Chapter 2 Cav
TWO
Cav
Loathing rolls off of Lyx in waves. She doesn’t hesitate, grabbing a cheese knife and slamming it down into Cav’s sleeve. The blade tears through the fabric, narrowly missing his arm.
“Lyx —”
Behind Cav, Roderick tries to stand, but Cav and Lyx both grab for him to force him back into his seat.
Whispers ripple through the restaurant. Across the room, the host speaks to a burly man and points in Cav’s direction.
He has to wrap this up, but his guilty conscience has him turning back to Lyx. “Listen, I know —”
“You are ruining this!” she seethes, yanking the knife out of the table.
More muscular guards appear behind the host. Cav’s grip tightens around Roderick’s wrist. Things have gotten out of hand; he needs to get them back under control.
This time, Lyx’s knife finds his forearm. He recoils with a hiss, and Roderick seizes the opportunity, knocking over a chair as he flees toward the back of the boat.
Goddammit. Cav knows he has to stop him, but he doesn’t want to leave. Something inside him begs to stay with Lyx and all her anger.
He forces himself to his feet. “Stay and take another stab at me. Please.” Then he yanks the knife from the table and takes off after Roderick.
There’s no use trying to blend in now. The top button of Cav’s shirt pops when he picks up the pace.
Roderick glances over his shoulder, foot catching on a tablecloth and sending him tumbling into a bar cart.
Dinner plates smash to the floor. Guests scream over the sound of shattering glass, splattered with creams and sauces.
Cav snatches the back of Roderick’s shirt and hauls him to his feet as they crash onto the open deck.
The doorjamb slams into Cav’s ribs. He gasps for breath, but Roderick’s fist finds his face and cracks his cheek.
Teeth grit, Cav coils his tail around Roderick’s ankles and hoists him over the railing.
There’s a thirty-foot drop into nothing but dark ocean, and Cav’s shoulder throbs, but it’s nothing compared to the adrenaline of dangling Roderick over open air.
Roderick flails. “It won’t happen again! It won’t!” He grasps for the front of Cav’s shirt. “I can get you the drugs for free! Free of charge. You can use them for —”
Cav releases his hold, and Roderick plummets with a scream.
Shouts rise from the restaurant. Cav braces to be tackled by guards, but Lyx appears instead, leaning over the railing and cursing.
Behind them, the restaurant clamors. Cav scans the rest of the deck for lifeboats that hang only a few meters away.
If he doesn’t make a move, he’ll be in chains before the night is through.
With a pained grunt, he retrieves the cheese knife from the floor and swipes at the blood dripping from his mouth. “You need a ride?”
Lyx scoffs in disbelief. “Me? They’re coming for you.”
In the dining room, the panicked crowd presses against the windows while the guards struggle to push through. Cav shrugs weakly. “I’m sure they’ll have some questions for you, too.”
Lyx balks, but he doesn’t move, not even when the commotion behind her grows. An alarm bell clangs in Cav’s head, but it’s not as loud as the foolish, hopeful ringing that keeps him here.
He turns the knife in his hand and extends the handle toward her. “I promised you another stab at me.”
Her glare is venomous, but it seems she’s actually considering it. After a moment, her hand darts toward him, bypassing the knife and shoving him toward the lifeboats. “Arrogant fucking pirate.”
A smile breaks across Cav’s face, and the two of them race toward the dinghies hanging off the side of the ship. Cav hoists himself over the railing before he extends his hand back toward her.
Her expression darkens. Somehow, this offer is the riskiest thing he’s done this evening.
The footsteps behind her grow closer.
Reluctantly, she grabs onto him and yelps when he hoists her into the boat. “Hang on.” He clears his throat to stoke the ember in his chest. Fire builds in his mouth, flowing between his lips and catching on the rope that keeps them attached to the Spoon.
With the guards hurtling toward them, the dinghy drops out of the sky.
Wind whizzes past and whips Cav’s hair into a frenzy. He braces against the bench as the dinghy splashes into the water, sending him sprawling on his back and knocking against the side of the boat.
He groans under the weight on his torso. Lyx winces and tries to right herself, but their legs are tangled, chests heaving against each other as she stares down at him.
The sounds of the Silver Spoon fade in the distance. Moonlight washes over her skin, her breath soft across his face. He remembers this. He remembers having her this close, the two of them in the middle of the ocean, no one else around for miles.
Then she grips his neck and forces his head down into the sea.
The boat nearly capsizes. His fingers close around her wrists, mouth spluttering as he’s submerged. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
They’re going to flip if she keeps pushing. Water churns around him, soaking through his clothes and over her wrists. Only then does she pull back, jostling to the other side of the boat.
Cav’s voice is hoarse. “Lyx —”
“Don’t start.”
“I need to apol-”
“I don’t want to hear it!”
The silence resonates. She doesn’t lunge for him again, but most shocking of all, she doesn’t dive into the ocean to make her escape. She just keeps her arms crossed, fingernails digging into her skin.
Cav can do nothing but catch his breath and reach for the oars. His shoulder throbs in protest, but he grits his teeth. It’s a mile to the wealthy island; he can push through the pain. It’s the least he can do.
Carefully, he begins to row. Despite the darkness, the two of them glow like beacons in hazy shades of blue and red.
He’d forgotten her body could do that, as bioluminescent as a jellyfish, the light highlighting the tension between them.
