“No.” I met his gaze evenly. “She apologized.”
Silas ran his tongue over his lips, like he was debating whether or not to believe me.
“Get on your horse,” he finally said. “We have work to do.”
Chapter 5
“So we’renotgoing to talk about the siren?” I asked Silas. “Not at all?”
An hour had passed since that dreaded altercation. Silas plodded on ahead, our horses trudging deeper and deeper into The Forest as the silence from all angles grew suffocating.
“What is there to say?” Silas’s voice was tight.
I was finding it hard to get a consistent read on this man. Once in a while, he’d give me this glimpse of kindness and softness. I believed Silas cared. The question was what he cared about?
Did Silas care about me? Did he care about breaking the curse? Did he care about meonlybecause he thought I could break the curse?
Over the last hour, I’d convinced myself it was the latter. Not that I needed a lot of convincing, because I was pretty sure my hypothesis was correct. It was the only way to explain his hot and cold nature toward me—soinviting for fleeting moments, then hard and stony the next.
Silas’s answers were short now, a nod to his mood. So I went with easy questions that had easy answers. Or at least impersonal ones.
“How does a mermaid become a siren?” I asked, desperate to keep conversation going so the silence was kept at bay.
Silas cleared his throat. “Their blood is drained.”
“Who would do that?”
“Evil beings.”
“Why would someone want a mermaid’s blood?”
“What is this, the mermaid inquisition?”
“I’m just trying to understand.” My voice came out meeker than intended. I tried again, ensuring my voice was strong and sturdy. “I’m new to this place. You brought me here, lest we forget. I didn’t ask for this.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing.” Silas’s face was stormy as we rode side by side. “What were youthinking?”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you it was a trap,” Silas snapped. “Itoldyou it was a siren.”
“You said it mightbe, and I argued it might not be.” I took a deep breath. “It’s not a crime to give people the benefit of the doubt.”
“It is in The Forest. It’s a death sentence.”
“I don’t regret helping her.”
“That’s a foolish thing to say.”
“Don’t call me a fool,” I told him. “Helping people is the only thing I know how to do in this life. It’s not a job, it’s a calling, and I won’t be told to stop.”
“You won’t be told to do much of anything, I’m gathering,” Silas muttered.
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“Of course not. However, if you’re so passionate about helping people, why don’t you help the ones who deserve it and leave the monsters alone?”
“I get it, Silas. I get that you want to keep me around to break the curse. I know that’s why you brought me here, and I know it’s why you’re working so hard to keep me alive.”
