Kelia started to calm down. The tension in her body eased, and though she felt her eyes were strained and puffy, with tears and snot crusted to her nose and her cheeks, she was beginning to ease into the conversation with him. He might have been distracting her for his own selfish purposes, but she appreciated the gesture. It was not as though she wanted to be a blubbering fool in front of Drew Knight, but she could not help herself. Her guard was down when she was around him, and that was not a good thing.
“To be honest, I have not thought about the Autumn Festival,” she murmured, her throat raw. She wished she had a glass of water to smooth down the edges.
Drew raised a disbelieving brow. “You are one of the few females who is not very aware of how the Autumn Festival could potentially help or hinder your future,” he told her, his voice low. “It is your only opportunity to socialize within The Society.”
Kelia shrugged. “I have never been one for socializing,” she murmured. “My father taught me how to dance, not to win over a partner but to help with my balance. I do not intend to attend if I do not have to. It is not something I like to participate in.”
“What?” Drew asked, a gentle smile tilting his lips up. “Joy and merriment?”
“I suppose it would sound rather bitter if I said there is no point in celebrating something when my father is gone,” she said, lifting her gaze to rest on his. “The world seems to carry on so easily without him, and here I am, stuck in this odd passage of time, one foot in the present, one foot in the past, trying to merge both worlds together so they make sense.”
Before Kelia could drop back into her despair, Drew swept her in his arms and began to lead her around the deck of his ship as though it were a dance floor. She clung to him, surprised at his quick movements, his grace. She did not realize he knew how to dance. Though his steps were dated—he had been alive for at least a hundred years, if she remembered correctly—she managed to find her footing and keep up with him.
She was surprised to find she fell into step with him easily, her arm slid over his shoulder, her hand fitting nicely in his. She felt cared for in his grasp, as though he was not going to harm her, that he would not allow any harm to ever come to her. Another reiteration of her trust of him. She was not sure how she felt about it. She was not sure how she felt about him anymore. One day, she hated him. Another, she might…
She refused to entertain the thought.
He grinned, as if he knew what she was thinking. “I’m surprised you can keep up,” he murmured to her. “Do you remember when I told you that you had weapons that were a natural part of you?”
Kelia nodded, tilting her face up so she could level her gaze with his. “Yes,” she told him. “You still did not fully explain what that meant, you know.”
“This is a weapon,” he told her, nodding his head between them. “Dancing. Moving intimately with someone you clearly detest to achieve something that you want. Smiling is a weapon. Batting your pretty green eyes is a weapon. Revealing too much skin is a weapon. The way you move can be a weapon, if you were more graceful, more seductive. Females, especially beautiful ones, possess valuable weapons you should be familiar with. You would get whatever it is you want if you only knew how to use them.”
Was he calling her beautiful? No, she didn’t think so. Kelia knew she could be pretty if she tried, but she was not the sort of woman who was beautiful. Her mother was beautiful. Jennifer was beautiful. Kelia did all right, but the standards of beauty society placed on females did not come naturally to her. And that was fine with her. She did not need to be beautiful to be happy. She did not need Drew Knight telling her she was beautiful to be happy.
More likely, Drew was telling her to use her body to get what she wanted, and that she did not like. A man would never have to do such a thing.
“That is not entirely true,” she murmured, her mind drifting to the Infant locked up in the fortress dungeon. “We have acquired an Infant—”
“I am aware,” Drew Knight replied.
“He knows things,” Kelia continued. “Things about The Society. He won’t tell me anything unless I get him a ring.”
This seemed to pique Drew’s interest. “A ring?” he questioned, sliding his arm further around her waist so they were closer, their bodies pressing against one another.
“A ring with rubies on it,” she said, her breath catching in her throat at Drew’s nearness. “Why? Do you know anything of it?”
“If Rycroft has trophies, he will display them like a hunter,” Drew muttered, his tone distasteful. “In his office.” He stopped dancing, but did not release her just yet. “If this Infant has information and will give you none of it until you get him this ring, and if this ring is in Rycroft’s possession, you will find it in his office.”
“You know more than you’re telling me,” Kelia said, narrowing her eyes.
“Aye,” he said. “But at least you know I know more. I am not hiding it from you.”
Kelia was not sure whether to be happy with this information or not. She decided it was the best she could expect from him and sighed.
“My father had a journal that was returned to me,” she told him in a soft voice. “You were right. About The Society being responsible for Sea Shadows. I am sorry I did not want to hear it.”
Drew stared at her for a long moment before dropping his eyes to her lips. Kelia felt her breath catch in her throat, but she could not speak. He might kiss her, and she might let him.
“I cannot blame you,” he finally said. “I hid something from you before. I understand why you did not trust me. I will not do it again. I may not tell you everything, but I will not lie and I will not hide it.”
Kelia nodded, easing out of his grip. She had to return to the fortress; she was exhausted. It was the best she could hope for regarding her conflicting relationship with Drew Knight.
