Mira
Chapter fifteen
Bound
We didn’t speak much as we made our way back through the jungle after leaving Veyra.
The air was thick with unspoken words, but all I could hear was the steady, controlled beat of Kai’s heart echoing in my ears.
I felt every pulse of his emotions, his presence a constant hum beneath my skin.
It was overwhelming, to feel so deeply what he was feeling, and yet it all still felt foreign.
What was he thinking? What did he truly feel about me?
I wish I could know. In a matter of seconds, Kai had become the most important person in my life.
When Veyra blesses you, it’s said to be the most sacred thing in the world, an unbreakable bond.
How can I possibly live up to that? How I can protect him as fiercely as I know he would protect me?
The words he spoke to Veyra about me stir up a feeling I can’t ignore.
It’s not just what he said, it’s how he said it.
The certainty in his voice. The way he looks at me like I’m something rare and precious, the most remarkable treasure he’s ever found.
And despite all my walls, despite how much I want to deny it, I wonder if I might be.
I can’t deny the pull. Everything in the universe is screaming that he’s the one.
But gods, he’s infuriating. The most stubborn, smart-mouthed man I’ve ever met.
But when I stepped onto his ship, when the map led me straight to him…
he was different. I was met with a kind of gentleness I didn’t expect.
Someone I could trust. I just didn’t expect him to become this important.
Veyra’s words keep echoing through my mind, the way she said he must protect me by protecting my heart.
I can’t stop wondering if he’s truly capable of that.
I want to believe he wouldn’t break it. Not after everything.
But the thought still lingers. He’s a master of strategy, a man who bends fate until it breaks in his favor.
Every word, every glance, feels like it’s been placed with purpose, like I’m already caught in a web I never saw being spun.
Why would I be any different? Just another pawn dressed up as destiny, another girl fooled into believing she was more than a means to an end.
It’s too easy to imagine. And with the power I’m apparently carrying, whatever it is, underestimating me would be a deadly mistake.
But would Kai underestimate me? Would he risk me for the map?
For the answers? I don’t want to believe that.
I can’t. But the truth is, there’s so much I don’t know about him and maybe even more that I don’t know about myself.
But for some reason, I feel like I know all of him at the same time.
We’re heading to find the mermaid Kai supposedly knows, the one who can help us locate the lagoon Veyra mentioned.
A mermaid. Just the word makes my stomach twist. Every time one is mentioned I think about that damn tattoo on his arm.
I hate that he’s close with them, that they seem to belong to his world in a way I never could.
The thought of it makes my blood boil, jealousy simmering just beneath the surface. They’re everything I’m not.
Dripping in allure, with their voluminous hair that moves through the air like it’s still underwater, eyes that glimmer like the sea, fluttering lashes, and curves sculpted to tempt even the most faithful men into surrendering everything.
Their beauty isn’t just seen, it’s felt.
Everything about them is otherworldly, how they move, how they speak, how they own every room, every gaze, every silence.
Their existence alone drips with bittersweet venom.
I’ve never struggled with self-confidence, not really.
But whenever I’m near a mermaid, it’s like the ground beneath me shifts.
The world tilts, my senses blur, and something inside me begins to unravel.
I know they can sense it. They smell weakness, unease, doubt, cracks.
Mermaids lure. Sirens kill. They seduce you into death.
As beautiful as mermaids are, they aren’t after your soul or your life, they’re after your power, and they always seem to get what they want. That’s what makes them dangerous. Kai knows them too well. What do they see in him? What has he given them? And worse, what has he shared?
“Mira?” Kai’s voice comes from behind me. I’m sitting on the edge of the ship, feet dangling over the side, watching the sunset melt into the sea. But it’s not the ocean that has me off balance. It’s everything I don’t know.
“I’m fine. I won’t fall,” I snap, not even bothering to turn around.
“I know you won’t,” he says calmly. “You just look deep in thought. I can feel your stress.” I wonder, for a second, if he’s only saying that because he doesn’t want to feel the full weight of what I’m going through or if he actually gives a damn.
“Yeah, well, get used to it,” I mutter. “I’m an angry, stressed-out, obsessive girl.”
Kai moves closer, settling beside me. He wraps an arm around my lower back, gently, anchoring me like I might drift away if he doesn’t.
When his eyes find mine, there’s no pity—just something fierce and unflinching, like he’d fight whatever breaks me if I’d only let him.
Maybe I’ve been too hard on him. Maybe he really is trying.
After all, he isn’t the one who killed my mother.
“Mira,” he says softly, “you are the center of my universe. I want to feel everything you do. I’ll sit with you in silence for as long as it takes.
I’ll be there when you’re red with rage, blue with sorrow, yellow with joy.
I’ll be there through it all.” His voice doesn’t shake. His eyes don’t flinch.
“I’ve lost enough in my life to know when something’s worth holding onto.
And I’m holding onto you. So stop acting like I’m against you.
I told you before, I don’t like my integrity being questioned.
” The words hit like a wave to the chest. I blink, lips parted, trying to say something, anything, but nothing comes out.
He hops down from the rail and walks away, confidence radiating off him.
His words pull me under, and I don’t fight the drowning.
I hop down from the ledge of the ship and make my way toward our quarters. The wind howls, but my thoughts are louder. Everything’s changing so quickly, and there’s still so much I don’t know. Maybe it’s time I finally open my mother’s journals.