44. Pippi #2
Three jagged runes glowed neon red on his head: two curved above his eyes, the other on the tip of his nose. And bright rouge popping against his green scales gave the impression that he was bleeding.
Pain cascaded off him—I’d felt it all the way here. Internally, he was withering and wailing, in incomprehensible agony. But externally, fluttering his flapper seemed all the movement he was capable of.
I wondered if one of those runes was immobilizing him.
“I think we can arrange a quick check.” On Valiant , standing with his feet laced through the railing, raising him above Alistair and all the other people, was Rune.
Blue magic glowed over the tips of his fingers, casting crevicing shadows over his face, leeching out all the features that had made him handsome and boyish.
He slashed one of his blue sparkled hands through the air.
Alistair stiffened. Cried.
The rune on his throat sizzled, ringing his neck like a macabre glow necklace.
He retched, upending bile and fish all over himself.
“Alistair!” His name came out in a breathless whisper.
No one heard me.
They hadn’t seen me either, as obscured as I was in Legacy’s shadow.
“Nope,” Rune chirped and turned to someone on his left side. “That rune is working—he wouldn’t have eaten the girl.”
Jackson’s golden head appeared at the railing, sneering down at Alistair.
I hate you. I wanted to scream at him.
“We’ll find your girl, Jackson,” Rune boomed. “In the meantime…” He raised his glowing hands.
Alistair flinched.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t do this again. She was pretty, huh, Alistair? The redhead? That’s why you wanted her? I get it, man. But it’s not cool. So, to be kind, I think we’ll remove all future temptation.”
No, no, no.
I didn’t know what that meant.
But the look on Rune’s face…
The fear in Alistair’s heart…
STOP!
My mouth gaped, trying to push the word out.
The sea rushed in, gagging me.
STOP!
I raised an arm. But it threw me off kilter and I went spiraling sideways when the ship tried to glug me back under.
Alistair saw me.
His wild, panic-stricken eye rotated toward me.
“Pippi!” he gasped. “Leave. Pl?—”
Rune drew a pattern in the air with his glowing hands.
And that pattern burned into Alistair’s left eye.
He screamed . Blood belched from the rune and trickled down his cheek, painting swirling crimson patterns into the sea.
“STOP!!!”
I didn’t recognize my voice when it finally burst out of me. Wasn’t even sure if that animalistic wail was mine, until people on board the ships scurried, leaning over the railings, watching me as I wrenched free of the ship’s suction and made a panicked dash to Alistair’s side.
Several screamed.
“Shit! Rune!” Kian’s voice boomed. “Back off. She’s in the water!”
“Pippi?” Jackson’s anger exploded over me, making my gut twist.
I ignored them both.
All I could see at that moment was Alistair. The sad, heartbreaking state of him, floating lopsided and mewling as blood bubbled from his ruined eye.
His head was pinned low enough, with his chin just above the water, that I could reach up and touch him.
He hissed.
“It’s me, Alistair,” I soothed. “It’s me.”
“Pippi.” A broken sigh escaped him.
Voices twined over my head as people from both ships shouted speculation at each other.
“Where the fuck did she come from?”
“Did he have her with him the whole time?”
“Did she jump off the ship? She’s got a life jacket.”
“I swear I didn’t see her.”
Alistair leaned into me, shivering. Blood still bubbled from the gummy hunk of flesh where his beautiful orange eye had been only seconds before.
“Pippi, get away from it!”
Jackson.
I bristled at the sound of his voice.
“I haven’t finished the rune,” called the man who was as awful as the malicious magic he was named after. Rune. “I have to do the other eye. But she needs to get out of there. The spell can only do so much to hold him.”
I plastered my body to Alistair’s head.
“Pippi?” Alistair murmured.
I stroked his scales.
“I…I have a question.”
“Okay…”
“It may mean the d-d-difference between life and death,” he continued.
My stomach dropped.
“Does this rune…” He flinched as his mangled socket convulsed. “...make me more or less a-a-attractive?”
A surprised, sobbing laugh burst out of me. “Oh, you goof.” I rubbed his face, gingerly swiping some of the blood away. “But you’re more attractive. It makes you look like a ferocious warrior.”
A life preserver pinwheeled off Valiant , bonking me in the head before plopping into the water beside Alistair’s chin.
He hissed again.
“It’s a floaty,” I said. And then I picked the donut ring up and chucked it back.
It didn’t land anywhere near the ship—stars knew my throw and aim weren’t that good— but the message was received. Loud and clear.
“Pippi!” Jackson cried. “Grab the life preserver!”
And, oh, he was playing a part. Wringing his hands. Mussing his hair. Jiggling his knee. Acting very much like a concerned boyfriend trying to get the love of his life out of a dangerous situation.
