’s heat proved too much for the strongest of the Spartanis soldiers. She would be there, in the training ring, linens wrapped around her hands to go punch for punch with whomever dared to challenge her.

Pirates were cocky people, and Ander proved to be at the top of that list.

Katrin planted her feet, grinding them back and forth into the wooden slats below until she felt stable, a gentle bend at her knees. Then she lunged, knocking him back out of the chair and them both to the ground.

Deadly bronze held firm to Ander’s throat, as Katrin clenched her jaw, the sweat on her temple threatening to drop to his skin below. With a little more pressure she could draw blood. Her breathing heightened, and she bared her teeth at the grinning man beneath her. “Is that good enough for you, Ander?”

Crimson red, only a single drop, swelled by the tip of her dagger. Sweat built farther across her forehead and brows, down the silk covering her back. Air around her thinned, and Katrin couldn’t seem to catch her breath. The room became unbearably hot, skin burning with every twitch of her muscles.

Ander’s tongue traced his bottom lip, eyes flashing a deep gray for only a moment before turning back to their unbearable tide swept tone. “If you wanted an excuse to straddle me, you could have just asked.”

Sharp chills replaced every bit of heat in her veins. “Pig!” Katrin pushed off him, releasing the dagger from his throat.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Ander’s lip twitched up. “I do love the view from beneath you.”

Katrin’s face heated once again. She could not help feeling a small bit of desire deep in her core. The beautiful man sprawled in front of her in his tight breeches showing off the exact size of him, all of him. The flowing shirt unbuttoned enough to see little wisps of hair along his chiseled chest. The golden olive skin that must fade to pale underneath his belt line.

Her eyes flared. Why was she thinking these things? Disgusting. He was disgusting. A liar and a thief and her captor. Ander gave her a knowing glance and she could have sworn she heard a faint laugh in the recesses of her mind.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she spat.

“I was about to ask you the very same question.”

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