Page 180 of Gods of the Sea

And you’ve been unsettled about the whole thing ever sssince. I may not need sleep, but you do.

My body felt heavier at the mention of sleep. I hadn’t had any since we had boarded this ship. How could I? My delinquent brother was captain of a ship heading toward disaster, my parents were at home ill, and there was a demon speaking to me. How could anyone sleep with such a hurricane of problems?

Someone knocked at the door.

I turned toward the door and opened it. On the other side was Luc, looking dazed and slightly uncomfortable.

“Yes?” I asked him. “What is it?”

“The captain has returned to the ship,” he said, rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb thoughtfully. “And you’re not going to like it.”

I didn’t have time to question why the cook was telling me this instead of one of my brother’s men, but truth be told, I hated everyone equally on this ship and it didn’t matter. What mattered was it sounded like there was another mess I had to clean up.

I went to the deck to meet my brother.

I had sent my brother to collect a vial of blood, not a woman in a blood-red dress.

She was slung over his shoulder, unconscious, her hair draping down his back as he met me with a smile.

Luc was right. I didn’t like this at all.

“You absolute moron,” I growled at him, nodding at the girl. “This was not part of the plan.”

“Yes, well,” he replied nonchalantly, “call me old-fashioned, but I wanted some better insurance for the deal. If your voodoo methods fail to work, I need another route for cash.”

“You mean another route for prison! Did you even think about the consequences for this?”

“Are they much better than the consequences of cutting a woman open and taking her blood? Face it, Henrik, this wasn’t going to end well either way.”

A couple men came forward to see what was happening. Adrian caught my glare—I know he did—but he ignored it completely.

“Get her to my room,” Adrian commanded his men. “Be careful where you put your hands. None of you are allowed to touch her, understand?”

The men agreed and took the girl from his shoulder. I caught a glimpse of her full red lips and long neck, the soft curve of her jaw and nose. When my heart skipped a beat, I cursed myself.

I knew the demon had felt my heart as well. He didn’t have a face, but I could feel him smiling.

“I want no part of this,” I said. “Of all the stupid, brainless activities—”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, brushing me off. “I have it handled.”

“You have nothing handled! You never do! If you could handle things, then we wouldn’t—”

I stopped. No. I wasn’t going to bring it up. It wouldn’t do any good. Besides, it wasn’t like I had brought honor to our family either.

I huffed, shaking my head to myself.

“I want no part of this,” I said, waving my hand at him. “You deal with this yourself. I’ll find the path for you. Nothing else.”

Before he could give me any excuses, I turned away and went back to my room. I slammed the door behind me, putting my face in my hands.

A ssstunning creature,Dagon said.If only you weren’t scorned by so many…perhaps you could find a bride like that for yourssself.

I tried to shake him out of my head, but I knew it wouldn’t work.

“Keep those thoughts to yourself, demon,” I replied.

Are they my thoughtsss, or yoursss?

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