Page 94 of Waves
Liar!My mind screeched.
Shite.
My fingers came up to my mouth and my nails dug into my lower lip as I started to pace again, prowling alongside the coral wall and making the anemones furl up in fear with every pass.They hate him. There's no way this will work.
"How long has he been able to do that?" Keelan again braved the silence, and I glanced at him, unable to read his tone.
I simply shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's probably been happening for a while, if I had to guess. But I didn't realize it until he was a dragon. I'm pretty certain he didn't know until tonight."
"You've known?"
I rubbed my forehead. "Not in the way you think. I didn't realize it was reciprocal. But whenever I dealt a blow to the dragon...I felt it. Now, I realize, he probably felt my pain too." My throat tightened and my limbs knotted, the agonizing side of our connection giving it a whole new shade of meaning—making Raj's declaration feel infinitely more entangled.
Felipe spoke next and when I glanced over, he gripped the back of one of the shark jaws so tightly that I was certain the bone was about to crack. "And how'd he summon you tonight?"
My lips pressed together, and I stared at the floor, color rising on my cheeks. "After he realized we were all together earlier, he summoned me the same way."
A crack resounded throughout the room and Felipe tossed the broken chair aside. Ugo's red hair temporarily flared in the doorway, but he immediately disappeared once he took in the unhappy scene.
I shoved a deep breath through my tight lungs.Say it, Avia! Say it! Just give him up. Tell them you'll go to Lizza and push for the heart to move elsewhere immediately.
But I couldn't.
My hands went to my hips, and I leaned forward as I struggled to breathe. Felipe had never seemed so angry, and I was certain the others were disappointed. Their judgment cinched tight around my waist. Tears filled my eyes and began to leak into the water around me.
I loved these men with every bit of my hollow heart.
But Raj had my heart too. Not just literally.
And so help me, I believed he was sincere.
I believed it because I'd felt it.
Every second of his confession had been raw and honest.
"Avia, it's okay," Mateo appeared at my side, his palm skating down my arm, probably trying to comfort me despite his own hurt.
"He tried to kill her!" Felipe raged behind us, another cracking sound reverberating as his navy tail sent water surging around the room.
"True," Keelan murmured, sounding far calmer than I'd expected from him. "But..." he trailed off.
My sopping eyes glanced his way and I blurrily saw him tap his lip in thought. "But when my mother wished he'd kill Avia...he fought the magic and tried not to."
"For a split second." Felipe argued, his brows lowering. “Supposedly.”
Keelan tilted his head in a scoff of refusal as he retorted, "He dove in front of lightning for her."
"That might have been an accident," Felipe countered.
My eyes darted back and forth between them, stomach lashing back and forth like a ship in a storm.
"Maybe. But it wasn't. And a while back, he let me beat his ugly face in to help me shake off my melancholy."
All of us turned our heads, shock enveloping the room. I blinked a few times, processing, and a solitary tear floated away from my face. My hand came up in a gesture demanding clarification. "I'm sorry...what?"
Keelan's clear amber gaze punched into me with solid truth as he stated. "He came up and deliberately provoked a fight so that I'd lash out. I used to have captains do the same when I was younger, not to that extent of course. They'd stoke my anger and then send me off to an obstacle course so that I'd wear myselfout. The point is, he's trying. I actually believe he's trying to fulfill those good deeds you set him, Avia. He's terrible at it. But I actually believe the world's worst villain is trying. For you."
My knees gave out and Mateo had to catch me, drawing me into his arms. As I clung to him, Keelan gave me a solid nod.
