Page 19 of Sea and Sky
“It’ll be fine. Have a little faith in me.”
“That’s the problem. I do. Which worries me.”
Chapter 8
Kylerprobablyshouldhavewarned Gavin that sometimes he passed out after shifting to human. It’d been so rare lately that it had slipped his mind. Now he laid on silk sheets in the middle of a massive bed. Tall bookshelves lined the walls of the room. The air smelled like leather and ink, and dragon.
“You’re awake,” Gavin said from the side of him. The dragon kneeled a knee on the bed and leaned forward to press a hand to Kyler’s forehead. “Good. No fever.”
“Sorry, about…” Kyler waved his hands around. “Passing out. Doesn’t happen every time. I haven’t figured out the pattern yet.”
“How are you feeling?” Gavin handed Kyler a cup so huge he had to use both hands to hold it.
Kyler gladly drank down the water, quenching his raw throat. Blood loss always made him so thirsty, but luckily, he recovered somewhat quickly. “Thank you.”
Gavin took the cup and passed him a tray of food. “Eat. Not too much, though.”
“I don’t eat too much to begin with.” Kyler grabbed the apple from the tray and bit into the crisp red skin. Juice trailed down his chin.
Gavin swallowed and stood to adjust himself. “That’ll change. You need your strength to help with recovery.”
Kyler wiped his chin and pushed to sit against the headboard. “I’m awake, which means I’m recovered.”
But Gavin wouldn’t have it. “I don’t want you to do too much until I know for sure.”
“But…I amsure. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you’ve been a witness.” Gavin bit into his apple again. He couldn’t help the grin at the blush that graced the prince’s face.
“Sorry.” Gavin threaded a hand through his hair as he started to pace. “New at this whole merman thing. Are you cursed? Is that why—”
Kyler snorted. “No, well, yes? No? I’d say no.” He shook his head at his decision. “Merfolk were never meant to walk the land. At least, that’s what I was told. The story is that before time remembered, a mer king made a deal with a sea god for legs. So now we all have the ability.
“We just need something grounding—like sand—to force the shift to human. I’ve heard of dirt and mud for the river merfolk. But us seafolk? We must use sand.”
“But, the pain.”
“Worth it,” Kyler whispered. At least it had been.
“Does your uncle know how to lessen the pain? Why doesn’t he…”
Kyler couldn’t stop his shoulders from slumping if he tried. He took a deep breath. “No uncle.”
“Oh.” Gavin stopped mid-step, as if he realized on his own what Kyler’s words meant.
“I’m…” Kyler braced himself for rejection. “A pirate.Technically. But it wasn’t my choice.” He broke the spells that hid his missing fingers and the binding spell and presented his hands yet again. “You should know who you’re getting in bed with, even if it’s just for show.”
“What do you mean wasn’t your choice?” Gavin asked.
Kyler dropped his head onto the headboard. What did he remember? What did he force himself to forget?
“I was four—I think. Years are muddy, I don’t even know how old I am, but I don’t think it matters. My parents and I got caught in a storm.” He swallowed over and over. Sometimes he dreamed about it. “The storm spit us out on the beach. I still don’t know how I survived, and they didn’t. But when I came to, they were dead, and I was alive. Just barely though. I hadn’t learned how to shift to human yet. We were so far inland, I would have suffocated had…”
“Skies.”
Kyler pushed through. “Vex—the Captain of the Golden Drake, not Golden Goose—found me and somehowhe knewhow to help shift me to human. He took me in. Named me. And for a few years, everything was fine. Probably because I didn’t know anything else. But once I understood things, understood who andwhathe was, he changed. Said I owed him a life debt for him saving my life that day and bound me to him. Been a pirate ever since. He even forced me to sign the articles. Used my own blood to make the X.”
They stared at each other in silence. Kyler had no idea why the hell he told the prince everything. Okay, not everything, but enough. Enough to make his cheeks heat. He dropped the rest of the apple on the tray and started to crawl from the bed.
“Don’t go,” Gavin said.
