Page 26 of Of Songs and Silence

“Can we go?” I ask.

“It’s dangerous,” he responds, the words coming to his lips automatically.

“Everything is dangerous,” I counter.

Everything here. Everything on land. Everything withhim. That’s no reason not to take a rare reprieve where we can find one, but I suspect that’s not a mindset Ari would agree with.

Sure enough, he doesn’t respond.

Earlier, he said that the marlins are intuitive, and I have spent my entire day showering mine with attention. I try to direct some of my will at it, coaxing it with my thighs, and am rewarded when it goes in the direction of the song.

Ari’s curse sounds in my head, but he doesn’t immediately stop me, though I have no doubt that he could.

We draw closer until I take in what might be the most magical sight I’ve ever beheld. Glowing coral lines the sand, and colorful jellyfish float around the air, lighting up the dim space. Schools of tiny, bright fish weave through the crowd of Mayima.

But it’s the dancing that catches my eye. They move like the music is a part of them, like it’s resonating in their bodies and souls, melding into their very being. It’s graceful and artistic and almost haunting.

I may not be able to swim like they do, but this…this I can do.

“Kala.” Ari’s warning sounds behind me. “You’ve seen. Now, let’s go.”

He says this with all of the authority of a man who is used to his every order being obeyed. A Commander. But I have grown up in Madame’s household.

Orders are nothing new for me. Neither is danger. And this, dancing, is the closest thing I’ve ever had to something that’s mine, the one thing she could never take from me, the thing that brought me closer to my sisters.

For all that I have been compliant, I am not an idiot. The king might kill me when I arrive. He might do worse. This might be the last chance I have to enjoy anything ever again.

So I meet Ari’s eyes, letting him see the rare bit of defiance in mine.

“You lured me here,” I say quietly.

If he is surprised I put that together from his conversation with Kane, Ari doesn’t show it.

“You lured me into the water with your song, where your cousin kidnapped me, and I have done everything you asked without complaint even when we both know you’re keeping secrets.” I unbuckle the holster at my left thigh. “Even when we both know that my obedience might be leading me straight to my death.”

Without breaking eye contact, I unbuckle the holster on the right. He doesn’t move to stop me.

“Is this one dance really so much to ask?” I push.

His features tighten into an unreadable mask as he unbuckles his own holster. I slide off my marlin, stretching my legs. I am sore, but my body isn’t as heavy in the water. It’s nothing I can’t manage.

“One dance,” he finally responds, the words searing into my head. “I will stand guard.”

I can’t help the small smile that breaks across my face as I head into the throng of Mayima. It isn’t hard to emulate their movements, the seductive thrusts of their hips and lilt of their arms that feel almost primal in nature. It isn’t long before I lose myself in the beat, the energy, the pulse of music that reverberates down into my soul.

A voice pulls me from my thoughts.

“You look like you could use a partner.”

It’s too dark for me to make out the features, but the tone is kind, appreciative. The glow around us highlights the tilt of a masculine chin as the Mayima scans my body from head to toe.

Though his isn’t the attention I want, I can’t deny a small bit of satisfaction, being viewed as something desirable in a simple, innocuous way. Not a deity to be revered or an ornament to be protected. Just a woman in a crowd in need of a dance partner.

Before I can respond, a deep growl startles us both. Well, it startles the man asking me to dance. Some part of me has been half-expecting it since the man spoke up.

Wanting it.

Needingit.

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