Page 26 of The Lost Child

“W-work?” I muttered, managing to stand only to stumble slightly. What was wrong with me?

“Aye, turns out the reason there were only a few of Macguire’s men at our last raid because they were bait. It was a trick! His real ship was just spotted a few miles out to sea. Milord wants us to settle the score and take him out for good!”

I blinked, his words filtering into my brain as I struggled to make sense of them.

“Take a ship and go fight? Now?” I clarified, rubbing grit out of my eyes. Had my father returned then?

His eyes gleamed with the promise of battle and blood. “Now.”

I shot a parting glance at Canavar, who simply watched from under hooded eyes. At least he was awake. I glanced down at my feet, peeking at where the food sack and waterskin were out of the corner of my eyes. Both were empty.

I smiled at the ground.

“My father’s back then?”

Gerrick opened the door for me, then slammed it shut quickly as I crawled through.

Canavar didn’t even twitch.

“He’s on his way. Let’s go. No time to waste.Witchis harbored on the eastern port, ready to go.”

Witchwas the name of my father’s favorite ship. It was fast and had the best guns. I hated the name almost as much as I was beginning to hate him.

“The crew—”

“Hand selected and ready to go,” Gerrick responded, giving me a smirk. That made me pause in the dark passageway.Already selected for me?Usually I picked my own crew, men I knew who would listen to a woman in a tight space, and comprised only of my allies and associates.

I didn’t like this.

“Don’t worry, I only picked the good ‘uns.” Gerrick gave me a true smile then, and I relaxed a bit.

“Fine,” I snapped and tried to act like everything was normal as we made our way up to the dim, soggy surface.

“He’ll be back soon?” I questioned. It wasn’t raining, but a fine sheen of mist swirled around the island, the skies dark and the fog thick. It would be difficult for him to come to port during an attack.

Gerrick kept walking ahead of me. I wondered if he truly hadn’t heard me or if he was ignoring me.

“Will Hai and Kai at least be on board?” I tried again. Surely Father didn’t expect anyone to sail straight in this weather. Hai and Kai were both expert navigators.

Gerrick didn’t answer, merely made his way onto the dock. I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back. Men.

I took note of the crew given to me for the task. Ten, twenty, thirty pirates, none of them people I’d trust to break bread with, let alone attack another ship. Though to be fair, Gerrick had managed to wrangle Toby, Hai and Kai, and Jagger like he’d promised. Even though Jagger was skulking against the rails, not meeting my eyes. When he finally did glance up, and his eyes went wide at the state I was in.

“Hell’s teeth, Rissa. What the fuck did he do to you?”

He looked like he wanted to rush towards me, but then remembered my father threatened to castrate him if he was caught near me again. Part of me mourned what we’d had, but it was hard to feel any sense of loss when I thought about Canavar.

“Can we talk?” he muttered as I walked by, barely moving his lips.

“Not a good idea,” I shot back, taking in the rigging and the sails, trying to ensure everything was in order. Jagger gave me a dirty look and walked away.

I told myself it was for the best. He’d only get in trouble and earn my father’s ire if we continued.

It always came down to my father, didn’t it?

If my father was sending Gerrick along, it was clear this was a test of sorts. He wanted me watched and everyone here would likely report on how I performed. Even Jagger. Especially Gerrick. If the rumors about Macguire betraying us were true, I’d really need to watch my back.

And I was half-starved and sleep-deprived.

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