Alabaster Cities (Kings and Thieves Book #2)

Chapter 2

The wolf gazed at her with impenetrable eyes of steel.

He was beautiful, Aveline thought: the bleak tan and beige of the desert captured into thick, soft lines of fur on his muscled form. Dark whiskers tickled his muzzle, encasing a mouth that, if he wanted it to, could pierce her skin with little effort.

A predator through and through; there was something both stunning and dangerous about such a creature- especially when his teeth, gleaming and sharp at the points, currently hinged into her palm in an unrelenting grip. He could take her hand off, easy-

Aveline had to laugh at herself a little bit; at her own dramatics. Because he wasn't a wolf, he was a stray dog- one of many in the desert plains of Apreuna, and he wasn't actually about to bite her hand off. Rather, he'd playfully hooked his teeth around her wrist, and she gave it a little shake, grinning as she watched his tail swing back and forth at a quicker tempo.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," she told him, sighing. "I'm not even supposed to be here."

Actually, she was expected to be in the palace courtyard, at the moment. There was some sporting match going on.

Ari would say it was stupid, and Lyla thought of these things as more of an obligation, but Aveline didn't mind them as much. She figured, if there was a palace event, it was an excuse to wear a pretty dress and eat good food— but she considered herself a bit more optimistic than her two friends.

Anyway, it wasn't as if anyone would notice that she and Ari were absent. They weren't nobles (thank God). If anything, Ari and Aveline were just a moderately useful nuisance to the monarchy.

Sometimes, on an off day, Aveline could admit to herself that she missed her ship.

Ari's ship— he'd correct her if he was here. But even though Ari had salvaged The Merchant from the depths of nowhere himself, Aveline had been with him- and the vessel- for so long that somehow, it had become hers too.

Sometimes Aveline felt that- because she was born in the ocean, she'd kept being drawn back to it.

Aveline didn't like to think of herself as a mermaid, former mermaid, or anything close to it. She'd left the ocean. She had legs, period.

Now, Aveline wouldn't even know what to do if she suddenly had a tail again. Just sort of flop around, like a landed salmon?
Gross. She shuddered at the thought.

Aveline Dimitri, first mate of The Merchant, was more of a co-captain than anything. At least, she had been: up until a few months ago, she'd spent a significant number of her life years in piracy. Now, she and Ari were taking what could only be called a self-imposed "break."

It wasn't as if they could continue pursuing illegal activities now that they had a palace job, for Heaven's sakes.

The pay was great, and Aveline enjoyed it, but... She didn't know. Sometimes she thought there was something more she needed to be doing.

She knew this, actually. Agh, she'd had this argument with Ari hundreds of times, she couldn't go over it with herself again.

"What do you think we should do, hm?" She asked the scruffy creature in front of her.

His ears perked up for only a second before he returned his attention to chewing on her wrist.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Enjoying yourself?"

Aveline chuckled, unhinging her finger from the stray's teeth. The dog trotted away, his tail wagging cheerfully.