Page 91 of Wicked Tides
“Am I?”
“There was a time I thought you were.”
“And now?”
She shrugged and looked away for a moment, her long nails tapping on the countertop.
“What did Thelasa say to you?” I asked.
“Kind words laced with suspicion.”
“Did you compel her?”
With a smirk, she pointed toward the ceiling. There was one bronze bell hanging in the middle of the room. There was another atthe door and another on the corner before the stairs. She would not be able to use her voice even if she wanted to.
“Your boy stares at me when he thinks I do not see him,” she continued.
I saw her eyes flit to another corner of the room for a brief moment. Looking over my shoulder, I saw David just coming downstairs to sit with a couple of my men. He slouched into a chair, looking defeated.
“He’s conflicted. His father was killed by sirens and he was saved by one,” I said.
“Are you conflicted?
It took me a few seconds to speak. Not because I didn’t know what to say. I knew exactly what to say. I only wondered if I should.
“More than I have been in a very long time.”
She looked up at me, her gaze searching. I felt split open under her scrutiny. I felt naked and skinned and somehow, it did not bother me. Her eyes bore into me like knives, but I felt as if there was very little there that she had not already seen. Just like I was beginning to think I’d seen most of her. Of all the people in our lives, we hated each other the most, but we knew each other the best.
It was a disturbing revelation to know you related to your enemy more than your loved ones.
“I do not want to leave Meridan in the water for long,” she said, breaking our silence. “She refuses to come ashore.”
“We are leaving soon. I think my men are fed and rested by now.”
She nodded and turned from the bar. Even her mannerisms had become human. That predatory sheen in her face was gone. That squared posture was relaxed. She was so good at pretending.
Before she walked away, she turned one last time, leaning a bit closer to me as she spoke.
“Thank you. For offering me what I needed last night and not thinking me too disgusting to give it to me.”
You’re not disgusting.
I was unsure where that thought had come from, but it was immediate. I turned my head to look at her, realizing just how close she was to me. I could feel her breath on my chin. Smell rain and salt in her hair. I clenched my jaw, trying to stop more images from the previous night from breaching my thoughts. We both needed something and we gave each other the opportunity to take it. It was nothing more than that…
The sound of many footsteps coming down the stairs drew both our gazes. Turning, I saw Thelasa and the girls emerging from the inn upstairs to have a bite to eat. The little one saw Dahlia and her solemn face turned downward. Hesitantly, Dahlia veered in another direction, avoiding her.
My eyes lifted to see Gus staring at me, his one eye narrowed. The old man didn’t miss much and I was sure he’d caught on to the way I was looking at Dahlia. I couldn’t blame him for being cautious because I knew how I was looking at her, too.
And I sure as hell wasn’t looking at her like the enemy that morning.
~ 33 ~
Dahlia
A sorrow never felt
is a disease never cured
