Page 22 of Ruthless Scoundrel
I yank my arms away, scowling at my lapse.
Beautiful?Nothing about him is beautiful with a soul so black.
He turns, walking on into the darkness as if it doesn’t affect him. “I can’t properly speak its name in this form, but it closely translates to ‘Voice of the Abyss.’ There is only one that we know of, and it lives in the deepest trench in the south sea. Some believe it’s the god Yegress himself.”
I follow him more closely as the walls narrow. “What does it look like?”
He chuckles. “I haven’t had the misfortune of laying eyes upon it, but accounts say it’s the size of a mountain, with a long maw full of dagger-like teeth, huge black eyes to see into the darkness, and scales that protect it from the most vicious sea beasts, like electric serpents.”
I step closer to him so I don’t have to shout to overcome the sound of rushing water. “Could it be a dragon?”
“Who knows.”
He stops. I’m acutely aware based on the echoing sound that we’ve reached a dead end.
“You knew where you were going, did you?” I ask.
“Yes. We have to get in the water now.”
I laugh incredulously. “In pitch black? I don’t think so. I’ll go back and blast myself a way out of the cave.”
“Scared, princess?” he asks, voice thick with enjoyment as his magic lights up the small ledge.
I cross my arms. “I’d be stupid not to be.”
“I won’t let you drown.”
My heart thunders as loudly as the water. “As if you’ll have a choice in the matter when the passage is longer than my breath can hold out.”
“It’s not,” he says, sitting at the edge of the rushing bank. “It lets out into the sea just a few—”
“I’m not getting in there!” I shout, surprising myself.
Jasper stands. He reaches out but I take a step back.
“I’m not going to throw you in.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder. I want to jerk away, but the weight of him has my pulse slowing every moment we stand like this. That opal glow overtakes his irises once more. It makes his dark hair and stubble shimmer. It’s entrancing, and the longer Ilook at him, the calmer I feel. How can a man—a selkie, rather—have that effect? Is it his magic?
Jasper squeezes my shoulder gently. “Better now?”
I don’t want to admit that I do feel better, so I choose to say nothing.
“I will not let you die or become irreparably injured on this journey. I will protect you with everything I have, all my power.”
“Why? Why do you need me so badly?”
His magic glows brighter for a flash, then dims until I can barely see him. “I’ve got my sights set on a very nice boat I’d like to buy, and you’re my coin purse.”
“A boat,” I deadpan.
“Among a few other trivialities like a palace and all the most beautiful women to fill it with.” He grins, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
“You’re despicable, and a liar.”
He sits on the edge of the rushing waterway.
“Do you really think I’m that stupid?” I ask.
