𝑀𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝑒𝒶 | 𝟏𝟖+

16.

Ellianna Kingston

I leaned against the wall, holding my breath as I listened to Kairos's low voice drifting out from the lounge. Lacy's name slipped from his mouth, clear as day. My heart skipped, shock washing over me. Lacy? As in my, Lacy?

Just weeks ago, she'd called me, her voice shaky and tense in a way I'd never heard before. She was always confident, and unfazed, but that night, she'd seemed scared, almost frantic. She'd warned me, trying to subtly tell me to be careful around Kairos without directly saying it. And I'd believed her; I'd trusted her worry. But now, hearing her name, something wasn't adding up.

I could only catch fragments of his conversation, but the parts I heard were enough to leave me reeling. "I know he lied about it but still they have to learn how to get along." He'd said, calm and determined, his voice edged with something I couldn't quite place. It was as though they were working together like they had some kind of plan. But if that were true... why had she lied to me?

Why would she have booked for my cruise if she knew Kairos was dangerous?

Questions raced through my mind. Was she playing me, feeding me concern only to keep me off guard? Or had she truly been afraid but felt trapped in whatever arrangement she had with him? The uncertainty was twisting knots in my stomach.

Why wouldn't she have just told me? Why wouldn't she be honest if she cared about me? Every assumption I'd made, every piece of comfort I'd taken from her words, suddenly felt like a lie, like a carefully placed mask I hadn't seen through until now.

I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, to think maybe there was something else going on, but how could I ignore the gut feeling that something was seriously wrong?

As I backed away from the lounge, my pulse raced, and the walls around me suddenly felt too close. I couldn't ignore it anymore; I had to face the reality that both of them—Kairos and Lacy—had been hiding something from me. Whatever this connection was, whatever they were planning or hiding, I was caught in the middle. And that thought filled me with dread.

I knew then what I had to do. I needed to leave. Whatever ties I thought I'd had to them were built on deception, and I wasn't about to wait around to find out the consequences. I had to find a way off this ship, far from Kairos and far from the tangled web he'd woven around me.

—

I gripped the railing of the lounge deck's balcony, my eyes locked on the distant shoreline. The ship was docked at a port, but it wasn't one I recognized. I didn't know how long we'd been here, but the sight of land sent a jolt of hope through me. This could be my chance—my way off this ship and away from Kairos.

I'd done everything I could to stay out of his sight for days now, ever since I'd overheard that conversation with Lacy. Avoiding him had been my priority, but now, with the ship at a standstill, there was finally an opening.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady the frantic beat of my heart, when a voice behind me cut through the air.

"Enjoying the view?"

I spun around, my pulse spiking as I came face-to-face with Kairos. He stood there, with a relaxed posture and an easy smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. It was like he hadn't noticed that I'd been keeping my distance, or maybe he just didn't care. I swallowed, forcing myself to speak.

"Where are we?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

He tilted his head slightly, glancing out over the water as if he hadn't considered the question worth answering until now. "Small port town off the coast," he said casually. "Nothing too special."