Page 70 of What Doesn't Kill Us

Darius laughs. “I’d like to see you try.”

They stare at each other, all humor gone. Agatha looks back at me and rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but laugh as she interrupts their staring contest. “No one’s getting thrown overboard. Stop being ridiculous.”

Jayme sighs again, turning to the man on the other side of him and telling him to finish up the food prep they were doing. He walks toward me, but then steps around and out the door. “I guess we’ve got some stuff to talk about.”

The three of us follow him to the other side of the large room, where a beverage bar is set up. He grabs a mug and then pours himself some coffee, motioning for us to grab whatever we’d like. I get a large cup of water, immediately downing it before refilling it. Then I grab another cup, adding ice and a couple inches of cranberry juice before topping it off with sparkling water. I follow Jayme over to a table and sit across from him as we wait for Darius and Agatha to join us.

Jayme is eyeing me suspiciously, and I can’t seem to wipe the smile off my face, which I’m sure is obnoxious. Finally, I ask, “So, how do you know Darius?”

He lifts his eyebrows at me. “Who doesn’t know the Beast?”

I mirror his expression. “Well, I’m sure at one point or another, somebody doesn’t know him. I’ll rephrase: when exactly did you first cross paths with him?”

He sighs again, resting his forearms on the table and leaning toward me. “I’ve known Darius since we were kids. Our families were friends, so we got to commiserate about how shitty they were.”

I know nothing about Darius’ family. Much like me, there’s a big split between Darius, the accountant, and Dare the Beast. And there hasn’t been enough time to review every little detail about both of us. “Well, are you friend or foe?”

He levels his cool stare at me, his arms coming up and crossing over his chest as he assesses me. “I could go either way. It’s a sliding scale most days.”

I nod, looking around the galley as I run out of questions I want to ask him before anyone else comes over.

“How did you end up on my ship?” His words are low and cold, and his eyes match his tone as he watches me.

“Helicopter. I was dumped off a ways out, then swam toward the marker until I crossed paths with you all.”

“What would you have done if the marker was off? Or if it had been a trap and Dare wasn’t even on this ship?”

I raise my eyebrows at him, knowing he’s testing how prepared we were for extenuating circumstances. “Well, there were two markers on that map, so I had two shots at someone being here.”

I figure he’ll ask me what I mean by markers, but I’m saved when Darius and Agatha finally join us. Agatha pushes a bagel toward me, which I accept gratefully. It’s everything I can do not to inhale it like a mannerless cretin. Instead, I take an almost too-large bite, keeping my head down while I chew it. Agatha does the same, though, with a little more vigor, likely being a good sport and drawing some attention off me. I take another bite, and a small moan slips from my lips, and my hand comes up, covering my mouth. Darius is watching me, smiling, and I feel a slight blush creep up my neck.

I glance over and see Jayme watching us, then he says, “Jesus fucking Christ, tell me it ain’t so.”

Darius glances at him. “What are you talking about?”

“The Great Beast succumbs to love.” This comes out more as a statement than a question, and Darius laughs, giving him a small shrug. But he doesn’t say anything, and Jayme continues, “I never thought I’d see the day the beast is finally tamed.”

I roll my eyes, swallowing my giant bite of bagel before replying, “I don’t know if I would go so far as tamed, but I have made him purr a few times.”

Jayme makes a face, and Agatha laughs next to him, jabbing him with her elbow as she jokes. “What’s the matter, Devereaux? No one ever made you purr before?”

He turns his gaze to her, his eyes lighting up with interest as he looks her up and down, then focuses on her face. “I don’t know. Maybe you should find out.”

“In your dreams, baby.”

“Every night, Agatha. Every night.”

Darius and I both glance between the two of them with interest. I feel the energy crackling in the air, and I look over at Dare, jabbing him with my elbow so he looks at me. I give him a questioning look, and he smirks in return, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tries not to smile. Finally, he turns back to Jayme and says, “Let’s just keep it down all right. We don’t have time for canoodling right now.”

Agatha scoffs, “Are you saying you didn’t canoodle before bothering to let us know we have a new guest on board?”

I feel the heat rising in my face again, but Dare doesn’t even blink; he turns his gaze to her and says, “Touché. But regardless of that, the canoodling is over. We need to get back to business because I’m sick of dealing with this shit. I’m tired. I want a vacation. Then I can do all the canoodling I want.”

Agatha and Jayme both nod, adjusting themselves so they’re facing us. With only a slight amount of mockery, they both square their shoulders and place their hands on the table in front of them, their focus entirely on Darius. Jayme says, “So let’s get down to business. What’s next?”

“Antoinette needs to fill us in on a few things, and then we can try to determine our best plan of action.” He says this as he looks at me, and I push the last bit of my food away, quickly losing my appetite. I take a slow drink of my cranberry concoction, then set it down in front of me and push it away, too, so I won’t fidget with it. I’m not entirely sure what to say, so I ask. “What do you want to know?”

Jayme speaks up first. “Since I don’t feel like we have much time here, maybe start at the beginning, but give us the highlights. Who are you? Where do you come from? Are you friend or foe?”

---