Siren - Hazel Grace Page 0,24
already looking in my direction.
“Back again?” he snides, continuing to wash his body without shame.
I mean, he shouldn’t be, he’s beautiful. But I came here for an entirely different reason, and I was going to follow through with it.
The moment I walk further into the room, he smirks, his presumptuous attitude getting the best of him. I see broad and tawny chests all the time, but it’s his facial hair that has me intrigued, to know what kind of scars he carries under it.
“Figured you’d come back sooner or later,” he continues.
I roll my eyes. He doesn’t see it, but regardless he’s a bother. I’m hoping my plan of letting him free to roam the castle works. He might open up to me more, form a bond or trust me, although, I don’t think he does that very often. He appears to be a man of honor, and the enemy is anyone who isn’t like him.
A warrior.
A Viking,
A human.
Standing a few feet away, I’m already on the defense waiting for him to make a sudden, misguided move to attack me again. His chains rhythmically rattle as he moves his hands around his body to bathe, but his eyes stay locked on me.
Showing me he’s just as suspicious of me as I am of him.
“What do you want now, Blood? I told you I’m not going to talk.”
Hesitantly, I reach for his wrist, and surprisingly, he lets me take it. His skin is raw, caked in blood while the rest washes away with the water.
“Are you going to try and seduce me, too? What are you, sixteen?”
My eyes dart up to his and narrow. I’m a Princess of Lacuna, and he’s going to respect me if I have to make him bow just to be petty.
“Seventeen?”
I lock my jaw, my temper starting to rise.
“I think we’re pushing it with eighteen, Princess,” he admits.
This...I bite my tongue, holding off the next words that want to filter into my head.
His insults aren’t going to get me to break. A prideful man who likes to tease and berate women isn’t the worst thing I’ve dealt with in my life.
Reaching up into my hair, I find one of my small barrettes. He watches me intently as I place it inside the small lock of his chains.
“That isn’t going to do anything,” he contests. “You need a key.”
I ignore him. He doesn’t know anything.
About me.
About what I’m capable of.
About what I need to know to protect myself and my family.
We’re becoming a rare species, many of us have died due to lack of food from the fishermen and pirates excessive fishing.
“Why are you helping me?” he gripes, sounding ungrateful.
Surprising.
I bet if someone offered him a meal while he was starving, he’d reject it because he didn’t hunt it himself. I’m amazed he’s been eating here, but it’s more than likely to keep his strength up to escape.
Back to ignoring him, I continue to work the lock, looking for the pressure point to be able to twist and open it.
His hand clasps my chin, and I flinch backward. “Hey.”
His fingers still grip my face. My defense starts to build, heat starts rising from inside my body as his flesh fuels that energy.
He’s going to try to hurt me again.
“Why are you helping me?” he repeats, softer this time. “Traitors never end up safe in the end, Blood. They’ll kill you.”
I perk a brow. If he’s speaking about my sisters, they can get upset, but there is no way he’s getting off this island alive. I have soldiers everywhere, courtesy of my father and sisters, and my sea friends, AKA sharks, surround the island as we speak.
He won’t make it one league before he becomes shark bait.
He releases me, taking a step back as his height looms over me. “You better think long and hard about this.”
I have—thought about it for a whole five minutes, made sure the ocean was secure, and that he had a room for himself with a bed.
One step and I’m inches away from him again, taking his wrist and starting all over with the lock. He remains silent for the first time in my presence, which I’m betting is a rare occurrence.
The clads of one of his chains fall, thudding in a heap to the tiles.
This is my last chance to turn away, my conscience states. However, I’m left with no choice but the obvious.
He won’t speak like this.
He won’t address the issue of how he got through the veil if he’s locked