“Why?”
“Because she is strong. She is resilient. She is vicious and yet capable of affection despite all that has been done to her. She protects those she cares about with every ounce of herself and plenty of us would do the same for her. It’s what makes us so different from you. What makesDahliaso different from you.”
“Areyoustrong? Strong enough to do what you know you must?”
Our gazes locked together in a silent feud until I could not stomach her stare any longer. I turned, walking toward the treehouse, but every step I took felt like I was dragging anvils.
“David, I need you,” I said as I passed him. He was immediately by my side. “Nazario,” I called to next. “Your man, Aleksi. Whatever magic your doctor taught him, I shall need it.”
He looked to one of his crewmen, a thin man with cropped, tattered pants and a thin shirt tucked into a scarf that was tightly tied around his waist.
“Aleksi,” he said, waving him over. “Go with him.”
Aleksi nodded, no questions, and followed me to the treehouse.
“They say you can bring people back from the dead,” I said to him.
“I can try,” he shrugged. “I got lucky once. S’pose I could be lucky again.”
My body did not want to go to that cabin knowing what I would see, but I pushed forward, taking slow, steady breaths as I neared the door. When I nudged it open, Meridan was by the bed, resting her head against the mattress. She jumped up when I entered, her mouth dropping open with a start. Mullins was startled awake by my presence and stumbled to his feet.
“What are you doing?” Meridan asked.
“Mullins. David. I need you to take Meri outside,” I said.
Meridan narrowed her eyes and immediately went rigid, reaching for the knife strapped to her arm.
“Whoa!” Mullins yelped, pinning her arms to her sides with his own.
David quickly jumped in to help, but both of my men looked as if restraining Meridan was pure sin. Snatching the knife from her belt, David jumped away. Meridan began to thrash, gathering that something was very wrong.
“She told you something, didn’t she?” Meridan said. “Whatever that Kroan whore said to you, she is lying.”
Ignoring her protests, I climbed onto the bed, straddling Dahlia’s wilted body.
“What are you doing?” Meridan demanded.
“Help me hold her!” Mullins shouted at David.
“Stop!”
I let the voices fade into the background, a distant hum in a room made cold by the absence of Dahlia’s energy. I stared down at her, barely able to tell whether she was alive or if she had been dead the whole time.
“I love you, Dahlia,” I whispered.
There was a great commotion happening behind me. No doubt Meridan was giving Mullins and David a challenge, but I could not stop. If I stopped, I would never find the will to do what I had to again.
I was Captain Bone Heart.
It was time to put my name to the test.
I leaned in, wrapping my hands around Dahlia’s slender neck. She was cold to the touch. I felt as if I was defiling a corpse as I squeezed. I pressed my thumbs into her windpipe and I did not let go. Meridan’s voice came back into focus. She was screaming. The walls shook with her struggle, but I did not let up. I kept choking. And choking. Time passed torturously slow, but I stayed on course. Dahlia didn’t so much as spasm or jerk to let me know she was alive enough to kill. She did nothing. She just lay there, motionless.
God, perhaps I had lost her already and everything was pointless. All of it. My efforts. Keeping Lyla alive. Bringing my men deep into dangerous, siren infested waters.
All of it. It was all meaningless without her and I feared I had been without her for days and just not known it.
And then… everything went quiet. Meridan ceased her fighting. My heart seemed to stop in my chest.
