“Because if I’m right, I most certainly do have information you want.”
Kelia did not want to believe him, but there was something in his eyes that told her he was not lying.
“And I’ll gladly give it to you,” he continued. “For a price.”
“I cannot release you,” Kelia said. She was surprised by how regretful her tone was, but chalked it up to wanting the information he had.
“I do not want that,” he replied. “I want a ring. A red ring.”
“A red ring?”
“It belongs to someone important to me.” He shrugged. “I have gone through many hardships in order to acquire it, and I have nothing to show for it, save for a new life—or death, I should say. You don’t have to listen to me, but you and I both know they aren’t going to tell you how your father really died.” He stopped, as if savoring the moment. “Why would they do that, when they’re the ones who killed him?”
Kelia clenched her teeth. “You lie,” she said, though her voice didn’t sound as convinced as she thought she was.
“Find me the ring, and I’ll tell you how I know,” he said. “Or, if you rather, talk to Drew Knight. He knows the true nature of The Society.”
“Talk to Drew Knight?” she asked, scoffing. “Just like that?”
The Infant raised his eyebrows. “Or find the ring.”
“And where would I find either?” Kelia dared to breathe out loud.
“If I knew where the ring was, I wouldn’t need your help,” he snapped. “I just know The Society has it somewhere. Rycroft. He knows. I also know Drew Knight is easier to find than the ring. You might want to start with him.”
Kelia arched an eyebrow, waiting.
“Find his whore,” the Infant said. “Dark hair, dark eyes. You’ll know her when you see her. There’s something otherworldly about her.”
Kelia should not be considering something so stupid, but this was important. The ring might be a safer item to search for than an infamous Sea Shadow such as Drew Knight, but Kelia needed answers fast. No matter what the danger to get them.
Chapter 7
It did not take long for Kelia to track the whore the Infant had mentioned to a local tavern in the middle of the seaside district. There was an eerie glow to her gold eyes when she saw Kelia approach, as though she had been waiting for Kelia’s appearance the whole time.
Kelia swallowed, but nothing would moisten her throat. Why was she looking at her, like she knew Kelia was going to find her? Why were her painted red lips coiled into a small smirk?
“I’ve been waiting for you, Slayer,” she said. Her accent was foreign, though it did sound Spanish; a beautiful melody that seemed familiar, but that Kelia had never heard before. She reminded Kelia of a siren, luring unsuspecting victims—both men and women, though men were much more susceptible than their female counterparts—with their voices, then feeding on their flesh.
Kelia glanced around. No one here knew who she was, and that was what she preferred. She did not need some whore to expose her secrets, though how this woman had expected Kelia was unfathomable to her. She had never met this woman in her life, did not know her from Adam. Yet, there was something that told her this whore had allowed herself to be found on purpose.
Why would she want to be found?
“Oh?” Kelia asked, responding to the bait in the woman’s tone. “You’ve been expecting me?”
“I see you are much more beautiful than you are clever,” the whore responded without missing a beat. “How is that working out with your tasks as a Slayer?”
“Could you keep it down?” Kelia asked in a harsh whisper.
The woman’s lips quirked in smile. “So you are a Slayer,” she whispered.
“I never said—”
“And you want to see Drew Knight, correct?” the whore asked. She raised an eyebrow to emphasize her question, but the expression on her face said she already knew the answer. “You want to meet with him? He would like to meet with you.”
Kelia’s mouth went dry once more. How could Drew Knight want to meet with her, let alone know who she was?
“I’m sorry?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, young thing,” the whore said, taking in Kelia from head to toe. “Drew Knight knows it was you who captured that Infant. He wants to meet the only Slayer ever to do something so incredibly…stupid…and survive to tell the tale.”
Kelia clenched her teeth to refrain from saying something stupid. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed this whore to take her to Drew Knight. She had no idea if his intent was to harm her, but if it meant solving what happened to her father, she would risk it.
“Will he harm me?” Kelia asked, despite herself.
