"It was pure luck, really, that this hadn't happened sooner. Two years of keeping out of his reach had really been testing the limits of fate, and the sane voice inside her head kept telling her she would have to face him eventually. The world was b...
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The thunder crashed. The flash of lightning less fierce now that the dim light of morning was pushing through the storm clouds. As something very deep inside Sanem protested every inch her ship sailed closer towards his.
Towards Can.
It was pure luck, really, that this hadn't happened sooner. Two years of keeping out of his reach had really been testing the limits of fate, and the sane voice inside her head kept telling her she would have to face him eventually. The world was big, but it was not nearly as big as the secret she'd kept, or the promise he'd broken, and both would inevitably pull them back together. Life was funny like that. And fate was a fucking bitch.
There was a part of her that wanted to run, it had always worked up until now, at least, it had always worked temporarily. Delaying what refused to be prevented entirely. But things always caught back up to her in the end - things and places she'd escaped from always finding themselves back under her feet once again. Maybe she just wasn't trying hard enough. Maybe she wasn't trying at all.
Sanem steadied herself as Can's ship came into earshot, aware that her reluctance to face him was forming into a string of snide comments that she attempted to hold back.
"Were you actively trying to get yourself killed or has taking on ships three times your size become a new pastime?" She tried to calm the tone of her voice. "Might I suggest taking up chess, or knitting? I hear people don't tend to die so often."
He smiled at that, though he tried to hide it, as her face seeped an angry red at the realisation he probably assumed she'd actually been worried about his safety, on some level, buried under a clenched jaw and sharp eyes.
The ships settled resistantly beside one another. Tense and still as the sails were tied away, light rain still falling, which seemed appropriate to Sanem, as distant flashes of lightning settled over the islands now a few miles behind.
Can's ship was a mess, dangerous cannon shots had gone straight through the hull, though it appeared that the damage was above water level. The sails were in tatters, and the poor thing seemed to be groaning over the sway of the waves as if a support beam had shattered. It reminded Sanem of how Gypsy looked the night she'd pulled her away from the dogs. But it would survive, just as her cat did. So long as Can stopped being so stupidly reckless.
She felt Deren walk up beside her, the closeness reassuring.
Can took a deep breath as he realised she wasn't running this time, allowing one of his men to set the gangplank down between the decks.
Sanem kicked it away. Watching with a smug glint in her eye as it tumbled down the gap between the Albatross and whatever-the-hell his new vessel was called. Maybe it was childish. She didn't care.
"Sanem," Can said, almost a sigh, almost a groan, his next question turning desperate. "Can we talk? Please."
"No," It was pure stubbornness, and illogical too considering she'd made the choice to stand and face him. "Why the hell did you feel the need to jump into a fight like that, like a complete and utter idiot, when we had that dipshit exactly where we wanted him?"
