My lips pursed as I began searching through my bag. “I’m not an idiot. I was talking about your neck.”
There had to be some way to stop the bleeding, but unless I wanted to peel down wallpaper or ask him to strip his shirt all the way off, our options were limited. Sighing, I dug through the bottom of my bag.
I pulled out the swim wrap I’d packed and took a deep breath, mentally bidding it farewell, before leaning up to reach his neck.
He took a startled half-step back at my approach but didn’t stop me when I pressed my wrap against his wound. Warm blood pooled under the fabric. Although it wasn’t very absorbent, I knew I could never wear it again.Oh well.
The sea wizard’s lips tightened as I added additional pressure, and my great sacrifice was met with only a stiff, “Oh.”
“Oh?That’s it?” With a sharp glare, I applied perhaps a bit too much pressure. “I think what you meant to say wasthank you.”
But instead of expressing gratitude, he stood rigid before me, his lips firmly shut. Figured.
“I’m not sure why I’m even helping you,” I grumbled, but as I spoke, my stomach twisted with the unwanted burden of guilt.
Queen Sagari may have had a sweet smile, but she was just as cruel as any other king or queen of the sea. A blade to the neck, just to prove to me his loyalty? Had I not provoked his queen, maybe he might not have?—
I nearly lost my footing as the sea wizard leaned into my hand. He cracked a grim smirk, an expression as darkly bitter as he was. “I don’t recall asking for your help, little captive.”
Instead of moving away, I kept the pressure steady by resting my forearm on his shoulder. “I don’t enjoy seeing anyone get hurt,” I said, matching his bitterness. “Why stay loyal to someone who would use your pain to prove a point?”
I felt the warmth of blood trickling down my arm and soon realized that my clothes were also dotted and smeared.Shit. Was it from when he’d ushered me out of the queen’s office?
His porcelain throat bobbed underneath the weight of my hand. “Why stay loyal to those who never cared for you until they found a use for you?” he asked, the words devoid of any warmth.
“Put pressure on your own damn wound,” I spat out. But before I let go of his neck, my eyes fixated on a black streak that was nearly hidden under the blood oozing down the open flap of his collar.
What the heck?
Before I could think better of it, I’d lifted the flap. My hand brushed over the top of his chest, smearing away blood to expose more of the pattern etched on his skin.
My breath caught.
Crimson streaks nearly concealed it, but there it was. The dark, ominous tip of a trident.
I held back the layers of his suit to stare at the marks. My pulse hammered, a fierce gallop in my ears that distracted me from how the sea wizard’s face loomed ever closer to my own.
His square jaw tilted, an enticing rumble in his smoky voice as he murmured, “See something you like?”
My palm, sticky and smeared in his blood, froze over his bare chest.
I raised my chin up to discover his eyes were far from empty. They pulled me right in, their alluring darkness so captivating I couldn’t summon the strength to move away. “No,” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.
He took a sharp breath, his nostrils flaring.
“Careful,” he said, a smooth warning I felt all the way in the pit of my stomach. His mouth hitched into a smirk, a roguish flash of straight, white teeth. “Or I might be tempted to keep you.”
“What? No.” Flustered, I slid my hand free from his suit. Was it possible cecaelian men possessed the same charm as mermen? It would explain why my skin was so hot, my face so flushed. “I was… admiring your tattoo,” I said, cringing. As far as lies went, it wasn’t a smooth one.
The sea wizard’s chin tilted, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure he would accept my lie. “Ah. No tattoos.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “Just a lot of blood.”
My heartbeat quickened. “Oh. My mistake.” Was this another one of his tricks, or could he truly not see the mark on his skin? I was certain it was a trident—the same one he’d held underwater, by the steep curve of its tip.
Did that mean he’d stabbed himself with it since the last time I’d seen him?
But before I had the chance to straighten out my thoughts, his voice rumbled. “Time to go.”
“Wait, my clothes,” I said, panic rising. I was smeared with blood, looking like I’d disappeared to go on a damned stabbing spree. “I can’t go back like this.”