Page 44 of Of the Stars and Sea

Grayson rolls up his sleeves and stalks toward the bastard who’s already knocked out cold on the ground from the impact of his back hitting one of the pillars. He picks the man up by his wrist with such ease my mouth gapes open in disbelief. A grotesque pop pierces the air and my stomach coils at the sound, knowing that some part of the man’s arm is now broken from theweight of his body pulling down on it. Grayson is nearly twice the size of any other man in here, but the bastard he holds up is not small. I can’t even fathom the amount of strength it must take to raise him up so that his feet dangle across the floor.

“Let this man be an example for all of Emerald Cove.” Grayson’s voice lowers an octave as he addresses the inn. “Rowenya Stone ismine.” He looks pointedly at me and every pair of eyes in the tavern slide in my direction. “Hear me when I say that anyone who lays a hand on what belongs to me shall lose that hand.” He unsheathes a dagger from the leather bandolier strapped across his chest and in one fell swoop he cuts the man’s hand off. I gasp as his body plummets to the floor and he awakens with a guttural scream before falling unconscious once again from the pain.

Fear-driven silence fills the air as all eyes are on the man’s bloodied stump. Blood flows easily from his wound, creating a crimson pool on the floor. Grayson drops the man’s hand onto his belly and it topples over onto the ground with a sickening thud.

Then he turns his attention on me. There is a stern determination in his steps as he stalks toward me.

I find myself backing away unsteadily. For every one step of his, I’m forced to take two until my back rams into something hard behind me. I look over my shoulder for just a moment to find I’m cornered against one of the wooden pillars and before I have a chance to turn around and run away, Grayson is there. Right in front of me.

There is a coldness in his gaze I’ve never seen before and I have no time to assess if it’s for me or somebody else as he swoops his arm around my waist and hauls me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing more than a sack of potatoes.

A whoosh of breath escapes my lungs painfully and I grunt.

“Let me go!” I scream at him as he starts walking forward, but he has me in a vice with his strong arm curled around my midsection.

Looking up, the tavern remains silent as too many eyes watch me being hauled up the stairs, my head bobbing up and down as I strain to look forward and not at Grayson’s pert ass.

Darkness descends as he continues up the stairwell and my stomach starts to churn from the mixture of too much alcohol and being flipped upside down.

“Grayson Tyde, you better put me down right now or I swear to the heavens I will stab you.”

“Such a daring promise, Little Pearl. An enticing one too. I’d love to see exactly what you’re made of with your daggers in hand. But not tonight.”

“Agh!” I scream and start pounding my fists on his back. “Let. Me. Go!”

He continues ascending the staircase like my assaults are nothing more than an annoying gnat buzzing around him.

“I hate you! I fuckinghateyou, Grayson!”

“Another lie tumbling from those pretty lips.” His voice is warm and smooth now. Such a contrast to the murderous bellow that echoed in the tavern before he sliced off that man’s hand.

How can he slip so easily from one mask to another? It was only moments ago when he threatened an entire room with a treacherous display of authority and now he is back to playing his games with me, like what he did to that man will have no consequence.

“It is not a lie,” I mumble as a fierce pang of lightning shoots through my skull. My pulse pounds in my head with each step Grayson takes and I have to squeeze my eyes shut to keep from moaning out loud. The last thing I want him to know is that I’m hurting from my own stupidity.

I let him get the best of me with his pointed words. Now, I’m upside down, completely at his mercy, feeling like I might puke at any moment.

Keeping my mouth shut for fear that one more word may be the end of my ability to keep my dinner from spilling out, Grayson’s steps no longer bounce from his ascension. We’ve made it to the second floor. He takes a right down the hallway and I note we’re passing several doors until he stops at the very end.

A click sounds as he turns the doorknob and he has to shift sideways to prevent himself from knocking my legs or head against the frame.

How kind of him. I roll my eyes.

My chest hurts from where the Serpent’s Key’s edge presses into it and as I try to adjust myself, Grayson’s other hand comes to steady my back before he kneels and finally sets me on the ground.

“You survived,” he muses and maybe it’s the alcohol running through my veins or just the pure disdain I have for the male, but I shove him hard in the chest. So hard that he actually takes one step backward.

But only one. Dark amusement flashes in his eyes and his lips curl into a feline smile.

“Bastard!” I scream.

Then I unleash myself on him.

In a flurry of chaos, my open palm stings from the contact I make with his face. A guttural snarl rips from his throat, but I don’t stop. Not even as I witness his eyes shift to a wild hurricane of deep blues and swirling silver.

I shove his chest again and slam my fists into his rock-hard stomach to no effect. He just stands there, taking it and it makes me rage even more.

“I hate you!” I scream from the deepest part of my soul. “You’ve takeneverythingfrom me! Everything! And now you think you own me? Like I am some pet to be collared!” I punch and slap him until my hands are raw from the contact they make with his bandolier and firm chest.

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