Page 62 of The Storm of the Empire

“I recognize the sacks.”

“Shit,” I muttered, doing a self-check for symptoms “I’m already exposed,” I said, feeling helpless.

“And we don’t want to make it worse. Stay away from this door.”

“Do we want to draw attention to ourselves with me waiting outside the door?”

“I’d rather that than you end up dead leagues from a healer.”

“It might be too late now.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” he growled, and I could hear him shifting things around in there.

Minutes went by, and I waited, feeling ridiculous stood out in a corridor, worried that any moment I could be discovered, and they would know I didn’t belong here.

“What are you doing in there?” I called out, my patience at an end.

The door whipped open, and Luka looked thoroughly spooked. “I was checking this stuff wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Will it?”

He shook his head and held open the door.

I stepped in. “What is this stuff?”

“Some herbs, not the deadly kind. Candles, crystals…priest stuff.”

“But no eggs?”

“Not here.”

My shoulders dropped.

“That scared the life out of me,” he said as he towered over me. I shouldn’t have been turned on, but I was.

“You would have saved my life if it was bane. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I can’t put your life at risk in this. You have to be careful.”

“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?”

His lips found the corner of mine in a chaste kiss. “Someone who cares.”

TWENTY

LUKA

We worked with the crew to get the ship out as the tide turned. It was a well-practiced process that felt like second nature. The ship was run in the same way I was used to, which made things so much easier. Hazel even picked things up quickly and fit right in.

As the action slowed, the hardest part was over.

“Luka! I wondered if I’d ever see you again?” Veles called from his place at the helm.

“Beautiful night to be aboard. I hope you don’t mind me hitching a ride with the cargo.”

“Not at all. You are always welcome aboard my ships. You couldn’t have picked a better season to return to the water.” Veles wore an easy smile, and his intelligent eyes were the same as I remembered. He’d been a hard arse as a first mate and ran a tight ship, but I was sure he’d be different with his own ship. A first mate ran the type of ship their captain commanded. He’d always struck me as different than his words.

“I’m glad to be aboard this ship,” I leveled with him. He knew more about me than most, having hired me when I had nothing but a quick wit.

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