Chapter 13 #3
“You boys are a right mess. No wonder John hightailed it out of here at the first opportunity,” Doe said lightly, as Fox’s giggles finally faded. “I wonder if we can get back to the matter at hand?”
“Right.” Rowan released Yves and stepped up to the table, placing his fingertips on its polished surface.
“It’s not just me that Warrick is coming after.
He’s hunting Splinter Zanta too. He seems to think that both of us have something from Silver Stroud’s treasure that can help Marra conquer the Sleeping Isles. ”
“The Sleeping Isles?” Logan raised a skeptical brow.
“So you don’t have what they’re looking for?” Doe asked.
“Not that I know of. Though I can’t say the same for Zanta. She’s the one who killed Stroud after all.”
“What’s the play here, Captain? We definitely shouldn’t hang around here much longer,” Logan said.
Rowan was acutely aware that their current location in the Teeth was alarmingly close to the coast of Kefrye. Whatever their plan, sitting like a tasty morsel waiting to be gobbled up was not an option.
“Obviously you will return to Illusion and lie low.” It was the first thing Yves had said since the revelations about Warrick. His presence remained heavy at Rowan’s shoulder.
Rowan frowned. “We’d lose out on the whole season. Maybe longer. I won’t turn tail and run based on a rumor.”
Yves met his eye and held it. Their previous conversation about their futures and deaths came back to him alongside the memories of their fight a year and a half ago.
I won’t be kept, he’d said, before fleeing Illusion.
He was a pirate, and a captain; cowering in the face of adversity was not an option. He didn’t have it in him to hide.
Rowan broke Yves’s gaze. “I think we should warn Zanta.”
“And why would we do that?” Yves scoffed.
“Because she’s our friend.”
“It’s a risk,” Logan chimed in, voice soothing as always. “But she usually sails in the south, so at least it would get us away from Kefrye and the empire.”
“And present one target for Shaw instead of two,” Yves hissed. Rowan could feel Yves’s anger building with every moment, like a storm on the horizon. The others watched them intently, curious to see how things would play out.
“Maybe you two should discuss this privately,” Doe said. She stood without waiting for the captains to reply, and gave Logan and Fox a meaningful look. “Shall we?”
“I, for one, vote for Zanta. She’s nice, and it sounds more fun,” Fox said, as he followed Logan toward the door.
The three of them exited the room, Fox chatting excitedly at Doe about where in Lasland she was from.
Alone again, Yves stared at Rowan, seething. “You cannot go on a wild goose chase all over the Islands just to warn that woman,” Yves said, clearly barely keeping his anger contained.
“That woman is my friend,” Rowan retorted, his own irritation quickly descending to the same level as Yves’s. Old feelings and old fights swirled between them like a whirlpool. “You would have me run and hide like a coward while people I care about are in trouble? Is that the sort of man I am?”
“You promised you would be careful,” Yves growled.
“And I will be. But you’re not going to ship me back to Illusion like a wayward child!”
Yves stepped close, aura threatening and oppressive. “You’re a softhearted fool.”
That was rich coming from him. He’d keep Rowan tucked safe and sound at home like a housewife if he could, even knowing that pirating was the only life Rowan had ever found joy in.
Who was more of a fool? Yves for thinking Rowan would just accept subjugation?
Or Rowan for still loving this controlling asshole?
“You’re lucky I’m softhearted, and you’re just as much a fool as me.
If it were not so, we’d still be at each other’s throats instead of in each other’s beds.
And this—” He pulled the gem-studded wedding ring from his finger and held it up before Yves’s face.
He knew it was a mistake by the way Yves’s expression shifted, and the way his hand suddenly felt much too light.
But he’d still done it. Anger spurred him on.
“This would still be on the hand of whatever unfortunate sod you stole it off of.”
The cool, suffocating embrace of the shadow tentacles enveloped him.
Yves leaned close, glaring down his long nose.
So close, but he did not touch. Fury edged his beautiful features.
“And how I still long to set my teeth at your throat. To keep you chained to my bed, out of danger. But that is not what we’re discussing. ”
“You’ve got some nerve falling in love with a fool, then scolding him for being one,” Rowan said bitterly. He could not deny that Yves’s words sent a shiver of fear down his spine.
He still caught Yves watching him hungrily sometimes. Not the hunger of lust—though that was ever present—but a hunger that filled Rowan’s mind with images of being dragged to some deep underwater cave to be devoured whole.
Was Yves’s possessiveness because he truly wished to protect Rowan? Or did he want to be the one who ultimately destroyed him?
“I will not stand by and let you put yourself in needless danger.”
“Let me?” Rowan laughed mirthlessly. “You’re not my keeper.” It sounded petulant, and they both knew it. “I’m going south to warn her. You can come with me or go your own way, but you won’t stop me.”
Yves remained silent, simply gazing at Rowan with an unreadable expression. Was he hurt? Furious? Rowan truly couldn’t tell, and the longer the silence stretched, the deeper the well of his own anger sank.
He grabbed Yves’s hand and placed the ring in his palm, never breaking eye contact.
“I’m going. Follow or don’t. I don’t care.” He brushed past, shoulder knocking into Yves. He slammed the door behind him and didn’t look back.
He ran straight into Logan, Doe, and Fox milling about.
“We’re leaving,” he snarled, pushing past them. Logan fell into step beside him without missing a beat, and after saying goodbye to Doe, Fox followed.
“Going back to the Siren leaving, or…?” Logan asked.
“Leaving, leaving. We’re going after Zanta, and I don’t give a damn what Yves decides to do.” Maybe that was too much information. He was too angry. He couldn’t even remember if the tides were right at this time of day so they could leave.
“Maybe you should talk a bit more?” Fox chimed in.
They’d made it to the Siren. Many of the crew members watched Rowan warily as he stomped across the deck, trailed by his closest confidants.
Maybe he should heed Fox’s advice, but he knew if he wavered Yves might charm him into compliance.
Rowan didn’t consider himself a weak man, but he was weak for his husband, and in this case, he needed to stay the course.
“We talked. This is what I decided. Ready the Siren to sail before nightfall.”