Sinner

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I climbed up the ropes of the top mast towards the nest on top of the mast. I could see Night sitting up there and he was looking out to the Isle. How was he not burning in the light of day?

Must be magic, I shrugged.

As I approached, Night turned to the creaking of the ropes as I hurried up them.

"Hello," he said with a calm smile.

This set me off harder as I got to the top of the mast and hauled myself into the nest.

"What do you think you are doing?" I growled, struggling to keep myself under control.

"I'm watching the Isle get closer," he replied.

I knew he said that to set me off. He was assessing me now. First, he took my blood and now he thinks he can toy with me.

"You know what I mean. You 'claiming' me and then the stunt last night." It was getting harder to keep my insanity under control.

"I mean what I have said," he replied smoothly. "I'll have you as my bride." With that he brushed my cheek with his hand and all I felt was a calming sensation. His touch was soothing and I wanted more.

This was annoying and within seconds, all the rage I felt for him came up and my first instinct was to swing at him. He jerked to the side in surprise and my momentum carried me to the edge of the nest. I spun and hit the railing, starting to fall over. I reached out for something and caught Night's shirt. Already caught off guard, Night wasn't prepared for the pull and he came over with me. We rolled down the ropes and suddenly my arm snagged.

There was a loud crack as my arm was wrenched up and was broken. I gave a cry out in pain.

Dare looked up from the deck along with everyone else. Night continued down the ropes and flew off the side of the ship. With a fast reaction, he grabbed a rope and slammed into the side of the ship, the wind knocked out of him.

I watched as Dare moved faster than anyone else to the ropes and up toward me. The two boys I had revived moved to help Night back over the rail.

Dare was on me in seconds and had me cradled in his arms, my legs dangling as he soothed me from the pain. The break had brought me back to my senses and I now held on to Dare with my good arm. He awkwardly made his way down and was helped to the deck by a couple of the crew that I didn't recognize.

"Are you okay?" Dare asked once we had settled on the deck, and he had me sitting down.

I had regained my senses just barley and I awkwardly nodded. I leaned my head to his chest, too embarrassed to look at the gathering onlookers.

After a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity, I heard a voice say, "That was quite a fall; you going to be okay?"

It was Night. I just glared at him and with what little dignity I could gather while holding a broken arm. I got up and quickly walked past him to the rooms below deck. After a while of sitting in my room with Rin trying to comfort me, Dare walked in. He nodded to Rin who got the message and stepped out.

Dare sat beside me on the bed. He reached forward and gently put his hands around my arm. I barley felt the touch. I felt the flow of magic into my arm before I felt the break start to mend. The pain subsided. Dare looked at me with amused but sad eyes, his domineer broken, before he held out his arms to me.

"You are just like your mother," he said. I just sat still, unresponsive as he continued. "You don't let others do as they please to you and yet you still hold the pride to walk out, even if it went wrong."

"It was stupid," I replied, "I lost control and tried to hit him."

"Kill him," he corrected.

"Kill him," I sighed, "and lost my footing."

"Well, you managed to knock the wind out of him. I have never seen him move away from anything that fast other than water."

I looked up at Dare in question.

"You didn't know? Night is afraid of water and was only able to go after you when you went under because he was forced. At least the first time." A sickly grin came over my face as a new way to get back at Night formed in my mind.

Dare looked at me oddly and I just looked at him. He figured out what I was planning and just shook his head. "Try to keep from doing anything else reckless before we make it to the Isle. We can't treat any more breaks."

With that, Dare stood up, his emotions gone again, his face a mask and said, "We'll get you to a healer when we're at the academy. Unless you want Night to heal your injuries?"

I snapped my head away at the thought of Night touching me again.

I just heard Dare sigh before walking out of the room. Soon, Rin was back in the room and started to talk about how she had just seen the Isle and went on about how she had studied everything about the school before coming here. I was happy to be able to take the topic off of Night and to questions about the school. I accepted the calming presence of Rin more than I ever would of Night. Rin was going to make a good friend while I was at the academy.