Page 17 of Pirate Witch
“You’re keeping us close to the coast,” Rysen notes, shocking me out of my gloomy thoughts.
The vampire swings his legs over the railing and perches on the other side of Kier, joining us in our quiet vigil.
“She’s got more of a chance if she can get to land,” I retort. “Cas, Nos, and I can’t follow, and you can’t fly. If she makes it off the ship, she’ll only have to worry about Kier.”
As if she can sense we’re talking about her, I feel the witch’s cabin door open below. I swivel, abandoning our silent stakeout in favour of watching as she climbs up onto the deck. The twins and Klaus trail after her like puppies. She looks up at the ship’s wheel for a second, scanning the upper deck before realising we’re not there. With a sigh, I let a rope uncurl from the rigging and lower itself to tap her on the shoulder, making her whirl until she’s facing us.
She’s practically glowing, and it only gets more obvious as she notices the three of us staring at her. She’s wearing her cat as a scarf, and it glares at us as they draw nearer. Yep, that feline bastard hasn’t forgotten the incident with the brush. Opal damn near scalped me in revenge, and might have managed it if not for the sigils on my chest.
That’s when I notice the siren is wearing his armour and carrying her broom. I’m not the only one who’s seen it. The others—who’ve turned to watch her as well—tense as they catch sight of her, and Rysen’s near-silent growl fills the air.
“Going somewhere?” I ask as she approaches.
Nilsa frowns, her arms crossing over her middle defensively. “I can’t just sit around and wait for bad shit to happen. You’re all certain the Eagle is going to send you an order to capture or kill me, and Nos’s vision has already confirmed that she will.”
“But my vision also showed Nilsa won’t be here when the orders arrive,” Nos adds. “It makes sense for her to leave while she can, without having to evade us, and I have thisfeelingthat it has to happen soon.”
So they’ve decided to let her leave early. Fuck.
I can see the logic in it, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I… fuck, I still need to talk to her about what happened at Cirio’s Cove.
My eyes go straight to her neck—conveniently covered up by her evil cat. But I know she’s well and truly marked. The twins wouldn’t look so satisfied if she wasn’t.
“You stick to the coast,” Rysen insists. “Don’t even take a chance against the wraiths.”
She shakes her head and her hand goes to her bag, squeezing it like she’s looking for reassurance. “Don’t worry about the wraiths. They won’t trouble us.”
I swear Nilsa does things like this specifically to trigger my suspicion. I glare at the leather satchel, wondering what she could possibly have in there. The wraiths don’t care about weapons, so unless she’s packed that thing full of salt, she’s taking unnecessary risks.
Rysen obviously agrees, because his frown deepens. “Stay where the sea air will protect you,” he repeats. “You’re too precious to risk.”
She fucking melts. Of course she does. That romantic sappy shit always works on women. There’s no guarantee she’s going to do as he says just because he makes her heart stutter, though.
“We need you alive to break the bargain,” I remind her. “No fucking risks, and keep the siren close when you’re in Isablis. The vampires can get peckish, and your cat has a habit of covering up all of your mating marks.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the crumpled letter I wrote just this morning. It’s sealed in red wax to stop her from reading it before she gives it to Cirio.
I don’t want her to see what I wrote.
“Take this and give it to Cirio.” She goes to take it, and I snatch it back. “Cirioonly,witch. Promise me.” If any other pirates read what I’ve written, my reputation will be ruined. Cirio will keep his mouth shut, but his men will tease me about it for a century or more. If Cirio so much as breathes a word of it to them, I’ll remind them all about the time he climbed to the top of his own mast, drunk, and belted out the world’s worst improvised ballad to Pierce.
Nilsa rolls her eyes at me, but she gives me a reluctant nod, anyway. I let her take it this time and watch as she tucks it carefully into the front pouch of her bag. As soon as she’s done, Rysen steps forward and pulls her into his arms, drawing her face up to his for a sweet kiss. Her whole body sighs into his, melding to his shape until she reluctantly draws back. I grind my teeth as Kier takes her hand and presses a kiss to the palm before folding her fingers over it like they’re ten years old.
Then, of course, the twins have their turn, teasing her until her lips are red and kiss swollen.
When she draws back, she glances at me. Her eyes are red-rimmed, the only outward sign of whatever she’s feeling right now.
Fuck this.
I grab her waist and tug her into me, taking advantage of her gasp of surprise to take her mouth for myself. Her lips are soft, and she tastes like the chocolates she likes to sneak out of the galley when no one is looking. The flavour only gets stronger as she reciprocates, stroking her tongue out to meet mine. Every cell in my body roars, the mating bond furious at my continued denial.
Addictive fucking witch.
I shove her away before I can make good on the demands of my dick. “Get going,” I rasp. “You don’t know how much time you’ve got.”
She nods, glances back at Klaus, then tucks that metal twig under her pert ass and rises into the sky. The siren gives us all a look.
“Good luck,” he calls, diving over the edge of the railing and into the waves below.
