Page 123 of Wicked Tides
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“I didn’t know I could.”
“Then how did you?”
“The first night on the Rose, I slipped into your dreams by accident,” I shrugged.
“And then?”
“And then…” I raised my eyes to meet his, steeling myself. “And then I decided to use our twisted bond to manipulate you since my song could not.”
Vidar’s lip twitched. I could see the muscles in his neck and shoulders tighten. He lunged for the log and bounded over it. I nearly tripped over myself backing away, but I managed to slip away from Vidar’s outstretched hand. I took off again, searching for an even path to run on, but the woods only looked thicker moving forward. So, I just ran with no destination in mind. I stumbled and Vidar crashed into me, his arms coiling around my body. He slammed me against a tree, his forearm pressing against my back while he twisted my arm behind me with his other hand.
“You’ve been toying with me the whole time,” he breathed harshly against my ear.
“Now you know,” I said through my teeth. “I have been in your head, even if you’ve woken every morning remembering nothing of the dreams we’ve shared.”
“If ever there was a part of me that wanted to trust you—”
“I am a siren! My existence is the result of violence and hatred and I am nothing more than a monster. You knew it the first moment you saw me.”
He shoved off of me, allowing me to turn and face him.
“Was it your plan to convince me otherwise then? With the girls? By saving David? Was it all part of this morbid fucking dance of ours?”
“Would you be surprised? I am an outcast. Your ship was the safest place to be. I needed to make sure it stayed that way.”
A flash of sorrow burned behind Vidar’s rage before he cleansed it with the flames of his disappointment.
“And Uther? Laurence? All those men who betrayed me. The men Ikilled. Did you play a part in that?”
I winced with surprise. “No. That was Ligeia. I thought all of your men were with silentiums.”
“I was and you found a way to get in my head.”
“Because I’ve tasted you!” I shoved him angrily, appalled that he suspected it was me behind his men’s uprising.
Although, who I was only weeks ago would have enjoyed seeing his men try to kill him.
“We are bonded because of what happened on that island when we were children. And I used it against you. I wanted to destroy you from the inside out since I could not do it any other way. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I have wanted you dead, Vidar.”
“Then prove it and kill me,” he said. “You say you invaded my dreams to manipulate me, then be done with it and take your revenge, Dahlia. Prove you are the same kind of monster I have made a living off hunting and we will end each other, here, tonight.” He moved incloser and I stiffened. “Or admit what you’ve been too afraid to tell me since that night in Port Devlin.”
My heart hammered in my chest. My lip trembled and I could feel the cold around me fighting to snuff out what little warmth I had left in me. I felt Vidar’s gaze searing into me, forcing truths from me that would both wound and liberate my soul.
“I am a devil,” I forced out, the words bitter on my tongue. “I am a killer. A beast. Trusting me would be suicide.”
“Lies.”
“Believing I am more than my mother will leave you wanting.”
Every word I spoke was sour bile on my tongue because I knew it was not entirely true. I was a killer, but I knew that wasn’t all I was.
He thrust me back against the tree again, raising his chin with disappointment. I could see his nostrils flaring as he breathed like he longed to shout and curse at me, but he didn’t. I spun to move away when he suddenly braced his hand against the trunk, blocking my path. I stiffened, pressing myself against the pine and preparing for a fight when he pulled a knife from his leather bracer and handed it to me, handle first. I glimpsed it warily, narrowing my eyes.
“Go on, then,” he said. “Cut it out.”
