Page 41

W e stare at each other for a long moment, the weight of his words looming between us.

“I think about the burden my parents left me with every single day,” I finally whisper.

“How their choices left me with an empty home and a hollow heart. What you’re doing for these children, Grayson .

. .” I blink the tears away. “You’re right.

We don’t live in a black and white world where good always overcomes evil.

Sometimes our hand is forced and we have to meet fire with fire to keep what’s pure and beautiful alive.

For so long, I’ve been afraid to fight back. I’ve been afraid to take a stand.”

“Until you grew too tired of being shackled to someone else’s whims.” Grayson nods toward the Serpent’s Key in my hand.

“Yes.” The word is heavy on my tongue. “I was so tired of being under Red Beard’s control and watching every task he assigned us chip away at my crew.

He used fear to sculpt us into whatever he wanted us to be.

And after a while I looked around and we had all changed into something none of us could recognize. ”

“Is that what happened to your father?” he asks gently, like the question itself might crack the fragile armor I try to maintain around myself.

I look away to some distant corner of the cavern, but instead of the crystals and hewn rock, the image of my father’s body swinging in the gallows flashes across my mind.

I can still smell the stench of rotten food that was thrown at him.

Still feel the warmth on my cheeks from the high noon sun as the hangman pulled the lever and the floor fell out from beneath my father’s feet.

I can feel the raindrops that splattered across my skin later that night as I stood there, unable to look away from what they had turned him into.

“He . . .” My voice cracks and there’s no fighting the tears that stream down my face. I wipe them away with the back of my hand, hating the sensation of my throat closing in on itself. I look at Grayson and shake my head as more tears fall. “I can’t.”

He sets his dagger and leather strap to the side and kneels before me.

His eyes are a vibrant blue, illuminated like backlit sapphires, even though his body blocks out the moon’s light, casting a shadow over me.

As his hand comes to the side of my cheek, I remember the moment on his ship’s deck when I wondered what it might be like to take refuge in his darkness.

Here, with him, there is no outside world. No vengeful pirates seeking to have me destroyed for doing the very thing they’ve done their entire lives. No fear that my life will be taken by someone in the street looking to make a quick coin.

Grayson strokes my skin with the pad of his thumb and, for the first time, the anger of my father’s demise doesn’t sting quite as sharply.

Choices , Grayson has said time and again.

My father had made his and even though it was at the behest of everyone who loved him, it was still his to make.

The center of my chest clenches with each passing memory of him that flashes through my mind, but somewhere in the far distance, I see it.

Finally, the anger drifts away and I see the thread of light illuminating every beautiful moment I shared with him.

Without a word, Grayson brings me into his chest and the feeling of his strength wrapped around me is more comforting than anything he might say. I close my eyes and listen to the steady thrum of his beating heart. With each passing breath, the ache of all my burdens starts to quiet.

In the silence we share, that’s when I understand what he meant.

Something shifted between us with that kiss.

A new dawn shedding light on the darkness buried deep within us both.

He claimed me as his and maybe, somehow, I have always been his.

Waiting amongst the stars until he was meant to find me.

I don’t know how he saw it and I still don’t know what it all means, but I rest in his embrace.

Letting him mend my weary heart, even if it’s just for tonight.

Grayson moves his arms upward, stroking the middle of my back with his fingertips. The Serpent’s Key slides a little in my hand and I can feel one the grooves catch on my fingernail. Another notch releases, and I pull away from him to look at it.

A hissing noise emanates from the box. I lay it flat in my hands as Grayson and I exchange a look.

This is it. It has to be it.

I blink away the tears as we both watch all the notches start to shift on their own. A bright gold light peeks through the cracks as the pieces move. My heart races in my chest and I feel Grayson’s hands still on my hips as I hold the Serpent’s Key between us.

The golden light shines brighter, illuminating Grayson’s face as though we were on the Caelestia with the sun high in the sky.

Where the constellations and old language are etched into the top, a crack forms down the middle that was never there before and once the final notch slides into place, the two pieces now formed on the top open. My lips part on an inhale as I bear witness to the reason for the artifact’s namesake.

