The moment I mentioned going after her father, she’d panicked. Tried to stop me. But once I made it clear I didn’t need her opinion, something in her eyes shifted. Her fire went out, and she hasn’t spoken since. Wouldn’t even meet my eye when I chained her to her fate.
Better to end it now than bleed later.
We’ll find the key. Get the treasure, and go our separate ways. Her to wherever—me to avenge the innocent lives lost at the hand of the Viper captain.
Elio left a while ago to make sure all the shipments we’d ordered were arriving on time, and to double check the rest of the crew members paid up at the inn. It’s for the best. Right now, I don’t know who needs the space more. Me or him.
Odelia Nisse Ivor.
Her name screams itself into the darkest crevices of my mind that I don’t dare give light to.
The signs had been there. Plain as day. Viper tattoo on her wrist. Good with a weapon, too good. Cunning. Clever. Making deals for her freedom. And like a fool, I’d fallen for it.
For her.
I close my eyes, my fists curling as they hang between my knees. I can say all day long that I’m mad she hid from me, but the truth is that I’m mad that I was ready to dive headfirst into the Odelia I’ve come to know. That I’ve given so much to her already.
If father saw me right now . . . well I couldn’t bear to face his look of disappointment. I’d rather sail the seas for the rest of my days than admit I’d really gone and fucked everything up.
No matter how much I try to remove her from my thoughts, I can’t. Every time I close my eyes all I can see is the way her head tips back, eyes dancing as she laughs at one of Otto’s jokes. Her laughter—like spring breezes through wildflower meadows—plays on repeat.
Yet, the memory is quickly replaced with the vivid image of her in the storm, standing on a deck with blood-soaked hands. Crimson dripping from her bola and dagger, painting the wood beneath her red. Who knows how many she’s killed. Her role and reputation suggest it’s a number I’d rather not know.
I stand from the crate and stride to the side of the hull. I grip the edge of the railing, my knuckles turning white as I look out at the shadow-drenched, cobalt sea, deep and velvety, still touched by the last remnants of night.
She’s saved my life more times than I can count, so where is my mercy now?
She hid her name, she’d killed Reid, but the moment his name left her lips, it all made sense. She was right. Reid would have used her name like a weapon. But to kill him? The deck groans softly as I pace, hands on hips. She could have come to me. I would have helped her.
Or would I? Look at how I’m reacting to the truth. Can’t stand to face her. Can’t stand how blind and hopeful I was—it was my own damned fault I didn’t see what was right in front of me.
I’m a fool. In more ways than one. There is no outcome that didn’t see Reid lifeless at the bottom of the Adamaris Sea. Because I’d seen the way he looked at her like he’d gut her the moment he got the chance. And if I found out that he’d threatened her, that he’d threatened my crew, in any way, I would have been the one to send him tohis death.
Odelia had said she needed to get away. Go so far that none would ever put two and two together. The entire time, she’d been clear about her goals. About whatthisis.
I’m the one that can’t seem to walk away.
I snap my head towards the door to my room, gravitating towards it like the moon tugs at the sea. My boots are silent, hand hovering over the brass door knob. It’s quiet inside. Has she fallen back to sleep? Does someone with that much blood on their hands ever dream? Or do their sins keep their mind in constant turmoil, even in rest?
She’s probably forming a plan to steal the rest of the keys the moment we find the fourth one. Do I care? Will I really just let her go when all is said and done?
My hand drops to my side, and my chest begins to collapse in on itself. I can’t breathe. Can’t think. How am I supposed to move forwards knowing what I know when all that consumes me is the scent of her hair. The way she fits so perfectly in my arms or the way her lips taste when she’s exploring mine.
Then there’s the way she whimpers when my head is between her legs, and my tongue is between her—
My cock is getting hard just thinking about it.
A viper in my bed?
Fuck.
I’m done for.
And then there’s the damn complication of Ivor being docked somewhere close. Killian had said as much in the message, but I can feel it, like a thorn under my skin. My plan—the plan—was always to see Odi on her way and then face Ivor, settle the blood debt once and for all. But half mycrew’s already rotting in the sea because I thought I could play this smarter.
But I botched it.
I return to my place on the crate in front of the room. Head on the door, eyes resting.