Chapter 17
After she broke her fast, Kelia slipped out of the dining hall and headed to the dungeons. Her hand was in the pocket of her dress, feeling the ring in there, almost as though she was afraid she was going to lose it after finding it. She took in a deep breath, ignoring the echoes of her footsteps on the staircase. They were too loud, too telling.
To be honest, she could not believe she had been able to get in and out of Rycroft’s office so easily. Perhaps he was arrogant enough to think he would be safe, that no one would attempt to take anything from him. Perhaps he had too much trust in his Slayers, which caused a spurt of guilt to shoot through her. Regardless of how he treated her, regardless of her feelings about him, he was still her handler, and she did need to respect that as a Slayer.
Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she took in a deep breath. Guards would not be around for patrol for another hour. She had the time to deliver the ring and acquire the information she needed.
When she finally stepped in front of the Infant’s cell, he picked his head up and allowed a small smirk to take over his face. His eyes, still dark blue rimmed red, were sharp and aware, and his tall, broad body seemed tense but controlled. If this was an Infant, he still appeared capable. Logical. Completely unlike everything Kelia and her fellow Slayers were taught.
“You’re back,” he said. His tone seemed to hint that he was not surprised by this fact.
“I am,” Kelia agreed, Emma’s voice ringing in her ears. “What’s your name, Infant?”
The Infant’s smirk only deepened. “Is that what you call me?” he asked. “Is that what you call my kind? Recently turned Sea Shadows?”
Kelia pressed her lips together but did not respond.
“I suppose I should be flattered you care enough to actually ask,” he continued. “It’s Christopher Beckett. I was a captain in the navy before all of this.”
Kelia nodded once. The ring felt cool against her fingers. She did not know if she should continue with this, if she should actually give him the ring. What if it had magical tendencies? What if it was charmed? What if there was a reason he wan
ted that ring?
What was she thinking. Of course there was a reason he wanted it. And that should concern her.
What if it made him more powerful? What if it was not a ruby at all but a jewel filled with blood that seeped into his blood system through skin transfer and—
She stopped herself right there. She was getting ahead of herself, and probably overthinking this.
“Tell me why you want the ring,” Kelia said, narrowing her eyes on his face to try to read it as best as she could. She took a step closer to the cell.
His smirk disappeared. “You possess it?”
“Tell me why you want the ring,” she repeated, more firmly this time. Her eyes flashed to his with a steely resolve that should tell him she would not be swayed to reveal her hand without first getting the information she desired. “And be honest.”
“It belongs to someone important to me,” Christopher said. His blue eyes continued to assess her, as though he were trying to figure out where she had it on her person.
“Belongs?” Kelia asked, picking up on his choice of fiction immediately. “As in, present tense?”
“Do you possess the ring, Slayer?” he asked through gritted teeth, his eyes finding hers once more. Instead of the playful arrogance in his irises, there was impatience. Insistence. Whatever this ring was to him, it was clearly important. Which meant the person—no doubt a lover—was also important.
“I’m the one asking questions, Mr. Beckett,” Kelia said. “I promise you, I will tell you what you want to know, but not before you do the same for me first. You are the one behind bars, sir.”
“Sir?” he questioned. “Mr. Beckett?” His eyes found the wall, and he nearly scoffed. “I have not heard such formalities in a long time. I am not sure if they are something I actually miss.”
“You were a gentleman before…” Kelia let her voice trail off rather than continue. She did not think it would be polite to finish, so she tightened her grip on the ring.
Frankly, she shouldn’t care one way or another about being polite to a Sea Shadow. Then again, she also never thought she would be working with one, be attracted to one.
Christopher lifted his gaze to hers once again as he leaned on the stone enclosure. “Yes,” he said. “I was. But things are different now.” He rubbed his hands together, as though he were trying to rid himself of the filth. “I was engaged to be married to the woman I loved, and I gave her the ring I asked you to retrieve for me. I believe your society has her in their possession as a way to get me to cooperate with them.”
Kelia had to bite her bottom lip to keep from speaking, squeezing the ring against her palm even harder. His words forced her to remember that The Society was responsible for the creation of Sea Shadows in the first place. She did not have evidence, save for a Shadow’s word and her father’s journal. But she was starting to believe there was something there, a grain of truth amongst sands of lies.
“What happened to you?” she found herself asking.
It was probably an inappropriate question. She did not know the laws of decorum regarding Sea Shadows, but then, he was probably too new to this life to know them either. Regardless, her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and since she’d already asked, she hoped for an answer.
“I was a fool then,” he told her, “and now I am a monster because of my ignorance.” He clenched his jaw so hard it popped. He stopped wiping his hands and dropped them to his sides. “I was engaged to be married. Everything was set. My commander needed me to retrieve cargo before my wedding with a small crew just a half a day away.
* * *
“I did not think much of it. I agreed because my head was filled with my fiancée and all the plans we had…” He started pacing up and down his cell, paying careful attention to the silver-coated bars.
Riveted by his story, Kelia gave him her utmost attention, not once doubting its validity. She didn’t know Christopher well, but his arrogance was a trait that seemed to be part of who he was, so when it vanished, she knew it was because he was serious about something. The way he spoke about this woman made it easy to believe just how much he loved her, how much he still loved her.
