Page 91 of A Reckless Indulgence

Then Tidus turns the gun on Cav. “Because you are.”

Lyx’s mind stutters, repeating the phrase to make some sense of it.

“You won’t do it for me, of course,” Tidus admits. When he lowers his chin to his shoulder, there’s a vicious glint in his eyes. “Kiss her goodbye.”

The shell glows. Ice seeps through Lyx’s blood. The shell has never glowed for anyone else. She doesn’t know what that means, what Tidus expects to happen…

Until Cav turns to face her.

Something is wrong. His eyes are panicked, but then clouds drift across his gaze like fog over the sea. There is no emotion any longer. He grabs her waist and presses his mouth to hers like it’s the last time.

Her head swims. “What are you doing?” she hisses and clutches at him, but it’s no use. He has one thought on his mind.

Tidus laughs in surprise, uncocking the gun and stuffing it back into his waistband. “Now, Cavalier: burn the Indulgence to the ground.”

Unblinking, Cav releases Lyx and moves toward the ship.

She struggles to hold onto him. “Cav! Stop!” She rushes in front of him, but it’s like fighting a rip current, the dead weight of his goal pushing him forward. He doesn’t hear her. He doesn’t see her. He’s possessed, a pirate locked inside her song.

“That’s not how it works,” she pants. She whirls back to Tidus. “You can’t use my song. It’s impossible. You tried it before —”

“We just weren’t doing it right.”

We. Like the two of them are in this together. Like she wanted this. Her feet are filled with lead. She moves toward the ship, but it’s too late. Cav is already there. All she can do is watch when his lips part, fire billowing from his throat and spreading across the hull.

Tidus settles beside her. “I couldn’t be sure. The shell’s been acting strange since you saw him again. But in the boathouse, I knew.” Firelight bounces off his smile. “When I told him to stop, and the shell lit up, and he couldn’t move…” He whistles. “The song works. We just needed someone who wanted to hear it. Someone who’s in love with you.”

The fire spreads, eating up the sides of the ships and lighting the ropes.

Tidus cups his hands around his mouth. “Climb aboard, Cav!”

Mindlessly, Cav walks through the smoke toward the ladder. Lyx scrambles after him, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing will keep him from his goal. Wincing, she hangs all her weight on his wounded shoulder, but he barely flinches.

“Stop him!” she begs. “Call him back!” Desperately, she pries his fingers from the rungs, but he’s so determined. He has only one thought. One desire. One purpose.

A flaming rope falls and singes her shoulder. She jumps back, watching the fire spread onto a bag of mollusks. It slowly consumes the shells, making them hiss and scream until the fire catches onto the next net.

“We can do so much with this!” Tidus calls.

Chaos clogs Lyx’s throat, followed by smoke billowing so thick she can no longer see Cav. She feels for the ladder hanging from the ship, but it crumples at her feet and burns through the last of her hope.

Her stomach heaves. She stumbles away from the ship and falls to her knees and tries not to retch. Her eyes burn, but she can’t wipe away the tears. Behind the ship, flames dance dangerously close to the brush. At this rate, the Indulgence will burn to ash, and then the fire will eat across the rest of the island. Everyone will die. Cav will die, if he hasn’t already.

Tidus watches it like it’s a beautiful sunset. With a sigh, he crouches beside her and offers his hand. “Come on. Let’s celebrate.”

Rage boils inside her. It lifts her onto her feet, slamming her into Tidus and knocking them both to the ground. They tumble over each other until he wrestles on top of her and strains to keep her pinned. “Do not fucking waste this! Think of what we could do. Look at what we’ve already done!”

Behind him, the Indulgence burns. Heat wafts over her body. It’s powerful, so much more powerful than one siren without her song.

“You could make a hundred people fall for you,” Tidus shouts. “A thousand. A whole fleet of pirates, desperate to serve. You’d never be hungry again!”

Her teeth grit. She knows where this is headed. She can’t go there again. She can’t. “Give me my song!”

Foolish, desperate hope lodges in her chest. Tidus got what he wanted. The Indulgence is burning and turning everything Heathen built to ash. The job is done. If she has her song, she can still save Cav. She can still —

Tidus gives her a pitying smile. “You know I can’t do that.”

Her body goes numb. She sinks out of herself and into a hole inside the earth. Deep down, she knew this was coming. She was foolish to believe anything else, but it was all she had. With her song, she could be free. She could be whole again. She could get back to the life she had before all of this. Back to the person she used to be.