Chapter 19
Tumbling Wave
ROHEN
The dampness of the wood beneath my bare feet called to me, the depths beyond beckoning for me to finally give in.
Standing on the gunwale, the harshness of the sea slapped against the ship, threatening to toss me overboard.
Each crack along its pristine structure only seemed to serve as a reminder of my inability to escape—a freedom so far from my reach so long as their leashes remained coiled around my throat.
Ultimately, I refused to throw myself overboard, which, in thinking about it, had made my climb up here a bit theatrical.
Whether my dissipating desire to become one with the ocean was because the gods had decided I needed to live another day, or because I was too fucking stubborn to let him win, I wasn’t sure.
There was only one thing I knew for certain, and it was that I loathed Caspian fucking Vayne.
By Ellira’s name, I sat beside him, catering to him, concerned about his well-being—his survival, because she’d told me to.
And the instant he had the chance, he looked at me as if I were an abomination, casting his hatred toward me just as he’d cast himself to the sea.
He was infuriating by the very definition, but in the same godsforsaken breath, irresistible.
And that’s what pissed me off the most.
As if the mere thought of him served as some kind of sick summoning ritual, his booted footsteps approached. Rounding the corner, he stepped into view, still shirtless because of my desperate attempt to keep him alive.
I should’ve let the bastard die.
As if the act were carved into the marrow of my bones, my eyes instinctively began exploring him.
Admiring the dark breeches that hung low on his hips, and every impossible to ignore line and cut of his muscular frame, I swallowed the building lump in the back of my throat.
Damp from the cloth we’d used to bring his temperature down, his hair twisted in slightly tighter curls than it had been when it was dry.
Every inch of his tattoo was visible, the path of lightning as untamable as he was.
The wound in his side, which I hadn’t had time to attend to before he elected to be a prick, had been stitched, likely by the crafty hand of the male who followed him no matter where he went, as if he were a god worth worshipping.
And the fucking nipple piercings—gods, the fucking nipple piercings—that were connected by the singular chain, a chain I wanted nothing more than to—
The low husk of his voice pulled me from the intrusive thoughts threatening to cloud my mind. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Levitte?”
“What the fuck do you think I’m doing, Caspian Vayne?” I barked back, his name nothing more than poison on my tainted tongue.
He grinned, his infuriating smile lines etching themselves into his cheeks. The vibrancy of his maroon gaze seemed to ignite alongside them, sparking with a liveliness I’d only ever caught when we were speaking to one another. It was as if every time I fully addressed him, he…enjoyed it?
Oh, for fuck’s sake, Rohen, can you think with your head and not your pussy for five seconds?
“To me?” he growled, stepping through the crowd of men that had flooded the deck. “It looks as if you’re trying, but pathetically failing, to take your own life.”
And just like that, I was reconsidering my little plunge.
Swallowing the scream of frustration I wished to unleash, I smirked, craning my head to the side. “Aw, does the ruthless captain of the esteemed Bloodmarked have a bit of a soft spot? Careful, Vayne, I may actually like how concern smells on you.”
A tick danced over his temple, his jaw feathering in response to my disobedience.
His eyes ignited with notable wrath as he angled his chin to the side, shaking his head in disbelief.
The two-second smirk that graced his lips was anything but kind and contained something far more complex than a warning.
It was a threat.
Where others had missed the shift, I hadn’t, and I delighted in knowing how easily I could get under his skin with something as simple as challenging his title.
The utter power that dripped from him didn’t scare me.
If anything, it enticed me, making me want to see just how much of my bullshit he would take before he cracked.
I needed him to crack because I had yet to see his darkness.
His deckhands had wasted no time exploiting my body, their curious hands traversing my flesh with a promise of more.
A promise they had yet to fulfill, and I wasn’t sure why.
But their captain, Caspian fucking Vayne, hadn’t grazed a single finger across my skin or threatened to beat me for anything I’d tossed his way.
Sure, his tongue was wicked, and I desired nothing more than to carve it from his mouth, but I had to fucking know why he wasn’t like his crew.
Why isn’t he just as vile as the rest of them?
“Get the fuck off the gunwale.” Caspian’s snarl infiltrated my internalized analysis of all I thought he was, his brows dropping to hood his enchanting stare.
“Or what?” I pressed, getting off on the idea of humiliating him in front of his men.
“That wasn’t a question, little siren; it was a fucking order.”
“And last I checked,” I hummed, curling my fingers around the swaying rope overhead. “I don’t follow your fucking orders.”
Agitation billowed off him in thick plumes, his tongue dancing over his bottom lip as his patience fractured.
Balling his fists at his side, his knuckles whitened until the wounds that coated them became a beacon of all he could unleash if he so pleased.
The ruby scabs matched his irises, which pulsed with a flash of something intangible and vibrant.
Lust? Anger? Hurt?
Gods, why do I even give a shit—
Not realizing I’d glanced away, his fingers closed around my wrist, ripping me from where I stood. As my bare feet slid across the soaked wood, its dampness did nothing to help me battle the male I hadn't noticed had moved, the man who now worked to silence me into submission.
Refusing, I fought back, spitting in his face as I attempted to break free from his hold. “Let me go, you incessant asshole!”
His voice dropped to a hushed whisper, words only meant for me slithering between gritted teeth.
“If you wish to run your wretched mouth, fine, but you will not speak to me as if you own this damn ship in front of my men.” Tugging on my arm once more, the gap between us shortened.