“We were attacked at night,” he continued. “By a monster. Monsters, I should say, since there was a crew of them. Their captain was a female with flaming red hair and ocean-blue eyes. My crew died instantly, but they brought me to her. I could swear she saw straight into my soul. She could see my weaknesses, all of my fears and vulnerabilities.” He stopped. “This crew were Sea Shadows, and for some reason, they targeted my small, insignificant cargo ship. It wasn’t until after I was transformed did I realize I had been set up. That everything happened according to plan.”
Kelia remembered what her father wrote. She remembered what Drew Knight told her. Was Christopher confirming with direct experience that The Society was the reason for his transformation?
The problem was, Christopher Beckett had never been a Slayer. He had no ties with them. Why would The Society want him as a Shadow?
Unless it wasn’t The Society at all.
“Elaborate,” she said slowly. “What makes you say this, think this?”
He shook his head, expression open, treating her as an equal rather than a silly little girl who did nothing except sew and work on her posture.
“I was dispatched to that mission because they wanted to kill me,” Christopher said. “I was marrying someone the East India Company did not approve of. They could not kill her, so they were going to kill me and make it look like a tragic accident.”
“Why could they not kill your fiancée?” Kelia loosened her grip on the ring.
She found it odd that he had phrased it that way. Had he said they would not kill her, it would have made much more sense, considering killing a dainty female would seem cruel and unnecessary. But he’d said they could not, as though they were unable to do such a thing.
Christopher’s eyes gleamed as though he admired her sharp ears.
“My fiancée is not someone you meet every day,” he said. “She is powerful, her lineage infamous now. I stumbled upon her store by accident, and I was instantly bewitched by her silly black hair and her dark eyes.” There was a fondness in his voice, though it was still stoic. “I am unsure as to whether I had always been their target or if they wanted me to get to her. Of course, she is also brilliant. She would not fall for such an easy trap.”
Kelia clenched her fists again. “You are not making any sense,” she told him, trying to curb her impatience. “Please give me a direct answer.”
Christopher’s lips quirked up, but he did not return to his usual self. There was still darkness in his blue eyes, reminding Kelia of the ocean that night she had been sent to arrest him. He stopped pacing so he could look at her.
“My fiancée is a very powerful woman, Slayer,” he said. “I knew that when I met her. Her family is infamous, as I have stated. I have yet to meet her brother, but I hear he is a force to be reckoned with. Even after I was turned, I came to find her. She had been taken by The Society.” His eyes flashed to her. “By you.”
“I know nothing of taking a woman into custody,” Kelia told him, her tone sincere.
“Of course you don’t,” he told her. He did not seem as though he were blaming her, either. “Why would they tell a peon about something like that when they are indoctrinating you into believing their truth? You believe Sea Shadows are monsters, and it is your God-given right to hunt us down to protect your fellow humans. The truth of the matter is The Society created us.” He paused, waiting for Kelia to react. Furrowing his brow, he said, “You do not seem surprised.”
“I have acquired similar information in my research,” she said, trying not to make it obvious where, exactly, she had gotten said information.
“Drew Knight,” Christopher said with a nod. “You’re speaking with Drew Knight. More than that, you’re believing what he tells you.”
Kelia narrowed her eyes. “Listen,” she told him, sliding o
ne hand in her pocket. She dropped the ring inside, giving her palm a small break. “I do have the ring you requested, but I cannot simply hand it over to you without acquiring something in return. You told me you would give me information if I found this ring. I found it. Now, please tell me what happened with my father.”
Christopher stared off in the distance for a moment, somewhere over her shoulder, then quickly snapped his attention back to her. “Let me see it,” he said, his gaze dropping to her arms. He focused in on the hand she still had in her pocket. “Prove to me you have it, and I will tell you everything you wish to know.”
Kelia swallowed. Her throat was still rough from the previous night, from her unexpected bout of tears. However, Kelia did not allow herself to be swept up in distractions as she had last night. Now she was focused on what she wanted, with every intention to do whatever it took to get that information.
Carefully, she took the ring between her fingers and slid it out of her pocket. She held it up for Christopher to inspect, to recognize the ruby ring, to recognize as his own, before quickly shoving it back. She was hasty in her movements, afraid she was going to drop it, afraid he was going to somehow acquire it from her before she could receive anything in return.
Christopher’s eyes widened at the sight of it. Just as Kelia removed it from his gaze, he extended an arm, as if he would take it from her. Blinking, he realized what he was doing and slowly dropped his arm so it was back by his side. He briefly closed his eyes, a spasm of emotion crossing his features before he shook it off. He knew what to expect from her, and he did not seem upset by it.
“You found it,” he murmured. His eyes danced with utter happiness at the prospect that he would be in possession of it soon.
“With help,” Kelia told him.
“Mmm,” he said, as though unsurprised. “Drew Knight knew where to find it?”
“Not exactly,” Kelia said. “He somehow knew what this was but did not wish to explain. He just told me that if Rycroft had it, he would display it, like the head of a lion or the tusk of an elephant. Like it was some sort of trophy for him.”
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