Page 31 of Astrid at Sea

“Laurence?” I called out in surprise, pressing a hand over my chest where my heart was beating erratically. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I heard something, so I came to investigate.” Laurence moved to step on the button I had neglected since Viktor left to investigate. “I wanted to check that the both of you were fine.”

“Thanks,” I smiled warmly at him. “Viktor and I were talking one moment, and then there was a loud crash the next moment. He went to investigate.”

“How long has he been gone?” Laurence frowned, concern masking his face.

“He left a few moments before you turned up.”

“I should probably go check on him,” Laurence offered, but I quickly stopped him.

“No, let me,” I insisted.

Laurence didn’t look so convinced, but he was smart enough to hold his tongue as I left the wheel to him and wandered across the top deck to the stairs that led down to the second level. Even though I knew Viktor was down there somewhere in the darkness, and no matter what, I would always be safe when hewas nearby, my breath was guarded, and my steps were slow and cautious.

The whole time, I couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching me. Their eyes followed me as I walked the rest of the way down the stairs. Before I could call out for them to reveal themselves, arms snagged me around the waist and lifted me into the air.

If I didn’t recognise the familiar arms around my waist, hugging me to their hard chest, I would have screamed and woken up the entire ship.

“That wasn’t funny,” I huffed as he laughed in my ear.

“From where I’m standing, it was hilarious,” Viktor laughed and tightened his arms around me. He dropped his head to press his lips to the side of my neck in a soft kiss. “Sorry for scaring you, my siren.”

“I wasn’t scared,” I lied. “You were gone for a while, so I came to look for you. Laurence is at the wheel,” I told him, turning around in his arms.

“Laurence?”

“He said he couldn’t sleep, and when he heard a noise, he came to check on us.”

“I’m glad Laurence is handling the wheel,” Viktor sighed and reached for my hand. “I was getting anxious about you being up there alone.”

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. “I can look after myself.”

“I know, but I can’t help but worry about you, my siren,” he murmured lowly, leaning in to graze his lips against mine in a ghost of a kiss. “Care to explore with me?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I grinned, and my teeth sunk into my bottom lip, my eyes lingering on his before I turned around and led him down the hallway. “Find anything?” I asked, shooting him a questioning look over my shoulder.

“There’s nothing on this floor,” he answered, reaching for my hand. “I checked all the rooms, including the bathrooms. Everyone is asleep and accounted for. Except for Laurence, we know where he is.”

“How did you check the rooms?” I asked.

“The same way that person checked our room last night,” he chuckled. “I peeked into every room, and all the beds except ours and Laurence’s are accounted for. I was mostly checking for anyone hiding in the room rather than checking on the sleeping crew. I’m not that creepy, you know?”

“That’s debatable,” I snorted, giggling when he playfully tugged on a strand of my hair, pulling me closer to him. “If you’ve already checked the second deck, we only have the bottom deck left.”

“Let me go first.” Viktor brushed his lips against my temple before he rushed to get ahead of me.

The only time I had been down to the bottom deck was on the first day when Viktor gave Roscoe, Manny, and me a tour of the ship. Besides that, Gustav was the only one who regularly headed down here to fetch the supplies he needed to cook for us all.

“How chivalrous of you,” I chuckled but couldn’t bring myself to complain when he kept his hold on my hand tight.

Standing on the last step behind Viktor, I peered over his shoulder at the bottom deck. Nothing looked out of place or like it didn’t belong there. It looked like how it did on the tour…except for one tiny detail.

A familiar blanket lay in the corner, peeking out from behind three barrels that looked strategically placed to hide something…or someone.

“Viktor,” I whispered, grabbing his shoulder. “Do you see that?”

“See what?” He asked in an equally quiet whisper. When I turned his head to face the corner where the blanket lay, his breath hitched just as mine did. “Stay here,” he ordered and left me on the step to investigate.

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