For a long time, there’s nothing but the sound of ocean waves until he can’t help but speak. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I don’t care what you meant,” she hisses.
“I wasn’t trying to send hunters your way.”
“Oh, weren’t you?” Mockery thickens her voice, but her sharp tongue slices through it. “You washed up in my grotto, and I kept you alive. Senselessly. And how do you thank me?” Her fists tighten like she wants another swing at him. “By telling the first port you land in all about your adventure.”
Shame creeps Cav’s neck. “That’s not —”
“Spare no details, Cavalier. You certainly didn’t then.”
The boat drifts on the tide. Cav tries to row again, but he sucks in a breath when his shoulder spasms.
Lyx’s gaze jerks toward it.
“It’s fine,” he insists.
She ignores him, snatching the oars and jamming them into the water. “And I knew better.” She puts all her strength into rowing, like it’s the only way to escape him. “Of course you sent hunters after us. Of course you told them exactly what to look for. Just like a fucking pirate.”
Cav wants to argue, but how can he? No matter what he intended, she’s right. The only reason hunters found the siren hive was because Cav made that fucking map. Because he was careless with it. Because he couldn’t stop searching.
“Really, it’s my fault,” Lyx sneers. “Perhaps I was too vague. Should I have sworn you to secrecy? Should I have specifically requested that you not pinpoint our location? Silly me. Here I was thinking I’d been clear when I made you promise never to return.
” Her eyes spark humorlessly. “At least you followed one command.”
He bites his cheek until it throbs. “What happened to the rest of the sirens?”
“Vanished. Captured. Killed.” She slaps the oars into the water. “Take your fucking pick.”
Cav rests his elbows on his knees. Sirens have been the mythical monsters of sailing stories for as long as he can remember, but he never wanted to harm them. Hell, he wasn’t even sure they were real until he washed ashore in Lyx’s cave. Now, he’s played a part in their destruction.
“I am truly sorry.” He wrings his hands. “For what little it’s worth.”
“It’s not worth little.” Lyx shakes her head bitterly. “It’s worth nothing. You might as well be proud of yourself. At least I could respect that.”
Cav’s mouth falls open. “I’m not proud.”
There’s no use fighting it. He could never grasp the siren notion that any pain is good, that they would seek discord to their own detriment.
A cloud crosses over the moon. Cav scratches his claws against the side of the boat. “Is that how you ended up with Roderick?”
“That’s right…” Lyx takes out her renewed fury on the paddles. “Yet another thing you ruined for me.”
“He’s a bad guy.”
“I’m supposed to take your word for it?”
“He spiked your drink!”
“I know!” The oars slice through the water. “I had it under control. Everything was fine until you showed up.” She leans back, putting her full weight behind the rowing. “Is this what you do now? Sneak onto fancy ships and toss their guests overboard?”
“That guest pulled some shit on our pleasure ship.” Cav winces when the tender skin under his eye pulls taut. It’ll be swollen tomorrow. A small price to pay for how he fucked this up. “I was taking care of business.”
The oars stall as Lyx looks up at him. “You work on the Indulgence? For Heathen?”
It’s strange hearing the familiar names from Lyx. Despite the pain, Cav narrows his eyes. “How do you know Heathen?”
Lyx’s spine straightens, like she’s been forced into civility. “I didn’t realize you were acquainted.”
“Or you would’ve been happier to see me?”
Her sour look returns. “Roderick said he had a connection to her. That’s why I was meeting him.”
“Of course he did,” Cav huffs. “But why are you looking for Heathen?” He gestures behind her to the wealthy island now looming over them.
Light glints off the sleek materials, buildings dotted with contraptions Cav has never even heard of.
“If you’re meeting with people who run in Roderick’s circles, I don’t see what Heathen could do for you. ”
Lyx’s jaw clenches. It’s so brief, Cav wonders if it was a trick of the light, but whatever it was is replaced with her unflinching expression. “That doesn’t concern you.”
“But you want my help.”
Her eye twitches. No doubt she’s itching to be free from Cav and everything he brings with him. Maybe she would rather take her chances with Roderick. Gods, what does that say about Cav?
“Or maybe you don’t.” Cav holds up his palms. “I shouldn’t assume. I’m sure you’ve got —”
“I do,” she interjects, neck straining like it pains her to say. “I do. Need…”
There goes that foolish hope in his chest, refusing to die out.
As the boat floats into the dock, Cav digs into his pocket and holds out a cloth pouch between them.
“You see that island?” He points to the smaller shape in the distance, a stark contrast to the opulent one before them.
“The Indulgence is docked there. Come before sunrise, and you can meet with them.”
Skeptically, Lyx opens the pouch and withdraws two coins. “I have to pay my way?”
“No. Consider it a token of atonement.” Cav reaches out to brace against the dock, steadying the boat against the waves. “Since I ruined your dinner. Among other things.”
There’s the barest hint of emotion in her eyes. Maybe Cav imagines it, because he wants it to be true, because he wants to say more, to ask if she’ll show up tomorrow, to plead for another moment alone.
As if she senses it, Lyx rises abruptly to her feet. She tips backward, and Cav catches her around the waist to keep her from falling. Her body is solid against his, her eyes clinging to his mouth like it’s against her will. Like she hadn’t allowed herself to look until this moment.
When his lips part, so do hers. He can almost pretend she remembers this, too, that Cav hasn’t been the only one clinging to memories…
Then she clamps her mouth shut, shoving his chest and sending him splashing into the water.