CHAPTER ELEVEN
ALARIC
We have to talk.
I was well enough to leave, but I had to tell Malia about the witch hunters. When I surveyed the cottage, I found it was much more rundown than I first imagined. She’d never be safe here.
Anybody could barge in at any time.
I could leave more than enough money to help her patch up the place. But that was not the answer… her living conditions were not good, and, at any moment, a storm could rip her cottage to pieces. It was a miracle it still stood.
As I sat on the settee, thinking this, Malia tended to the fire, humming like she always did. I caught myself watching her, the way her hair fell down either side of her face, sometimes blocking it from view, the way she was so ordinary and domestic yet…
It hit me like a splash of cold water in the morning. A wake up call.
I’m done for.
I didn’t mean to stare, but I did. I’d seen beautiful women before but Malia? She was different. The way shemoved so effortlessly, the way her lips curved just slightly when she was lost in thought, the way she hummed and enjoyed being in the present moment.
Something in my chest tightened.
I realized the truth.
Oh blast it.I had kept myself from cursing, but a slew of curses rattled off in my head.
It’s her… it’s always been her.I looked away, frustrated at such a revelation. I had gotten involved with other women in the past, something I wasnotproud of. But it had been surfacey, based on lust and physical attraction. With Malia, it was so much more. So much deeper.
But I can’t stay.I had my whaling empire to get back to. I had a life any man would dream of.
I have to warn her and then leave.
Besides, I had faced the truth long ago. Domestic life wasn’t for me. It never had been. I was too rough. My hands were too dirty to live a life like this… and especially with her. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be the failure that my father was.
I made up my mind.
I’m leaving.After the festival tonight and delivering her goods with her, I’d be on my way.
Yes.
Lights hungfrom the banyan trees. The Halekai square was full of people. Music filled the air and I followed Malia as she wove through the crowd, her hand on my wrist. She had struggled the entire way, veering off the path multiple times, tripping on roots. She finally took my arm and I led the way to town. She didn’t have to say it, but I knew it washer eyes. I wished she would tell me what happened, or if it had always been that way, but she didn’t.
It killed me that after tonight, she’d have to stumble home.
Because I’m leaving her.Or I could walk her home… a fierce protectiveness made me want to do that, but my head knew better. If I didn’t leave tonight, I might not leave at all.
“There’s Noni,” Malia said after a long while
She’d been searching the crowd, looking at things in her strange way.
I wish I’d helped Malia look for her friend. All I could do was scan the crowd, wondering if the twins might jump out at any moment.
The witch let go of my hand. “I’ll be back. Don’t get too lost, please.” She smiled warmly and left me there.
I folded my arms and looked around, aware of the Corallure guards standing across the crowd of dancers. They seemed relaxed, as though they were here for a good time too.
A laugh pulled me from my thoughts.
Malia stood beneath the banyan tree, talking to a young man: chestnut hair, dressed like royalty.
