Page 96 of Ship of Shadows
We rocked slowly together, kissing and touching and savoring every second of this. Tomorrow everything would change, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. Part of me wished I could stay in this little cabin with Bastian forever, just us and the sea.
He started moving faster now, needing a release, and I bucked under him as he ground into my pelvis. My breathing grew heavy as pressure built in my core. He kissed me harder, and I threaded my fingers into his hair as we came together, both of us crying out.
He collapsed over me.
I trailed my fingers up and down his sweat-sheened back, completely and utterly content. I could not get enough of this man. This pirate who had somehow managed to steal my heart in a way I never expected. He pressed his lips to my forehead and rolled next to me, and I nestled into his side.
“I love you. You know that, right?” He looked at me with a grave expression that I didn’t quite understand.
“Of course I do.” I hesitated. “I love you too.”
He closed his eyes, his breathing growing heavy while I watched him, memorizing every line of his face. Those full lips. That dark beard that covered his strong jaw. I got up from the bed, my feet pressing against the cool floor as I walked over tothe candle where it flickered, right next to Bastian’s spyglass. I leaned down and blew it out.
Outside the little cabin, chatter and music floated through the air. The entire crew seemed to have this sense that tonight was the last night before everything changed, either for better or worse. I tiptoed back to the bed, and slipped under the covers, then turned over, staring into the darkness, the pirate lord’s words rolling over in my mind.
I love you, he’d said.
But it hadn’t sounded like a sweet sentiment. It hadn’t sounded like a declaration. It had sounded like a goodbye.
Chapter Forty-Four
The island of Sorrengard appeared in the distance, a ring of dark fog surrounding its tall, thick trees. It was larger than I’d expected, bigger than any of the human islands that were scattered through the Dark Seas. The black-sand beaches spread around the jungle, ominous and foreboding. A mountain rose up on the back of the island, green and shrouded in mist. We’d decided to anchor near the crocodile-infested swamps, deciding that would ultimately be easier than navigating through narrow cliffs, and then having to ascend those cliffs to get onto the island. Not to mention if we needed a quick escape, it wouldn’t be easy to get back to the ship.
So crocodiles it was.
My hands trembled as I clutched the railing, staring at the island. My brothers were there. Right now. They were alive. I was going to see Mal and Lochlan soon. The thought made me want to jump off the ship and let the water take me there instead of waiting to arrive.
Kara came to a stand next to me. “Are you ready for this?” she asked, then lowered her voice. “You sure you want to go through with it?”
I looked behind me to Bastian’s cabin, then back to the island. “I’m sure.”
“Then you’d better be ready,” she said. “Don’t waste the opportunity I give you. No hesitating, no looking back. You’re going to need to be fully committed.”
I thought about freeing Bastian, giving him his shadow back so he could finally live out the life he was meant to. A life with me by his side.
“I am fully committed. You don’t need to worry about that.”
She nodded and slipped away as the ship slowed.
So many secrets I was keeping from Bastian. It was nice that he wanted to protect me, but who was going to protect him? I curled my fingers tighter, digging them into the railing as Sorrengard came closer, and we veered to the right toward the eastern side. Hopefully Marian’s information was true, and the marsh would provide us the cover we needed to stay undetected. We planned to anchor the ship in the sun, where shadows couldn’t reach us, which meant we’d have to use Bastian’s smaller boats to get us to the marsh and past the crocodiles. We’d capsized two of them when we gave my father and his men their burial at sea. That left us with three boats to use.
Now that we were closer to the island, I could see how thick the jungle was. Trees and vines twisted together in tangles and knots. We’d need to bring swords to cut through all the bramble and brush. I squinted at the dark fog hanging under the cover of the trees and realized it wasn’t fog I was seeing—it was the shadows.
They swirled, their forms translucent and wispy, eyes glowing red. I shuddered, thinking about how Lochlan’s and Mal’s shadows could be up there right now, staring down at me. The shadows were varied, some tall and lanky, some stout and short, while others appeared bulkier, bigger. That would at leastmake identifying Mal’s and Lochlan’s shadows—and the pirates’ shadows—easier. Theirs would be the fully grown ones.
We sailed past the looming jungle and out toward the shallow waters, where sun shone down. Thankfully it was a sunny day, but this was a jungle island, and storm clouds could come in at any moment. We had to hope the sun stayed out and gave us a good chance at escape so the shadows couldn’t follow us. I wondered just how many shadows were on this island, how many boys were trapped. Bastian had been ferrying boys over for sixty years now, but before that, I wondered how many had been kidnapped. The ship slowed, and my stomach lurched. A lump grew in my throat at the sight of the marsh that lay ahead. I could just make out green heads rising from the water. The crocodiles. Spirits below, there were so many.
Thin reeds and tufts of green sat on the marshy water, and round lily pads rested on the surface. This was going to be hard to navigate, even with my water magic.
I’d thought so much about what would happen once we got on the island, I hadn’t considered the danger of actually getting to it. Why did everything have to be so difficult?
I turned away, needing a moment to catch my breath. If Mal were here, he’d be going through our plan one more time, rattling off our strategy, checklist in hand. Lochlan would predictably be making jokes to lighten the tension and calm my nerves. They’d both be up for this challenge. They’d face it head-on. I would do the same. If that were me in that jungle, they wouldn’t hesitate to cross that marsh.
The ship finally came to a stop, and a flurry of activity erupted as the crew worked to lower the anchor. My gaze caught on three rowboats being lowered into the water from where they were stored on the bow. Bastian had told me each rowboat could carry fifteen men, more than enough room for all of us. I searched through all the activity for Leoni and Driscoll but didn’tsee them anywhere. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen them since breakfast that morning. Driscoll was staying behind to guard the ship, but Leoni had insisted on coming with me.
Bastian appeared outside his cabin, his gaze set on me. A sheathed sword hung from his belt. The top of his shirt was open and flapping in the wind, his long coat billowing behind him. He looked magnificent, every bit the feared pirate lord of the Dark Seas.
A clang sounded behind me, and I whirled around to see a few crew members emerging from belowdecks, carrying a large cage.
