“Deadwood Cove is a cursed wasteland,” I tell her. “But if someone lifted the curse on one of the rooms, I couldn’t think of a better hiding place. And if you’ve got the cursebreaker who created those curses with you, then all the better.”
“So itwastargeted,” Reva says quietly. “She chose Kit for a reason.”
“Certainly seems that way.”
“How would she even know about it?”
Finch shrugs. “Like we said, plenty of failed experiments are still roaming around. All you need is one slip of the tongue to the wrong person.”
“And now we’re heading back to that hellhole you all escaped from,” Reva murmurs, reaching out to squeeze my hand.
She isn’t looking at me with horror. Why isn’t she looking at me the way she’s supposed to? I’m an abomination. A monster.
“Maybe your mate bond formed with the bear and not me,” I suggest to her. “That might explain why it didn’t form properly, because he’s not supposed to exist.”
Reva lets out a little sound that can only be described as a growl, glaring up at me. From this close up, I can see she’s looking paler than usual. Paler, and there are dark circles under her eyes that weren’t there a few days ago.
“Look, you can stop pouting now. I know you’re trying to make sure I have all the facts so that I can run away screaming from what a terrible monster you are. But if that’s what you’re waiting for, you’regoing to be disappointed.” She huffs out a frustrated breath. “Aster can’t speak, so I worked out a way to speak to him—”
“So did I,” Jack pipes up. “Sort of, anyway.” He grins until he sees my expression, then holds his hands up. “Sorry, sorry. Keep going, Ree.”
“—and the next time you go all spiky, I’ll not come near you unless I’m wearing gloves or something.”
“Reva,” I growl. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
The way she’s looking at me is devastating.
She isn’t looking at me like I’d be another box to tick off on her kink list. Nor is she shying away from me, suddenly terrified of my presence or my touch.
It’s enough to drive my bear to madness.
He wants us to claim her. To make her ours so she can never leave us.
“Some very thick gloves,” she replies. “I’ve known about your bear for a while, remember? I’ve seen him, and I wasn’t scared off then either. Torin, I likeyou. And once we get Kit and Noush back, we can sort out whatever’s happening with our bond.”
I close my eyes as a high-pitched buzz starts up in my ears. But then she pokes me in the chest, tugging me by the collar until I’m ducking down and our faces are level. I snap my eyes open and, for a mad moment, she stares directly into my eyes.
The urge to kiss her again, to hold her to my chest and never let go, is overwhelming. Fuck the audience and fuck—
“Cap,” Jack’s voice sounds strangled, drawing everyone’s attention. Including Reva’s and mine.
To Captain Finch.
At some point over the past few minutes, the captain has lost his hat. And there’s something dark protruding from the base of the captain’s neck. Two long blackthingswriggling and writhing like a living scarf.
His tentacles.
I throw myself forward, like I’m trying to shield him or Reva, although I’m not sure which.
Whatever I’m trying to do, it doesn’t work. She’s already seen what he’s been trying so hard to hide.
His own display of freakishness.
“Your, uh, hat,” Reva says, clearing her throat. “You’re not wearing it.”
As though they’re aware of our attention on them, Finch’s tentacles freeze in mid-motion and then flow from side to side in a jaunty wave. One reaches out as if to touch Reva’s hair and Finch gently slaps it away, like it’s a naughty puppy that needs to learn a lesson.
“She’s not interested, boys.” He gives us all a rueful smirk. “Sorry, they have a mind of their own.”