A golden key embedded with streaks of fire opal sits on a black velvet cushion in the center of the box.

The bow of the key curves into three elaborate circles with the edges curling in different directions.

The fire opal moves down the shank in lines of spidering lightning.

Shimmering orange light dances across my skin as I reach for the key and remove it from the box.

I hold it up for Grayson to see, the light now moving in waves across his face.

“It truly is a key,” he whispers.

“And if there’s a key . . .”

“There must be a lock .”

Our eyes meet and I feel the edges of my lips curl upward.

Grayson smiles back at me so beautifully, I nearly forget all about the Serpent’s Key.

Somehow, the sharing of this moment with him has become important.

A moment that I’ve lived many times before when my crew and I have worked to discover the path that would lead us to a prize or the capturing of a bounty.

But being here with him , feels different.

“There’s another inscription. There .” He points to the middle of the key. “Along the shank.”

Setting the box down, I bring the key closer to my face and tilt it back and forth. “You’re right. It’s written in the old language, just like the inscription on the box.”

“What does it say?” he asks and I remember the reason Grayson brought me onto his ship to begin with. My education and knowledge of the old language.

I am just a means to an end . I can’t help the thought from entering my mind.

Something has changed between us, yes, but that does not mean I am no longer useful to his cause.

And that change I see in him may still very well be a ruse to ensure that I do everything he requires of me.

I would be a fool to forget that Grayson Tyde stole the artifact from me, forced me onto his ship, and threatened the lives of my crew.

My heart beats faster as I lower myself all the way to the ground. His hands slip from my waist.

“Rowenya.” The way he says my name gives me pause.

I look up into his devastating eyes and wait for the demand to tell him what the inscription translates to.

As he comes to sit next to me, I’m surprised when he doesn’t push me, but instead says, “You’ve done it.

You’ve gotten us one step closer to reaching the treasure. ”

“Yes,” I breathe, and then a gentle laugh escapes my lips as I look back down at the key. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to solve it in time.”

“But you did.” His voice is gruff. “You’re incredible, Rowenya. Absolutely incredible.”

There is no mischievousness behind his words. No hidden agenda that I can see. Not as his wide smile radiates warmth and sincerity.

A blush crawls up my neck and into my cheeks as I peer up at him through my lashes.

“Don’t,” he commands, shaking his head.

“Don’t what?” My words come out breathless.

“Don’t look at me like that. Like you are someone lesser than. Like hearing my praise gives you meaning.”

I swallow the knot in my throat as Grayson splays me open with his words. Always seeing the things I try to hide from the light.

He leans forward and traces the side of my face with his fingertips before cupping my cheek in his palm.

“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid my eyes upon, Little Pearl.

You are brilliant and clever and I cannot wait to see how you will shine once you finally realize these things about yourself.

Once you see yourself the way I see you. ”

“I . . .” Closing my eyes, I let myself get lost in the feeling of his skin against mine. Let his words wash over me like a welcomed cleanse of my soul. For so long I have run away from myself. Allowing what others see me as to become truth— my truth.

Traitor.

Code breaker.

Outsider.

The stains of my past are worn in deep, constantly reminding me of the things I’ve lost and the sacrifices I’ve had to make to keep myself and my crew safe from Red Beard’s wrath.

When I open my eyes, I see an earnestness reflecting in Grayson’s blue irises. “Promise me something.” He leans back a little and I can see his fingers rise to the right side of my face. I stop breathing as he begins to trace the line of each scar from my brow down to the bottom of my cheek.

“Promise me, that when this is all over, you will tell me who did this to you.” A muscle feathers along his jaw when his eyes meet mine again. “Promise me.”

I move to shake my head, but he captures my face between his hands. “It is nothing,” I murmur. “It is lost to the past now.”

The low growl that rumbles from his chest tells me he thinks otherwise.

“And what would you do, Grayson? Chase the man down and slice his throat open to watch him bleed?”