All the Stars and Teeth(89)
“We’re fine as we are. We don’t need an abundance of magic to have a good life,” I whisper gently.
And though I mean every word, his jaw tenses. “Magic is power, Sira. It’s respect. How good of a life can I give you without that?”
I lift my hands to Cato’s cheek, gently stroking my thumb across his stubble. “You worry too much, my love.” I offer him a gentle kiss before easing away toward a door, knowing he needs time alone to work through his frustration. “We’re fine now, and together we will only grow. There’s no use dwelling on the things we’ve no control over.”
I mean it kindly, but Cato doesn’t know I can still hear him when I step outside.
“No control,” he grumbles under his breath. “We’ll see about that.”
* * *
The shores are flooded with people—some of them fishing and others climbing up giant trees, laughing all the while. My heart leaps into my throat as a young boy clambers up one of the tallest trees only to dive straight off it. But before he’s anywhere near the ground, he blows a gust of breath down at the sand and the air seems to thicken beneath him like a pad. It rushes to meet him, bouncing him back up a few more feet. But when he bounces back up, he slows his body with time magic. He laughs, flipping in the air, moving so slowly it’s as though he floats.
His skin glistens with sweat as the sun beats down on him. When he finally lands back on the ground, he scrambles for the tree once more. Beneath him, a tiny blond child tries to copy him, breathing air at her feet. She doesn’t get any higher than a foot off the ground.
I weave pretty stones and shells around thin pieces of leather as the children play. I prick my finger with a needle, smooth the blood across the leather as I attach a curse, and let it dry. I’m making cursed necklaces for the local girls, to keep them safe from anyone with foul intentions. As I’m bent over my work, three children flock around me, one redheaded boy and two twin girls with russet skin and tightly coiled curls—Lani’s girls and Markus’s son. They’ve given themselves brightly colored eyes—pink, purple, and gold—and giggle as they coat my hair with a lovely shade of lilac. I don’t mind letting them have their fun, laughing as they banter over what shade to try next. One of their parents can fix the color for me, later.
On the grass across from me, Cato skins a fish whose scales still glisten from the sea. He’s been in a mood today, so I try not to pay him too much attention as he continually flicks his focus to me, his movements becoming progressively angrier until I’m too distracted to do anything but give him my attention.
When I do, he glowers. “Are you trying to make me feel bad about myself?”
I still, as do the children behind me. Gently, I press one of the girl’s shoulders and nudge them away with the promise of playing with them later.
“Of course not.” I look at him firmly. “Why would you even think that?”
Cato wipes away the sweat that’s pooled onto his neck. “Because you can sell your little cursed charms and protections, while all I have is the ability to fish. I already know you’re able to provide more than I can, so why do you insist on rubbing it in?”
I press my lips together and exhale a gentle sigh. “It’s not a competition. They’re just little protection charms. You’re the one feeding us, and your fish make more money, too. Hardly anyone is interested in my silly cursed charms.”
My stomach churns at the sight of the half-finished necklaces and bracelets in front of me. The shells that litter the ground are beautiful, just waiting to be cursed. I’d planned on making dozens of them, but now I can hardly bring myself to look at them, knowing how much they upset him.
Cato doesn’t say anything. He only glares for another moment before returning to his work. I continue with my curses, running a finger over the leather as I contemplate my words.
“Has something happened?” I make my voice tender, the way he likes it. “Have I done something? I don’t mean to pry, but you’ve seemed on edge lately, and when I happened to see a glimpse of your soul—”
Cato freezes. His head whips up, green eyes vicious daggers. I flinch back.
“We agreed to never soul-read each other.” Every word is enunciated, seeping with vicious poison.
A pale, sunburnt woman using magic to float a net over her head and into the water stills, turning to eye Cato. I don’t recognize her, though I do recognize one of the men who takes notice and steps forward.
“Everything all right here, Sira?” His voice is a soothing baritone, thick with fatherly concern. Wrinkles crease around warm amber eyes that melt into his dark brown skin as Basil assesses the situation, and my skin heats with embarrassment.
“Everything’s fine, Basil,” Cato growls. “Don’t you have babies to heal?”
I ball my hands into fists, hating that he speaks to someone I care about so cruelly.
Basil ignores the snide comment by looking at me expectantly.
“It’s okay,” I murmur quickly, because I don’t want to risk Cato getting any more upset. “Cato’s just been a little stressed.”
Basil doesn’t appear convinced, but he nods all the same. “Glad to hear it. How about we let him work off some of that stress, then? If you’re still thinking of trying your hand at healing, Sira, you could come sit in with us for the day.”