“Maybe he was responsible. Maybe they were wronged, in some sense. But they killed and enslaved humanity after that.”
“Did they?” he questioned, and my temper rose. “It became survival of the fittest, and humans simply weren’t. Is that really different to how humans treated other creatures not long before?”
I grit my teeth, appetite diminishing in favor of stabbing him.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Neither.” He shrugged. “I was not affected. It makes it easier to look at it without bias, and the way I see it—you both committed crimes against the other. That witch went after someone she deemed had hurt her and her own. It’s not all that different from you and your hunt for Claude. Their kind developed a hatred for humans for what was forced on them, and in your kind’s ignorance, they were hurt. But in their anger, they lashed out, and you were hurt.”
“You feel sorry for them,” I accused.
“No, not really. I simply understand them, just as I understand you. Your prejudice was born out of rational and irrational anger from childhood. It says a lot that that’s your earliest memory. It shaped you.”
I took a bite to give myself a chance to form a response. I wasn’t crazy about being psychoanalyzed like this. Nathalie was already bad enough.
As if she heard me, the static crackled in my ear. “He’s right, you know.”
The most delicious meal I’d probably ever had turned to ash in my mouth.
I set my fork down, noticing he hadn’t even touched his meal.
“You’re right. It shaped me. I’m an angry person. I’m prejudiced. Speciesist. I’m not nice—”
“You’re also loyal to a fault. You put others above yourself when you believe they are worth it. Your trust is hard earned, but once someone has it, you’d do anything for them.”
My jaw slipped, and I had to catch myself to keep from gaping. “You don’t know—”
“You’re sitting here now eating dinner with me. I didn’t need to look into your past to know that. You’re here for Bree, and that tells me all I need to know.”
I looked at my plate and took a deep breath.
“You can’t change me,” I said eventually. “Fix me. Heal me. It can’t happen. It won’t.”
I waited for him to deny that. To tell me I was wrong. But when he didn’t speak, I lifted my eyes. He was smirking.
“You’re right to an extent, but fortunately for me, I don’t have to,” he said. “At least not completely. You’ve already changed. The fact that you’re living with a witch and she’s currently listening to every word I’ve said speaks for itself. You’re changing, Piper, but you’re changing by your choice. Not mine.”
“Oh snap,” Nathalie said in my ear. “This guy really knows how to lay it on you, doesn’t he?”
I reeled back to jump to my feet, but his hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me down.
“This dinner is over,” I hissed.
“But we haven’t even had dessert.” He grinned. “I was hoping to have you, but I think that might have to wait till next time.”
My face flamed from anger and . . . embarrassment? I did not want to assess that. Nope. I wasn’t touching it with a ten-foot pole.
“Let. Me. Go.”
“But then you’d never hear about your sister.”
I froze.
“What about her?”
The grin faded from his face as a more serious look washed over his features.
“I know what’s wrong with her. I know why she never woke up.”
Those words were ringing in my ears. Salvation within my grasp, and damnation right beside it because I knew that truth wouldn’t come free. Not from a demon. Certainly not from Ronan.
Before I could ask him anything, the boards beneath my feet broke apart. A crack like bone shattering registered.
Then the dinner boat exploded.
2
Splintered wood and fire filled my vision.
At first it was just heat. Pain. My head swam, and I didn’t know up from down.
Then came the cold. My body crashed into the icy waters of Lake Michigan and I started to sink before I even thought to swim. Magic was singing in my veins as my heartbeat soared, perilously close to stopping. I clawed at the water, kicking my feet. My chest was seizing painfully as the cold pushed the air from my lungs.
I was drowning.
After everything I’d been through, it was fucking drowning that was going to get me.
No. I mentally calmed myself and relaxed my movements to look around. It was jarring. The waters were clear but shadowed from nightfall. I kicked toward the orange glow above me. It had to be fire, which meant there was air.
My body jerked to a stop.
I narrowed my eyes and peered through the darkness.
Something was pulling my jacket, and by extension, me.
I reached for the zipper with numb fingers, still kicking to keep myself from sinking any lower.
The thumping in my ears urged me on.
Come on. Come on. My fingers were slow. Sluggish. They struggled to hold on to the smooth metal. I yanked it, only for the zipper to move a few inches, then stop when I lost my grip.
Goddamnit. I was going to come back and haunt every last motherfucker that played a part in exploding that boat.
I reached for the zipper again, but my feet were failing me. My lungs were failing me. My body was too weak, and whatever was pulling down my jacket was too strong.
Darkness closed in and I made a fist, prepared to let my heart stop if it meant a chance of escape.
Strong arms grabbed me.
I tried to struggle when hands locked on either side of my jacket and shirt, then pulled. The material gave way easily.
Bare hands helped me out of it, rough calluses brushing against my skin. My head rested against something hard and warm. The sides of my vision were starting to become hazy as a burning built in my chest from the lack of oxygen.
I didn’t know we were moving until the cold wind slapped me in the face. Water spewed from my lips, and those warm hands held me tight, keeping my head above water. I took wild, gasping breaths, inhaling as much as I could while urging my heart to slow.
It was so close . . .
Too close. One wrong move and it was all ove—
“Breathe slower. You don’t want your heart to stop,” a dark voice rumbled. My eyes snapped open.
Ronan hovered, his face only inches away. His expression furious. Something cold and lethal glittered in his eyes. I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t be the only one hunting down whoever did this.
“You saved me,” I uttered, dumbfounded. It was the same thing I’d said to Nathalie, except where she shrugged it off, Ronan held me tighter. Those eyes like winter winds and steel pulled me in as we drifted in the dark waters. Overhead, a sliver of the moon cast its light upon us. Pieces of flaming debris skittered over the surface of the lake, far enough away to not be a concern, but close enough to bask us in muted light.
“Of course. You’re mine. I protect what’s mine.”
His words snapped me out of my reverie. I blinked and then kicked, trying to swim away. His arms may as well have been iron, for they didn’t budge an inch.
“You need to calm down. If your heart stops, you’re only strong for a time before the crash will consume you.”