“It’s a library, Morvyn, you’re meant to be quiet.”
Arlo let out a laugh.
“Quiet, terra.”
“I am not the one yelling,” Arlo said in a low, steady voice.
Morvyn shook off whatever his instincts were telling him.
“Arlo, are you content?” I asked, repeating his accusation against me from the first time we were in this library.
Arlo’s head hit the open lid of the virginal with a thud, drawing a hiss of pain from him.
“What?” he said, rubbing at the top of his short-sheared scalp.
“Are you content … with thefood?”
He looked up, scanning my face for meaning until it clicked.
“No. I am not content.”
“What’s wrong with the food?” Morvyn said, genuinely offended.
“For starters, it’s stolen cargo frommyship.” Arlo scowled.
Morvyn smirked. “True.”
“Morvyn, we need something more satiating. Maybe cooked fish and bread?”
He let out a melodramatic sigh.
“Fine, come down here and we’ll go together,” he answered.
“No,” Arlo said quickly. “I need someone to test the keys while I tighten the strings.”
Morvyn eyed us both curiously, but relented. “I will be quick.” He turned to Arlo. “And if you do anything stupid, Iwillknow, Tiny Toes.”
Arlo huffed back in response.
Morvyn left, and I rushed down the winding stairs, the book against my chest as I made it to Arlo’s side.
“What the fuck was that—”
Quickly, I slapped my hand over his mouth. His eyes flared in surprise. His soft lips brushed the palm of my hand. He smelled like sea and pine planking and perfection. Warmth curled in my lower belly.
Infernum, it was going to be next to impossible to think logically if he had me in a heady high every time he was near me.
“In that lulled state, they can hear everything you hear. See everything you see. We might already be found out from what you just witnessed, but don’t make it worse.”
He nodded in understanding and I removed my hand.
“Do they know mythoughts?” he asked.
“No, those are safe, at least so they say,” I answered. “We need to think of a—” How could I word it so that the sirens wouldn’t know what I was getting at?
But Arlo seemed to already understand my meaning, nodding along. He propped a hip against the instrument and crossed his strong arms, processing.
“The sirens are verykind,” I started. “They take me all over this place to show me around.” I willed the thought into his mind. I could find a way out for us while they continued to parade me around this place.
