Page 10 of Wicked Tides
For some reason, that threw a pick in my heart. I swallowed and took a deep, centering breath. I didn’t have words. Not ones I wanted to say at that exact moment, anyway. Not with Agnes standing rightbehind me. I half-glanced back at her and then stepped over to continue drying dishes.
“Take the leftovers out to the animals,” I said to David.
He walked stiffly over to the bucket full of scraps and left out the back door toward the animal pens. Agnes turned and continued scrubbing dishes and rinsing them, her shoulders tight.
“You didn’t have to hit him,” she said softly.
I slammed a bowl down on the table and sighed sharply.
“I cannot take him with me,” I reiterated.
“You have a cabin boy younger than him on your crew.”
I scoffed. “Whose father whipped and raped him until he was ten and old enough to drive a kitchen knife through his gut. That boy’s already ruined and if he’s not on my ship, he’s off to the gallows. David has a chance. And I cannot believe that is the life you’d want for him. Not after what happened.”
“I don’t know everything that happened. You never told me.”
“You don’t want to know what happened!”
She snapped her head toward me, sorrow making her eyes swell. We stood for a while just staring at each other and letting our thoughts spill into the silence between us. Finally, I spoke.
“Maybe you should sell the house,” I said. “Move inland. David can join a good trade. Perhaps you can find a man who will look after you the way you deserve.”
“Leave Treson? This… this is our home.”
“And it’s about to become much more dangerous. Whitton is promoting the trade of sirens, alive and well, in Treson Harbor and in neighboring towns.”
“That’s ridiculous. You cannot allow it.”
“But it’s true and I have no power over the matter. This next run, I’m to bring him live ones.”
“You’re helping him?”
“What I bring back combined with what you get for the house will be enough for you to leave Treson.”
“You can’t do that." Her eyes began to glisten with tears.
“David can’t be out there with the way things are turning. He needs to understand that. You need to understand that.”
Agnes stepped forward and shoved me, her tiny hands barely pushing me off balance.
“Those creatures killed my husband,” she said. “They killed your father. How could you think to ever leave any alive.”
“I’m not discussing this with you any further.”
“You swore you’d kill every last one!” she screamed, pounding my chest with her fists. “Every one, Vidar. You promised me!”
Again and again she hit me and I let her until her hand connected with my jaw. I grabbed both of her wrists and she began to thrash, emotional and crazed. I shoved her back onto the tabletop, pinning her wrists on either side of her head. She was heated, tears wetting on her cheeks. Our eyes met and for a split second, her pain became mine. I promised her I’d kill every last daughter of the sea, but that was a young boy’s promise. A foolish one. I was about to say so when Agnes raised her head and pressed her lips to mine. For a moment, I started to kiss her back. Chasing a bit of pleasure would give me a fleeting bout of relief from the shit that filled my head, but I quickly came to my senses.
I pulled back, shaking my head as I released her and stepped back. She sat up and tried to reach for me, desperate for affection. For touch. I gently kept her at a distance.
“I am not the person to fill the role you need filled,” I said.
She sniveled, brows knitted. “I don’t need you to fill a role. I just want to feel your warmth before you leave again. I need your arms around me.”
“Agnes, stop.” I gathered both her wrists in one hand and cupped her face with my other, wiping her tears with my thumb. “Do as I say. Leave Treson. Use this beautiful face on a rich man who will love you.”
She stopped pushing toward me, her face relaxing into a blank stare for a while like my words had cut her too deep and made her numb.
