Chapter 33 | The Devil of Siren City

Adrian

If I’ve learned anything over the last year, it’s the value of patience.

It was never my strongest suit. A man with my power, in my position, wants things done in a timely manner. One delay could lead to another and another. Next thing you know, mistakes are made. One mistake is forgivable. A series of them isn’t. Someone has to be held responsible for that.

Back then, that someone was easy to find and punish. That someone was an example for the others.

Suddenly, mistakes happen less and less. Tasks are completed quickly and efficiently.

But I wouldn’t say life is easier now than before. Fewer people to interfere means less to punish for failure. There’s value in running a tight ship, and mine at the moment is the tightest it has ever been.

But that also means that when something goes wrong, I’ve no one to blame but myself. No one to punish for mistakes.

And if something goes wrong now… tonight…

I’ll really have no one to blame but myself.

I resist the urge to text Candy again. He knows what he’s doing. It’s what I trained him to be, as he said, but no amount of training prepared me for Captain Raphael Rackham and his empire of thieves.

No treasure was out of his reach. No secret was outside his realm, and he delighted in making sure I knew that. He was the only man to infiltrate my inner circle and to this day, I still haven’t the faintest fucking idea how he pulled it off. Heads rolled that day, and all he did was smile.

And yet, he has my respect. He’d have even more of it if he weren’t so damned cocky about it. 

But he has a weakness. A sweet tooth, one might say.

Candy.

His greatest treasure, one he could never truly possess. Not the way he wanted to.

He offered me everything for him. All the money and gold and gems he had. All for Candy.

I refused.

It didn’t exactly make us friends.

Truthfully, I was surprised when I returned to Siren City and found Candy was still here. I thought for sure Rackham would have returned to spirit him away the moment he heard whispers of my death. Perhaps he did. And yet, Candy remains on Scarlet Street under Morgana’s cruel claw.

Why?

I’ll ask him.

After tonight. After I know where Rackham and I stand.

I sink further into my desk chair. My side stings, the angle not great for a healing stab wound. I let the pain wash over me for a moment. Or two. A few more. Then I sit up with a hard exhale, my eyes scanning the map in front of me.

Siren City.

My city.

Red marks jump out. The Tower. Scarlet Street. St. Nicholas’ Church. The potential for a plan… still painfully out of reach.

Kill them all. Take back my city.

Morgana.

Theo.

Ethan.

Kris.

Ava.

My gaze lingers on the north side. She’s there. At The Tower.

She’s his Hera.

The scar on my heart throbs with a deeper pain. An older pain.

There’s still a few hours until Candy’s assignation with Rackham. I need a distraction.

As the thought leaves my mind, I hear the door open across the apartment.

Perfect timing.

I ease out of the chair and walk out of my room to meet Skylar in the kitchen. As I arrive, she’s standing at the table tending to her orchid, the petals a subtle shade of pink against her fingertips.

“You’ve been gone a while,” I say.

“Yeah,” she says, sighing. “I… just needed some time to myself. A little.”

I nod. “How did it go?” I ask.

“Uh…” She drops her hands and breathes a soft laugh. “I am now the proud owner of a new account at Siren City Private Bank and Trust — which I assume is a legitimate institution?”

I chuckle. “They’re secure.”

“That’s not what I asked,” she says, though she doesn’t seem all that bothered by the answer. “Oh! They gave me a safe deposit box, too.”

“I have one of those myself.”

She heaves a thick sigh. “That was your important errand?”

“It’s almost pay day,” I say with a shrug.

“Right. Your deposit was successfully transferred, by the way.”

“Good to hear.”

“A deposit for… a little more than we previously agreed on.”

“You earned it,” I simply say.

Skylar stares, her head shaking slightly. “Who are you?” she asks, cracking a smile.

“I’m just a man.”

“Not like any man I’ve ever met.” She glances around. “Obviously, you have means beyond anything I could ever imagine and yet…”

I step forward. “And yet?”

She pauses for a second. “You live here,” she says. “In this apartment.”

“Is this not nice?”

“It’s very nice! Nicer than I’m used to, definitely. But with your money, you could live anywhere. You could be anywhere you want to be, do whatever you want to do. Not just in Siren City, either. But you choose to be here. Why?”

I face the windows, finding the waves on the distant orange horizon. “I had that life once. The castle in the sky. Surrounded by wealth and privilege. It didn’t make me happy.”

Skylar says nothing.

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” I say after a moment. “And with who I want to be with.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Skylar blink twice. Her head turns as she silently shifts to face the windows with me.

“Great view, too,” she says.

I nod. “It is.”

The harbor burns with a fiery sunset, the sky clear of clouds for the moment. Boats come in as others go out. Seagulls fly high, traveling from the boardwalk to the lighthouse.

Beautiful.

“What’s that smell?” Skylar asks.

“Oh,” I say, the scent in my nose, too. “Tea.”

“Tea?”

“Pomegranate tea.”

“I didn’t know you were a tea guy,” she says, amused.

“I’m not. It’s for you.”

Her brow arches as I round the table toward the stove.

“It should help with your sleepwalking,” I say.

“Oh,” she says. “Sorry.”

I almost smile. Skylar and her little apologies. A hard habit to break, for sure. But we’ll get there. “For what?” I ask, curious.

She hesitates. “I’m sure it’s not convenient for you to deal with.”

I remove the saucepan from the low heat and retrieve two mugs from the cupboard. “Apology not accepted,” I say as I pour the tea. “Nor required.”

“It’s gotta be annoying, though,” she says with a self-deprecating smile.

I return to the table with the mugs, the steaming tea a deep shade of crimson. “Actually, it’s been quite pleasant so far,” I say.

She forces her eyes down again. I wish she wouldn’t. I’d rather she’d keep her head held high always, let her beauty and confidence shine. “But you want it to stop?” she asks, her focus on the tea.

“Only because it troubles you,” I say. “And I can’t say I wouldn’t prefer for my nurse to be well-rested.”

I offer her the mug. After a moment, she takes it. Hugging its warmth between her palms, she takes a deep breath through her nose, smelling it, her thoughts swirling behind wisps of steam.

I take a sip myself. The fruity and tart flavors trigger a sense memory from a different time. A simpler time. A dangerous time, for sure, but it felt safe at the top of my golden tower. With Candy, young and silly. With Ava, kind and beautiful.

With my brother, Dominic. Strong and wise.

It was gone with the flick of a wrist and the edge of a knife.

I stare into the red jewel-toned elixir, willing it to imprint on this memory instead. This place. This woman on this night.

I’d rather live in this moment than die in the past, over and over again.

I study Skylar’s hesitant eyes locked curiously on her tea. “What’s the matter?” I ask.

“Nothing,” she whispers.

Skylar takes a sip and licks the tea off her lips.

We drink in silence as the sun sets on the harbor.

On the horizon, a black yacht awaits.