The City of the Dead

Chapter 19

As the questions and things I was going to say continued to pile up in my head, the trek up to the room seemed to take forever. I dreaded the conversation that was to come, and couldn't imagine anything good coming out of it.

I knew I should forgive him, due to the effects of a mermaid, but I didn't know what it felt like and couldn't imagine resisting one being very hard.

I shook my head in amazement when we reached the top level at how quiet it was. The loud music, laughter, and shouting were just a light buzz in the background. The smell of alcohol was completely gone, replaced by the relaxing scent of the ocean. Overall it was surprisingly peaceful, despite only being three floors up.

Adonis wiggled a key in the keyhole and heard a click. He pushed open the door and held it for me as I walked in then lightly closed it and turned to face me.

His posture instantly slumped as he let all the strain and tension out of his muscles and collapsed on the floor putting his head in his hands. "What have I done?" I didn't answer and let him think about it a bit longer.

I was glad he didn't chose to sit beside me, because I was too annoyed with him and didn't want him to touch me. "What are we going to do about this? It was one thing before when we weren't dating. I honestly didn't care one bit then, but now we're dating and I was told that you would do that to me. I was told you would leave me as soon as a prettier girl came along."

Adonis lifted his head, to reveal his pale face. "Who told you that?" His voice was so quiet it scared me, and I knew he would look for revenge.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter who told me what, it's the fact that I heard it and you just tore my heart in two. If you're going to be so easily seduced, then how can I know you won't leave me when the next girl comes?"

Adonis raised his hands and jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth. "Em, you have no idea what it's like to resist the temptation of a mermaid. One day when there's a merman you will understand. I hope for our relationship's sake there is one soon."

"So what do we do now? You have no idea what it's like to already have suspicions of someone kissing another person, and then they become confirmed when some girl walks up to you and you don't pull back."

"What do we do? I don't know, I say we move forward from this, but you don't understand the temptation of a merperson. I know I had that lipstick mark on my neck before, but I swear it was some random female pirate."

I threw my hands up. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Adonis. I wanted to believe that it would be me and only me, but now twice today some girl has kissed you. I don't think you see where I'm coming from either. You don't understand the frustration that I feel."

"No, because I trust you enough to believe that you would never do that to me. I need you to return that trust."

"It's harder to trust a pirate than you may think. Growing up where I did made all pirates seem like murderers, thieves, liars, cheats and so on. Now a few of those things seem real to me. It was easy for me to trust you before I saw Roger, before I saw half the men here, and before I saw you kissing that girl. Now I simply don't know what to do. I just want to be free of this and move on, because I do care about you, but I'm never going to get that image out of my head."

Adonis took a step toward me, but I glared at him and he stepped back to his original spot. "I can't say I know what it's like to be in your position, but you need to give me another chance. Please, I need you in my life and I don't want you to walk out on something so small like that."

I sighed, thinking of all the different possibilities. I did care about him, but he had torn my heart and two and it was still mending despite what the woman he kissed was. Then on the other hand he had kissed another woman, but I didn't want to lose him either.