“Keep that in mind then, and be a gentleman.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He was quiet a few minutes while I situated myself in his arms, unsure if it was worse if he spooned me or if we were face to face. I could feel his breath on my nose, and decided to just close my eyes and pray for daylight. “Are you thirsty?” he asked.
The second he mentioned it, my throat was parched. “Sure, but I wouldn’t want to drink the water here even if we could find some. If it killed a man-horse guy, I don’t think I’d stand much of a chance.” I shuddered at the memory of the severed horse’s head Kabayo had set on the dining table, green foam crusted at the maw.
Finn chuckled and sat us both up with no effort on my part. “You forget what I am.”
“You forget I know nothing about your world or what you are. I know you can breathe underwater and above. I know you’re a violent tool who helps imprison women, but that’s about it.”
“I love that you’re not afraid of me.” His voice had a note of reverence to it that I didn’t understand. “It’ll be a sweet sight when you see me in my element. There’s something satisfying about watching a fighter cower.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Yeah, yeah. You’re a badass. Good for you. I’m super scared.”
Finn’s thick arm wrapped around my back, bracing me so I leaned into him, despite our antagonistic back and forth. He smelled like the faintest bit of sand and ocean, mixed with a light puff of dust and man sweat from walking all day in the hot sun with me. He curled his arm around me so my head rested back against his shoulder. “Drink. My water’s always safe.” He cupped his free hand and tipped it to my lips, tsking me when I jerked my head an inch to the left out of distrust. “I’m thinking Ezra would have something to say if I let his daughter dehydrate.”
A tiny smile brushed my lips at the mention of Ezra being my dad. I knew it couldn’t last, but I was enjoying the ride all the same. “You take a sip first, so I know you’re not poisoning me.”
Finn huffed, but obliged me. My eyes were adjusting to the dark, so I could see the faint outline of his gilled throat constricting as he swallowed a gulp from his own hand. “There. See? Not poison.”
“Alright. Thanks.” When he tipped his hand to my lips again, I pressed my palms to the back of his hand to angle it like a cup I had some sort of control over. The water felt cool running down my throat, and I was surprised at how thirsty I was. I drank the well in his hand and sucked in more. His palm refilled itself as often as I wished. It was a pretty cool magic trick.
Finn’s face was close to mine, and I shivered when he spoke, his breath tickling my ear. “If you drink much more, you’re going to make yourself sick.” He pulled his hand away a few inches. “Here. Let me cool you off.” With a minimal amount of water, Finn rubbed his hand over my sweaty face, lowering my body temperature and calming me as much as a bath might’ve.
“Thanks, Finn. That feels amazing.”
I thought he would stop there, but he laved water over my arms and hands, too, calming my stress at not being able to wash my hands before bed. His fingers rubbed between mine, washing away the dust of the trail and a lot of my neurosis. “You missing your Duwendes?” he asked politely.
It wasn’t in his nature to be kind for no reason, but I played along for the sake of not being antagonistic. “A little. But it’s good we’re getting some space. Mason needs time to deal with his strength being taken away, and Von needs time to go catch up on all the debauchery he’s been missing, thanks to playing the dutiful boy by my side.”
“Sounds like you needed a break, too.” Finn gently tugged at the rubber band in my hair.
“What’re you doing back there, chief?”
“Hold still.” Finn was tender as he took my hair out of its messy ponytail. He ran his fingers through the tangles, dampening them and giving me the most luxurious scalp massage ever.
“Are you… Are you washing my hair?”
“Is this your first time bathing?”
“Why are you being nice to me?” I asked without preamble as my eyes closed. My head lolled forward while he washed and massaged the back of my neck. Rivulets of water rolled down my body, cooling me and making my shoulders slump.
