Page 32 of Astrid at Sea

Of course, I didn’t listen. He really shouldn’t have expected anything else.

“It stinks down here.” My nose was scrunched in distaste as I ducked under Viktor’s arm and spied some old fish in the corner. It looked like the fish Gustav had cooked yesterday. Or perhaps the day before.

“And this is Jerrik’s missing blanket,” Viktor murmured, kicking the corner of it with his foot. “You know what this means?”

I gulped and nodded. I did.

Someone was sleeping down here.

We had a stowaway.

Viktorand I quickly scrambled back up to the top deck before the stowaway returned for his old, uneaten fish. Garth would be horrified to see one of his meals in that state.

“Did you find anything?” Laurence asked, glancing over his shoulder as we rushed to join him at the wheel.

“There’s a stowaway on the ship,” I said, the words rushing out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“A stowaway? Really?” He sounded in surprise. “How can you be sure?”

“He’s got a blanket and some food hidden behind some barrels in the corner of the bottom deck,” Viktor answered, his voice gruff. He brushed his fingers through his hair—a nervoushabit. “The stowaway has been stealing food from us. And not just the meals that Gustav cooks.”

Laurence pursed his lips, displeased. “That means he’s been sneaking around the ship under our noses this whole time.”

“And he’s been stealing from us,” I said, referring to Jerrik’s blanket.

“What are we going to do?” Laurence asked.

“We need to lure him out. Find out who they are,” I said. “Do you think they may be from Mann?”

“It’s possible,” Viktor murmured, but he didn’t look convinced.

“To steal?” Laurene asked.

“Revenge,” Viktor murmured in a low tone, and my face twisted into an expression of horror at his words.

“Revenge?” I gulped.

My husband nodded. “We need to catch him before he goes further and gets one of us. But the question is, how are we going to do that?”

“I’ve got an idea,” I murmured and turned to glance at Laurence, aware that if anyone were going to back me on this, it would be him. It certainly wouldn’t be Viktor. If anything, he would be against what I had in mind, even though it was a good idea.

“Why do I feel like I won’t like this?” Viktor groaned.

“You definitely won’t like this,” Laurence laughed, already on the same thought train as me.

Viktor’s eyes pleaded with me. “Tell me, my siren.”

“Use me as bait,” I said and rushed to explain the rest before Viktor could turn down a perfectly good plan just because it put me in a bit of danger. “I’m certain that the stowaway is from Mann. Revenge is our best bet right now, and what better way for them to get revenge than for them to get at me? I was the reason for us to leave early, after all.”

“I don’t like this,” Viktor murmured, but Laurence cut him off.

“I understand your concern, Viktor,” Laurence sighed. “And if our positions were switched right now and my wife was on the line like this, I would also be totally against it. But you have to see that this is our best option right now. We need to lure out whoever is on our ship.”

“Something bad could happen,” Viktor sighed, his face softening as he turned to face me. “You could get hurt, my siren. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”

“You won’t let that happen, pirate,” I whispered, moving to close the distance between us. I was grateful that Laurence had the good judgment to look away and give us this private moment because we badly needed it.

I looped my arms around Viktor’s neck and brought his face down to mine, pressing our foreheads together.

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