Tavi sighs, turning back towards the sea. “You’re a damned fool, Rune. Don’t you dare go killing yourself . . . or Elio.”
A small smile creeps across my lips. Grateful that she hasn’t ripped my head off like my heart predicted she would.
My pacing stops. “Careful, Tav. Someone might think you love us.”
White wispy tendrils curl around her pointed ears as she glances sideways at me, her voice softer. “You I tolerate, but Elio . . . I’d drown without him.”
Those words earn her a look, my eyes widening with the admission.
She raises her brows as a silent warning, wild love swirling in her eyes. “You hear me?”
We all know who truly runs this ship. Tavi—fierce, loyal, and unyielding. She’s the heartbeat of this deck, the fire that keeps us moving. Truth is, we’d all be adrift without her.
I lean sideways and brush her shoulder with mine. “Yes, Cap.”
YOUCAN’T WIN
32
ODELIA
Ishould have stolen the keys and run the moment we hit Whitestone Harbor.
I know we’re moving, but the sun hasn’t set yet, so we can’t have gone far. Rune hasn’t come back since he tied me. The ropes are a point made rather than an honest attempt to hold me. The thought makes my blood boil.
Yes, I’d hid the name my father preferred. Anyone would have. It’s what I’d run from. A name attached to a cowled, blood-soaked woman I’d wanted to leave behind. And who would admit to years of crimes once they found themselves in a brig with a chance to get free? And Reid. Goddamned Reid. He’d left me no choice. Can Rune fault me for protecting his crew? Some blood needs spilling. Like any of the other monsters we’ve faced.
But instead of understanding, Rune turned on me. And worse, a fraction of me had hoped there might be a chance he’d understand.
Odelia Nisse Ivor.
I’ll never forget the disgust. The way he hissed my name and it hit the air like a brand. Like something I’ll never escape.
He’s right.
I’ve been fooling myself. Playing nice with the good folk like I had a chance of existing beside them. Like they would never find out who I really am beneath—whohemade me. But this is it. This is all I am. A killer that will always be caught in the end. A dagger always a hairsbreadth away from splitting flesh.
The door opens and I bare my teeth as bright sunlight bursts through, piercing my eyes. Rune steps in, and his cool gaze settles on me, empty, expressionless.
I hate him for his control, for the angry tears that try to well in my eyes. I don’t deserve this. Not his anger nor his shock. He never expected better from me.
Did he?
“I thought enough time had passed that we might discuss how things will be moving forwards.”
I let all the loathing show in my face, but don’t speak.
“Odelia—” he sighs, like I’m being impossible, like something between us hadn’t snapped when he tied me here.
“You said you trusted me.” I look away then, unwilling to share the hurt I know will be clear on my face. My throat is dry as I swallow, sticking, trying to choke me. Just like before, when he’d left me without water, when I was nothing to him, worse than nothing. Filth unworthy of even the basic human consideration.
He sighs again, then sits in the chair that waits by the desk and weaves his fingers together, elbows resting on hisknees. He studies me for a moment before his voice fills the room. “I did.”
The words pierce me as well as any blade.
“This is why I couldn’t tell you,” I argue, trying my damndest to hold back the pain that’s trained to turn into anger. “No one would ever trust me if they knew. This is why I ran. Why I can never stop running.”
His voice is cold. “And Reid got in the way of that, did he?”
