Chapter 20 Faolan
TWENTY
FAOLAN
Weeks had passed on the ship, time blended.
It was my turn to be on watch, and the seas were rough.
Nothing I hadn’t been through, but no one else seemed to be taking it well, not after a week at sea with it building.
No one was sick, but Nova and the prince looked a little green.
After hours of the ship fighting against the unwilling winds, I finally couldn’t watch them all struggle anymore, so I went on deck and closed my eyes, reaching for the strands of the winds to coax them to my will.
They were resistant at first, so I followed them to their root.
It came down off the harsh northern split, trying to usher in winter.
It took time to detangle and soothe, but soon, they bent, relaxing enough to allow the waves to calm a little for the ship to cut through. It was not good to go against nature, but it was a small adjustment, and after all we were going through, I felt like we deserved a break.
When I opened my eyes, Calytrix’s own glinted in the low moonlight.
“I wasn’t watching you,” she said when I met her gaze.
“No? Just had your eyes directed over here, looking past me at the beautiful scenery, did you?”
“Or I was so disturbed by your face all twisted up like you’d eaten something foul, I couldn’t look away.” While she was lovely before, she was significantly hotter when she was being snarky.
“Disturbed? How kind,” I bit back.
“You can return to avoiding me now. I’m not up here looking for you.” She turned away, and it took everything in me not to go to her.
“What are you doing up here? Don’t you know everything we’ve gone through to keep you a secret down there?”
“Probably not as much as we’ve gone through being a secret,” she snapped.
“I deserved that,” I said, my shoulders falling a little.
“Perhaps,” she said coldly, giving nothing away. “Don’t worry. I made certain I was not seen by the crew.”
“Does anyone know you’re up here?” I asked, knowing the answer.
“No, and you’d better not tell them.” The wind chose that moment to pick up again, whipping her long dark hair around her head.
“I won’t. But how did you get past Nyx?” I was genuinely curious.
And Kol, for that matter, but I knew Kol was just as likely to give her this moment of freedom, knowing how hard it was to be held somewhere you didn’t want to be.
He may have just feigned sleep and let her pass, but Nyx would never, and he had dragon senses, so she didn’t just sneak past him.
“I think Zaria did something to make him sleep.”
“They were fucking in the hold with all of you there?” I hissed. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted.
She recoiled, scandalized. “No! I meant I think she gave him a tonic since he hasn’t slept well in days. Everyone is sleeping, no one is doing—that.”
I fought the chuckle that rose in my throat. I could not get comfortable with her. “So you took advantage of them being out cold and decided to go skulking about?”
“I needed some air.”
“I can’t leave you up here alone. You know that, right?” I lifted my hand before thinking about it, calming the air around her.
She caught her hair with both hands as it died and frowned. “Did you do that?”
“Yes.” Why bother denying it? She already knew what I was, and so did the future King's twin, so my best chance was escape. There was no way around it. Why not show off my magic in the meantime?
“Impressive,” she said begrudgingly. “You can leave me alone. I can fend for myself.”
“I can’t. I—” Before I could finish my sentence, she pressed a knife she’d pulled from the Goddess knew where to my throat.
“I can, and I’m tired of all of you treating Nova and I like younglings,” she hissed, but I couldn’t focus on her words because her nails dug into my chest, and there was nothing but the heat spreading there. It wasn't skin to skin, but it was still too much. Too close.
I swallowed, trying to find any word or even to grasp at what she’d said, but nothing worked in my brain or body.
Her touching me was worse than I could have ever imagined.
It sparked through me, like she’d pressed actual magic into my skin.
If a sunrise could have been felt, she would have been it.
She must not have noticed my reaction because she pressed, “Say something.”
“My apologies,” I finally managed.
“What is your problem?” She forced herself in closer, pressing the knife against my neck. A flick of the wrist, and she’d cut me open, and still, I felt no fear. The opposite was true—I was hard. Fuck.
I got a hand between us, grabbing her hip and guiding it away from me before I could offend her with exactly how unafraid I was.
My hand spanned from her hip to her ribs, and both together could close all the way around her.
She seemed so fragile, and yet, she was bold and fearless, and that only made the problem behind my leathers worse.
“You are impossible!” she exclaimed when I didn’t reply or back off. Frustration hitched in her tone.
I closed my eyes and held still, trying not to breathe in her scent, but she moved, pulling back her knife and lifting her arms to sheathe it between her shoulder blades.
And that would have been a good thing, but her movement caused her shirt to lift, dragging past my fingertips until her skin was exposed.
Just barely allowing the pads of my fingers to connect with nothing between us.
The moment seemed to stretch out for eternity.
I had enough time to know it was going to hit me hard, the feeling of the first touch.
I knew it would be bad, irrevocable. Life-changing.
All before the feeling actually had time to register.
And when it hit, it was all those things and infinitely more.
She jumped back, searching my face.
I immediately surged forward, putting my finger to my lips. “Shhh. Please don’t scream.”
“I’m not going to scream,” she whisper-yelled, breathing hard. “But by the Gods, what was that?”
“It’s nothing. It cannot be anything.” I pleaded with the Goddess for her to believe me.
Her dark eyes sparkled in the moonlight, and I couldn’t read her. She searched my face, though for what I didn’t know, and I felt exposed and raw. Then she stepped back, understanding written in her expression. “Is that why you were staring at me in the palace?”
“Yes.” The word passed on an exhale, and I knew my world would never be the same.