Page 64 of A Princess, Stolen
That night, I couldn’t sleep and paced the tiny room that had been Nathan’s previously, but which he had made available to me for the time being. Obviously, he couldn’t know that thiswas the last time, but I was still glad that no one noticed my nervousness. At around four o’clock, I strolled along the railing and met the grumpy Castor, who I truly perceived for the first time, especially his emerald-green eyes, which I didn’t remember being so bright or the goatee that he was now tugging at.
“Can’t sleep, princess?”
“No. And you?” I don’t think he had ever said an entire sentence to me and Troy always teased me that he couldn’t speak, merely grumble.
“It’ll be a foggy morning,” he said, glancing at the dark sea and taking a drag on his cigarette.
I watched him for a while. “Who’s on the bridge?”
“No idea. Nathan? Icarus? Someone from the other shift, definitely.”
“And Sparta? Do you know where he is?”
“He was in the control room earlier, why?”
Damn!Why wasn’t he on the bridge? “I don’t want to run into him.”
“Understandable.”
I mumbled, “I’m going back inside,” and hurried back to the lower deck. Maybe Sparta needed my help with something. Maybe I could distract someone for him or something else. I quickly took the steps into the belly of the cutter. Nothing could go wrong now. I stopped in front of the control room door and knocked timidly.
However, it wasn’t Sparta who opened the door for me, but Nathan.
“Heavens, Willa, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you sleeping?” He leaned out the half-open door, seemingly impatient, almost annoyed.
I stared at him, confused. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I stammered, his sea-gray eyes flickering restlessly.
“You’re not disturbing me, but Apollo and I have to fix something in here. What’s going on? Is someone giving you trouble?”
“No.” I automatically shook my head. “I just wanted to see where you were,” I lied hastily.
“Someone giving you trouble? Who do I have to reprimand? Mykonos? Ilias?”
“I wanted to see you,” I replied softly and at that moment, I was actually glad to see him.
Nathan raised his eyebrows. “You missed me?” he asked, not without mockery.
To hell with him!I didn’t reply and, instead, tried to memorize every detail of his face so that I could draw it from memory. My gaze was stuck on his raven-feather eyelashes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He sounded suspicious.
I blinked. Suddenly, all I was focused on was that he was losing everyone he loved. That he was alone and would always be alone if he continued to hide his feelings under his anger.
“Willa… Will…” He stepped into the hallway and closed the door. He stared at me for a few seconds before his gaze wandered to my lips and then back to my eyes. His pupils were huge. As if hypnotized, I stared back and saw him swallow as if he was fighting the urge to grab me by my braids, kiss me, and push me against the wall until I could feel him completely.
A part of me wanted that. And that part experienced terrible heart palpitations.
Just do it!I thought, but then he shook his head as if forbidding himself from doing it.
“You should go,” he said tersely. “These rooms are off-limits to you.”
I couldn’t stop staring at him, and at the same time, I wished I had never come. What was wrong with me?
“Hey, have you forgotten how to speak or are you in a trance again?” He touched my braid where I usually wore his ribbon, but it was no longer there. For a moment, he seemed taken aback but then dropped his hand. “Will…” He shook his head again. “Don’t look at me like that! Even if I wanted to, it wouldn’t be possible. There’s still the plan and the men who rely on me. Besides, you wouldn’t last long. I’m cursed, never forget that!”
With that, he retreated to the control room, leaving me standing there with my heart pounding.
Tous ceux qu’il aime meurent.
