Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Anthony
Wilde River
The cold was a distant concern. He could swim—he was made for the water—but not with these damned bindings pinning his fins down.
His jump into the river placed them too close to the boat. Debris landed in the water. He tried to move away but Nina fought him, pushing and kicking until she broke free.
Anthony sank to the bottom of the river, his feet stirring up a cloud of mud.
He blinked. Once. Twice. A thin film protected his eyes from the silt and debris in the water. It was dark but he could see. Fire from the boat cast distorted shadows in the water.
Nina struggled above him, trying to reach the surface but held back by the weight of her clothing. She did not have webbed hands to help move her through the water.
A piece of lumber plunged into the water. He watched helplessly as it hit her head and she went limp. The blue greatcoat billowed around her like a shroud and her hair drifted free of its braid. She sank down to the river’s murky bottom.
Anthony launched himself toward his bonded, racing to reach her.
Damn all these layers. He couldn’t maneuver properly, moving slowly around debris. No matter how hard he kicked his feet, the boots were ineffective and clumsy.
He finally reached Nina and wrapped an arm around her waist. He shot upward and staggered onto the riverbank, clutching his bonded one in his arms.
Nina
A riverbank along the Wilde
Pearson collapsed onto the ground. She landed on top of him, held tightly in his arms. Her heart pounded. Arms shaking, she pushed herself up, their mouths perilously close.
It was not entirely disagreeable.
“I nearly lost you,” he said, his voice no louder than a whisper, and curse the stars, her heart gave a little flutter.
She coughed, expelling water. With a groan, she rolled off him, and landed on her back. The riverbank was hard and unforgiving. She said, “I’m not yours to lose.”
He growled.
She’d heard it before, when he was caged in her cellar and on the train, but here, in the night in an unknown landscape, it sounded perilous. Dangerous. Possessive.
“Go to hell, Pearson,” she said, coughing. Her chest hurt. Her heart was pounding, as was her head. Carefully, she touched the back of her head. It was tender and her fingers came away sticky.
Another growl and Pearson grabbed her hand. “You’re bleeding.”
“Head wounds bleed an alarming amount. It looks worse than it is.” Hopefully. She dug a wet handkerchief out from her pocket and gingerly applied it to the back of her head. After a few moments, she showed him the nearly clean cloth. “See. The bleeding has already stopped.”
This seemed to placate him and he smiled.
“Please, call me Anthony,” he said in a cheerful tone that did not match their circumstances. The growl had completely vanished and the quick swing between moods was more disturbing than his possessive qualities. “For saving you from drowning, I demand a favor.”
“And what favor do you demand?”
“A kiss.”
“No,” she said without hesitation. The kiss—two kisses—on the boat had been a mistake they shouldn’t repeat. This wasn’t Pearson. The bond was making him act this way. In all years of their long acquaintance, he had never been flirtatious. She had only known him to be stern and demanding.
And now he was demanding a kiss.
“This is the bond’s influence. Nothing more,” she said, rolling over onto her stomach and pushing herself to her feet.
She swayed, head spinning. She had… she needed to… the people on the boat… Staying upright was difficult enough. She couldn’t help those people.
A strong hand steadied her elbow. She jerked her arm away, which was a mistake.
“The others?—”
“Up river. Not our concern,” he said.
Acrid smoke hung in the air from the boiler explosion. The fire spread from the boiler room to the rest of the ship, which was partially submerged. Once her heart stopped pounding, she could hear shouts for help from people splashing in the freezing water.
“No, why didn’t you help the other survivors? They need rescue.” Nina pointed to the rapidly sinking boat.
“The captain has it well in hand. You were my concern.” Wet fabric clung to his person. Moonlight created soft highlights on his visible scales. “You’re cold. We need a fire or you’ll freeze.”
She was cold but the ongoing disaster was more important than her wellbeing.
“People are drowning.” She pointed to the ship, the flames reflecting on the water in a chaotic mess. She had to do something. The sounds of those frightened people would haunt her forever.
She had to make a bargain and she knew exactly what the monster craved.
“A kiss,” she said. “Please, Anthony. Save those people and I’ll give you another kiss.”
