Chapter 15

15

RYLAND

" Y ou feel drawn to her as well," Dante says as he comes in and shuts the door behind him. Cassandra has just left my room, and her entire body is drawing me in. Everything about her is drawing me in. I wonder if it's the same thing as my father felt for my mother. My mother is very beautiful, said to be even more so when she was younger.

"Perhaps," I say, not telling him anything. I have known Dante for years, since we were children, and when Hunter and I said we were leaving the castle, he came with us. I will always owe him for that. Dante has saved my life nearly as many times as I've saved his.

"We have both been around male changed ones and seen how females are drawn to them," Dante says, not filling in the end of that sentence. The very reason we are travelling around is to look for male changed ones and take them back to Fiaten. The mountain is full of them, and they are being trained. The only problem is that Cassandra is a woman. I don't know how to explain to her that they are building an army in the mountains, an army to take back the throne. There are a lot of secrets on this ship, and I have no doubt she would run if we started to tell them to her.

"Cassandra is a very beautiful young woman, most men would be drawn to her," I say, moving to the table and looking over the map. The wind is good over the seas, and I know we will miss the guards' ship. The last thing we need is them finding us, or her. It would be one hell of a fight, and I won't give her up to the king. The guards would try to take me and Hunter to the king if they found us, but they would prefer to take Cassandra. I can imagine how happy a female changed one would make the king.

"She is indeed," Dante nods, as he rests back against the wall. I watch him closely, knowing my friend well enough. We don't let many women on board the ship, and we never sleep with the ones we take to different islands. If any of us need a release, we stop off at enough islands to find a woman to spend the night with. We just haven't recently, because the king is getting smarter, and we can't stay long on any island. So, having a very beautiful woman like Cassandra around is a distraction. It's not just her beauty, it's her confidence and nature that are even more attractive.

"No one is to date her, Dante," I say. If any of us were to get that close to her, it would only cause massive problems on the ship. I've noticed every single one of us staring at her.

"Why not?" Dante asks me with a smirk. There are so many reasons, one being the jealousy that it would cause. I saw the way we all looked at her, the way we all seem drawn to her. It's bad enough she has to sleep in one of our beds because the guests we have on board cannot be trusted with a changed one. They might try to kill her in her sleep.

"Dante, you can have any of the women, on any island. Stay away from Cassandra," I say, my tone sharp. I wish Dante was frightened of me, but I know the bastard isn't.

"No promises, Captain," he chuckles before walking out.

"Dante!" I shout after him as he walks out and shuts the doors behind him. By the seas, Cassandra is going to make life complicated for us all.

The moment she crashed into our ship and crashed into our lives, Cassandra was destined to make things complicated for us.