Page 58 of Ship of Shadows
I sighed. “I know.”
“Okay, but was it good?” Driscoll leaned forward, propping his chin in his hands. “You know, I won’t be offended if you need to talk about it. Confess your sins. Get it off your chest.”
“You need to get laid,” I said.
“I do,” he agreed. “It’s been so long.”
By now, the music had died down, the dancing stopped, as everyone had gathered into a circle, listening to one of the crew members telling a story about the Deadlands and the monsters they’d encountered while stuck there.
“Can we just go listen to tonight’s story and forget about everything that happened?” I asked Leoni and Driscoll.
Leoni narrowed her eyes. “I am going to be watching you. Every step you take. Every interaction with the pirate lord will be monitored by either me or Driscoll.”
Driscoll stood. “Oh, I don’t know if you can trust me. I’m kind of starting to root for them.”
Leoni just threw up her arms and stomped over to the circle. I followed, sitting on a crate near the mast. Driscoll settled by the railing, leaning against it. I tried to pay attention to the story, but my thoughts kept drifting toward a certain pirate. I wondered what his sisters were saying to him right now.
I was about to retire belowdecks when the ship rocked, everyone lurching to the floor from their seated positions.
“What in the bloody hell?” Bastian emerged from his cabin, Mia and Kara following him, the only ones still on their feet. The pirate lord ran to the railing and looked down. “Fucking fuck,” he said and pulled the spyglass from his coat, looking through it at something in the distance. The ship jolted, its joints creaking.
Bastian stuffed the spyglass back into his coat and whirled around. “Get to your feet, sailors.” Everyone immediately stood. “We’re under attack.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The main deck became a flurry of activity as some crew members ran belowdecks to man the cannons, while others stood at the railing, grabbing weapons and readying them for anyone who tried to board the ship. Bastian ran to the helm.
Leoni grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward Bastian’s cabin.
“What are you doing?” I dug my feet into the ground and leaned back, but damn she was strong, her grip ironclad. “I’m not going to hide.”
“I am.” Driscoll rushed past us and ducked into Bastian’s cabin as Leoni whirled on me.
“You are the princess of Apolis. I’m not letting you fight some battle on a pirate ship.”
The ship rocked again, and I looked out at the dark sea, not seeing any other ships. Then who was attacking? The ship groaned from below, and I stumbled into Leoni, who held her ground.
The loud boom of a cannon reverberated through the air, vibrating the deck.
The attack wasn’t coming from around us. It was coming from below, which could only mean... the seafolk were after us. I shoved past Leoni and ran up to Bastian, who stood at the helm.
“Do you have enemies everywhere?” I yelled over the sound of cannons firing and Bastian’s crew shouting out as they jabbed what I now recognized as long javelins into the ocean.
“Not the time, love.” Bastian kept a firm grip on the helm as the ship tipped dangerously.
I slid with the movement, my back hitting the railing.
“Get into my cabin,” Bastian yelled. “Now!”
“We have to figure out why they’re attacking,” I said.
“Great plan. I’ll just go and have a nice chat with them while they’re trying to gouge out my eyes.”
I ignored him. “Have you done something to them? Attacked them? Stolen from them? Stole one of them?”
“No, no, and no,” Bastian gritted out.
I paused, mind reeling. The seafolk were notoriously private. They rarely ventured out, interacting with Apolis only because we shared the same magic, and that had earned us a begrudging respect from them. They stayed out of every conflict. They wouldn’t attack for no reason.
