Jax sat there shaking it anyway, as if he could dredge up a few more drops of rum. “I do believe I could’ve gotten magical training with you if I’d wanted to,” he said to Oasis.
She leaned on the back of the other chair, tipping it. “What good would it have done you? You’re too stubborn, and you probably knew most of it anyway. No, you always had your eye on the sea, even when we were knee high.”
I glanced between them, the compass strangely cold in my palm. “I’m not sure I can picture Jax as a child.”
“Wasn’t much of a childhood,” Jax grumbled.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is this the part where you tell me your tale of woe and how it justifies your career of piracy?” I asked. “I’m not sure I’d believe it.”
“I don’t justify my actions to anyone,” Jax said in a low, oddly alluring voice. “Anymore than you do, pet.”
At the endearment, Oasis stiffened. When I glanced at her face, her attention was on Jax. She looked so alarmed, I’d have thought the Bride herself had just strolled in.
“I’m not ashamed of being a pirate,” Jax continued. “Just the opposite. Areyouashamed of how you earn your keep, wife?”
Sometimes.“No,” I said, even as my mind displayed the face of the infant Princess Auravelle—the child I’d had no choice but to curse. “I only wish the world was different at times.”
“This is getting morose,” Oasis complained.
Ignoring her, Jax met my eye. For some reason, it felt as though he were sitting closer—almost as if we were the only two in the cabin. “So you’re merely ashamed of the world. At least you aren’t grandiose, pet.”
“On the contrary. I wish I was a smaller player than I am.”
“You’d wish away your power?” Jax made a rumbling sound in his throat. “I doubt that very much.”
“Then you’ve much to learn about me.”
“Break the curse,” he said, “and maybe there’ll be time to learn it. It’s a long way to travel, from the Hidden Isle to Aegle.”
Oasis clapped her hands. “Get a grip, Jax. What’ve I told you about making plans for the future?”
He chuckled, the connection between us suddenly lost. “Ah, yes. ‘Don’t.’”
“That’s right. No falling for doomed brides. Now let’s go get some more rum.” She held out her hand to me.
Stunned by her words, it took me a moment to realize Oasis wanted the compass back. “I’d like to study it longer—“
“The compass doesn’t leave my sight until we reach the Hidden Isle,” she said, flashing her gold tooth at me. “Not ever.”
With a huff, I handed it over.
“Let’s get a move on,” Oasis urged.
“I’ll be a moment longer,” Jax replied, sounding casual.
She shot him a warning glare, then strode out of the cabin—leaving the door wide open in the breeze.
As if expecting wobbling from all the rum, Jax stood slowly. But instead of following his friend, he took a pair of strides towards me.
He stood on the edge of my half of the cabin.
“If you hadn’t made me promise to stay on my side of the room,” he said, that low, smooth voice returning, “I’ve had just enough rum to think it a fine moment to kiss you farewell.”
I shrank back, unsure if I was horrified or flattered or—somethingelse.
Something that was making my heart beat faster.
“Good thing you promised, then,” I said. “That would be a terrible idea.”