“I will not repeat myself, Rohen; get your ass off my fucking gunwale.”
Is that the first time he's called me by my first name?
Why the fuck do I care?
WHY THE FUCK DO I CARE?
Matching my heightened internal monologue, the three words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them. “Gods, you’re maddening!”
He merely chuckled, his fingers digging into my skin with enough force to bruise. “I am not here to be pleasant. Now, be the obedient bitch Malrik has molded you into and—”
The moment my abuser’s name left his mouth, I drove my heels into the wood, pulling back with every ounce of ire his continued insults had ignited within me.
Not expecting the determination behind my drawback, his grip faltered, and my balance wavered alongside the freedom I’d secured.
Stumbling, I lifted my chin and cast a sneer in his direction, preparing to hurl a taunt over his inability to secure me.
That was until the gods reacted as if wishing to mock everything I was and all I desired to be.
A wave capable of overturning the ship slammed against the hull, the smug satisfaction on my face paling into a sinking realization.
My feet vanished from beneath me, and Caspian’s expression shifted into what one would assume looked like…
concern? Before I could analyze the nuances of his turbulent personality, the sky flipped into my line of sight, becoming visual confirmation that I was, in fact, going overboard.
The scream that tore from my throat as gravity took over did little to prepare me for my plunge.
My stomach tumbled, nausea overcoming me as I fell victim to the lack of control I truly had.
With my nearing collision with the water, I sucked in a mouthful of oxygen, and right before its frigidity greeted me, I heard someone scream.
“YOU CAN’T SWIM!”
Syoran.
Clearly, he’d underestimated me because I had no issue—
As if the ocean awaited my plummet, its jaws opened, consuming me without a moment of hesitation.
The slap of my body against its surface and its bone-chilling temperature had my lungs screaming for reprieve, pleading for even the most minuscule breath.
Battling against impulse, I kicked my feet, the baggy clothing I wore wrapping around my legs and making the task practically impossible.
I am going to fucking drown.
My adrenaline surged, further urging me to get out of the water as an unexpected splash rippled through it.
Erupting through my veins, panic ignited my mind, convinced that one of many horrific sea creatures had determined my position and now circled me with dire hunger.
Using the instinctive need to escape, even if it meant landing back on Caspian’s ship, my legs and arms tore through the ocean’s density.
The rippling light overhead came into view, and I pushed harder, breaking through the blanketing surface.
I gasped for air, oxygen searing my lungs.
Running my hand down my face, I wiped the water from it, gazing up at the massive ship that I’d tumbled from.
The rays cutting through the cloud cover overhead made it difficult to make out who manned the gunwale, but the voice that cut through the air with concern was enough confirmation.
“For fuck’s sake, Levitte!” Syoran bellowed, motioning for the men to follow some already spoken order.
“It’s not my fucking fault!” I yelled back, pedaling my feet with a steady rhythm to keep my head above water. “It’s your captain’s—”
“My captain, who fucking jumped in after you.” Before I could even contemplate the implausibility of Caspian tossing himself overboard for me, Syoran’s following words chilled me to my very core. “My captain, who is recovering from Malrik’s bullshit. My captain, who doesn’t know how to swim!”
What?
Ha! Let him drown. That’s what he gets for treating me as if I were something he could own, an object he could merely pass around.
Every muscle in my body recoiled with the opposing need to dive back underwater and search for him—almost as if something was urging me to. My lungs constricted with the realization, my heart drumming against my chest as the temptation continued to build, becoming nearly too much for me to ignore.
Do not even consider it. He deserves to die.
“Fuck.”
“ROHEN!”
“I heard you the first time!” I snapped, my conflicting emotions battling to reach the forefront.
“So what the hell are you waiting for?!”
For Caspian to sink to the depths? For a fucking sea monster to come and swallow me whole so I could escape my godsforsaken life? For my body to do something other than tread water?
Bubbling from the depths of my subconscious, a voice came, so soft, so faint, that I nearly missed it. “Save the boy, for those above tied your fates as one.”
There was something celestial about the utterance, something otherworldly.
It was the same presence that’d lingered within me since before I could recall, coaxing me through every harsh slap, each hour of abuse, and shoving me from death before it could reach for me.
And now, it spoke with an urgency that suggested that my captor and I were somehow… bound?
“LEVITTE!”
Syoran’s screams from overhead muffled into white noise, my vision tunneling with the sudden, sinking realization.
Drumming incessantly with my desire to oblige the mental command, the beat of my heart consumed me, drowning out any further distractions to ensure my attention remained fixated on only one thing.
Him.
I ran my fingers through my hair, combing it out of the way before wiping the remaining droplets from my face.
As my cleared gaze lifted, I watched as another wave formed, rolling forward with increasing speed.
Its rapids curled inward as its height quickly devoured the sun, promising to suffocate anything that didn’t belong in its chilling embrace.
As if it were lifelike and attempting to frighten its victims, it grew to a size and strength similar to the one that’d knocked me from the ship.
I merely smirked at its mockery, planning to leverage the current it had wrought to my advantage.
Sucking in a mouthful of air, I kicked with every ounce of energy I had as the tower of water began its descent.
It swooped down, its maw opening. To avoid its beating, I plunged beneath the frigid surface.
Allowing its forceful wrath to propel me downward, I swam into the abyss to do the one thing I never believed I would do again.
Rescue the man who fucking spited me whenever he got the chance.
Caspian fucking Vayne.