Page 69 of Wicked Tides #1

Dahlia

When the stars fall

I will be your candle in the dark

~ Until Nothing

I stood leaning against the outer wall of the longhouse, watching as men, villagers and crewmen alike carried supplies toward the beach to load up the boat.

Meridan watched me, but she and I hadn’t spoken in depth about my feelings.

I feared she would not enjoy the fact that I wanted to be sailing with Vidar over staying in the village.

It was a ridiculous idea. The north was frigid and unforgiving. Everything unresolved was out there at sea and I knew I would not stay long in that place. Vidar was a fool for thinking I would.

Most of the crewmen said nothing to me as they filed toward the coast to leave, but Gus, in passing, inclined his head.

“Can’t say we’re best mates,” he said. “But you’re more decent than a lot of humans I’ve met, I’ll say that.”

“You’re somewhat decent yourself, Gus,” I said flatly .

He limped off, groaning through his discomfort when Mullins strode up, a large sack over his shoulder. He shrugged toward us and then bowed exaggeratedly with a flare of his hand.

“Ladies,” he said. “It’s been a horrible pleasure.”

His eyes flicked briefly to Meridan and the slight pause in his breath caught me off guard before he spun and walked away, whistling some upbeat tune. I whipped my head toward her, brow raised, but she just bobbed a shoulder, oblivious.

He favored her over me. He had since the beginning.

Vidar didn’t speak to me that morning until everyone was gone and he was the only one who had yet to venture back to the Rose.

Only then did he meet my eyes as he walked past, heading for the coast. I did my best to seem indifferent, but I wanted to hurt him.

I wanted to make him feel something like I was feeling something, but he appeared unwavering in his choice.

He looked at me, his thumbs hanging on his belt, and set his tricorn hat atop his head.

The gods had made him beautiful in their own, tormenting way and I’d never despised it so much.

He didn’t even speak to me and I had no words for him that were kind, so I refrained as well.

Instead, I reached into the pocket of my coat and pulled out his silentium, now strung onto a necklace.

I handed it to him and straightened off the wall.

“It was stupid of you to remove it,” I said, turning to walk away.

“I have no shortage of stupid decisions,” I heard him say under his breath.

I walked to the courtyard where a few others were gathered to say goodbye to the remaining crew. Ahnah was there and beamed when I showed up. She waltzed over to take my hand. She thought I was staying, too, and I did not dare tell her otherwise yet.

I watched from a distance as Vidar shook the hand of one of the village men and the two began walking toward the tunnel to leave.

Seeing his back like that did something to me.

Rage and bitterness and pain tangled and twisted in my chest where my heart was supposed to be.

Once more, Vidar was causing me pain where I should not have felt any and I wanted to sprint after him and tear him to pieces for the offense.

To have earned my affection only to abandon me was something I would not forget.

Again…

Once he had disappeared into the cave, my heart struck my sternum like it was trying to follow after him. Pathetic.

Ahnah squeezed my hand and I looked down at her confused little face.

Her forehead was scrunched as if she was asking a question, but even when she spoke, I couldn’t understand her.

When she remembered her words meant nothing to me, she pointed toward the cave where last I saw Vidar’s departing silhouette.

Then she pointed that same finger toward me before tapping her hand on her chest.

I shook my head at her but she insisted, pulling from my grip and pointing again toward the coast. Frustrated with her implications, I turned my gaze toward Meridan, hoping for some clarity. She shrugged.

“I like it here,” she said. “The water suits me.”

“So?”

“But I’ll not be letting you get on that ship full of filthy, loud men alone.”

“I’m not—”

“Yes, you are.” She stepped toward me, an exasperated tone in her voice. “He’s the captain of the Rose, but he’s not your captain. He can’t order you around.”

I could have argued, but why would I? Vidar had tried to decide for me and the mere notion was infuriating.

Not only that, but I felt the emptiness creeping up inside me already and I’d only lost sight of him moments ago.

I stared at that dark cave and the light that gleamed from the other end where the beach was.

Taupek chuckled when Ahnah moved behind me and pushed against my backside, forcing me forward.

“I’d do what the little one says,” Taupek said, groaning as she stood from a bench. “She’ll be angry with you otherwise. ”

I balled my hands into fists, my mind whirling from one idea to the next until I finally forced it to come to a stop. And where it stopped was Vidar, the bastard.

“So?” Meridan said. “What are—”

I took off running toward the beach, my eyes burning with unshed tears as the cold wind gnawed at my cheeks. When I came to the other side of the cave, the men were still there, loading a couple crates into the boat under Vidar’s instruction. I wanted to rip off his head.

I slowed to a fast walk, panting as I zeroed in on him. His back was turned, but it didn’t take long for him to notice his men gawking at my approach. He spun to face me.

“No,” I snarled.

“No?” he said.

I grabbed the collar of his coat and shoved him into a wall of rocks near the water. He raised his hands in surrender, wide-eyed.

