Page 120 of Ship of Shadows
“We’ll help.” The tent flap opened, Hammond standing there.
Mal raised his brows, and Hammond flushed. “The boys like to eavesdrop,” Mal said. “We’ve had many conversations about why that’s not appropriate.”
The tips of Hammond’s ears turned bright red. “They’re not meant to be here, those boys from Apolis.” Hammond nodded his head toward the camp. “They cry in their sleep, you know. They cry out for their mothers and fathers. They cry for their magic. If they have good families waiting for them, they deserve to go home. The rest of us can help. We’ll break into teams. We’ll make sure they get their shadows sewn on.”
I stepped out of Bastian’s arms. “What about you?” I asked. “We can’t just leave you here.”
Hammond stepped back. “I’ve been here for... a long time. I don’t have a home to go back to. Never had a home in the first place.”
I swallowed back tears. “But if we could find a place for you, a place where you all could go and grow into men and live on your terms, would you want that?”
“Gabrielle,” Bastian said behind me, but I ignored him, stepping closer to Hammond.
His eyes shifted. “Grow up?” he said.
I nodded. “Maybe meet a woman, or man, get married, have kids if you want, or do something else.”
“That could be nice,” Hammond said cautiously.
“Then we’ll come back for you.” I held out my hand, and he hesitated before reaching out and shaking it. “We’ll come back when that place is real. And we’ll save you too.”
I turned to look at Bastian, who just threw up his hands. “She’s the boss.”
Kara leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “Then we have our plan.”
Mal moved toward the entrance. “I’ll tell the boys. Prepare them.”
“We leave at dawn,” I called after him.
At that, everyone filed out of the tent until it was just me and Bastian.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked. “You need to be prepared that we might not be able to find our own shadows?—”
“No,” I said. “We will get your shadow, Bastian. And we will get off this island. Together. Please don’t play hero tomorrow.” I cupped his face. “That’s not who I need you to be.”
He placed his hand over mine. “Then who do you need me to be if not your hero?”
A grin spread across my face. “I need you to be what you’re best at. The pirate lord of the Dark Seas.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
We awoke before the sun rose, Bastian and his crew standing with Mal, Lochlan, and me, all of us huddled near a fire that crackled. The shadows’ red eyes glowed in the dark, little pinpricks of crimson surrounding us.
Mal stepped forward. “You all have your assigned boys. Two hundred and eight in total. So each of us is responsible for six boys. You make sure those six are at the meeting place by the marsh before we board the ship. Hopefully once Lochlan and I have our shadows back, we can help Gabrielle and use our water magic to bring the ship closer and get everyone safely boarded.”
“It looks like you all have a plan,” Goji said, stepping into the glow of the fire.
Bastian stilled, then surged forward and brought her in for a hug. “Thank you for bringing her back to me.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” Goji said.
“I still owe you,” Bastian responded.
“Just get me off this blessed island, and we’ll be even, pirate.”
He nodded, then nudged her. “I can do that.”
Her wings fluttered, dust floating from them, and she shot him a smile. I hoped she’d forgive him and they could be friends again.
