Page 71 of Wicked Tides
Six days on that ship free of iron bars or chains was the strangest feeling. Seeing men go about their business while Meridan and I stood on the foredeck of the ship, feeling the misty ocean air on our cheeks, felt unreal. In the six days we’d been allowed to roam, the men became marginally less tense around us. A few of them never took their eyes off of us and many of them had added excessive amounts of hemsbane to their diets. I could smell it.
Meridan and I were of different descent. Where I could change to look more “human,” she could not. Her skin remained almost translucent white. Her hair was a pale silver and her eyes never gained color. She could not pass for a human even if she dressed like one.
I was determined not to leave her side. Unlike me, she’d never been a captive of humans or hunters before. She’d never known how cruel the touch of a wanting man could be and she was just as unable to get comfortable as half the crew was.
Since we’d been let out, I saw Ahnah and the girls a couple of times in passing. Ahnah seemed to understand that our affection for each other could not be shown so openly, but when she and I caught each other below deck with only dusty cargo around us, we snuck longhugs. She would speak a few words I couldn’t understand and I would give her the smile I was unwilling to give anyone else.
And then we would part ways.
Why I adored the young girl was not as much of a mystery as I once thought it was. She was the innocence that was denied me. Perhaps in protecting her, I could prove that not every human was like Vidar. Not everyone was stripped of goodness.
Maybe it was a twisted sense of redemption I was after. A need to be validated.
As Vidar said, there was hope yet that she and the other girls would not end up like us. The fact that it was important for both of us to keep that darkness from them spoke volumes about our tainted souls. I couldn’t say there was any light left in me, but at least I could recognize it in others.
On deck that day, Mullins was sitting on a barrel strumming his fingers over a small, hollow string instrument and singing an upbeat tune to which a few of the girls were dancing. Or jumping. I wasn’t sure it could be called dancing. Billy joined them, his footwork equally uncoordinated. Gus was behind them, leaning against the railing with the same old pipe in his mouth, but his eyes were on me like he expected me to dive in and tear everyone to bits.
If I was going to do that, I would have done it already…
Vidar stepped down from the helm looking exhausted. He’d been at the wheel since before most of the crew had woken up. I watched as Ahnah danced in a circle, stumbling into Vidar as he passed. I stiffened. The girls had warmed to him over the days, but they were still wary, and rightfully so. He’d held a knife to one of them and they weren’t soon to forget. But Ahnah, the naïve little thing, turned and grabbed his hand as if asking him to join.
Vidar rolled his head back with a groan, trying to get around her. When she did not allow it, he feigned irritation and stooped, tucking her little body under one arm like she was a sack of flour. She giggled so loudly as he carried her around, pretending she wasn’t there. Her laughter was almost infectious. Almost.
And then he set her on a pile of linens like she was a piece of cargo. Smiling, he said something to Gus and patted him on the shoulder before retreating to his cabin.
I pursed my lips, staring as Ahnah continued to dance, despite that she was out of breath. And Gus was back to watching me, catching the suspicious glint in my eyes.
“They’re getting so comfortable with them,” Meridan muttered. “Even after what that other crew did to them.”
“So are we,” I confessed. “We must stay sharp, no matter how well they play their roles.”
It was late in the day when the lantern lights of Port Devlin came into view. Meridan was growing increasingly nervous as we approached and as if on cue, Vidar came up behind us.
“Merilyn will have to stay on the ship unless she wants less forgiving eyes to see her.”
“Meridan,” she replied.
“Meridanwill have to stay on the ship.”
I nodded and gave Meridan a glimpse. She didn’t look keen on going ashore anyways.
In Vidar’s hands was a leather hat with a floppy brim. “Hide your hair in this,” he said, tossing it to me. “There’s another ship on its way and men can get rowdy here.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Even so, I don’t want to make a scene that will make everything harder than it needs to be. This place is the only port around and it attracts all manner of people. Pirates, mostly. But other hunters, too.”
I rolled my eyes and started twisting my hair into a knot on top of my head. Then I pushed the hat over it to hold it in place, hating how constricting it all felt. In the oversized shirt and coat, I looked as much the young sailor as the rest of them at first glance.
The men rolled up the sails and anchored while one of the boats was lowered for part of the crew to row ashore. Going with them feltodd, but behind us, another boat filled with the girls, Gus, and Mullins was rowing in our wake. It would be the first bit of land the girls had seen since they’d been taken, I assumed.
The men of the Rose still looked at me with sideways glances, cautious of my existence. One in particular, Uther, stared as if there was no one else in the boat. I was certain that would not change anytime soon, but I didn’t care. Our cooperation was a truce, not an alliance. If I didn’t have anything to lose, I’d be putting their own blades through their hearts, but I had Meridan and the girls.
When we arrived on shore, I stepped off the boat onto a rickety wooden dock. The port was small with a sparse amount of buildings that looked to have been built in a previous century. The air smelled heavily of firewood and bread and fish. As we walked inward, I saw drying racks with small silver fish carcasses hanging in the sun. Those who roamed the muddy streets looked as if they’d been following the same routine for generations. Old farmers, shopkeepers, and fishermen ambled about with their wagons, baskets, and sacks, hauling goods from one place to another.
I’d been to Port Devlin before, but never in the form of a woman. I’d circled it from time to time looking for hunter’s ships, but its people were too disconnected to be of interest to me. I’d known other sisters who fed on those who ventured too far out to fish, but I never cared to do the same.
I had a more aggressive palate.
