Once they’re safely ensconced in their cabin, I head back to my own. Away from curious eyes. Tugging my sleeve up to properly inspect the flesh-eating bug touching the woman has infected me with, my eyes practically bulge out of my head.
It’s worse than I could have imagined.
Not a worm burying its head into my flesh, or even some kind of blood-sucking tick. Instead, there’s a faint golden circle etched deepinto my skin. It’s intersecting one of the many thick, white scars that litter my body. My new golden scar is etched even deeper into my flesh than any scar.
I’ve only seen a few before when I was much younger, but I have a strong suspicion of what it is and why it occurred when I first touched Reva’s skin. I’m pretty certain it’s a mate mark.
Which means the little woman with the cloud of hair is my mate.
Poor Reva.
She has no clue what she’s in for, having a monster like me for a mate.
Chapter 14
Reva
The cabin door clunks shut and my eyes run over the two bunk beds and the tiny, nondescript room before turning to Aster.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.” I’m not sure what time it is, but right now, I don’t care.
He shoots me a small smile, gesturing at himself and the top bunk. Sweet of him to take it, but right now, I feel like I could sleep standing up.
I shove the heavy blanket from my shoulders onto the bed and start to strip my soaked clothes off. Aster’s eyes catch on my bare legs before he squeezes them shut, and I snort as his cheeks grow rosy. My clothes are no longer sodden but are unpleasantly damp, and I have to peel them from my cold, goose-pimpled skin.
I slide under the covers, pulling the blanket up to my chin. A wave of exhaustion rolls through me as I watch Aster climb up onto the top bunk. My body aches from the hours of tension and the stupid fucking fight with the ocean. All I want is to sleep and escape this day for a few hours.
And then the shivers start. I thought I’d warmed up enough to get beyond them, but clearly not. Maybe it’s the aftereffects of today catching up with me, but my body quivers uncontrollably. I force my jaw to unclench, but my legs are spasming too much to let my body relax.
I thump the thin pillow, wrapping the blanket tight around me, but it’s no good.
Fuck. All I want to do issleeep, just to take the edge off.
I must let out a pathetic whimper of frustration as, the next thing I know, Aster is sliding down from the top bunk. He pats my leg and slides onto the bed beside me, rolling me over, blanket and all, before climbing into bed beside me.
He wraps his lean arms around me, cocooning me in his arms and tucking me against his front while I lie there stiffly.
“It’s all right. You’re all right.”
I’m not. Not really.
I’m missing the other half of my soul, stuck in the nightmare my mother warned me about.
And then there’s Kit...
Gods, I hope he’s all right, wherever he is.
Another painful pang goes through my gut, and I clench to ward against it.
My body remains stiff and shivering as the moments tick by and I’m struck with how awkward this situation is. I’m hyperconscious that we barely know each other. Although my body seems to recognise Aster’s at some level and I feel my muscles start to unclench and the shivers fade away.
A gentle tapping on the door wakes me from a dead sleep. Aster is still fast asleep beside me, his brow unfurrowed and relaxed for the first time since we found him in that alleyway. Another tap on the door and I carefully unravel myself from the blanket and pick my way over his sleeping form.
Yanking the door open, I find the other pirate from Kit’s shop on the other side—the one with reddish hair and an angel face.
Jack, the raven.
“I brought you some food.” He smiles, and I blink at him through tired eyes. I didn’t notice before, on account of my focusbeing entirely on Kit, but his cheekbones are sharp enough to cut butter. He also has a sprinkling of freckles across his perfectly formed nose.
