Page 44 of Wicked Tides
The thought made my eyes roam slowly down the length of his strong and able body. His pants hugged his muscular thighs tightly. His loose cotton shirt hung thinly on his broad shoulders. Ropes of dark blond hair were half pulled back into a leather tie exposing those perfect, high cheekbones. He looked fucking delicious. If it wasn’t for the gate between us and the cuffs on my wrists, I’d have tackled him to the ground. His strength and skill would only prolong the game.
“Those things on that island,” Vidar finally said as I sipped from the rim of the bowl. “What were they?”
I shrugged, despite knowing exactly what they were. I continued to sip on the soup and then suffered through the dry bread, knowing I needed to eat something and keep up my strength.
“What did you do to my sisters?” I shot back.
Vidar mimicked my shrug. This was a game I didn’t truly feel like playing.
“Tell me about those creatures.”
“What’s wrong? Did they scare you?”
He glimpsed my scarred leg as if to remind me that they’d almost killed me. But I hadn’t forgotten. Vidar, however, was in an impatient mood. He reached out abruptly, grasping the chains on my manacles, and pulled me toward the bars. The bowl went clattering to the ground, spilling the remaining contents onto the floor of my cell. I slammed against the gate, jaw clenched, and saw the anger spread in his darkened eyes.
“I’m only keeping you alive because I want to understand, but if you don’t want to help me understand, then I’d rather not keep a siren alive on my ship.”
“Then kill me. I know you want to,” I hissed. “You’ve wanted to since that night, haven’t you? It’s been the only thing on your mind. You made a mistake leaving me alive, so fix your mistake, Vidar.”
Part of me wanted him to do it. At least then the torment would stop. But there was the bigger part of me that thirsted for revenge. It forced me to survive against all odds for this particular moment. The moment we finally saw each other again.
“What were they, Dahlia?” he whispered.
“Why do you want to know? It’s just something else for you to kill. More monsters in the ocean are good for business, right?”
His other hand moved up to clutch my neck. It was so big it nearly collared my throat completely. He pulled me closer until I could feel his breath on my face.
“Your sister freed me so I would help kill them. So she could save you. That’s a lot of faith to put in a man like me. She knew the cost and she thought it was worth it. She was afraid of those things more than she was afraid of me.”
“And then what?”
“And then I threatened to kill you if she didn’t let me go.”
He was already exploiting my weaknesses and I had yet to exploit his. I clenched my jaw, angry that he had the upper hand.
I swallowed against the pressure of his grip and balled my hands into fists. If I was being logical, it would help us both if he knew about the xhoth. They were my enemy as much as they were his. But it was excruciating to think of cooperating with Vidar.
We stared at each other for another grueling moment before I slowly blinked in defeat.
“The xhoth,” I said. “It means ‘sons’.”
His eyes narrowed before he released me. “Why have I never seen them before?”
“Because they’re from the deep.”
“Like your pale sisters?”
“No. Deeper.”
“Why are they here?”
“Why?” I mocked. “Because your hunting us has called them up.”
“They were killing you and they killed your sister. Don’t tell me they’re here to defend you.”
“Me? No, they aren’t here to defend me,” I laughed. “They’re here because they’re hungry. You’ve been depleting our numbers for generations. But there’s always something bigger.”
“They eat your kind?”
