Page 81 of Fearless

I hum in agreement. It is the most I will do to acknowledge that he may be right.

Before pushing through the double doors that lead to our rooms, Kai turns to face me. “It’s calledShadow and Soul.” The corner of his mouth twitches. “And I’m looking forward to hearing you read it tonight.”

CHAPTER 29Kai

My chest rises and falls beneath her back.

Paedyn sits between my legs atop the bed, her spine pressed against my beating heart. I can feel every vibration of her soothing voice as she reads a piece of her past self to me.

It’s no wonder she grew up to be so formidable if the women in these stories helped raise her. They are fearless, their stories thrilling.

She tore throughShadow and Soul, despite claiming it was only to appease me. A terrible defense, seeing that she would never do anything that she didn’t already want to do. So, her disguised interest in the tale had us reading long into the night. We spent longer still discussing the story after she’d snapped the book shut, unable to contain her annoyance at wanting more.

Now, she reads yet another one of her own books, and I am more than content to listen to the words falling from those familiar lips. I wrap an arm around her waist, letting my eyes flutter shut. This is how we have occupied ourselves over the last two days. It has become our distraction during the never-ending storm that is the Shallows. The seahas yet to stop raging since early yesterday morning, and with night now falling on our fourth day at sea, Paedyn has nearly read me three books.

The ship grows more nauseating with each violent roll and dip. In fact, when I’m not in the presence of Pae, I can likely be found emptying the contents of my stomach over the boat’s railing. But it’s her voice that seems to keep the stale biscuits and salty beef down.

The lantern on my bedside table teeters on the edge, readying to careen toward the wet floor after a particularly rough rocking of the ship. My free hand reaches out to steady it at the same moment Paedyn quiets.

“What?” I ask, clutching her closely when lightning flashes into the room.

“That was the end of the chapter.”

I rest my chin against her shoulder, pointing to the page. “Well, there is another one beside it. So, go on.”

“Kai,” she laughs out my name, and I wonder if she knows what it does to me. “It’s getting late.”

I tilt my head to study her profile. “Are you implying that you’re tired?”

“Of you?” She smiles. “Very.”

My mouth twists. “If you’re going to continually lie about wanting me, at least try to make it believable.”

“You know,” she says calmly, “there is still plenty of time for me to throw you overboard.”

“See, I knew you couldn’t go more than a couple days without threatening me.”

She turns to face me then, folding her legs so they rest against mine. “Because I know how much you like it.”

“How very thoughtful of you.”

Thunder shakes the very bed we sit on while waves pound againstthe ship. She presses a startled hand to my thigh, fingernails digging into the flesh beneath my pants. I can still see the terror that flashes in her gaze, but it’s lessened into something far more tolerable. Something like numbness.

Without a story to distract her, without words to form on the lips she chews with worry, Paedyn fiddles with the steel ring on her thumb. “I should get back to my room.”

I tilt my head. “And why is that?”

“Because,” she sighs, “the crew has already seen enough to gossip about when we get back to Ilya.” She flinches at a sudden flash of lightning. “If we make it back.”

“All the more reason to stay with me tonight.”

“Hmm.” She untangles her legs from mine to slide from the cot. “Still not convinced.”

“And if I said please?”

She stills beside the bed, her body swaying with the rolling waves. Pae’s eyes meet mine and suddenly I’m back in the palace, back to that night when I begged her to stay with me after watching her die in my nightmare. I’m reliving that moment, only this time, it’s my own selfish desires that have me needing her beside me.

Swallowing, she crosses her arms. “Well, go on then.”

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