Page 31

He carefully lowers his voice. “Don’t speak about the map here, not at the market. I trust the people of this island to a degree, but there are always travelers.”

“Noted,” I mutter, clipping the bag of gold to my weapon belt that has no weapons thanks to him.

When he notices my eyes on the belt, or if he had a plan to give me one of his weapons, he unclips a sheathed dagger and holds it out to me. “Remember what we talked about? You don’t stab it into yourself or people you like.”

I step towards him, giving him a quick onceover. “I don’t like you, so that’s rather dangerous,” I tell him as I take the knife.

He laughs, leaning down so we’re eye to eye. “Liar.” My cheeks are burning red, and not from the sun, as he walks away. I watch him lumber through the market, turning heads. In fact, nearly every woman here turns and stares at him with parted lips and flushed cheeks, and I know he could have any of them with only a few sweet words and one smile. I don’t know why I don’t like that fact, why I feel sick to my stomach as I look at the beautiful women on this island and envy them for the way they are so pristine, flawless, full of light and smiles. I will never be like that. The world has shaken me too many times for me to appear flawless. I shake my head at my own stupid internal thoughts. It doesn’t matter, it can’t.

After clipping my dagger, I begin to walk up to the markets, and people stare, but they don’t look for too long. Most of them are selling all kinds of food, from exotic animals and rare birds that I’ve never even heard of to common herbs in a million jars. I don’t get anything. I’m not good at cooking and I wouldn’t know what is nice or not. The next market stand is full of jewelry—gold, silver, diamonds. I don’t look too long; things like that have never really interested me.

The next one interests me though. It’s a bookstore, full of dozens of books, and all of them look old, weathered, and likely full of secrets. After the great library, I don’t think I can look at a book and not feel a shiver down my spine at the memories. One of the books catches my eye. It reminds me of the series that Ren has in his room, which is a collection about sea creatures of the past. He has three piles of these books, and I’ve looked through them all, but this one is not there.

I pick it up and a man comes back to the stall, bowing his head. “Fellow mortal, good travels to you. Ah, you have picked an interesting book. It is over three hundred years old and in good condition. Would you like it?”

“Yes, my friend has a collection of these,” I admit.

The man frowns for a second. “A collection? Impossible, these are extremely rare books, and the author is long dead. It would take a lifetime or more to collect even a few.” I shrug and he smiles, his blond hair moving in the soft breeze. “Never mind, I am happy you want it. No one likes to read the books on long dead and legendary creatures. It will be two gold pieces.”

I hand over the gold, knowing he is giving me a big discount for it, and he is kind enough to wrap it in tissue paper, tying it with a bow and ribbon before putting it in a netted bag for me. I slide the bag over my arm, where it rests nicely next to my hip. I wander through the stores until I find the one with the fabric dyes that Freckles mentioned. I buy a selection of them and a bag too to keep them in case they spill and ruin the book. A woman’s laugh catches my attention, and I turn when I hear Ren’s returning laugh that echoes through the air to my ears.

He’s standing with two women on the other side of the market. Is this what he had to do? They are standing very close to him, their hands on his arm, the other on his chest. He’s laughing at whatever they are saying, and he never laughs with me like that. I didn’t know he was even capable of it. Boiling hot rage echoes through my bones as I watch, my feet feeling frozen to the ground, like my entire body has gone into shock. In the name of Lunaria, I’m jealous. I want to tell myself to turn around, to not look, not feel this way because it’s insanity, just as Ren looks over his shoulder at me, a smile still on his lips and light in his eyes I don’t see often. He curls his hand to call me over, like I’m a returning pet.

I grit my teeth as I walk over and stop at his side. The women don’t even acknowledge me. The one closest to Ren is staring up into his eyes. “Please, please use our spa before you leave. It’s really our honor to see you use it, and we will happily join you.”

The beautiful, naturally blonde, gorgeously tanned woman with the softest blue eyes finally notices that I’m here when Ren looks down at me. “Oh, who are you?”

Ren grins. “This is a new member of my crew who has never been to this island before.” He doesn’t even tell them my name, not that he has ever said my name. I’m just the map to him.

“Miriam Vale, lovely to meet you. Your island is spectacular,” I offer.

She bows her head. “Miriam, a pleasure. I am chief of Sunlin, and we are very glad to have you here. My name is Thalia.” Her entire smile is like sunlight. “I see you have been to the market. I hope you found something.”

“I did.” I smile. I eye her dress, the fact it’s nothing more than a thin yellow fabric that wraps around her breasts and lower waist. There isn’t a scar or blemish on her body. No wonder Ren is smiling at her. I clench my fists. “Shouldn’t we be leaving, Ren?”

“We would love to use your spa. It would be a great honor.” Ren directly talks to Thalia, like I don’t even exist. “Have what we discussed delivered on board.”

“Of course. We always very much enjoy your custom. Will you be staying for the night, and do you wish for my company in the spa?” she asks, and there is hope in her voice, a familiarity that sets my blood on fire.

“No, but it is a pleasure, as always, Thalia.” He bows his head to her, and she does the same.

“May Lunaria bless your journey.” She sighs, turning her gaze to me, like I’m the reason he said no. “Both of you.” Okay. I suppose I am the reason in her eyes, and the problem. I almost want to tell her that we’re nothing to each other, but Ren is already trekking down a yellow path away from the market, thick bushes on either side, and I have to jog to catch up with him.

I don’t speak to Ren as I walk at his side up a steep path to what looks like a temple. Birds are chirping like a song, and bees are flying through the air in front of me as I take it all in until we reach the temple. It’s a stone building that covers a natural spring of hot, bubbling water. It’s huge and empty, and it smells like fire.

I turn to ask what we are doing here, but the words die on my tongue when I see Ren is taking off his top. “The waters here are meant to be good luck. You shouldn’t come to this island without going into them,” he informs me, but my eyes are locked on his thick bare chest, on the line of hair that slips into his trousers over his rippled muscles, and on the tattoos that lead up his neck. “Staring is rude, Map.”

I snap out of it and look away. “I’m not going into that with you.”

“You don’t want good luck?” he murmurs, closer than he was before.

“Well, you might seem to be awfully used to taking your clothes off on this island, but I will not be,” I snap, crossing my arms. “I’ll wait on the boat for you.”

“Suit yourself.” He pulls off his trousers. My eyes widen as I get a look at his very tight, muscular ass, and it’s exactly what I imagined it would be like. But my eyes drift up his back, along his muscles and many scars that are littered everywhere. He looks like he’s fought in a war and somehow lived to tell the tale. I want to ask how he became scarred like that when he can heal himself, but he walks up the steps to the spa and dives in. The water splashes over me in droplets, and I wipe a few off my cheek as he comes back up. “You can leave now, Map. I’m sure they might join me, then.”

I clamp my teeth together. Fuck him. “Sure, wouldn’t want to ruin your swim. I’ll meet you at the boat.” I walk away before he can see the look on my face and know how pissed off I am. I don’t think he cares anyway, and I hate that I do. Before I leave, I pick all of his clothes up and take them with me, making sure there’s nothing else he can cover himself with around here. I whistle to myself rather smugly as I walk back with his clothes in my hands. Thalia is coming up the path with a pile of fruit in a bowl, two other women just as pretty behind her. “Oh, Thalia, I hope you aren’t going to see Ren.”

“We wanted to offer these as a gift,” she says, but we both know it’s more than that.