Page 39 of Wicked Tides
She writhed beneath me as I straddled her, trying to renew her binds. She attempted to slam her head against mine, but that time I dodged it. I pressed my blade under her chin and still, she struggled and bucked.
It was really hard to threaten someone with death when they didn’t fear it.
I should know…
So, since she didn’t care whether my blade slipped and severed her artery, I stopped using it to persuade her. Instead, I tossed it out of reach and started to reinforce the ropes holding her in the boat. I tied her arms. Her legs. It was like wrestling a wild stallion, but eventually, I got her wrapped up enough for the boat’s rocking to ease. She ended up against the front of the boat tangled in ropes and knots. I sat back on my bench out of breath, sweeping my hair back from my face as I stared at her.
“Are you done?” I asked, perching my elbows on my knees. She parted her lips as if about to answer, but didn’t. “So, you don’t really talk when you’re the one bound, huh?”
Her lips snapped shut in defiance before she scanned the waters around us.
“They down there?” I asked. “Can you all sense each other like that?”
No answer. I groaned and took the oars, rowing leisurely toward Grissom Island. Again, I skimmed the long gash on her thigh. It was no longer bleeding, but it was significant. She saw me looking and her eyes flicked toward it briefly before locking with mine again.
“It’ll be a while before I find my men,” I said. “Might as well have a chat, Dahlia.”
She raised her chin defiantly. So, I did what any sleep-deprived ship captain with a killer siren in his boat would do. I started humming again. When my arms got tired, I stopped rowing and leaned back, hands behind my head, to enjoy the warmth of the morning sun. I switched songs at some point and eventually started rowing again, but Dhalia never moved. I could feel the hate radiating off of her like heat off a piece of red coal. When I took a rest again from rowing, I decided to rekindle the one-sided conversation.
“So, you found the Cornwallis first. No one else slaughters men quite like your kind.” Her eyes flitted toward me. “So? Why spare the kids?”
The corner of her lips lifted. “Was saving them for later,” she said.
I raised my brows at the sound of her voice. “Right. You mentioned something about dessert. And what were you going to do with them? Pick them off one by one for a few days?”
“Where are my sisters?”
“You know better than me, I’m sure.”
“We can’t sense each other. Where are they?”
I shrugged. “Wherever they decided to go after I took you.”
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Because your sister said something about a ‘skryll’ of you stalking my ship and you are going to call them off.”
She laughed breathily. “There’s no one to call off. There were only four of us and Voel is dead. If anything is stalking your ship, I can’t call them off, nor would I want to.”
I groaned as I adjusted my sore body. “I figured as much, but I’m still a bit curious.”
“So, why’d you take me alive?”
“Because you’re going to tell me everything you know about those things thatattacked you.”
~ 16 ~
Dahlia
If you eat of his flesh, you eat of his soul.
~The Seer
Vidar found his ship as if he had a sixth sense as to where it would be and his crewmen spotted him so fast, it was like they had a sixth sense about him as well. We drifted up to the side of the giant vessel where his men unrolled a rope ladder. I hadn’t stopped glaring at Vidar since I’d woken, hoping by some miracle I would suddenly develop abilities that would snap his neck with a glance.
There was urgent shouting and joyful voices coming from above. To climb onto the ship, Vidar would need both of his hands, which led me to believe I was about to get a chance to escape.
No chance arose.