“I’m not allowed to be nice?” He took off his dirty shirt, washed his chest, and then picked up my hair, guiding my head back to lean against his firm chest. He draped my hair over his solid shoulder so my auburn curls hung down across his back, cooling us both. I sighed contentedly as his thick fingers started at my forehead and massaged backwards, washing and relaxing as they went. “I’ve known Mariang a long time. She goes half a day without Danny pulling for her, and she’s a wreck. You have two Reapers, so you’re used to being at zero every night. I don’t want you to fall to pieces before we save Kabayo’s people. I need you on your game.”
“I didn’t peg you as the type to care so much about a country you’re not responsible for. I thought your curse forced you to make decisions based on what was best for your king’s people, not all of Terraway. What gives?”
Finn was silent a few beats, his voice quiet when he finally spoke. “Kabayo answered first when the call came that you were locked in Geon’s prison. He would’ve gone in after you even if no other countries showed up. I feel like I owe him for those few hours he doubted whether or not I could come.” His tone shifted back to his usual antagonism. “And I care a great deal for the state of Terraway. I do what I can for the countries we’re not at war with. It keeps relations strong during dark times. It’s as much for the benefit of my country as it is for the others. That’s not something my king cares much about, but I do. So while he’s elbow deep in the harem, I trade in favors. I put a few of my men on a rotation in Kabayo’s central city once I learned about the poisoned wells. They’re doling out fresh water as often as they can. It’s the only thing keeping much of his land alive.”
“Mm,” I moaned as he tugged on a particularly delicious spot that had me almost drooling. I felt him sucking the water from my hair and my clothes so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. “That’s right decent of you. Didn’t know you were such a philanthropist.”
He scoffed as if the compliment offended him. “It’s got nothing to do with that. It’s all about public relations. I do favors, I get favors, which benefit Dagat. Some kings don’t realize that when they go to war, it affects the rest of the countries eventually in some way. The favors are preemptive help to make sure our land stays strong and my king’s rule is secure. No one bothers to go up against King Banak because we’re usually the first responders when help is needed. Taking you down here ahead of schedule? It’ll get me far with Kabayo. You, too.”
I frowned. “Will it look bad on Ezra?”
“If he’s smart, he’ll yell at me privately, so it looks like he sent me with you. Ezra’s always played the politics game well.” His hand drifted from my hair down my cheek, stroking the flesh there tenderly. It made my body relax in his arms, which caused alarms to ring in my mind. I’d never been a huge cuddler, but Von and Mason had gone above and beyond to break me of my prickly nature. I sat up and stretched. “You tired enough to sleep without your Reapers?”
“It’s how I was doing it every day before I met them. I’m really not as delicate as you’re all thinking. Mariang’s been at this a lot longer than I have, so she’s more worn down from it. I’m fine. I’m always fine.”
Finn laid back, looking up at the ceiling of the tent and extending his arm for me to lay on. “Come on, little Omen. Tell me how tough you are. I could use a good bedtime story.”
I rolled my eyes at him as I reclined in his arms, snuggling to his side reluctantly. The cooling effect his water had on me gave me a shiver. I studied his gills that were staring me in the face, wondering at the many twisted and stumbled steps I had taken to land myself here with Finn, of all people. His hand lay across his toned and naked stomach as he wound down for the evening with me in his arms.
3
Bank, Bel and Fi
nn’s Curse
It was the eighth time I’d switched from laying on one side to choosing the other. “Are you usually this restless?” Finn asked, mildly annoyed.
“No. I don’t know what my deal is. I’m sorry. I think it’s the sleeping on the ground part.”
“Sure. That must be it. It couldn’t be because you’re without your Reapers.”
I scoffed. “I’m not four years old. I can sleep without a chaperone, no problem. I just can’t seem to...” I tossed again, frustrated that nothing was comfortable, and my mind was racing a mile a minute. For no reason at all, I kept picturing the babies I’d reaped, looking up at me with their tiny, confused eyes as I absorbed their souls into my body.
I’d had innocent little babies’ souls floating around in me. I’d reaped teenagers, the elderly, terminal patients, and people who thought they had all the time in the world to choose a better last meal than a carnival hot dog.
I turned onto my other side again.
