My heart ached for the pain he must’ve suffered in the Vellanian prison. But the life I’d dreamed of with him was in the past. He was still as handsome—if anything, the new scars added to his rugged appeal—but I’d given my whole heart to another and knew I’d never get it back.
He stood, tugging the top of his trousers where they’d slipped down his trim hips. “Have all your faculties returned?”
I nodded.
“Excellent.” He grabbed a leather jerkin from the back of one of the dining chairs and slipped his arms through the sleeves. “I’ll give you some time to pack your things, but be quick. The tide will be turning soon, and I’d hate to waste yet another day on this cursed island.”
He couldn’t be serious. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” In what world would I agree to run off with a man I barely knew?
I almost laughed.
Hadn’t I been willing to do exactly that only a few years ago?
He fiddled with the collar of his shirt until it laid flat and then ran a hand through his unruly curls. “We had a bargain, you and me. Do you remember what we promised one another before I sailed away?”
Tendrils of icy dread slithered around my throat.
We had a bargain…
When I’d promised to join Caden on his ship, I hadn’t known he was a bloody fae. I’d mistaken the flare of heat I felt when he’d held my hand as excitement. Had he truly bound me to my promise to leave?
A passage in the book Rían had given me about bargains sprang to mind. I hadn’t wanted to read the thing, but since I’d had little else to entertain me, I’d scoured the text from cover to cover. The exact wording of a bargain could present any number of loopholes. The problem was, I couldn’t recall the terms of our agreement. “What did I promise?”
The corner of his lips lifted into a crooked smile. “I promised to come back for you, and in return, you promised to leave Airren aboard my ship.”
No.
I’d only been eighteen. I wasn’t the same woman. I wasn’t even human anymore. There must be some way out of this.If I promised to leave Airren aboard the ship, then perhaps the moment we sailed away, I could leap into the water and swim to shore.That was assuming I could get away from him long enough to escape. Perhaps I could appeal to his softer side, if it still existed after all these years. “Please, Caden. You cannot make me come with you.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Cast me as your villain, it matters not. Come hell or high water, I vow here and now to save you from yourself.”
What was it with these bloody men? I didn’t need to besaved. I needed to be left alone. “If you make me do this, I will never forgive you.”
His lips pursed as he considered, but the moment he opened his mouth, despair flooded my chest. “And I’ll never forgive myself if I let you stay. Aveen, the man you’re involved with is a monster. He judges without mercy, kills without a second thought.” Caden gestured toward the white-capped waves beyond the window. “Tales of his terrible deeds have reached all the way to Iodale and beyond. He is the stuff of myths and legends, the monster creeping in the shadows, an instrument of the Phantom Queen.”
Rían may have been all those things before, but he’d changed. “He doesn’t even want me anymore,” I said. “He’s in love with someone else.”
That gave him pause. “I saw the way he looked at you that day in Graystones.”
“How? How did he look at me?” How pathetic and desperate did I sound? Searching for confirmation from my enemy.
Sighing, Caden shook his head and said, “The same way I do.” He collected his tricorn hat from the hook beside the door.
He hadn’t seen Rían with Leesha. Didn’t understand their history.
I would find a way out of this. I would. But to do that, I’d need time to think.
Slowly, I rose, my legs unsteady beneath me as if we were already aboard his ship. “My sister is getting married. I cannot miss the wedding. Please, Caden. Give me that much. I am begging you. I love her more than anyone in this world. Let me celebrate with her, see her happy before I leave forever.”
He settled his hat over his curls and blew out a breath, his brown eyes narrowing as he seemed to consider whether I was lying. “When is the wedding?”
“Saturday.”
“I will come for you the day after—”
That was too soon. I needed more time. “Danú ceremonies last for days.” I had no clue if that was true or not, but he didn’t call me out on the lie. Some human weddings lasted entire weekends, so it wasn’t unfathomable for a prince’s wedding to last even longer.
His lips rolled together as he considered. “No. The Sunday after she is wed, I will be waiting for you at the port in Hollowshade.” His expression hardened. “Do not try and test me, Aveen. I always get what I want.”