Page 78 of A Reckless Indulgence

She can’t give anything away. Encountering another siren isn’t simple. It’s a deadly game, and Lyx is at a disadvantage. Her body tunes to Sinoe’s. The tide of Sinoe’s being laps at her ankles, and Lyx wants to step deeper into it.

Sinoe senses it. She keeps her eyes on Lyx when she speaks to Cav. “You’re the pirate who ran your mouth, aren’t you? The one who sent the hunters our way. Couldn’t stop bragging about the siren you found, huh?”

“I wasn’t bragging.”

Sinoe’s gaze scrapes to his like a fork across a plate. “Then how did your friends know exactly where to find us?”

“They weren’t –” He exhales, eyes slipping shut under an invisible weight. “I made a map. It took days figuring out where I’d been, looking through all the books we had on board. I kept the map on me, because I didn’t want anyone else to find it, but in the end…” He swallows. “I wasn’t careful enough. I didn’t realize it was missing until I’d spent a full day in port making trades. It must have slipped out of my pocket, or —”

“A map?” Sinoe seethes. “Why the fuck would you do that?” She edges viciously toward him. “You wanted the hive all to yourself, is that it? You thought you’d make a killing?”

“Of course not!”

“What, then?”

His gaze is soft and warm on the back of Lyx’s neck. Her skin prickles with goosebumps. Deep down, she always knew. She always hoped, even when she knew she shouldn’t. No matter how foolish, she wanted Cav to return to her. For her. That was her wish when she saw the ship sailing toward her grotto. That was her dream when she was trapped with Tidus and had nothing else to hold onto.

But it doesn’t matter. Even if Cav had been trying to get back to her, nothing has changed. Lyx was still captured. The sirens were still scattered. She still lost her song.

Sinoe’s cruel laugh cuts through the air. “Oh, you poor thing; you’re not the first to be left unrequited.”

She pouts at Cav, but an unchecked emotion crosses Lyx’s face. Sinoe latches onto it, and Lyx tries to reel it back, but it’s too late.

“He is spoken for.” Sinoe’s head tilts in disbelief. Her finned ears twitch. “Not just a plaything?”

Lyx’s mouth clamps shut. She can’t look at Cav. She wants to lock him away in some tower out of Sinoe’s grasp, but Sinoe’s scales brighten when she taps this new vein of chaos.

Lyx tries to deflect. “Where are the others?”

Sinoe’s teeth snap around the turbulence, like a snake about to unhinge its jaw. “Who cares?”

Lyx clenches. She can’t leave Sinoe’s attention on Cav. Who knows what she’ll find. What she’ll do to him. What Lyx will have to face? She grapples for something else, anything else. “What about Mollo?”

That steals Sinoe’s attention, drawing her gaze back to Lyx. “She’s been missing since you left. I thought you might’ve killed her.”

It’s strange to hear. All this time, Lyx has imagined destroying Mollo, but what if she’s already gone? Lyx never considered that. Something unsettles in her chest, and she’s not sure if it’s grief or rage or relief.

Curiosity peaks on Sinoe’s face. “Why would you be looking for her?”

Dammit. Lyx has shown her hand. She worries the inside of her cheek, but she refuses to be cowed. There’s a way to give Sinoe something without revealing everything, a way to satisfy her appetite without giving her a feast. “She stole something from me.”

“Stole what?”

She’s brazen to hope Lyx would divulge so easily when every word between them is a snare, but Lyx moves deftly around them. “She sold it to the highest bidder. Now I’m going to take it back.”

Sinoe’s fingernails clack together. There’s no telling if she believes it. No doubt Sinoe wants more, but this is a dance they both learned the steps to long ago. Sinoe twists her mouth, mulling over Lyx’s words and trying to pick out the lie between her teeth.

Lyx doesn’t flinch.

Eventually, Sinoe’s eyes narrow. “Well. I certainly hope no one else gets there first.”

Is it a threat? A warning? Lyx can’t begin to guess which, because Sinoe steps forward. Lyx moves in front of Cav, but Sinoe doesn’t go for him. Instead, she reaches out to twirl a strand of Lyx’s hair around her finger.

“Ditch the pirate,” Sinoe purrs. “There’s more out there than ships and islands. There’s an entire world you’ve never seen.” She leans closer, whispering like when the two of them were children. “Buildings as tall as the continental drop-off. A kingdom in the clouds. Everything you could want in the palm of your hand.”

Lyx can’t picture it. She’s lost in some strange feeling, a sandbar stretched between opposing currents. One side crashes and roils with waves, but the other is bright with memories. Both sides are Sinoe.

“None of them are prepared for what sirens can do. All that chaos ripe for the taking.” Sinoe presses their foreheads together, their eyes locked in a vicious embrace. Her voice lowers to an almost-desperate whisper. “Come with me.”