I can’t believe it took him that long to throw out his hands in frustration, but his huff informed me that I was keeping him awake. “I can feel every move you make, you know. Pick a side and close your eyes.”
I finally gave up and sat upright, hugging my knees. “I’ll go out and keep watch. I can’t relax.”
“Just admit that Omen work is hard, and that your Reapers serve a purpose.”
I scratched a line down my forearm, sighing contentedly at the sting that centered me. “I didn’t used to have such a hard time falling asleep. This isn’t me.” I closed my eyes and burrowed my head into my knees. “No offense, but your world’s slowly tearing me up. Reaping babies? That wasn’t in the welcome packet when I signed on.”
Finn’s hand on my arm was gentle, with a steady pressure that told me there wouldn’t be a point in fighting him on this. He pulled me slowly down until I was lying on my side facing him. His light green eyes were clear and seemed endless, like his own portable ocean. “It’s three days, and I’ll take you back home. Three days, and you can sleep in your bed with your guardians.” He surprised me when his arm around me started lightly scratching my back. “Until then, I’m your guard, and no offense to your Pullers, but I’m the best there is.”
I closed my mouth and chewed on my words, lest they come out in a tumble of worry. I didn’t want to be a Death Omen. I was a healer. I was a nurse. Everything about the job felt counterintuitive, especially now that I had time to examine it all without the constant opiates from my Pullers. When I finally opened my mouth, my whisper boiled it down to the crux of my current dysfunction. “I don’t like being death.”
Finn mulled over my words, considering them before flat out arguing. “Close your eyes.”
“I’m too keyed up for sleep.”
“Close your eyes.” He waited for my lashes to sweep shut, and then continued in a quiet voice that held a steady strength to it. “Last year, Prince Langgam called me to Sakuna for help. There were too many dead bodies, and he was having a hard time burying them all before they reanimated, mutated into Amalanhigs and made the undead pilgrimage to Sombi.” Finn’s fingers moved from softly scratching my back to dragging along the tips of my eyelashes. “I buried a fair amount of civilians that week. My men were put to work digging graves because King Geon couldn’t be bothered to respect his own people with a proper burial.” I sucked in my breath when his full lips placed soft kisses on my closed eyelids. “Trust me, kendi. You’re not death. You didn’t kill the children I had to bury, the babies with their mothers.” He brought me closer in his arms so I was flush against him, his cheek on my forehead. “You brought us the chance to live. Terraway hasn’t had a golden chance like this in a very long time.”
I let that simmer for a few minutes before I spoke. “Finn?”
“Yeah?”
I didn’t know how to ask for what I wanted, but knew this might be my only chance. “Can I touch your gills?”
“My gills?” Finn laughed like I’d told a good joke about tap dancing garden gnomes. “Sure. Whatever turns your crank.”
“It doesn’t turn my crank in the dirty way you’re suggesting. I’m a nurse. It’s only natural for me to be curious.”
Finn lifted my hand and touched my fingers to his neck, stroking downward so I could examine the ridges. They felt like thin skin, and I was afraid to poke too hard. “Whoa! Totally bizarre. If I rub it up instead of down, does it hurt?”
“No,” Finn replied, amused. He watched me observe his neck, smirking at my fascination. His eyes catalogued the details of my face as I studied him. “It feels a little like this.” He moved his fingers to my arm and brushed the thin hairs upward, giving me the chills. He pulled me closer, using the hand that wrapped beneath me and rested at the base of my spine.
My eyelids were heavy, and despite Finn’s usually antagonistic ways, I was actually not too uncomfortable in his arms. “What if I put my hands around your gills so you couldn’t get any air through them?” I gently choked him, making sure not to put any pressure into the restraint.
“You forget I breathe through my nose and mouth, too. If you covered all of those, then I’d suffocate, sure. But we can hold our breath upwards of a few hours. The chances of you restraining me that long? Pretty slim.”
“I didn’t mean me choking you. I just meant in general.”
