Page 94 of A Reckless Indulgence
“I did.” Cav’s admission stuns Cypher and Heathen. Lyx’s fingers curl around his wrist, but he doesn’t take it back.
Cypher’s head shakes slowly. “You wouldn’t do that.” Her eyes dart toward Lyx. “Not without someone else pulling the strings.”
“I told you — it was me!” Cav limps in front of Lyx. “She didn’t do this. She didn’t cause it.”
“She’s the only one with that kind of power!”
“Cypher…” Heathen warns.
Cypher throws up her hands. “If she used her song on you, you’d do anything she wanted. Anything!” A wild thought crosses her mind. “Was she — was she working with him? Is that who she’s been meeting?”
The beach falls silent. Heathen opens her mouth, but when she looks at Lyx, it snaps shut again.
Cav steps forward. “N-”
“Yes.” Lyx’s voice is certain and strong. Cav didn’t expect her to admit it amidst all the hostility. Clearly, neither did Cypher, whose eyes are wide as dinner plates. “I knew him as Tidus.” Lyx glances at Heathen. “He captured me after he broke off from you. Within a couple of years, his crew fell apart, and he wanted revenge. That’s why I needed a spot on your ship. To spy on your business. To find out how you collected pleasure.”
“I fucking knew it,” Cypher spits.
“He was — blackmailing her!” Cav’s lip curls, the spikes along his spine flaring. “He tried — to kill her!”
Lyx smooths a hand down his back. “I admit, I told Tidus about the pearls, but I tried to turn his attention elsewhere. That’s why I left your ship this morning.”
Cypher scoffs. “Clearly, it didn’t work.”
“He wanted to — destroy everything!” Cav growls, but his voice gives out. It takes a long moment before he can speak again. Slowly. “He was…going to burn…the whole island down. Lyx…brought us here. She saved everything.”
Cypher’s mouth twists. Heathen’s voice is slow and methodical. “How did Tidus control you? With your song, couldn’t you force him to do whatever you please?”
Lyx’s hand flutters toward her throat, but it drops quickly. She wets her lips before she speaks. “He had my song. That’s why I couldn’t leave him.” She gestures toward the still-smoldering nets. “That’s why Cav started the fire. He had no choice. Tidus used my song to command him.”
The memories of it become more familiar. Cav’s mind was trapped in his body like a puppet on a string, nothing like the time Lyx used her song on him in the grotto. That felt like divine guidance; tonight felt like a parasite taking over.
Cypher’s eyes narrow. “How did you stop him?”
Lyx searches the ground, moving a few paces away and returning with fragments of a spiral shell. It’s large and crusted with barnacles, much like Tidus had been. Lyx holds the pieces out, but her fingers curl like she wants to cradle them. “I destroyed it.”
Cav sucks in a breath. He knew she’d stopped Tidus, but he didn’t know how.
Heathen reaches for the shell. “That’s where he kept it? Your song?” She looks at the shells scattered around them, burnt and broken husks. Heathen clears their throat and averts their eyes. “I’m afraid…I may have played a part in your capture.”
Lyx stiffens.
“I’m not sure how, exactly,” Heathen explains. “But that shell looks like one of mine. We tried different containers for collecting pleasure: bottles, dice, barrels. Seashells were the first breakthrough. Once the mollusks produced pearls, we set the other shells aside.”
Lyx’s glare is hot. “Who’s ‘we’?”
Heathen’s mouth presses into a thin line. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Is that who the letter in your desk was from?”
Heathen blanches. Cypher looks surprised. Cav can’t help but be a little impressed, leaning toward her to whisper. “You were in — Heathen’s office?”
“The shells,” Heathen interjects, “reside on a small island. It’s remote. I assure you, no one would have willingly provided the shells to Tidus. To anyone.”
“But could someone have stolen them?” Lyx asks. “If someone swam up to shore, could they take what they wanted?”
“They would need a ship to get there.” Heathen’s eyes narrow on a strange, new thought. “Most people would need a ship. And that would surely be spotted.”
