I blink my bleary eyes up at him, expecting to be seared by his rage. I never dared have any kind of meltdown in front of Tommy. The only time I did was when Dad died, and I vaguely remembered the flash of white teeth as he curled his lips before leaving me on the floor to “sort out my own mess.”
Tears trickle freely down my cheek. The signs were there. Why did I ignore them? How did I completely miss all the red flags when I was raised surrounded by green? I’ll never understand.
“What…” I start, scrambling to disperse the wool from my brain to get my shit together and come up with some kind of plan. “What do you smell?”
Ordus’ nostrils flare. The tips of his canines catch the glint of the afternoon sun. “A male. The scent is old.” He works his jaw. He appears so human when he does this, even with the gills and the webbed ears. “Who is it?”
Tommy’s name catches in my throat, but saying it makes it true. “I can’t stay here. I need to leave the country.” I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? They’ll follow me to the ends of the Earth. I just have to keep running. “They’ve found me.”
“Who is after you?” he repeats, ocean-blue eyes intent, bordering on obsessive. The rumble in his voice betrays him—a tidal wave stews beneath the surface, intent on destroying everything in its path.
A foreign warmth unfurls low in my core. It’s strange, having someone’s rage directed at something other than me.For me.With me.
But it’s not enough, and I’m not selfish enough to drag him into my mess.
“It doesn’t matter who. You need to let me go,” I plead, imagining what people would do to him. He isn’t human. I’m sure the Gallaghers would sell him to someone to be tested and experimented on. They would break him until he’s barely even a shell.
I can’t let that happen. I won’t. I may not know Ordus very well, and he may be my jailer, but he doesn’t deserve that kind of fate. He isn’t…he isn’t evil.
“They have guns. The best-case scenario is, they kill you and do far worse to me.”
“I can keep you safe. Trust me, mate.”
“You can’t.” I shake my head, struggling in his grip. He can’t possibly know that. “You can’t help me. You can’t save me.” He carefully lowers me to my feet, keeping one tentacle firm around my waist. “I made the decision to marry him. I’m the one who decided to kill him instead of leaving without a trace. I made my bed; I need to lie in it. There’s nothing you can do to help. I need to leave.”
He doesn’t respond, doesn’t bother singing the same ol’ tune he’s been saying since the moment he captured me. He reaches behind him and passes me a waterproof bag I bought when I was delusional enough to think I could go kayaking. “Take everything you need. We will return to the island.”
I jerk my head side to side. “That’s not what I meant.” He’s not understanding me. This is serious.
Ordus holds the bag to the side. For the second time today, when he reaches for my face, I let him. I should be screaming, fighting, throwing everything I have into making him realize the magnitude of the threat. I shouldn’t be seeking comfort from the creature who decided I’m his prisoner. I shouldn’t let him touch me when I watched him kill three men in cold blood. I hate that weak, pathetic part of me that still doesn’t have the strength to draw away from him.
I hate that my broken shards have splintered too many times so there is no longer any part of me that I recognize.
I hate that his hands don’t hurt, because then it would make it easier to hate him.
“Plagues, humans, and krakens alike have tried killing me since the day I was born. You are my only purpose. I give you my word. No harm will reach you.” He nudges the bag against my hand. “Take it and bring what you want, or I will choose for you.”
I swipe the tears from my cheeks. “Stop telling me what to?—”
He cuts me off, gripping my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Cindi, listen to me. No one can reach you on the island. There is only you, me, and Vasz. Whoever it is you are running from will not reach you there. So take the bag and let me take care of you.”
My gaze lands on the black sack.
I mean, he’s right, isn’t he? How will anyone know to look on an island in the middle of nowhere? No one would find me in the caves.
My plan was always to lay low in the middle of nowhere or hide out on one of the islands in Thailand. This isn’t any different, is it?
No civilization. No cameras. Nothing to give away my location. Stowed away with a powerful creature intent on protecting me because he thinks I’m his divinely chosen soulmate.
There’s nowhere on Earth safer for me than Ordus’ island. It’s the one place the Gallaghers will never touch.
I hesitate before placing my hand on the bag. “Okay.”
18
Cindi
It took a total of seventeen hours to get from San Diego to Shanghai. I spent the thousand-and-twenty minutes shaking, thinking Tommy or his family would appear out of thin air and drag me back to the mansion.
