Chapter 39 Cav
THIRTY-NINE
Cav
Cav can’t open his eyes. Raw pain scratches up his throat, branching into his shoulder until it throbs. His skin is tight and dry. His body is too heavy, or too weak, to move. There’s a crackling in his ears, but past that, he hears waves crashing.
He smiles. He remembers this. For years, he’s dreamt of returning to this moment.
Back to his shipwreck, when his eyelashes were crusted with salt, and his nose was scraped out by seawater.
He knows what comes next. He lies on his back and sinks into the feeling of her fingers brushing hair from his face.
But something’s wrong. The ocean sounds too far away. When he inhales, he breaks into a fit of coughing. The scent of fire burns away everything else.
He fights to open his eyes. Around him, the world is blurry and streaked with shadows.
This is not the grotto. There is no rock formation overhead, no waves lapping at his feet, no water dripping onto his face.
Above him, stars blink in the hazy sky. Flames dance on the debris around him. His scales are gritty with ash.
His neck creaks in protest when he turns toward the ocean. There bobs the Indulgence, looking almost peaceful, aside from the burnt sails and charred hull.
Cav’s brow knits. That small movement makes him groan, but cool hands cradle his face. There she is. Lyx. Beautiful Lyx, looking down on him where his head rests in her lap.
“I think we’ve — been here before,” he rasps.
Her lip quivers, and her body glows, but her eyes look wearier than he’s seen. She keeps moving her hands down his body. He arches into them until he realizes she’s checking for something. Wounds. Tenderness.
Her cheek is bleeding. He reaches toward it. “What’s wrong?” Clearly something is, but his mind is too thick with muck to remember how they got here.
Her hands rest on his chest. “You don’t remember,” she murmurs, like she’s to blame for the state he’s in.
Cav reaches through the cloud of his memories. There was a sailboat, nets of oysters, a gun… Tidus was here. Cav tries to sit up, but his shoulder spasms. “Is he still here? Is he —”
Lyx lowers him back to her lap. “Gone.”
He sighs with relief, but that stirs up another round of coughing. “Did he — start a fire?”
Lyx’s gaze flicks to Cav’s mouth. Every breath he takes is a struggle, his lungs chafed with smoke. It’s strange; his body can withstand more fire than most, but this is different. This feels like he was standing in the middle of it.
A dream unravels in his mind. It’s so distant he can hardly remember it. Lyx’s voice in his ear. A respite, drawing him out of his body to watch from above. Someone set fire to the ship. Someone stepped into the blaze. Someone stoked the heat that he can still feel on his skin.
Not someone. Cav. It was his hands curling around the ship’s ladder. It was his eyes staring up at the wooden beams. It was his mouth spilling flames.
This destruction is all Cav’s doing.
From deeper in the island, a stampede of footsteps grows. Heathen and Cypher emerge from the brush, followed by the remaining crew. Their chests are heaving, eyes rimmed with sleep, trying to make sense of the ruin around them.
“Cav?” Heathen pants. “How are you…” They blink blearily toward the empty ramp. “Where’s the fire? We saw it. We saw…”
Shame spreads up the back of Cav’s neck. With a wince, he tries to push to his feet, but Lyx bears the brunt of his weight. Heathen rushes toward them, reaching to support him before she catches sight of his singed flesh. “You’re burned.”
Behind her, the rest of the crew sprints toward the water, piling into dinghies and rowing to secure the Indulgence. Cypher stays behind. Already, the flaming ship tattoo is fading. The mark has served its purpose.
Guilt and soot clog Cav’s throat. “It was — Prodeus,” he chokes. He has to place a hand on his knees to catch his breath. “He’s been watching — following us.”
“He did this? After all this time?” Heathen scans the beach. “Where is he?”
Lyx looks out across the water. “Returned to the sea.”
Cypher crouches next to a pile of scorched netting, searching the debris before she rubs the sooty tips of her fingers. “Something doesn’t add up.” She rises to her feet, gaze flicking over both of them. “How did he know where to find the Indulgence?”
Cav schools his expression. “I told you — he’s been following us.” He takes a few ragged breaths. “He must have been — watching you today.” He wants to tell the truth, but that means giving up Lyx, and he refuses to do that.
“Today.” Cypher gestures toward Lyx. “After she disappears and magically returns?”
Cav huffs. “I’m sure his boat is — somewhere close. Look for it.”
“Who really set the fire?”
“I did.” Cav’s admission stuns Cypher and Heathen. Lyx’s fingers curl around his wrist, but he doesn’t take it back.
Cypher’s head shakes slowly. “You wouldn’t do that.” Her eyes dart toward Lyx. “Not without someone else pulling the strings.”
“I told you — it was me!” Cav limps in front of Lyx. “She didn’t do this. She didn’t cause it.”
“She’s the only one with that kind of power!”
“Cypher…” Heathen warns.
Cypher throws up her hands. “If she used her song on you, you’d do anything she wanted. Anything!” A wild thought crosses her mind. “Was she — was she working with him? Is that who she’s been meeting?”