It was bullshit.
And he and I…we were long past the point of niceties.
“Fuck you,” I bellowed.
A cloud of murmurs and incredulous laughter spritzed from the ships.
Jackson’s face reddened. “See what I mean? It’s done something to her?—”
“The only thing Alistair did was care about me.” Yelling scourged my throat and took more oxygen than my overworked lungs had. My vision got checkerspotty. But I cranked the volume up a little more, because I wanted to make sure he heard me. “Which is more than I can say for you!”
Jackson gripped the railing in both hands and leaned halfway over, almost as though he’d considered jumping into the water to wring my neck. Then he thought better of it, straightened up, and called down, “Grab the life preserver, Pippi.”
“So you can get me out of the way before the asshole you idolize mauls an innocent person? I think not.”
“Pippi.”
“I won’t do it, Jackson.” I jutted my chin up. “If you want to keep gouging his eyes out, you’ll have to gouge mine out too. Because I won’t leave him.”
Dozens of faces dotted the ship’s railing now as people swung their gazes between me and Jackson, murmuring things like “Did I hear her right?” and “Oof, this might get good.”
Rune placed a placating hand on Jackson’s shoulder as he wiggled his fingers, calling the life preserver to him. “Pippa, we can’t risk Alistair hurting people.”
“Do I look hurt to you?” My throat burned.
“No. And I’m very glad you’re not. But you’ve clearly interacted with him before, and he should not be able to interact with tourists. Ever.”
“Why?”
“These runes keep him safe too,” Rune spoke over me. “They keep him from doing something that would bring a hunt like this down on his head.”
“And what about the curse?” I spat. “Was that done to keep him safe?”
“I’m sorry?” Rune tapped at his ear. “It’s hard to hear you, darling.”
I was certain he’d heard me just fine. But I threw my head back and upped the volume a few more degrees. “ What about the curse?! The one that turned him into this. And is keeping him trapped here?”
“Oh, Pippa, I think you may be confused?—”
“Pippi!” I screamed. “It’s Pippi. Not Pipp a . At least get my name right if you’re gonna act like a condescending sack of shit.”
Alistair’s shocked laugh was music to my ears.
Other people chuckled too. Nervously, the sort of way folks did in those awkward situations that made them feel so uncomfortable, they had to giggle to release some of the tension.
“Pippi, then,” Rune said. “I think you’re confused?—”
“I’m not. And don’t spin this like I’m some traumatized little woman who’s too scrambled in the head to know what she’s saying.
My head has never been clearer. Alistair is human .
” My voice crackled around that word. I paused.
Swallowed, to soothe the lacerations in my throat, and bellowed, “And you cursed him.”
Jackson’s voice trickled down. “See, this is the nonsense she was blabbering about.”
“My ears work, Jackson.” I whipped my eyes to him. “And if anyone is blabbering nonsense, it’s you . Why don’t you tell them the truth behind today—or this whole week?”
His face turned stony.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to. I will.
” I pivoted my gaze between the two ships, meeting each set of curious, worried, and shocked eyes that peered down at me.
“Jackson’s mad because I broke up with him.
Because I finally realized he’s a selfish leech who’s been draining me for years .
And he threw a tantrum and fabricated this bullshit story where he’s the hero, and I’m the simpering damsel who’s been bewitched by a horrific beast. Because that’s easier for him to accept than me not wanting him. ” I turned back to Jackson.
He exuded so much fury, it lit a full-fledged fire in my belly.
“Did that cover everything, babe ?” I tried to bring my speech to an epic mic drop conclusion. But my blistered throat crapped out on me, and those last words were barely a hiss.
“Pippi.” Alistair nuzzled his head into me. “You’re so lovely when you’re m-m-mad. Has anyone told you that? It’s s-s-s- sexy .”
I sputtered.
He chuckled.
“You should be mad more,” he whispered. “Especially toward people who use you. Save your k-kindness for people who earn it.”
I turned and pressed my lips to his face.
Chaos erupted over us.
Kian screamed at Jackson, demanding if I was telling the truth.
Rune shouted that he couldn’t leave his magic unfinished, and that, “Alistair had still been allowed to get too close to a human.”
People speculated.
I heard it all. But didn’t care.
At that moment, my world shrunk.
It was just me and Alistair, floating in the water, as we’d done so many nights before. Soaking in each other’s company. Feeding each other comfort.
After a long stretch of silence,Alistair groaned. “Pippi, I do love you. And I’m…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for—Whaaaaa…Alistair!” I scrabbled for balance when he abruptly ducked his head underwater and shoved it beneath my feet.