The Golden Chalice

✰✦✰ Chapter 32 ✰✦✰

✰✦✰ Chapter 32 ✰✦✰
" You Gotta Kiss The Girl! "

SINCE WE HAD returned to the ship with the earrings, we'd all discussed possibilities of what they could actually be. Of what it meant and how it could help us continue. But we came up blank. With nothing. We were clueless and it wasn't a very fulfilling feeling. In fact, it sort of made me want to rip my own hair out.

I tried to execute the whole thing from my mind. I really didn't need to think of it, I just wanted to sleep. So when I finally did, I dreamt of the earrings. I couldn't escape them and I was now even closer to ripping my hair out. They had to mean something—we just didn't know exactly what it was yet.

After a disturbing nightmare about a pair of earrings, I awoke and noticed that I'd managed to sleep a full hour. Longer than I'd expected but still not enough. Exhaustion was gripping every bone, heaving my eyelids and I couldn't fall back asleep.

I turned again and noticed the emptiness sitting beside me. Darius wasn't in the bathroom either since the door was wide open and darkness engulfed the room. We'd gotten rather used to sleeping next to each other and he no longer bothered me much anymore—as long as we didn't actually speak to each other.

I pulled the duvet from my body and got to my feet, carrying with me the heaviness of every little challenge ahead of us. My hair was already plaited and a few loose strands hung out now as I grabbed my bikini and quickly changed into it, fearing that Darius might suddenly return from wherever he'd disappeared to.

If I couldn't sleep, I'd make myself tired by swimming around in the Blue Sea, despite my relentless fears about the Sea Serpents. At least them killing me would result in peace and quiet from those damned bloody earrings.

Once I'd changed and brushed my teeth (I hated the grossness I felt every morning before cleaning them), I made my way outside, listening to the floorboards creak under my weight. The moon hung high in the sky, casting a soft white glow upon the wooden ship. Waves rocked the ship gently, like a mother and a baby.

I pulled off the oversized shirt I'd put on to keep me warm until I dove into the water. The cool water swallowed me and I smiled under it, the coolness a welcoming feeling after the shit we'd gone through in recent weeks. Swimming—especially at night—made me forget things plaguing my mind, and that was the best part of it. It seemed I could organise my thoughts perfectly well under the calm presence of water. And I had a lot of them at the moment. Rising from underwater to the surface, I took a breath and let the night breeze caress me.

I ran a hand over my soaked, dark hair and turned. I almost screamed when I saw his face:

Darius Ambers, drenched and dangerous, quickly lifted his hand over my mouth. His gaze sliced mine, cutting deep before it travelled to my chest. He pressed his tongue to his inner cheek and seemed to force his eyes away.

My pulse raced while I peeled his hand off my lips. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he retorted, equally as sharp. "You're the one who wanted to let the whole world know you were out here."

"First of all," I said, "we're in the middle of nowhere. Also, can you really blame me? You've kidnapped me before. I'm not exactly trusting of everything and everyone right away."

He looked away and mumbled something bitterly under his breath but I couldn't quite make it out.

"What did you say?"

Darius met my eyes and said, "I heard you confronted Sarinne."

That caught my tongue. Folding my arms, I didn't know what to say because it was true. I shielded my chest from his sight but I doubted it would help.