The beach falls silent. Heathen opens her mouth, but when she looks at Lyx, it snaps shut again.
Cav steps forward. “N-”
“Yes.” Lyx’s voice is certain and strong.
Cav didn’t expect her to admit it amidst all the hostility.
Clearly, neither did Cypher, whose eyes are wide as dinner plates.
“I knew him as Tidus.” Lyx glances at Heathen.
“He captured me after he broke off from you. Within a couple of years, his crew fell apart, and he wanted revenge. That’s why I needed a spot on your ship.
To spy on your business. To find out how you collected pleasure. ”
“I fucking knew it,” Cypher spits.
“He was — blackmailing her!” Cav’s lip curls, the spikes along his spine flaring. “He tried — to kill her!”
Lyx smooths a hand down his back. “I admit, I told Tidus about the pearls, but I tried to turn his attention elsewhere. That’s why I left your ship this morning.”
Cypher scoffs. “Clearly, it didn’t work.”
“He wanted to — destroy everything!” Cav growls, but his voice gives out. It takes a long moment before he can speak again. Slowly. “He was…going to burn…the whole island down. Lyx…brought us here. She saved everything.”
Cypher’s mouth twists. Heathen’s voice is slow and methodical. “How did Tidus control you? With your song, couldn’t you force him to do whatever you please?”
Lyx’s hand flutters toward her throat, but it drops quickly. She wets her lips before she speaks. “He had my song. That’s why I couldn’t leave him.” She gestures toward the still-smoldering nets. “That’s why Cav started the fire. He had no choice. Tidus used my song to command him.”
The memories of it become more familiar. Cav’s mind was trapped in his body like a puppet on a string, nothing like the time Lyx used her song on him in the grotto. That felt like divine guidance; tonight felt like a parasite taking over.
Cypher’s eyes narrow. “How did you stop him?”
Lyx searches the ground, moving a few paces away and returning with fragments of a spiral shell. It’s large and crusted with barnacles, much like Tidus had been. Lyx holds the pieces out, but her fingers curl like she wants to cradle them. “I destroyed it.”
Cav sucks in a breath. He knew she’d stopped Tidus, but he didn’t know how.
Heathen reaches for the shell. “That’s where he kept it? Your song?” She looks at the shells scattered around them, burnt and broken husks. Heathen clears their throat and averts their eyes. “I’m afraid…I may have played a part in your capture.”
Lyx stiffens.
“I’m not sure how, exactly,” Heathen explains. “But that shell looks like one of mine. We tried different containers for collecting pleasure: bottles, dice, barrels. Seashells were the first breakthrough. Once the mollusks produced pearls, we set the other shells aside.”
Lyx’s glare is hot. “Who’s ‘we’?”
Heathen’s mouth presses into a thin line. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Is that who the letter in your desk was from?”
Heathen blanches. Cypher looks surprised. Cav can’t help but be a little impressed, leaning toward her to whisper. “You were in — Heathen’s office?”
“The shells,” Heathen interjects, “reside on a small island. It’s remote. I assure you, no one would have willingly provided the shells to Tidus. To anyone.”
“But could someone have stolen them?” Lyx asks. “If someone swam up to shore, could they take what they wanted?”
“They would need a ship to get there.” Heathen’s eyes narrow on a strange, new thought. “Most people would need a ship. And that would surely be spotted.”
Lyx’s eyes darken on some distant memory. Her fingers curl around the shell in her hand. “How careless to leave something so powerful out in the open.”
“It was only meant to collect pleasure. We didn’t —” Heathen bites their tongue with a remorseful shake of their head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have happened. It won’t happen again.”
Lyx’s scales are still raised, but she eases back next to Cav.
Heathen pushes the hair out of their eyes and watches the Indulgence slowly being towed back to shore. “You two should rest. There’s a cottage down the path through the trees. We can finish this in the morning.”
The thought of a bed makes Cav’s entire body throb. The weight of the night settles over him, churning through his aching muscles and tired limbs. Lyx takes some of his weight, and the two begin to make their way toward the forest.
“And Lyx?” Heathen calls after them. When they turn, she’s kneeling to take an oyster in her hand.
There’s an almost sadness to her motions as she traces what remains of its shape.
“I can’t change what happened, but I would like to try to make it right.
If you’ll take it, there’s a place for you on our ship.
” She swipes a line of soot with her finger. “Whatever’s left of it.”
Behind her, Cypher folds her arms across her chest. A smirk flickers on Lyx’s lips. “Because I know about the pearls. About how you collect pleasure. Keep your enemies close.”
Heathen’s lip quirks. “I do not consider you my enemy, but I would be foolish not to keep that information under wraps…but that’s not the only reason.
” They look past Lyx to Cav. “Someone told me that the beauty of the Indulgence is that it’s safe.
If you’re looking for that, I hope we can provide it.
” After a long moment, Heathen bows their head.
“The offer’s on the table. Think it over. ”