Chapter 6
Dominic must have fallen asleep waiting for the girl to wake, because he woke to sunlight streaming through the window, his body aching from the chair he’d been glued to all night.
He stood up, cracking his neck and back, loosening his cramped limbs from sleeping on the hard wood instead of his bed, which was currently occupied by this beautiful, entrancing stranger.
His eyes traced her features from across the room, tranquil in her slumber.
There was something familiar about her sharp jawline, her smooth pink lips, the thin scar on her right eyebrow.
Something comforting about her long, dark lashes hovering over her closed eyes that he knew were bright blue like the sapphire gems in the cove that shimmered above Andreilia’s enchanted water.
He shook his head, as if peeling himself out of some trance. There was something unnerving about her. Part of him felt comforted by her presence. The other was disturbed. He debated if he should forego all previous plans and be rid of her before she caused more trouble than she was worth.
But it was the triumph after the war that he was eager for.
It would be a shame to kill her now when he could make her fall in love with him and give him her key, all while helping him find the relics to create the Realm Fracturer.
He needed her alive . . . for now. Without her, he had no idea where to begin to find a dragon scale or shadow steel.
Not to mention, her skills would be invaluable to find all the relics.
Time was a disease without a cure. One that everyone was infected with from the very beginning, and it only grew worse the longer it lasted. Dominic knew this too well. Everyone was destined to die. Yet he’d done everything in his willpower to evade destiny—and he wasn’t stopping now.
Once the girl woke, they’d set sail. Dominic had already ordered the Andreilians to prepare the ship.
They were going straight to Gierok to find the Whisperer and take its eye for the Realm Fracturer.
And along the way, he’d make this girl fall in love with him.
How foolish she was to challenge him at his own game.
He couldn’t wait for love to destroy her.
To watch his cold, bloody hands warm her naive heart.
It wasn’t long before his bed creaked as the girl sat upright.
She blinked rapidly in confusion, pushing strands of brown and red hair out of her face.
Her right hand shot up to her face, fingers grazing her left eye.
She pulled her hand away, then hurriedly assessed her other injuries, which she found to be healed.
Her eyes shot over to him, her lips curled in an accusatory sneer. “You healed me,” she said. “Why?”
Dominic pulled the chair up to the bed, legs straddling the backrest with his arms crossed on top of it. “A ‘thank you’ would suffice,” he replied. “Especially considering I used my last Med tonics on you.”
A crease formed between her brows, displaying her confusion.
Before she could ask, he explained, “When I stole a key from a Med, I gained the self-healing abilities but not the ability to heal others like them. I had to use their magic-infused medicines on you.”
Her eyes narrowed as she swung her legs off the bed to face him. She leaned in close to sneer, “Thank you.” Another disbelieving glance at where her injuries should be. “For healing the injuries you made.”
He snorted, a humorless laugh. “You’re welcome, love.”
She grimaced at the name, which only made him want to use it more.
“I couldn’t let you succumb to your injuries. Not when we’ve got keys to be winning and a Realm Fracturer to forge.” He rose from the chair. “Speaking of which, we’re going to Enfider.”
She made no move to get up.
“Now,” he ordered.
Her eyes met his, and it felt like she’d pierced him with her fiery gaze. He turned away, digging into a wardrobe for extra clothes he stored in all shapes and sizes for those who found refuge on the island.
“What’s your name?” he asked carefully. Her eyes burned into his back.
“Adara Rhyes.”
Dominic tensed. The name rang in his head like a thousand voices at once. An echo that crescendoed until it was pounding against the inside of his skull.
He’d heard that name before, but he had no clue where from.
He seldom left the island, and when he did, he never bothered to learn anyone’s names.
But hers was like a beacon in the dark, unable to go unnoticed.
Yet somehow, he hadn’t remembered her name upon seeing her face, but now that she said it aloud . . .
An uncanny feeling settled into his bones, making his stomach churn.
Awkwardly clearing his throat to hide his shock, he faced her and tossed her a dark teal tunic, black pants, and a leather vest with sheathes sewn into it.
Then he threw a pair of black boots at her feet.
