Page 40 of A Steeping of Blood
“Safe travels, if only for the sake of the ship,” he said.
Arthie said nothing as Willard Otis strode away, leaving them to their devices. Good man. Sidharth went to Silas Vane with final instructions as he and his crew boarded the ship.
“Right, Jin—” Arthie stopped, but he wasn’t by her side. She turned in a circle and spotted him a short distance away, like a scene from a play. Jin was on the pier, his brow pressed to Flick’s as the sea tumbled beyond them, the wind whipping their clothes. His eyes were closed, pain crowding the plains of his face.
He pulled away while she watched, and Flick took a tiny step back, as if it physically hurt to do so.
“You’ll be missed, Flick,” Arthie said as she and Matteo joined them.
Flick turned, her eyes bright with tears. “As will you, Arthie.”
They’d come a long way since Flick had walked through Spindrift’s doors and Arthie had recruited her services, knowing full well she had wanted to double-cross them for her mother. Now she was a part of the crew scrambling to takedownher mother.
“Keep them safe, Matteo,” Flick said.
Jin made a sound in the back of his throat, and turned toward the ship without a word. It would have appeared rude if Arthie didn’t know otherwise: If he stayed here any longer watching Flick’s tears, he might never board the ship.
“I promise,” Matteo said with a tiny bow, and hurried off to Jin.
When it was just the two of them left, Flick picked up a tiny case. “Oh, and here. A gift for you three. But—open it later.”
“I’ll think about it,” Arthie teased, taking it from her. It was fairly heavy, interestingly. And then Flick threw her arms around Arthie, holding her tight. The pitter-patter of Flick’s heart raced against Arthie’s rib cage until she finally pulled away. “Don’t scout out the tribute site. We’ll be fine. I’ll protect him.Youstay safe, and we’ll reunite at the Athereum.”
Flick nodded. “Seven days, Arthie.”
Arthie didn’t need the reminder, but she took it as Sidharth returned, silver hair shimmering in the light. He gave her a small salute with another promise to free the vampires housed in the warehouses here in Ettenia, and then it was time.
Arthie paused before the ship, heart lodged in her throat. It was only a ship; it was only the sea. She had a job, and that should take precedence as it always did.
But it didn’t.
A shadow fell over her, and she dropped her eyes to the ground, not wanting Matteo to read her, but read he did.
“You can do this,” Matteo said softly.
Arthie drew a breath and walked the gangway, gritting her teeth as the ground bobbed beneath her and the memories threatened to drown her whole.
“Let’s not forget the satisfaction to come when we surprise the Ram, eh?” he asked.
Arthie cracked a smile at that. If Matteo could go from Wolf to prolific painter, Arthie could brave the seas. And after? The Ram would foot the bill.
The EJC ship was beautiful, more extravagant than Arthie had thought it could be, varnished and detailed.A beautiful grave. For the ship was one of many the Ram used to transport her unconscious vampires, soon to be weaponized, exploited, and killed for her purposes. No, there was nothing beautiful to it.
Captain Silas Vane and his men untied ropes and loosened sails and set off without a fuss, and as the ship slowly drifted from the port, Flick shrank smaller and smaller. She waved one last time, and Arthie and the others waved back. Arthie heard the tremor in Jin’s exhale, but she felt nothing of the sort herself, encased, instead, in a sense of numbness.
The seas were calm, as if waiting with bated breath for Arthie to do as she’d done the last time she stood among the waves.
But she wouldn’t. She was different now. Right? She tried to find comfort in the fact that there were no humans aboard. Not far from her, Jin clutched the railing, staring into the churning waters and looking sicker by the second.
“It helps to not stare at it,” she said, and he began turning his head in acknowledgment before thinking better of it.
Arthie sighed.
Matteo squeezed himself between them with a look to either side. “I knew joining the Casimirs would be an adventure, but I never saw myself leaving Ettenian shores with the pair of you.”
Neither Arthie nor Jin responded.
Matteo sighed. “Good talk.” Then he peered into the sloshing waves. “It’s a pity vampires can’t swim.”
