“Si. I like that.” Her words were slightly slurred as her head lolled to the side, finding a resting place on his chest. “Like the sea but also my name. Celly would be proud. You’re handsomeandwitty.”
He swallowed thickly, ignoring the way his heart hammered under her head.
She’s in pain. People say strange things when they’re in pain all the time. And besides, it’s only for a week.
The time limit that had seemed at first like such a shield of protection was proving to be flimsier and flimsier, and it had barely been a day. He wasn’t even entirely sure what had possessed him to accept Sienna’s proposal, other than the echoes of Jem’s many lectures clanging around the inside of his head, and the brief moment of weakness in which he had allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different.
“You must find a woman who will be faithful to the point of death—unlike the faithlessness that you have shown me.” The fae queen’s eyes flashed bright with anger as she looked down at him. His knees ached from being shoved so roughly to the wooden deck and forced to kneel.
His jaw dropped, and a cold rope of despair began to wind itself around his middle. “Within the span of a week? That’s impossible!”
Bright red lips curled into a satisfied sneer. She leaned in close, surrounding him with the sickeningly sweet smell of roses and belladonna, and whispering in his ear.
“That’s precisely the point.”
Casper shook his head. No. Sienna’s faithfulness might last a week, but he wouldn’t subject her to the life of loneliness that would inevitably follow. Besides, seven years was a long time to be apart. Even if she agreed to marry him at first, it wouldn’t be long before she grew tired of waiting. The thought of having her and then losing her was worse than not having her at all.
And besides, it’s not reallyherthat I want. It’s just what she represents.
Sienna whimpered into his jacket, reminding him that at the moment he had far bigger problems to deal with than the continued effects of a vindictive curse. Based on the sound when it happened, and the way her arm hung limp and useless at herside when she wasn’t supporting it, he was fairly certain that her shoulder was dislocated. He led her to the table.
“I’m not hungry, just sleepy.”
“I know.” He kept one hand on her good elbow to support her while he removed the vase of flowers from the table. “I need you to lay on it.”
She snorted. “I have a bed, you know.”
“Yes, and I promise to get you into bed soon.” His ears heated at the questionable way the words sounded in his own ears. “Not that I will be going anywhere near your bed, other than to help you into it. By yourself. Alone. Here,” he added, guiding her so that she sat on the table’s edge. “Take your coat off.”
Sienna giggled and started working the buttons with one hand. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”
He resolutely ignored all feelings. “You’re apparently very loose-lipped when you’re in pain.”
“And also completely incapable of doing this one-handed.” She dropped her hand and ruefully looked down at her half-fastened coat. “I don’t think it’s coming off.”
Bracing himself, Casper stepped closer and reached for the buttons. He purposefully avoided looking at Sienna’s face while he worked, telling himself it was because the gesture seemed far too intimate and familiar for just over a day’s acquaintance. The only sound as he freed the remaining buttons were Sienna’s quiet breaths and the beating of his own heart.
Far too soon, and yet not soon enough, he was backing away from her with the offending garment in his hands. Her right shoulder was sloped and misshapen, evidence that his initial diagnosis had been correct. He called over his shoulder as he hung her coat by the door. “Can you lie on your back?”
“Mmm, not without help.”
With a hand under her shoulders and a prayer to the Almighty for success, Casper lowered her carefully down. He pickedup her right wrist. “I apologize in advance,” he said softly, grimacing at the knowledge of what came next. “This is going to hurt a little bit.”
She gave him a brave smile. “Well, it already hurts a lot, so that will be an improvement.”
He pulled her arm straight, keeping it level with her body and turning her palm towards the floor. With firm, gentle movements, he shook her wrist up and slowly pulled it up towards her head. Once it was at her shoulder, he slowly started to rotate her arm. Sienna’s entire face was scrunched tight, and tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes, but she kept quiet. Finally, when her arm was nearly to her head, he felt the shoulder slide back into place.
Sienna groaned and opened her eyes. She gazed at him fiercely through her tears. “You lied. That was more than a little bit.”
Guilt at having caused her pain, irrational as he knew it to be, gnawed in his belly. He winced. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It also feels much better now.” Sienna tucked her arm against her chest and held out her uninjured hand. He pulled her into a seated position. “How did you know how to do that?”
“I’ve had to do it more than a few times,” he answered with a shrug. “It’s a fairly common injury for overconfident sailors who insist on climbing the rigging during strong winds.”
“Well then, I suppose I am grateful for your overconfident sailors for keeping you in good practice.”
He nodded towards her arm, “You’ll want to keep that in a sling for a few days.”