The whore’s smile grew. “Would you trust my answer to that question?”
Kelia nearly shrugged. “I had to ask,” she muttered.
The whore’s dark eyes danced with amusement. “I think I like you, Slayer,” she said. “You’re not like the others, are you?”
Kelia was not sure how to respond to that. Instead, she glanced away, sighing through her nose. Waiting.
“Come with me,” the whore said, beckoning Kelia with a flick of her wrist. “Drew Knight is expecting you.”
Kelia pushed her feet forward. The night was cool, the moon high, giving the roads an eerie glow. There was a slight breeze that lifted stray strands of hair from her shoulders, and she shivered because of the cold. Her entire body was tense; she wasn’t certain if this was a trap, if the Infant was someone important to Drew Knight and he wanted revenge for her capturing him. The Infant had sent her to Drew Knight specifically, so they must be aware of one another.
That, or he was extracting his own type of revenge by getting her to Drew Knight, who would no doubt kill her.
The whore led her through the roads of Port George until they were in a more rural part of the island. Kelia took in her surroundings with wide eyes. She had never been to this part of the island before. Thick brush nearly blocked their paths. Tall trees with thick trunks and protruding leaves offered shade during the hottest of days, but now, at night, offered nothing but Shadows and dark omens.
Kelia tensed her muscles to keep from walking into the whore, who stepped with both grace and confidence, as if she knew exactly where she was going and didn’t need any help from anyone. For a moment, Kelia envied that confidence, that grace. She never thought a whore could possess such traits, but she realized it’d been a silly assumption. Whores were still people, even strange ones with beautiful voices and seemingly supernatural abilities.
They emerged from the patch of island brush, then stumbled upon a private beach of white sand and steady water. Kelia’s eyes widened. She had never known about this place, assuming the only docks were the public or the fortress ones.
These were older, likely hadn’t been used in a long while. Maybe not for an entire century, if that.
Kelia blinked. Damn. She’d lived her entire life on this island, but knew absolutely nothing about it. Besides the few trips she went on for The Society, she had never been out of the town. Never explored the island. She felt ignorant. And more than that, she felt closed-off. Inexperienced.
“It’s quite something, is it not?” the whore asked. “You should see it in the sunlight.”
At that moment, Kelia noticed a looming ship on the horizon of the water, nearly camouflaged in the black night. It was bigger than any of the ships The Society possessed. She could hear the loud snapping of the crimson-colored jolly roger in the wind. The sea, however, while dark and ominous, was still and quiet.
“It’s night,” Kelia murmured, her voice piercing the crisp cold in a fog. “Is Drew Knight on that ship? Why wouldn’t he be on land?”
The whore glanced at Kelia with a small smile on her face. “You ask a lot of questions, Slayer,” she murmured. “Perhaps Drew Knight will answer them for you himself.”
Before long, their feet hit the sand. It was difficult for Kelia to trudge through d
ue to the simple slippers on her feet, but she managed without complaint. There, roped to a mast in the water, was a singular rowboat. Kelia’s mouth dropped open in realization. They were going to row to Drew Knight’s ship. The distance was not that far, in retrospect, but it left Kelia vulnerable to attacks, both by Shadows and by the ever-changing and always-present sea.
“You do this each time you come to land?” Kelia asked as she helped the whore remove the rope and settle the boat on the surface of the ocean.
“You realize, Slayer, that in the hour I’ve led you here, you have not once asked for my name?” she remarked, raising a curious brow.
Kelia dropped her hand into the ocean, letting the cold water press against her skin while averting her gaze. She did not like to admit it, but the whore was right. She had been rude. However, in Kelia’s defense, it was difficult to wrap her head around the fact she was associating with someone who was on familiar terms with a Sea Shadow. And not just any Sea Shadow, but Drew Knight.
Her eyes narrowed as she took in the dark sea, the grey sky. The waves barely moved. It was almost eerie, so different from two nights ago when it was turbulent and demanding and nearly killed her while saving her a beat later.
