Page 57

“About?”

“Killian.”

The name was a jolt to my spine, and I was not ready to hear it from his lips. A flash of lightening flickered the dim firebulbs in the room, and I concentrated on them, not responding to Croygen.

“I mean, you two were inseparable.”

“Until you forced me off the ship,” I shot at him.

“I know he kept in contact with you.” Without reacting to my jab, he continued, “I would have thought he’d be velcroed to your side, pissing around you at the mere mention of my name.”

My fingers pinched the cup, stirring in my seat.

“He was in love with you.” Croygen tipped his head to the side, gauging my response. “You had to know that.”

“Is there a point to this?”

Croygen’s eyes were unrelenting, and I hated his power to make me squirm. “Not at all surprised he ran straight to you after he left. He would’ve followed you into hell. But he’s not here,” he stated. “Why is that?”

I shrugged, trying to cut this conversation short.

“Listening to how he spoke about you, you’d think you would be happily married with a gaggle of babies by now.”

“Then I guess you don’t know me at all.” I glowered at him.

“Wrong,Katze.” He leaned forward. “I know youbetterthan anyone else. You were never something to rein in. You were as wild and free as the sea.”

“Is that what you thought when you forced me into boarding school? Having to leave my father and the only home I ever knew.”

“I had to.” A frown creased his head, finishing his drink before signaling to the server to bring us another round. “You were no longer safe.”

“Safe?” I sputtered. “I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“Not then.” He shook his head. “I will not apologize for protecting you and my crew.”

“That crew was my family too.”

“Yes, and that would have been forgotten the moment they could no longer fight the pheromones you were putting off.”

“Don’t give me this bullshit that a man can’t control himself and it’s all the woman’s fault.”

“No, we are completely to blame. But you were a cat-shifter going into puberty on a ship full of fae men who were sex-deprived, drunk, and half-insane already. I wasn’t going to risk anything happening to you.”

I would never forgive him. His choice altered my life forever, and he had no right to decide for me.

“Don’t worry. You weren’t the only one to hate me.” He nodded as the server set down another two drinks. “Killian’s animosity was enough for both of you.”

“He told me about that night,” I said without thinking. “The night you stabbed my father through the heart.” My hands began to shake, and I gripped the mug harder to control them. The awareness I was so close to my father’s murderer, someone we both trusted.

“Is that what Killian told you?”

“Do you deny it?”

“Not everything is black and white.”

“See, that’s where we differ. My question is only black and white. Yes or no, Croygen? Did you kill my father?”

Croygen stared at me, his mouth parting, when a figure slipped smoothly into the seat next to him. I was startled by how soundlessly and quickly the old man moved, and I reached for my blade. Croygen scarcely gave me a look, but somehow I understood we were not in danger. I released my grip on my dagger.