Chapter 30
Islept the entire carriage ride back.
Selena woke me with a gentle hand as we pulled up to the palace. Pike opened the door, all the kind intelligence returned in his gaze. I wondered if she’d sung to him to transfer her power over him, or if any Naiad could control a human once they were under the spell of a siren’s song.
Daylight shined heavy in my eyes, and Selena leaned close, smoothing my dress sleeve. “Let’s get you to bed.”
Still unfamiliar with the endless halls and bridges, I was grateful when she walked me all the way up the spiral staircase tower that ended at my rooms. Dusk had claimed the sky when I’d traipsed these stairs before. I hadn’t noticed that the glass windows on all sides made it feel as though we were ascending through a crystal prism.
She bid me goodnight in the middle of the day, leaving me on the top step with my door in sight. I fumbled the rest of the way on my own, fitting my key in my lock, and heard hinges creak behind me.
Kye stood over his threshold, his shoulder leaned into the jamb.
I considered slamming my door in his face, but something about his expression slowed my hand over the knob. His eyes fell from one corner of me to the next in wonder. My dress creased from sleep, my hair in a hurried knot on top of my head, loose strands escaping as I moved. I’d cast my boot and stockings off at the bottom of the stairs, choosing to carry them instead as I climbed barefoot.
“So,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “You can’t leave the islands.”
Mihaunaalive. I crossed my arms and leaned into my own door, wondering what the stupid traitor wanted now.
He flicked his wrist in an easy motion, and the shine of a blade flashed under the sunlight, the metal unfolding into the shape of a jackknife, though the motion seemed like a nervous twitch. Just as easy, he snapped it shut, golden eyes never leaving mine.
“Looks like you can leave just fine.”
Send it all to Perpetuum, I didn’t have the energy to listen to him. The man had a brain half the size of a lentil.
“Play your games tomorrow,” I snapped, wrenching the door open behind me. “I’m too tired for this right—”
Kye threw his boot into the crack of the door as I closed it on him. He shoved his way inside and stared me down, his body vibrating with an intensity I couldn’t pinpoint. The door flew shut behind him with a crack. I edged away, my eyes caught between him and his knife.
He laughed coldly, tossing the folded blade onto the closest cushion. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t need that.”
“Then what do you want?” I spat, my resolve hardening as anger began pouring in, taking control over my weariness.
“To make something very clear.”
“And what’s that?”
Jaw hard, he crossed the room, cornering me into the wall. I lifted onto my toes to escape him, but he set his hands on either side of my shoulders and bent forward, piercing me still with his gaze. The scent of fresh rain on mint leaves lashed over me as I watched his mouth approach, my fingers splaying across his hard chest in a futile attempt to force him back.
His eyes dug into mine, his breath awash over my face.
My chest tightened with the pounding of my heart, my pulse ripping through my veins. My breath stopped short, though I wasn’t sure if it ceased out of terror or hatred or the warmth pooling in my stomach, and not being able to identify it left me tumbling in my own fury.
“That I know your secrets.” His voice was a whisper, rough and dangerous in my ears. “I own your secrets.” Inches away, his eyes flicked to my mouth and stayed there. “I know what you are, Leihani. One word—one toe out of place—and I won’t hesitate to end you. If you and Thaan even think of playing me false—”
Well, that was enough of that. The size of this man’s nerve. Me play him false?
I kicked him.
Or tried to.
His body seemed to sense the attack almost without a conscious thought even entering his head, likely the unfortunate symptom of a fatuous mind, though in this instance it worked in his favor. He tucked into his knees, dropping to a crouch and sweeping my feet out from under me with the leg I’d meant to hit.
A searing heat shot from my ankle and up my leg before I even hit the ground, my head bouncing off the wall with a resounding thwack. Stars twinkled over the horizon of my vision as I reached for my ankle, still tender from the night before.
“Shit,” he said, letting his knees crash impulsively to the floor in front of me.
I ignored him as I groped for my own leg, the pain igniting as I flexed my foot. A sharp sting pricked the corners of my eyes, and I bit back the rising horror that my anger would leave me crying.
Mihauna, if I could cry at anything, why would you make me cry when I’m angry? Why this moment—in front of him?
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Kye said, remorse heavy in his voice. I glanced up at him, meeting a gaze clouded with shame, though it melted as soon as our eyes connected, and he stared at me with fists suddenly clenched, jaw rigid.
“Get out.” I clutched the wall as I pushed to my feet, gasping in pain as I tried to set my foot flat on the floor.
Kye reached for my arm. What he planned to do, I’m not sure. Lead me to a chair? Tuck me into bed? Comfort me with a prayer to the Calderian moon so that he could stab me in the back tomorrow?
I snatched myself out of his range, hissing like a mad cat. “I don’t need your help. Get out.”
He watched me struggle a moment longer before disappearing through the door.
I sat heavily on my couch, landing on something hard. His folded knife. I chucked it at the wall I’d just left, then sat glaring at it, and noticed a peculiar noise carrying on outside my door, like a liquid ticking.
Propping my foot up in front of me, I went still, listening hard.
Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
Was that…a heartbeat?
Your hearing will grow sharper.
I twisted, gritting my teeth as I shifted my weight, needing the full view of my door. The sound came from just beyond the other side, the cadence slightly more accelerated than my own.
A long exhale followed, then soft footsteps across the hall. A distant door closed.