“What’s your name?” Kelia asked, reaching for the oars.
The whore smiled. “Emma,” she said. She pushed Kelia’s hands out of the way. “You’ll be rowing a lot. I can do it this once for you.”
“You think I’ll be meeting with Drew Knight on a consistent basis?” Kelia asked, leaning back in her seat and furrowing her brow.
“I think Drew Knight has valuable information,” Emma responded. There was power in her arms, power an outsider would not notice. Power Kelia did not notice until now. There was something inside Kelia, something that said that, perhaps, there was more to this whore than met the eye. “If you’re a clever Slayer, you will not waste this opportunity to learn as much as you can from him.”
Kelia said nothing. She had no idea why Emma would think she would even believe Drew Knight with any of the information he chose to bestow. And that was if he did not require anything from her in return.
Nor did she find it wise to meet with him any more than necessary. Preferably not again beyond this once.
Sea Shadows, unlike Infants, seemed to find a way back to some semblance of their humanity. They had more self-control, and they could carry conversations. But they were still Sea Shadows. They were still dangerous. They would still kill a human for a meal.
Kelia would be wise to remember that.
When they reached the ship, Emma tossed the rope overhead. Someone grabbed it and tied it to the ship, giving it a stability that allowed both women to climb up the ladder to the deck.
And there, standing at his full height, was the most beautiful thing Kelia Starling had ever seen in her entire life. Drew Knight was not the tallest Sea Shadow she had ever encountered. He probably was not even six feet. But he was stocky, filled with muscle, and stunning. It was no wonder women fell at their feet around him, sacrificing good sense and pints of blood for his attention, for the chance to please him.
His pale skin somehow did not wash out his complexion. If anything, it looked natural, almost eerie in the moonlight. His short, dark hair—brown, Kelia saw, not black, like most speculated—was combed with every lock in place.
His dark eyes locked on Kelia, an unforgiving gaze that offered no warmth. His face was perfectly chiseled, like the statues in Greece and Rome Kelia had learned about in her studies. His cheekbones were high, his chin pointed. He wore a navy-blue overcoat with a white tunic underneath and black pantaloons tucked into brown boots.
He reminded Kelia of a gentleman, one Jennifer would have no trouble wooing and attempting to secure a proposal with. Not a Sea Shadow. He did not even have red-rimmed eyes, though that fact pointed to his age more than anything else.
“Kelia Starling,” Drew Knight said, her name rolling off his tongue. His voice was smooth but slightly slurred, as though he had been drinking. Odd, since alcohol had no effect on a Shadow’s countenance. It was a voice that was both haunting and beautiful and perhaps, should the occasion call for it, playful.
She could not imagine Drew Knight being playful. Not when he appeared so stoic. She found it odd he did not lunge for her. Was he not a monster who could not control himself? Was that not what The Society insisted Shadows were? Perhaps he was a different kind of Shadow—perhaps this was the explanation for the Sightless, the ones who had relationships with Sea Shadows and were punished for it.
“So you’re the Slayer who managed to kidnap an Infant,” he continued, snapping her out of her reverie.
“I am.” She felt a pull inside of her, one that left her unaware of what to do. She was surprised by how badly she wanted to look away, how badly she wanted to avoid those eyes. But he held her gaze within his like he had cast some spell over her.
“You’re a slip of a thing,” he said. Kelia was not certain if that was supposed to be a compliment. His gaze raked up and down her body before stopping at her face once again. “You are a girl.”
Kelia refrained from telling him she was nearly eighteen. Let him think what he wanted.
He wrinkled his brow. “Why are you here?”
“Why haven’t you killed me?” Kelia asked.
“Is that why you’re here?” His lips curled into a delicious smirk, and Kelia’s heart skipped a beat, even as it pounded against her chest. Each beat seemed to remind her that she was standing in front of Drew Knight, the Sea Shadow who was more powerful than all Sea Shadows save for the Queen. “You’d like me to kill you? Do you think the death I give will be blissful? That you’ll drift off into an erotic slumber, never to wake again?”