“I’m not staying. Perhaps I will be safe here, but out there, you will not be.

I am coming with you to hunt whatever horrors come from the deep.

To kill whatever men dare threaten your crew again.

They are my horrors to face, too. And against all sanity and rage, I find myself aching at the thought of you sailing away from me.

I won’t stay. You are the captain of that ship, but you do not command me.

And I will not make the mistake again of watching you leave so you can haunt me from afar for another eighteen years. ”

Everyone had fallen silent. The men. Vidar.

Even the wind seemed to die at my words leaving only the soft whisper of gentle waves as they lapped at the gravel.

I looked up at Vidar’s stunned expression, daring him to refuse me.

My nails ripped into the fabric of his coat as I gripped it tighter, pressing against him.

“I have many enemies,” he said.

“I have more.”

The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk, his eyes roaming my face.

“Things could get very complicated with you aboard my ship.”

“More complicated than the alternative? ”

“What’s the alternative?”

“You leave and I’ll hunt you down. Perhaps take another finger or two. Even without me by your side, your dreams will never be free of me.”

His head cocked at that and he nearly laughed as if questioning whether or not it was a jest.

I could hardly tell myself.

“You truly will not stay put, will you?”

I shook my head. “You’d have to kill me.”

“Have I latched myself permanently to a psychopath?”

“You’ve latched yourself permanently to something worse. I am not peaceful. I do not sit aside when danger is about like the Maruhk are clearly accustomed to doing. I kill and I devour. I don’t belong here. You know it. Save the world from me and take me into your crew.”

His lips turned up again and he dropped his hands to his sides in submission before gripping my waist and pulling me against him.

Our lips met and every violent bone in my body went soft beneath that kiss.

He had disarmed me with his mouth alone and I quivered under the warmth of it.

That emptiness in my chest suddenly swelled once more like a sponge taking on water.

When we parted, he said, “Then get on that fucking boat.”

An orchestra of howls and hoots filled the air from behind us. I turned to see the few remaining crewmen smiling as they looked on and if I could blush, I would have been.

“Ahh!” Vidar grumbled, waving a hand at his men. “Get the rest of the supplies loaded, you lazy dogs.”

They laughed, continuing to load up the boat as I turned back to face him. I let out a sharp, irritated sigh.

“I don’t see why you had to make this so difficult. You were liable to get hurt.”

“Me? It would have been much easier if I didn’t care about you, love. ”

I warmed at the sound of that cursed word again and blinked. Vidar saw the shift in my expression and it annoyed me that he could read me so well. He lifted a hand, letting his thumb whisper across the side of my neck.

“I mean,” he said softly. “If I didn’t have feelings for you.”

“What?”

He paused and met my eyes, squinting. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”

“I don’t truly know what you are to me,” I said. “But I know I would kill anything, man or siren, if they touched you. What should I call that?”

“Obsession.”

“That’s a dangerous word.”

“Aye, it is, but you and I are dangerous creatures. I think I can do with you obsessing over me. As long as I get to keep all my parts and lay you in my bed every night.”

“We’ll discuss where you’ll be laying me, captain. The bed may get boring.”

I turned to get on the boat when he grabbed my wrist and forced me to face him once more. “There’s nothing to discuss. I care about you, you care about me. I did it. I found the chink in your armor.”

He was mocking me. I yanked my hand away only for him to grab my other arm and haul me against him.

“Fuck it,” he groaned. “I am in love with a goddamn siren,” he announced to his men. “And you’ll all be horrified to know, she loves me back.”

For a moment, the men did not seem to understand. They were silent, gaping at us like Vidar had just spoken a foreign language. But then Mullins jumped up from the boat and tossed his hands into the air.

“Better to be loved by one than be eaten by one!” he hollered. “That’s what I always say.”

“You’ve never said that,” someone voiced .

“I’ll start today,” Mullins shrugged. He turned his eyes on Meridan, who’d been standing quietly separated from the group. “You think I could get you to love me so I have a siren of my own?”

She winced at those words, her head tilting to one side.

“Now,” Vidar said, stealing my attention. “What did I tell you?”

“To get on the fucking boat,” I teased. I basked in his warm stare for a moment longer and then leaned into him, savoring his intoxicating scent. “As I feared… you have found a way past my armor. I dreamed for many years to rip out your heart and eat it. Instead, you’ve taken mine.”

He curled his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me forward as if to kiss me and said, “You’ll find I’m very possessive, Dahlia. If you say your heart is mine, I’ll not be giving it back until death decides he’s bored of his pursuit of me.”

“Then we’re done with this dance of ours. I’ll protect you and you’ll protect me.”

“Always,” he muttered, his thumb grazing the length of my scar. “All the world will know you’re mine.”

Before I could speak another word, his mouth was pressed to mine and all the troubles that raged around us disappeared for a brief, blissful moment. The storm would come for them, but in that moment, we were the storm.

The end... perhaps

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Thank you for reading "Wicked Tides." I truly hope you enjoyed.