Page 57 of Waves
The nixe’s appearance bolstered me, comforted a raw ache that had been pulsing this afternoon. I understood Valdez abandoning the tournament because it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the pirate indulging a selfish whim and leaving. But this man who’d befriended my Mateo and agreed to help me was another story... and I was glad he’d returned.
Suddenly, the day didn’t seem so dark, this event not quite so dour. Curiosity over what was going to happen finally hit me, because other than hearing that a volcano was involved, I’d been unconcerned about the rest of this event.
Eyebrows rising, I didn’t have to wait long to find out what exactly this competition entailed.
A selkie with his coat clasped like a cape upon his back, rode a seahorse up above the floating bleachers. His bushy whiskers unfurled on either side of his face and swayed in the current like cattails did in the breeze on land. With the mien of a traveling performer, the man certainly knew how to command a crowd. He silenced them with merely a look. And then his shout echoed so perfectly off the icebergs and mountains around us so that he didn’t even need to use a conch shell to amplify his voice. With a flourishing wave of his hand, he called out, “People of Kremos! Pick your favorite contestant!”
Everyone twisted in their seat to look at Mateo, who smiled weakly as his silver tail flicked back and forth. When he caught my eye, I gave him a nod, and I thought it might have fortified him a little bit, made his spine stand a little straighter and a smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. At least, I hoped it did.
Felipe looked as stoic as ever, as if he were still guarding the door outside my chambers. With his deep blue hair and scar, he might have looked a little intimidating rather than inspiring to those in the crowd. But I knew better.
Stavros gave a shy wave and earned a few cat calls from the ladies. Watkins and Taft both stared straight ahead, unmoving.
“These men are going to need lots of cheering on! Because each one has to roll a boulder up the back of Pity here, our wonderful island volunteer.” The island man lifted an arm slightly and waved at the crowd, creating an underwater current that sent kids somersaulting backward and giggling. Even Sahar, the mayor, and I were lifted a few inches off our feet, feeling our stomachs lift and drop as we were made weightless.
Our announcer gave a grand smile before continuing, “Catch is, Pity can move whenever he wants. And if their rock rolls down, the competitors must start all over. Who has the most grit? Who can endure the longest? Who won’t quit when times get hard? When the work gets exhausting, pointless, impossible? We’re about to find out. Settle in for the battle of wills!”
Chapter 24
Raj
All day I was wracked by emotions, unbearably obnoxious feelings wriggling around in my belly like worms.
Worry about what the hell this challenge might be.
Worry that I’d left some shred of Valdez lying around that the fishes hadn’t devoured.
Worry that I’d get caught.
And then…even worse, worry about what Avia might think of me if I was.
Fool.
Idiot.
Madman.
I still hadn’t come up with a counter for the love wish, despite pondering the options most of the night. I’d wavered over what to do—so much so that I’d even swum to the spot where I’d met with the local rebel to tell him not to conduct today’s spear attack.
He hadn’t been there, and I’d been glad, immediately turning around and spending the next hour cursing myself for my pathetic tendencies. If I had canceled, it would have meant that I was giving up on any thoughts of revenge.
While the idea of anyone else hurting Avia made the corners of my vision turn hazy red, I wasn’t quite able to give up the thought of hurting her myself.
Instantly, the idea of wrapping my fingers around her delicate neck and squeezing popped into my head. The dark delight that came over me just imagining the way her eyes would widen, and she would gasp before going limp sent tingles all the way down to my toes—and made my dick hard as granite.
Yes, even though this wish made me love her, a deeper part of me still wanted to hear her gasp in pain, preferably as I was sliding my thick cock inside her.
My teeth ground together at the fact that instead of swimming over and grabbing her and doing the things I just envisioned, I was stuck here competing instead.
Now, part of me wished I’d found that rebel yesterday and told him to attack the villagers and rile them upbeforethe event actually started… because I was currently facing the ass crack of a giant stone man with a boulder as tall as my thighs waiting in front of me. The rise of his back was steep and sharp, something I might have been able to climb using my hands and feet…but pushing a boulder? Unless I could balance the thing on my head, I had no idea how this was supposed to be a competition at all.
How was I supposed to roll the damned rock upward without getting squashed? How was I supposed to start at all?
Each of us had been evenly spaced around the base of the island man, who sat cross-legged, which was an unfair advantage for those lucky bastards who were placed in front. Watkins and Felipe had an easy go of it rolling up their rocks up his legs, which sat like low ramps on the dirt. Meanwhile, I was trying to decide how to traverse up a spine.
Who had decided this was fair?
My lips curled because if I’d come up with this competition myself, the deviousness of it would have made me smile. As itwas, I wanted to gut Avia’s bitch of an adviser, whom I was pretty certain had designed each of our events. She was playing favorites.
