Page 29 of The Withering Dawn
“The men on the Perry Smith sacrificed their safety to distance me from their island. They wished for me to die purified.”
He hissed a curse and ran his hand over his face before pushing off the wall and walking toward me. He rested a fist on the table, leaning into it and giving his body a relaxed curve, but his expression was anything but relaxed.
“I am conflicted,” he said. “I find myself enraged at people who are no longer alive to feel my fury.”
He took the roll out of my hand and pressed his thumb into the middle, splitting it into two halves. Then he stepped around to a shelf stacked with jars and boxes, taking down a small glass container of something in a pale, dusty yellow color. He popped off the top and tossed it on the table before taking a wooden utensil out of another box. I watched him dig out a spoonful of the golden substance and smelled something sweet permeating the air.
Gods, it was honey. My mouth watered at the thought as he spread the thick gold over the two halves of the roll.
“You, muñequita hermosa, could very well have me exactly where you want me, but I find that I am caring less and less if that is the case.”
He handed me one piece of honey-covered bread and as soon as the scent hit my nose again, faint hints of a smile teased my lips. I took it and looked up at him, part of me waiting for permission to eat it.
Nazario took the other piece of bread and leaned on the table, cocking his head curiously to the side.
“It’s honey,” he said.
“I know what it is.”
“Eat it. It is good for settling the stomach.”
I licked my lips, slowly bringing the bread to my mouth and taking a small, heavenly bite of the overly sweet treat. It tasted like pure happiness if I had to give happiness a taste. I chewed it far too long, savoring the way it melted in my mouth. Before taking another bite, I saw Nazario staring at me, slowly chewing his own bite.
Why did his gaze weaken me so much? Like it had when he found me on the Perry Smith. Or the way it had when he gave me the chance to leave. Now, the honeyed bread that was actual paradise on my tongue had all but been forgotten when I noticed the way he was looking at me.
I feared him then. Perhaps more than some of his men feared me. I feared him because he could very well make a fool of me. I had spent my life around malicious men and yet I trusted him as if I had not learned anything about the cruelties of life. My guard was down. Shattered. At the risk of my own demise, my defenses crumbled when he met my eyes.
Hearing her story made my fists ache to hit something. I wanted so badly to ask her about the ship she was on with Antonio’s sigil on the flag, but I didn’t dare inquire about it when she looked to be on the verge of breaking apart where she stood. If it was an act, it was a good one. It appealed to the part of me that wanted to fix broken things, which contradicted the part of me that also wanted to wreck everything around me.
Yes, I was a twisted man. Even I didn’t understand the innerworkings of my mind most days. I wanted to heal the world and watch it burn at the same time and God knew I could not do both.
It was only when Aeris seemed to relax a bit that I decided I could allow myself to do some digging.
“I find myself wondering something,” I said. “Who did the ship belong to?”
She didn’t say anything, but her demeanor said she knew something. It was like she was afraid to tell me. I narrowed my eyes at her, letting her know that I could see her unease.
Aeris took a deep breath as if to ground herself. “I can help you find him,” she said.
“What?”
“You want to find him, don’t you? The man that cut your back. The one that killed your brother.”
I hesitated, wondering if she was a witch or if she was just abnormally good at guessing.
“What do you know?”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “You have all those documents from the Perry Smith. Were you looking for him?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
She straightened, tucking her hair behind her ears. “You won’t find him in those records. Everything he did with the Order was unofficial.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I heard him talking to Jacob once.”
I scoffed, shaking my head and pacing the small space, hands on my hips.
