Page 7 of Of the Stars and Sea

Wells leans forward until the skin of his forehead is flush against the barrel of Amara’s pistol. A crazed look takes over his honey-colored eyes, making them glow brighter as he snaps his dagger out of its sheath and spins it around the palm of his hand. “Amara, darling. You know I’ve been waiting for years to have a tussle with you. What do you say we settle the matter, right here? Right now.”

He tsks before pressing his forehead into the barrel of her pistol even harder.

A click permeates the air as Amara cocks the hammer of her pistol back before sliding her finger over the trigger.

Wells tilts his head to the side slightly. “Now you’re just making my cock hard, darling.”

Rolling my eyes, I settle back in my chair and start cleaning my nails with my dagger again. “Can you two just fuck already so we can get back to the matter at hand?”

Keeping her arm ramrod straight, Amara slides her dark eyes to me. “Fuckhim? Captain, you insult me.”

Pausing my grooming, I look up at her and arch my brow. She releases the hammer of her pistol and lays it back on the table. Wells snickers like he’s won. When I shoot him a warning glare, he snuffs out his laughter and sheaths his dagger. Amara leans back in her seat, draping her arm along the back of the chair next to her, like Wells didn’t just get under her skin.

I look between them. “We have a lot to discuss and not much time to make plans for this next task.”

“What did Red Beard assign us, Captain?” Wells asks.

I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is listening. Satisfied that Wells’s distraction continues to hold, I lean closer to the edge of the table and speak low so that only Wells and Amara can hear me. “There is talk that Blythe Quint has plans to steal the Serpent’s Key.”

Wells’s eyes grow wide as he reels backward. “That’s a suicide mission. What in the hells is he thinking?”

“That’s the question of the night,” Amara says, her brown eyes flicking to mine.

Tension swirls in my stomach. “It doesn’t matter why Blythe is going after the Serpent’s Key—all that matters is that we have to intercept him when he does.”

The metal of Wells’s ring catches the flickering candlelight shooting a striking gold ray in several directions. It was the only thing he had left of his family—a reminder of everything that waslost to him, and the reason he doesn’t give a damn about the life he has left. Or rather, that he maybe cares too much and doesn’t want to waste a single second of it.

“So, what’s the plan, Captain?” He places an elbow on the table and settles his square chin into the palm of his hand.

Darting my gaze between the two of them, I lean closer to the table. They both follow suit. “The plan is that we’re going to steal it from him.”

“And bring it to Red Beard,” Amara adds, only to catch my mouth tilting upward. Her eyes widen. “We are bringing it to Red Beard, as agreed, aren’t we?” I do not respond. She shakes her head, the wooden beads in her hair clinking together. “Oh, no. No, no, no—I’ve seen that look before.”

“Captain, you can’t seriously be talking about stealing the Serpent’s Key from Blythe QuintandRed Beard,” Wells whispers in open shock. His expression is a hybrid of disbelief, awe, and absolute terror.

“Technically, we’ll only be stealing it from Blythe. It will never be in Red Beard’s possession,” I reply before taking a long sip of my bitter ale.

“Thinking like a pirate,” Wells says.

“That’s because wearepirates.” I set the mug of ale on the table. Foam sloshes against the side of the glass, reminding me of the ocean when the waves are capped in white.

“There are many in this realm who would say otherwise.” Amara settles back into her seat with a solemn look on her face.

It is true. There are many who do not think my crew and I are worthy of the title “pirate,” given our relation to Red Beard. And maybe they’re right. We’ve betrayed The Code on more than one occasion, and the pursuit of this next bounty will certainly ruffle some feathers, if not send us all to a watery grave. But I’ve done what I’ve always had to do.

“They do not get to determine what we call ourselves. Pirates are seafaring folk. The ocean’s water runs through their veins. Does it not run through ours?” I ask, brow raised.

“Of course it does.” Amara smirks at the same time Wells says, “Aye.”

“Then we are pirates, no less than any other scoundrel who raises their flag and sails across the Aelynthi Sea.”

“And what of the Serpent’s Key?” Amara asks.

I take in my quartermaster for a moment, reflecting on all the adventures we’ve been on together. All the treasures we’ve discovered, and the losses we’ve taken. Through every victory and trial, Amara has been by my side. Knowing she will be right next to me during this new venture is the only thing that gives me the courage to say, “Blythe will steal it from the king.” My words lower to a barely audible whisper. “And then we steal it fromhimand take it for ourselves.”

Amara and Wells are both silent as they look at one another. It doesn’t matter if I have a plan to betray Red Beard by taking the Serpent’s Key for ourselves in the hopes that it will lead to Thaetos’s treasure, and then our freedom after that—if Amara and Wells are out, there’s nothing I can do. I need them.

It’s Wells who speaks up first. The tail of the green sash falls over the front of his shoulder as he leans forward. “If we do this, Captain, it won’t just be Blythe on our tail. We will have Red Beard and all his goonies, plus the king’s armada.”

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