He took a step closer, that possessive rumble back in his chest. Nina held his gaze, not daring to look away.
“More than a kiss,” he said.
If he was unmoved by the tragedy playing out before them, fine. That made him a monster down to his core, but she could not stand by and do naught. To stand passively by was an unthinkable position. She’d bargain herself away if that’s what it took.
“How much more?” she asked.
His gaze swept over her, his eyes shining in the dim light. She was keenly aware of how the wet fabric clung to her body, displaying every curve. The greatcoat was a shapeless mess but her shirt and trousers were plastered to her skin.
Pearson looked at her in such a heated manner that she forgot the cold. She felt quite warm from his gaze alone.
“Let me hold you,” he said.
“The bond?—”
“You’re the one who’s resisting. Not me. I welcome a bond.”
A bond was inevitable, part of her whispered. This was her monster, like it or not, he who was perfectly content to let upward of a dozen souls perish.
She could save them. All she had to do was trade a bit of herself and let him hold her.
“Very well. You may hold me,” she said.
“For half an hour.” A shrewdness returned to his expression. Her monster was cold and calculating.
“Ten minutes.”
“Fifteen.”
“Neither of us have a timepiece. You may hold me until my discomfort is such that I can no longer tolerate your touch,” she snapped. “Is that acceptable, monster?”
He grinned, all sharp teeth gleaming. “Very acceptable. Stay here.”
He divested himself of his greatcoat, boots, and all layers of garments and bindings until he stood as nature made him. He struck a pose, hand on hip, as if silently asking if she approved.
She did. Heaven help her, she approved.
He was smooth, hairless on his chest, but she had already seen evidence of that. The scales were a deep blue in the dark, the moonlight casting highlights on his shoulder and chest. Shadows swathed his lower region in mystery.
He nodded, silently approving of her admiration. “Do not freeze,” he ordered.
Easier said than done.
He dove back into the water, barely making a splash.
Nina removed her coat. It was cleverly designed with pockets that carried necessary items. The pockets weren’t waterproof and the coat was currently a great sopping mess. While a great many of her supplies were wrapped in oilcloth, how many of the items had survived remained to be seen.
She stomped her feet in place and rubbed her hands to stay warm. It was freezing. She needed to get warm soon.
The crackling of the fire grew louder, masking the desperate cries of the survivors. There was a loud crack, as if someone fired a pistol in the confusion. Nina tensed, hand pressed over her heart, and waited for the wails of an injured Anthony.
None came. Slowly her body relaxed, shivering from the cold. The sounds of the night filtered in: water lapping the riverbank, a bird chirping a mournful song, and the fire as the embers burned and popped.
The water rippled and Anthony climbed onto the riverbank. His eyes were completely black and his hair a tangled wet mess. Blue and green scales shimmered in the moonlight. Fins along the back of his arms and spine stood tall.
He was stunning.
His head tilted and his eyes blinked twice, watching her reaction.
“It is done,” he said, stalking toward her. He sounded upset. He looked upset.
He stopped directly in front of her, his chest nearly touching hers, and leaned down.
Yes, he was definitely upset.
“Eleven souls,” he said, snarling.
“You saved eleven people?”
“ You saved those people. My conscience would not be troubled with their deaths.” He grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her away into the dark of the forest. “We must leave before someone insists on slaughtering the fish monster that saved them.”
“Someone got a look at you?” Her feet stumbled over the uneven ground, numb from the cold.
“Of course they got a blasted look at me,” he snarled. “How could they not? I had more light on me than a theater stage. I saved them and the captain pulled a pistol on me for my troubles.”
“The captain never fully believed our story about your skin condition,” Nina said. It had been a flimsy cover, but it was the best way to explain away Anthony’s disguise. “Are you injured?”
“No. I can only assume the man needs spectacles. He couldn’t read the pressure gauge on the boiler, and he couldn’t hit a massive two-legged fish either.”
The urge to laugh bubbled up inside Nina. Anthony sounded positively resentful at having saved eleven people from drowning in the frigid river. How preposterous. Forced to do good, against his will. Her amusement was a reaction to stress, nothing more, but that did not stop the giddy sensation.
Those people lived because of their bargain and now it was time to pay the monster.