Page 4 of A Reckless Indulgence

“I don’t want to hear it!”

The silence resonates. She doesn’t lunge for him again, but most shocking of all, she doesn’t dive into the ocean to make her escape. She just keeps her arms crossed, fingernails digging into her skin.

Cav can do nothing but catch his breath and reach for the oars. His shoulder throbs in protest, but he grits his teeth. It’s a mile to the wealthy island; he can push through the pain. It’s the least he can do.

Carefully, he begins to row. Despite the darkness, the two of them glow like beacons in hazy shades of blue and red. He’d forgotten her body could do that, as bioluminescent as a jellyfish, the light highlighting the tension between them. For a long time, there’s nothing but the sound of ocean waves until he can’t help but speak. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“I don’t care what you meant,” she hisses.

“I wasn’t trying to send hunters your way.”

“Oh, weren’t you?” Mockery thickens her voice, but her sharp tongue slices through it. “You washed up in my grotto, and I kept you alive. Senselessly. And how do you thank me?” Her fists tighten like she wants another swing at him. “By telling the first port you land in all about your adventure.”

Shame creeps Cav’s neck. “That’s not —”

“Spare no details, Cavalier. You certainly didn’t then.”

The boat drifts on the tide. Cav tries to row again, but he sucks in a breath when his shoulder spasms.

Lyx’s gaze jerks toward it.

“It’s fine,” he insists.

She ignores him, snatching the oars and jamming them into the water. “And I knew better.” She puts all her strength into rowing, like it’s the only way to escape him. “Of course you sent hunters after us. Of course you told them exactly what to look for. Just like a fucking pirate.”

Cav wants to argue, but how can he? No matter what he intended, she’s right. The only reason hunters found the siren hive was because Cav made that fucking map. Because he was careless with it. Because he couldn’t stop searching.

“Really, it’s my fault,” Lyx sneers. “Perhaps I was too vague. Should I have sworn you to secrecy? Should I have specifically requested that you not pinpoint our location? Silly me. Here I was thinking I’d been clear when I made you promise never to return.” Her eyes spark humorlessly. “At least you followed one command.”

He bites his cheek until it throbs. “What happened to the rest of the sirens?”

“Vanished. Captured. Killed.” She slaps the oars into the water. “Take your fucking pick.”

Cav rests his elbows on his knees. Sirens have been the mythical monsters of sailing stories for as long as he can remember, but he never wanted to harm them. Hell, he wasn’t even sure they were real until he washed ashore in Lyx’s cave. Now, he’s played a part in their destruction.

“I am truly sorry.” He wrings his hands. “For what little it’s worth.”

“It’s not worth little.” Lyx shakes her head bitterly. “It’s worth nothing. You might as well be proud of yourself. At least I could respect that.”

Cav’s mouth falls open. “I’m not proud.”

There’s no use fighting it. He could never grasp the siren notion that any pain is good, that they would seek discord to their own detriment.

A cloud crosses over the moon. Cav scratches his claws against the side of the boat. “Is that how you ended up with Roderick?”

“That’s right…” Lyx takes out her renewed fury on the paddles. “Yet another thing you ruined for me.”

“He’s a bad guy.”

“I’m supposed to take your word for it?”

“He spiked your drink!”

“I know!” The oars slice through the water. “I had it under control. Everything was fine until you showed up.” She leans back, putting her full weight behind the rowing. “Is this what you do now? Sneak onto fancy ships and toss their guests overboard?”

“That guest pulled some shit on our pleasure ship.” Cav winces when the tender skin under his eye pulls taut. It’ll be swollen tomorrow. A small price to pay for how he fucked this up. “I was taking care of business.”

The oars stall as Lyx looks up at him. “You work on the Indulgence? For Heathen?”