Kelia’s mouth went dry at his diction. Erotic slumber? Her insides shifted and twinged, and his grin only widened, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. She nearly growled in frustration.
“I only ask because I’m a Slayer,” she said, as though it was obvious.
“Yet you are here, no weapon at your side,” Drew said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Either you are acting in good faith because you require my assistance, or you are ridiculously stupid. Either way, you are not a typical Slayer.”
“And I suppose that makes you an atypical Sea Shadow simply because you have not killed me?” Kelia asked, arching an eyebrow. She was glad her voice did not tremble.
Drew Knight’s smile widened, and those brown eyes that had once been so cold lit up with amusement. Kelia shifted her gaze away from him, out to the bleak horizon. She did not like the way those eyes and that smile were affecting her body, causing her heart to jump and her stomach to melt. Things like that only happened around potential suitors—and Drew Knight was anything but.
“Why are you here, Slayer?” he asked, placing his hands behind his back and walking over to her in long, elegant strides. Though he did not possess the height she’d been certain he had, he had presence that commanded power. It was hard not to look at him at all, harder still since he was so beautiful.
“I assumed you might already know,” she countered, “seeing that you were expecting me.”
At this, Drew’s fangs began to extend, but just as quickly, they snapped back into place. “I don’t know everything, Ms. Starling. If you want my help, you’ll need to speak.”
Kelia wanted to argue, but that would have been petty and immature. Instead, she took a breath.
“My father is dead, Mr. Knight,” she told him, leveling her gaze with his. It was easier to speak to him than she initially expected, and it required little to no effort to keep her voice steady. Thank goodness. “The Society is telling me that he committed suicide, but I…” She shook her head, not liking that she was admitting to a Shadow that she did not fully believe what The Society told her. “But I do not think that. I think he was murdered.”
Drew quirked an eyebrow, but did nothing save move his hands from his back to cross them across his broad chest.
“A Slayer questioning The Society?” he asked. He did not keep the amusement from affecting his tone.
Kelia shifted her weight and clenched her jaw. “If you are merely here to laugh at me, I can go elsewhere,” she snapped.
Drew chuckled. “Calm down, Slayer,” he told her. “You need to control your emotions lest you want to end up dead. Or worse.” He glanced over at Emma, who gave him a smirk Kelia could not read. “And,” he continued, moving his attention back to her, “you came to me because…?”
Kelia clenched her teeth once more. The more she continued to hold her words back, the more likely she was going to attain a heavy headache. However, her pride refused to budge, and as he continued to watch her with knowing brown eyes, she kept her mouth shut.
His lips curled up. “You need my help?” he guessed.
“I was sent here by your Infant,” Kelia snapped.
“My Infant?” Drew asked, blinking once. “I’ve never transformed a human into a Shadow. I would never condemn a human to such a fate.”
“That’s…” Kelia shook her head. “That’s what you do.”
“I think she means Christopher Beckett,” Emma murmured, preventing Drew from defending himself—if that was what he was going to do. “He sent her to you.”
Drew Knight paused, thinking. “I will help you, Slayer,” he said, “because, like you, I have had my suspicions about The Society for obvious reasons. In exchange, I want a favor from you. I do not yet know what it is, but you must give it to me when I ask, at any point in the future.”
Kelia wanted to say no. She didn’t want to be bound to someone like Drew Knight, especially for some unspecified favor. But he had information she would never attain on her own. If she wanted to solve her father’s murder, she would have to do this.
“Do we have an accord?” he asked, pushing up his brow. She hated the arrogant sparkle dancing in those dark eyes, as though he knew she didn’t have a choice.
Kelia clenched her teeth, nodding.
His lips curled up even further, revealing a glimmer of his pristine white fangs. “Then I look forward to working with you,” he murmured in that smooth, velvet voice, “Kelia Starling.”
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