“Of course you did.” He watched me closely as I turned one of his gills upward so I could see it from every angle. I thought there would be raw skin or openings I could stick my finger through, but it was just skin with tiny slits I couldn’t play with. “Are you quite finished inspecting me? I’ve got plenty more you can examine, Doctor,” he said churlishly, bumping his pelvis to mine just to gross me out.
“It’s like you want me to punch you. But actually, speaking of that, how does sex work? I mean, the Mermaids don’t have legs.”
“Mermaids lay eggs and the Mermen fertilize them. Like fish.”
“Doesn’t seem like a harem’s needed for that.”
“Banak’s a Kataw, like me. He’s got legs and all the other necessary equipment for Topsider sex.”
“Then why does he have Mermaids in his harem? It makes no sense.”
Finn’s voice took on a darker note as he played with one of my curls, poking his finger through from the bottom and winding the strands like a telephone cord around his finger. “There’s a shell King Banak owns. It was a gift from the Kapre to our people centuries ago, passed down from king to king. Banak has the shell on a necklace that he makes his concubines wear. It gives Mermaids legs, but not ones like yours. Theirs are misshapen, green and scaly. They’re useless, too. The Mermaids can’t use them for walking. It’s only for the king’s pleasure.”
I shuddered. “Your king is straight up barfalicious.”
“It’s how things like this are done. You’re a child, or you’d understand the ways of the world.”
“And you’re a useless old man, or you would understand you still have power to change the world when it’s broken like it is.”
The mood shifted in a breath, and I could feel the tension building, making me nervous. Finn grew cross, holding my wrist and squeezing, his words coming at me through gritted teeth. “What would you have me do? Give up my position in protest? Even if I could, then there would be no one to protect the women.”
“Protect them? Is that what you think you’re doing?”
“I’m the only one who feeds them. Their husbands can’t even do that. Aside from Banak’s affections, they’re safe in my harem.”
“Hello, you’re helping them sign away their lives for food.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You run your mouth and expect me to jump. You forget I can’t disobey the king. Even if I thought the whole thing was foolish and wrong, I couldn’t act any differently. I don’t have the luxury of a conscience.”
My face fell. “Right. I forgot about your curse.”
“You’re just like the Mermaids with their singin
g.” When I responded only with a confused expression, he explained, “You’re trying to bewitch me to do your bidding and go up against Banak. The Mermaids can persuade men with their songs. Only a few have the strength of will to resist them. That’s how I got to be King Banak’s right hand.”
I waited a few beats, hoping the anger flaring in his eyes would cool. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you got bewitched. I wouldn’t want anyone pulling my strings, even if it’s for the greater good. I think it sucks Banak uses you like that.”
“Banak needs someone he can trust, and he can only get that through the magic of a curse. Banak trusts me with his women, and I won’t turn on him just because I don’t like the way he does things occasionally. I can’t turn on him.”
“Occasionally?” I looked into his eyes to seek out the real motivation. “What’s in it for you? Does he let you use the shell or something?”
“Of course not. Banak doesn’t share. I get what I need out of doing what Banak asks. I get to run Dagat. He’s so deep in his harem that he doesn’t care what I do, what allies I make. He cares if he’s satisfied. Like giving candy to a baby to make him shut up.” Finn’s eyes widened, catching himself in his scandalous confession. “I didn’t mean that.”
“You’re stepping on who knows how many of your own countrymen to further your career.”
“I don’t do it to make myself greater. I do it to keep our land from going to war over the famine. How many more would die if I didn’t keep Dagat from war? Sama’s always on the edge of something dark. If it was up to Banak, he’d take Sama’s rations and be done with it to shut up his people. We owe Sama nothing because of me.” He shifted on his side, his face filled with stubborn pride I wanted to examine more closely. “I’ll step on as many Mermaids as it takes to make sure my country doesn’t go to war.”
I turned away from him on my side, moving the backpack with the sagrado stone to my chest so I could hug it like a teddy bear. “You’re disgusting.”
Tempt (Terraway Book 4) Page 2