“Go bathe and change, Adara Rhyes.” He glanced at her bloodied, dirt-stained clothes, and pointed down a short corridor that led to another bedchamber and washroom. “You reek of sweat and blood.”
“What a charmer you are,” she said with a mockingly sweet smile. “How will I ever resist falling in love with you?” Her features twisted into a scowl as she turned on her heel in the direction he’d indicated and slammed the door shut behind her. The lock clicked into place.
“Adara Rhyes,” he muttered to himself, as if saying it aloud would bring back memories. Unfortunately, it didn’t. He kept turning the name over and over in his mind, searching for anything that would give him a hint of where he’d heard the name before, but he came up with nothing.
She must have been someone he met within the timeframe of his missing memories.
A portion of his life that he’d taken away for reasons he’d gladly forgotten.
Dominic had never regretted taking away his own memories, knowing there had to have been a good reason for him to destroy part of his mind, but now, he hated that he couldn’t remember his past. Hated that there was a gaping hole in his memory where she resided.
He had to know more. It would drive him crazy if he didn’t.
Adara emerged shortly, cloak fastened at her neck, wet hair draped over her shoulder in a clean braid. Dominic ushered her out the door, down the winding wooden paths woven between their village in the trees, and through the ominous jungle.
“How exactly do you plan to get us to Enfider?” she asked.
“You’ll soon learn that I always have a plan,” he said, knowingly leading her toward a ship anchored on the shore of the east side of the island, out of sight from Damon’s crew, who had sailed in on the West Coast.
“Perfect,” she quipped. “That means I always have you to blame when something goes terribly wrong.”
He held a branch out of the way for her to duck beneath. “Have you no faith in me?” He asked with a soft laugh.
Adara’s features pinched in disgust. “Of course not,” she said, her distrust palpable.
The sun shone high overhead, but the shade provided by the dense foliage sheltered them from its heat. An unnerving silence settled between the two as they walked.
“So, Rhyes,” Dominic started, voice jarring against the quiet. “We should get to know each other if we want to get this game moving,” he started, hoping to catch her attention by implying that she could learn a few select things about him. He glanced over to her, waiting for her response.
Her attention remained forward. “Thanks to Andreilia’s water, we have all the time in the world, Nite. I don’t want to spend it getting to know you,” she snapped crudely.
His jaw tensed, teeth grinding together behind closed lips.
What he didn’t say was that despite the continuity of time, he was running out of it.
Instead, he insisted, “The sooner we get to know each other, the better chance one of us will have at falling in love with the other, and the sooner this war will end. Then we won’t have to spend our time pretending to want to be near each other. ”
She let out a humorless laugh, fingers drifting along the verdant underbrush as they walked, taking in the dark, alluring beauty of the island.
A lizard about the size of his palm with a sheen of glowing iridescent scales scuttled beneath the massive leaves swaying in the breeze.
“Please, I know all I need to know about you,” she assured, eyes tracking the creature.
Dominic lifted a brow. “Is that so?” he queried. “Then tell me, Rhyes, who am I?”
Adara huffed and rolled her eyes, still averted, as if she couldn’t stand to look at him.
But then her head turned to him, like she wanted to be sure he saw all the simmering loathing she aimed his way.
“You’re the notorious Dominic Nite. Ruler of Andreilia.
King of Keys. Thief of Hearts,” she said with a sarcastic flourish.
Her tone turned blunt. “A sadistic asshole who cares about no one but himself.”
Wrong, his thoughts interjected with a hint of guilt that he shoved away.
“You’re obsessed with making a name for yourself, proving to others that you’re more than just some nobody by being the first to cross the Plagued Sea and drink Andreilia’s enchanted water.”
His brows furrowed and suddenly he was the one keeping his focus on the path ahead as they walked.
Either she could see right through his armor like it was nothing but glass she would soon shatter, picking up the sharp pieces to carve into him until he bled all his secrets at her feet, which was exactly what her jagged words sounded like. Or Damon had told her the cold truth.
He had been no one. He had nothing before Andreilia.
On second thought, he had something that he ruined. He needed to become someone. Someone entirely separate from what his past was. People who came to Andreilia had nothing so they risked everything—including their lives which usually meant nothing to them at that point.