“You can let go now,” I said.
Darcke’s breath fanned over my neck, and I stiffened as his finger ran down my rib cage, counting each protruding bone.
“How long since you ate?” he asked as he spun me around to face him.
My cheeks burned when I looked up at him and felt a twinge of pity.
“I don’t remember,” I mumbled.
His hand lifted, and when I recoiled, more of that cold, crawling feeling squeezed my chest. “I’m trying to help.” Darcke’s voice was low, but there was nothing of his usual threatening edge to it. He pointed to my wet tunic. “Do you want this off?”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop the moment of panic running through me.
His eyes creased before he let out a shocked, short laugh. “That’snotwhat I meant.”
I only nodded. It was better he believe I’d thought he wantedto see me naked than understand I couldn’t have him seeing the bleached rune on my chest.
Something else crossed his face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
I swallowed as Darcke lifted my arms, then slid his own jacket down them. His tongue peeked through his teeth as he buttoned it, and when I looked up, he stilled for a second before reaching out to adjust the collar that had gotten stuck.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
I blamed the tiredness as I dutifully followed him through the woods, but when he took the path leading down to the harbor, I ground to a halt. “Where are we going?”
He didn’t turn around. “My ship.”
“I thought you said that was a one-time thing.” I had no idea why I argued because his ship sounded far better than trying to sleep in a tree again.
“I guess it’s a fucking two-time thing, then.” Darcke waved at me.
“Why?”
“Nowyou ask all the questions?” he retorted.
I stayed silent.
Darcke sighed deeply. “You’re starving, and I already told you, watching you slowly perish isn’t something I’m interested in.”
Despite my tiredness, I scoffed. “Right. You only wish to kill me yourself?”
I swore he hid a grin as he turned and started stalking down the path to the ships. “Exactly.”
Twenty-Five
The brow of Darcke’s ship purred beneath my feet as I walked up to the deck, and I slid my hands over the railing, lingering for a moment when the wood warmed in hello.
She was so beautiful. The black glittered in the night, and the shining deck reflected the stars, making it seem like we were standing in the middle of the dark sky. Every inch of the vessel was polished and buffed, and even the sides—where salt surely tried to stain her every journey—shone like the onyx stones my father had brought my mother from one of his journeys.
A vibration went through my feet, up my legs, and through the rest of my body. I laughed softly. “You’re very welcome.”
“Stop fawning over her. It makes her insufferable,” Darcke ordered. “Food is this way.”
“How do you stand him?” I mumbled, and the wood rumbled again, the planks beneath my feet shifting from side to side.
“No, I think he isthatbad,” I replied when Darcke spun, his hands shooting out. “At least with me.”
The creaking followed me as I approached Darcke, and while itwas his ship and as such she would turn against me in a heartbeat if I so much as picked up an axe, a warmth surrounded me with every step, making me far more relaxed than I should have been.
