Page 60 of She Who Was Once the Sea

I was very aware of my nakedness as I searched the dark corners of the room for the intruder. My feet touched the edge of a sheet we’d somehow discarded, and I picked it up and wrapped it around my body.

"How could you do something like this?"

The voice came as if from nowhere, and its sudden proximity made me jump. I had to clamp my mouth down tight to keep from crying out.

"Ordina," I hissed as she finally stepped forward, blonde hair glistening in the moonlight. Her face was a mask of contempt as she glared past me to where Garrett was still sleeping in the bed, back exposed, legs tangled in a thin blanket. She turned her attention back to me with an indignant sniff. "You’re lucky Father isn’t alive to witness this. A Fratello, Marella? Really? I would have assumed that you had higher standards."

I ignored the slight. "Ordina, what are you doing here?"

She glared at me. "I came because I thought you might have gotten yourself into trouble. And I was right."

"No, Ordina." I looked her up and down. "How are you here? It’s not the new moon. How are you awake?"

She looked down at her hands, twisting them forward and back as if just now realizing that they were attached. Her brows knit together. "Is it not?"

I gestured to the window, where the moon was clearly casting its light into the piazza below. "How did you get inside?"

Ordina shook her head. "I… don’t know." She looked at me as though I might have the answers. "I woke up at the door and instantly knew that I needed to find you. Then I saw you in bed with that… Fratello. And then you woke up. And now…"

She trailed off, gesturing between us as if to say you know the rest.

My stomach filled with dread. The Stone Witch didn’t do anything by accident. If Ordina was here, awake and moving beyond the freedom of the new moon… It could only be by design.

I glanced over my shoulder, thinking back to my night with Garrett. To the tenderness and ferocity in his touch. And just for a moment, I let myself feel hope.

"She’s scared," I whispered, wonder dripping from each word. "She knows I’m close to fulfilling her stupid bargain."

I thrilled at the words as they left my mouth, relief at being able to speak them for the first time nearly palpable on my tongue.

Ordina wrinkled her nose. "Please tell me that you don’t believe the Fratello is in love with you."

I whipped my head to face her so quickly that my neck cracked. "What did you say?"

She took a step towards me, something between threat and pity in her voice as she spoke. "Marella, I know about your silly bargain. The Witch told us everything."

It pained me, as always, to hear her speak the word us, as though enough of our family were still alive to be included in the word. I released a slow breath. "Why would I think otherwise?" Despite my best effort, I couldn’t hide the tremble in my voice. "It’s clear that he has feelings for me." I gestured at Garrett’s prone and sleeping form.

"Love and lust are not the same thing, Marella." She looked at him with disdain as she spoke. "You're foolish if you think they are. And just because he used you to get his dick wet doesn’t mean that he cares about you."

I stepped back, shocked by the cruelty in her words. "You don’t know what you’re talking about."

Her full lips drew back into a tight, cold smile. "But I do." I followed her gaze across the room. She looked at Garrett with more than hatred. She looked at him like he’d stolen something from her.

"You’re the one," I whispered, realization crashing over me in waves. "You’re the one Lucas—"

"Stop it," she hissed, twisting around and catching my face with one hand and gripping my wrist with the other. "Don’t say another word."

"But he wants to help us, Ordina."

"That man doesn’t want to help anyone but himself." Her nails dug into the flesh around my chin.

"You’re hurting me." I tried to wrench my face away from her grasp, but she held firm.

"I want you to listen to me." She pulled me closer, so our noses were almost touching. "The Fratelli are not to be trusted. I don’t care how nice and good this one seems—that’s the kind of man they recruit. Sweet and aimless, with a strong moral compass and kind eyes."

I shook my head, tears filling my eyes. "Ordina," I repeated. "You’re hurting me."

But she didn’t let go. "Promise me you won’t lose yourself to him."