Thane DrogosThat night, I stayed at Desmond's house. Unable to look at Evelyn again. I couldn't bear to see my bed and remember the night we shared. Hear her sobs as she tried to reason with me about why I should free her. If I stayed, I would have caved. The fury inside would fade away the longer I stared into her wide brown eyes.Evelyn made me soft.More reason to follow through with my plan. She threatened my crew. My family. In turn, threatened their families. No one would be safe if she went home. She knew where safehold was. Knew who I was. If Evelyn's father, Richard, knew, then he would set the entire world on fire to find my mother and me. He gutted my brothers. Strung up my father. Found and butchered every distant member of my family.With us alive, his secret, his whole lineage, and bureaucratic power were now at risk. But even with all those reasons, I hated what I would have to do with Evelyn. Serve her up on a platter to a clan of sirens. I sa

Thane DrogosEvelyn was something else.A woman, who can't swim, has already drowned once, dove overboard to shove the Captain of an attacking vessel into the water. I stared down at her, and she met my gaze, her own wide with realization. She cracked a smile, and I couldn't help but return one. Desmond clapped me on the shoulder, sheathing his cutlass and offering Evelyn his hand. When he pulled her to her feet, she winced, grabbing her shoulder. Blood ebbed through the white cloth on her shirt."Are you alright?" I asked, taking a step forward to look closely at her wound. Without thinking, I pushed her ringlets out of her eyes, seeing the bruise where that fucking Captain struck her. Her soft skin under my fingertips tingled, a zap of something electric coming to life between us again.It never died. I had just forgotten it.My lips pulled into a frown when I realized what I was doing. Evelyn's big doe eyes gazed at me, probably wondering what I was thinking. I took

Thane DrogosI never considered Evelyn wouldn't want to go home. How could she choose the life forced upon me when she had so much waiting for her in Avalon?Then it began to make sense. A pretty cage is still a cage. And Evelyn's wings were meant to fly.When I didn't answer her right away, she started to ramble, twisting one of her locks in her fingers. She went on and on about how much she could offer me. Maybe she could be a translator or an apprentice, but I wasn't listening. She didn't need to explain her worth to me. I already saw it. From how she asked my mother about the water filtration system to how she learned the mechanics of an anchor. Evelyn helped Shep with the livestock and watered the plants in the galley with One-Eye. I didn't ask her to learn these things or be interested in the ship, but she was.I saw.I tried to stop her from rambling, but she kept going, not noticing. Evelyn's loveliness struck me again. The soft flush on her cheeks. Those

Thane DrogosI breathed hard against Evie's mouth as we came down from our high. My heart hammered against my chest. My soul slowly returned to my body again. Her delicate hand slid down my chest from the back of my head. The only sound in the room was the thundering of rain against the deck outside. With care, I softened enough to pull myself from her body. She shuddered and groaned, her legs falling limp on the mattress. Her wide brown eyes stared up at me, her face cast in a beautiful flush. She nearly took my breath away.Evelyn's face suddenly screwed up with discomfort. "Are you alright?" I asked, cupping her rosy cheek in my palm, running my thumb along the softness under her chin."Sore," she murmured, leaning into my hand. My heart skipped a beat."Let me get something. I'll be right back," I said, leaning down to press a chaste kiss against her mouth. She reacted, parting her lips to deepen the kiss, but I pulled back. I couldn't help but smile wh

Thane DrogosWhen Evelyn met me on the upper deck, I had a blunt cutlass ready for her. She eyed the instrument curiously, reaching out and taking it from me. "Is it sharp?" she asked."No. These are for sparring," I answered. I gave the sword a brief swipe, listening to the metal whistle through the air. At nightfall, most of the crew remained under the deck aside from the night crew. A few men did their rounds above the deck, keeping an eye out for any disturbances. Whether it be another ship or mischievous sea gremlins that liked to play tricks on unassuming sailors. Occasionally a siren or two, but they avoided my flag. They feared water dragons as much as they feared Cliodhna, the Goddess of the Sea. Sirens were vicious creatures, but not without their motives. In the water, they'd shout "Oillipheist" in my face like a slur before returning to the depths, so deep the sun didn't touch them. "Mimic my movements, Evie," I instructed, showing her how to stand proper