Erinna removed her hands from his. “Stop.”
He pulled away as if scalded by his own power and stared at the handiwork. Two scorched handprints decorated the wood, the witchstone now the color of garnet. Veins like deep red marble, smoldered beneath the surface.
A bubble of laughter escaped Erinna’s lips. “It worked.” Erinna moved closer to inspect the craft, her finger ready to tap the stone. Kane caught her hand before she could make contact.
With a tug, he pulled her back from the roiling gem. He was stiff and rigid—ready to fend off an attack.
“You seem…tense?” Her brows knit in confusion. Why did he not share in her joy? He had a magically enhanced ship. One of only a dozen on the sea. Surely he should be thrilled.
“It’s not going to blow up, is it?”
“Why would it blow up?”
“Hellfire doesn’t respond well to certain things. And the last time this happened you got a gash on your forehead.” Worry laced every word as he nudged his body between Erinna and the stone. Like he was ready to protect her from any potential fallout.
Erinna bit her lip in thought. He had a good point, but this was the best it ever responded.
“No, it’s fine.” Erinna shook her head and couldn’t help but grin. She did it. She kept her side of the deal and could now reap her reward.
“So?” She crossed her arms in triumph and waited.
“So, what?”
“The deal, Kane. What does my father need from that tower?”
The pirate took in a long, slow breath. “He’s looking for information about your mother. Gave me those codes, a way to find the maps I needed and the ones he wanted too.”
She stood there dumbfounded. Erinna didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t that. She opened her mouth with an onslaught of questions, but the pirate interjected.
“I need to take care of some things. We’ll talk later.” With that, he turned on his heels and disappeared in a gust of smoke and shadow.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Away. He needed to get away.
Kane tilted his head to the sky, relishing the cool breeze against his skin, calming the rising heat of his body. The stone had accepted his Grace and pulled at the fire in his veins with greed. It could have ripped the hellfire straight from his hands and lit his boat like a torch.
He felt how close it was to cracking and setting the wood of his ship ablaze. But that wasn’t what made his stomach crawl. A thread had started to form, that unmistakable connection that would only grow if he let it.
He stared at his palms, could still feel the press of her hands in his. She withstood his Grace. Remained unscathed by the hellfire he used against the stone, and something in her responded in kind. He felt it, light as a feather, but painfully there.
Utterly perfect.
Kane grit his teeth. He had felt something like this once before, that irritating, pesky little bond. He would have to tread more carefully around her. The last thing he needed was a Favored.
Once Erinna gathered what she needed from that godsforsaken library they would both be out of each other’s hair. That would be for the best. But Kane didn’t feel particularly pleased to part with her.
His Grace responded to whatever lurked beneath the surface. She had a power over the arcanum as well. He could feel it.
Hells, part of him craved it. Needed to know what she was hiding and why it felt so intoxicating to be near. Perhaps he could force her into a pact.
A real one.
Not some work-around that did little but loosen the bonds of a previous deal. Not a bullshit exchange of information. A real, forged-in-hellfire pact. One that would let him take a piece of whatever she was hiding for himself. One that could truly bind them together for a time.
Kane pushed the ideas from his head. It was time to check on Afton, as he usually did when he needed someone to argue with. That would be a much better use of his time than dealing with her pestering questions and, more importantly, than being stuck in such close proximity to said questions.
