Page 14 of Delirium

James smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. A perfunctory smile if I’d ever seen one. It matched the icy tones of his hair and calculating countenance perfectly. Cold, that’s what he was. Cold from the inside out. Whatever I’d seen in him before, a moment of softness or warmth, I must have been mistaken, or it was all just an act. There was no way this man in front of me could ever be warm, even standing in front of the gates of Hell.

“Fine. I’ll drop it. But don’t come crying to me when you start to find your belongings missing. After all, you’re the one who invited a criminal on board.” He dropped Camp’s passport into my hand, turning on his heel toward the cabins. A moment later, a door slammed, rattling the wooden floor ofCarpe Diem.

I shook my head and gave Camp back his passport. “I’m sorry about all that. He had no reason to be such a dick.”

Camp shrugged and stuffed the passport back into his messy bag. “It’s not like I was much better. I don’t belong here. I haven’t paid. And I don’t know any of you. He’s not wrong. He’s just blunt.”

“Blunt is a nice word for it.”

“Thanks for letting me stay, man. I appreciate it.” He gave Nash a quick nod. “Are you sure you have enough space for me?”

“Absolutely.Carpe Diemhas fit far more than just us four before, and I’m sure she will again!” Nash’s voice was filled with pride for his rundown little boat. “Grab the cabin across from the one James just went into. I already stowed Scarlett’s stuff in the other room. Yours has blue bedding.”

“Cool. I’m going to take a couple minutes. I’ll catch up with you later.” His blue eyes lingered down on me for a moment too long, long enough for me to wonder if the tingling I felt in the tips of my toes was imagined or real. Or… shared.

Camp was young. Younger than I would ever probably go for in the real world. But there was something special about the way he looked at me, like I was a puzzle he was struggling to figure out. In a strange way, I enjoyed being the one under the microscope for once.

With Camp gone, Nash and I were left alone on the deck. I wandered over toward the railing, pressing my back into it so I could look at Nash.

“Thanks for your help back there. I appreciate it. I know James isn’t happy so…thanks.”

Nash smiled. “I told you I wasn’t one to play executioner and I meant it. James has a temper on him, for sure, but it’s nothing I can’t deal with.”

I cocked my head to the side. “You speak of him like you know him well.”

“Yes and no.” Nash hesitated. “We knew each other when we were far younger. Kids, really. So I know how he used to be. Not how he is today. A lot of years have passed in between, and I know I’m far different than the boy he used to know. I can’t expect him to stay the same either, now can I?”

It made perfect sense. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t seen the familiarity before. “I have a different question, though. An old lady at the market told me about the lost city. She was nervous we were going near it. The research I could find on it was vague at best.”

Nash laughed. “Yeah, a lot of the locals are nervous about it. No one’s been able to find it in a hundred years though, so I think we’re safe.”

“Do they really think it’s cursed or something?”

“They do.” He nodded seriously, leaning in like he was telling a ghost story. “Apparently the city was attacked, centuries ago. Individually, the people couldn’t fight back, but the city as a whole could. The city passed laws to protect themselves. Now anyone who enters the perimeter is cursed for eternity.”

“Cursed.” The word felt weird in my mouth. “Do you believe that?”

Nash shrugged. “Not really, but weirder things have happened. They never exactly explain what the curse is, either. I’m assuming it’s a bad one.”

Was there such a thing as a good curse?

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could ask anything else, Nash grabbed my arm.

“Scarlett! Watch out!” Nash jerked me forward until I fell into his broad chest. “Jesus. That was too close for my liking. Did you not hear it?”

I shook my head, still spinning from the fall. Nash’s chest felt nice under my hands, warm and firm. It felt like home. It’d been a while since I felt that.I wonder what he’d do if I rested my head on him…“Hear what?”

“That!” He pointed toward the edge of the boat where I’d stood only moments earlier, where the trees did their best to reach into the boat, as if to pull us further into their dark clutches, absorbing us until there’d be nothing but the river once more.

I squinted. “The trees? I’m sorry. I don’t see the issue. I’ll pay more attention next time.”

“No. Look closer.”

I saw it then. Wound along the branch dangling inches from my shoulder was a small snake, pale green. It poked its head up, as if it knew we were speaking about it, a tiny pink tongue darting out.

“I didn’t hear anything,” I whispered. I hadn’t felt anything either. How could I not sense an entire creature only a breath away from me? “Is it poisonous?”

I should have pulled away from him. I should have taken a step away, maybe even two. Put distance between me and the snake, and distance between myself and Nash’s warm chest that reminded me of a home I never had. But Nash made no move to step away either, his hand still resting on my arm. If I held my breath, I could have heard the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.

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