Page 39 of Ruthless Scoundrel
Her eyes narrow on me. “If you’re planning to overthrow the Fynish governing body, I’ll have you know that I’m three steps ahead of you already.”
I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face. “Oh?”
She scowls and mutters a curse.
“Don’t be shy now, princess. I need to hear everything.”
“You need to hear nothing. Where are the paddles?” she asks, searching across the raft.
One of the paddles is floating nearby, so I dive in and grab it. The other, and our coconuts, are too far gone to reach. I’m sure there’ll be more on the next island.
“So, tell me about this coup you’ve planned,” I say as I pull the paddle through the water.
Reina is silent, but I’m not disheartened. I know how to get under her skin.
I glance at her over my shoulder. “The rebellion, right? You and your little band had something planned for the night of your sister’s wedding.”
She glares daggers at me.
“Well?”
She grimaces. “I’m not sure how it went. Youabductedme.”
I turn front, giving longer strokes.
“I’m not sure if my sister is alive either, but you seem to think she’s dead.”
It’s my turn to be silent.
“It’s okay for you to ignore me, but not the other way around?”
What can I say that will ease her heart?
She punches me in the arm, and it fucking hurts.
I glare at her and she glares right back.
Then punches me again.
I block her next strike and grab her arms. “Are all your sisters such violent creatures, or is it just you?”
She spits in my eye—a-fucking-gain. I wince it shut.
“That was rude,” I say, wiping her saliva from my lashes.
“You’re one to talk. Look at us!” she exclaims, ripping her arms from my grasp. “We’re lost at sea, monsters all around. We probably won’t survive the journey to wherever you want to sell me anyway! That’s the rudest part of all. You didn’t even think if you could properly get your payoff. What a fucking waste.”
She sits down and hugs her knees to her chest.
A waste. As if her life has somevaluethat must bespent.
I don’t know what to say that won’t offend her, so I just paddle on. The next island draws nearer as the sun pulls across the sky and lights it with gold. I’m sweating by the time we enter the breach, so I allow us to be dragged in by the surf.
We hit the sand and Reina helps me drag the raft up. We lean it against a set of trees and Reina sets to work crafting the shingles that will protect us without my prompting. Already we’ve become attuned to the needs of one another.
No. It’s not what you think it is.
I sharpen another spear and wade into the shallows as the sun looms closer to the horizon. Within thirty minutes I have a good haul. Reina tries to start a fire for us, practicing being gentle with her magic. She fails, absolutely blasting the coconut husk she’d wedged under a much-too-big felled tree, but I love watching her learn more about herself.
