Page 68 of Delirium

I gave my door one last try, losing my grip and stumbling to my knees.Fuck. The last thing I needed was Scarlett to overhear, have some kind of hero complex and try and break the two of them up.

Staring directly back at me was an old keyhole, nearly wide enough for me to see clearly through with one eye. I pressed my eye up to the hole with my heartbeat in my ear, torn between wanting to call out and not wanting to turn the attention onto me.

These two had a long history.

Through my small lens, I could see James and Nash standing at the end of the hall. James stood slightly taller than the captain, but the captain’s bulk more than made up for it. They were glaring at each other, tension ripe in the air.

For the first time, it made sense to me how they could’ve been friends when they were younger. Two sides, same and yet not. James’ icy cool demeanor found its perfect match in Nash’s warmness. Nash’s muscles amplified James’ height, and vice versa. Everything made perfect sense.

Except right now the two sides were at war with each other.

James balled his hands into fists, clenching them so tightly his knuckles turned white. “I know you did this on purpose, Nash. I know you got us stuck out here as some kind of…some kind of revenge. Just own up to it, and we can all move on.”

Nash scoffed. “You really think you’re that important to me after all these years? Man, I always knew you were self-absorbed, but this is something else entirely. I didn’t think you’d ever get yourself this worked up over a woman.”

“A woman? Awoman?” I had never seen James look as cold as he did right now, sheer ice radiated out of every pore. “You think this is over Scarlett?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? I saw your face at the waterfall. You’re jealous. You can’t come at me for her, because it’s her choice she doesn’t want to be with your sorry ass, so you’re coming at me for this instead. It’s obvious to anyone with half a brain cell.”

Fuck. This was a side of Nash I’d never expected to see, and I couldn’t say I was even against it. He was only defending himself.

Apparently, James didn’t see it that way. “I’m surprised you can see it then, seeing as you only scraped by in life sponging off my intelligence and my money, oh, and what else? My name, maybe? Is there anything you did for yourself besides this sorry excuse for a boat that can’t even get us home?”

I couldn’t breathe. I should break them up, but how was I supposed to do anything with a stuck door? Screaming through the keyhole wasn’t likely to make an impact either. I’d be surprised if they even heard me over their anger. My only saving grace was Scarlett was nowhere in sight.

Nash laughed, violent and sharp. “My sorry excuse for a boat is still more than you can say for yourself. Your father’s been gone for years now. And still you cling to his name, forever in daddy’s shadow. Tell me, how does it feel to know you’ll never be good enough? Not to me. Not to your precious daddy. Not to Scarlett.No one cares about the great James Remington.”

Nash’s words even shot through me, my chest tightening when I heard them, and I didn’t even fuckinglikeJames. But holy hell, that had to hurt.

“What did you say?” James ground out. “What did you fucking say to me?”

“You heard me.” Nash’s voice didn’t waver, not once. “You don’t matter. You never will.”

I saw the bright flash of the steel before my brain processed it, and by the time I yelled out, “Stop!” the kitchen knife James had slipped from his belt had already pierced Nash’s neck.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Holy fucking hell had that just happened? It must’ve, because Nash made a strangled sound, clapping his hand over the spurting wound, before dropping to the floor, blood spilling out of him in amounts that didn’t seem possible.

Hadn’t Nash glowed red in my dream? Was that a sign? Had I already known this would happen?

I’d assumed in a fight or flight situation, I’d always fight. Apparently, I never thought murder would be a situation I’d be in.

Murder. James murdered Nash. And Scarlett was going to walk around that corner any minute.

My body flew into action. With all my remaining strength, I wrenched open the door, swinging it back until it hit the wall with a thud. James looked up in surprise and stared at me. I stared back at him, frozen. I wasn’t sure what one was supposed to do in this situation. The large kitchen knife he held dripped blood onto the floor, and all I could think about was how the bright crimson would never come out of the wood.

Drip. That stain would be there forever, a mark of the sins we’d committed on this boat, the least of which was my inability to move.

Drip. I opened my mouth to speak, finding myself speechless.

Drip. James shook his head with a frown. “I fear I’ve made a mess.”

Drip.

Chapter

Twenty-Four

JAMES

---