He held out one hand, fingers curling slightly.
Yes, they were. Names etched deep into the skin:
Knight. Drake. Reaper. Serpent. Saint.
How extraordinary.
“They’re your brothers’ names,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“You must love them very much.” The intimacy made her whole body clench. To wear his loyalty on his skin like that. His knuckles bore their names like vows—etched deep, permanent. No one hadever loved her like that.
His jaw worked slightly. “My family is my life.”
She nodded, smiling. “I’m envious. That is something I do not have anymore. Family.”
He stilled. “Is that the reason you came to Brighton?”
Calliope hesitated. Then nodded. “Yes. Amongst other reasons.”
“Other reasons?”
“Curious, are you?” she countered, still smiling.
“You could say that.” He looked down at Prince sticking to her legs. “You do have family, as unconventional it may be. He’s a good dog.”
“He is.” Albeit a bit traitorous.
And she? She could still barely breathe. Becausehewas still bare-chested.Shewas still standing there. Because somehow the air between them had thickened. Her gaze dropped again. She couldn’t stop staring at his hands, wondering what all the marks meant.
“The other is a compass,” he said quietly, as if he could hear her thoughts. “A reminder to stay the course. The thorns represent obstacles. They cover the scars.”
Scars? She hadn’t even noticed the scars, too dazed by the black ink, but now she couldn’t miss them. Cuts and burn scars. Her heart went out for the man. What a life he must have lived. “Did they hurt—the tattoos?”
He studied her. “Not more than what was already there.”
She couldn’t even fathom those words. She hesitated but finally asked the question that had been hidden in the back of her mind from the moment she met him. “Have you ever killed a man?”
His reply came instantly. “Not a man, no.”
Oh.
“The act was one of mercy.”
Oh. Well, that was oddly comforting. A non-bloodthirsty beast. “Right, you don’t kill people. Rules like that start for a reason,correct?”
“To take a life,” he said slowly, “you must first understand the value of one. We understand. So we don’t take it.”
Stars. This man was going to ruin her. “So you have different ways of taking care of your enemies?”
“There are many ways to ruin a man. Or woman. They don’t require my hands.”
Her gaze dropped to his hands again. “You hide them,” she said softly. “Your hands.”
He nodded.
She didn’t know why that made her chest ache. “Then why did you let me see them now?” Her gaze lifted to his. “There are many ways you could have hidden them.”
