Page 98 of Vengeance of the Pirate Queen

I wince.

“What is it?” he asks.

“I need to talk to you.” I look around at the crew, practically bouncing on their feet, wanting to have their turn to welcome me back. Again. “Alone.”

I grab his arm and haul him off a ways from camp. Only when we are out of sight of everyone do I realize I’m touching him and quickly release his arm.

My eyes do a sweep of the area, slower than usual. “We don’t know who might be listening. I’ve long suspected that he can see as well as hear through the dead.”

Kearan tilts his head down toward me so his lips nearly brush my ear. “Then perhaps we should whisper?”

A shiver goes through my whole body, and there’s no masking it as a reaction to the cold when we both know I no longer feel it.

I take a step back. “Not for this part.”

He cocks his head to the side. “What part is that?”

I swallow. Discomfort swirls within my gut. I swear it’s more pronounced than anything else since there’s literally nothing else to feel down there.

There’s nothing for it except to get the stupid words out.

“The King of the Undersea let me go on one condition,” I say in a slightly louder than usual tone so any undead who might be listening can hear clearly.

Kearan looks worried. “And what was that?”

“I’m to inform you that there is no hope for a future relationship between the two of us. Threydan will not suffer any competition for my affections. He made it very clear that you would not be long for this world should I refuse this stipulation or should you not agree to it.”

I pause there, waiting for Kearan’s reaction. His face doesn’t change at all. In fact, he’s gone rather still.

“I tried to assure him that you have no interest in me,” I continue. “You’ve made it clear many times, and I find it ridiculous that Threydan can’t see that for himself since he’s been privy to some of my memories.”

At that, Kearan blinks. “What?”

“I know, I thought it ridiculous, too, but—”

“No, I mean what is this nonsense about him seeing your memories?”

I look down to the ground, unable to bear his scrutiny while I share this part. “When I stabbed him, I … formed a connection between us. It flares up randomly, or rather when something jogs a certain memory. He’s seen parts of my past, and clearly some of the parts with you in it.”

“I see,” Kearan says quietly, his voice growing dark.

“I don’t. As I said, if he were smart, he would know that you have no interest in me. He would know that we are nothing more to each other than captain and crewman. He would leave you entirely out of this horrid obsession he has with me.” I laugh once without humor. “He wanted me to break your spirit. Yourheart. But I’m telling you plainly, because there is no need for such deterrents. First of all, because no man controls who or what I pursue. Secondly, because—”

“I have no interest in you,” Kearan deadpans.

“Precisely.”

A silence falls between us, one that seems to hold millions of words unsaid. Kearan’s eyes never leave my face, and his face never changes. I can’t tell if he’s angry beyond words or shocked? Indifferent? He’s giving me nothing. He’s always been such a mystery.

“Will you please agree to it?” I ask.

“Agree to what?”

“I have told you his terms. Now you must agree to them. For the undead listening in the trees. Do you agree that you will not pursue anything with me and that I am nothing more to you than your captain?”

At that, his eyes draw into slivers. He leans down so that there is only a breath of space between us.

“There is no way in hell I am agreeing to that.”

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