He blurted out, “So how, um, old are you exactly?”
Sebastian stared at Kieran for a long beat.Kieran’s heart rate picked up.That stare was enough to make Kieran sweat, although not necessarily in a bad way.
“Pardon me for asking,” Sebastian said, “but is this a…job interview?I can’t say I’ve prepared, so my apologies—”
“What?No!”Kieran had to hold in a laugh.“I’m just trying to get to know you, Sebastian.”
“As an employee?”
Kieran sputtered a giggle.“As an employ—?No.Listen, I know I offered you this job, but that doesn’t mean I’m yourboss.It doesn’t work like that on this ship.Me, Delilah, Briar, Ariel, Santiago—we’re not coworkers.We’re…kind of a weird little family.Obviously, you don’t have to be best friends with all of us, but it would be nice to get to know you.If you want.”
“Oh.I…suppose I misread that.”Sebastian looked away, seemingly trying to hide the blush that had spread across his cheeks.“Sorry—I’m out of practice when it comes to casual socializing.Elias is the only person I’ve talked to for months now, and he preferred that I limit our conversations to work topics.”
“Seriously?What an asshole.”
For the first time since Sebastian had boarded the ship, Kieran had managed to coax a smile out of him.Kieran brightened at the sight of it—Sebastian’s resting expression was quite severe, so even a small smile softened him significantly.It took him from intimidating to roguishly handsome.Especially with the way his hair hung slightly in his nearly black eyes, which glinted in the sunlight.And how white his teeth were behind those pouty, pale-pink lips.
Not that Kieran noticed that, of course.
Sebastian said, “It’s all right—it’s behind me now.Plus, I can safely say I prefer it here already.And, ah—to answer your question—I’m eighteen.My birthday was last week.You?”
“Seventeen,” Kieran admitted, tearing his eyes away before his thoughts could spiral.“I’ll be eighteen in a few months.You know, old witches’ tales say people born in the winter are supposed to be extra ambitious and mysterious.”
Sebastian flexed his eyebrows.“Well, I’m no witch.I don’t know that the old tales apply to me.”
“I—um—I know some nonmagical folks don’t feel comfortable around witches,” Kieran said, doing his best to tiptoe around his real question.“You, um…you wouldn’t happen to be…”
“I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sebastian said, folding his hands in front of him—apparently something of a nervous habit.“You don’t seem the type to get angry and curse me because I forgot to say please and thank you or whatever it is that earned people curses back in the day.”
Without meaning to, Kieran cringed.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” Kieran muttered.“It’s, ah…Long story.”
“You seem to have quite a few of those.”
“I guess we’ll have plenty of time to get into them now that you’re along for the ride.”Kieran nodded toward the door.“Would you like to see the control room?I can properly introduce you to Santiago and Ariel.After that, my sister and Delilah should be done with…whatever they’re doing.”
“Lead on.”
After their conversation, Kieran led Sebastian back upstairs to the control room, where Ariel and Santiago were chatting about where they should stop to restock supplies.Their introductions were pleasant, Ariel asking Sebastian a thousand questions about who he might know in Shui City until they found a mutual acquaintance,seeing as Ariel had grown up there as well.Santiago kept shooting Kieran meaningful looks, which Kieran ignored.Sure, Sebastian was handsome, but that wasn’t why Kieran had agreed to let him on board.On the contrary, he knew exactly how hard it was to trust a total stranger in a situation like this; he’d asked the very same of Delilah less than a year ago, after all.It felt, in a strange, cosmic way, like paying it forward.
The sun was setting by the time they got upstairs to swap introductions with Briar and Delilah.Briar answered the door, trading a quick greeting with Sebastian, which felt less like pleasantries and more like Briar wanted them to leave her alone.Delilah, however, hopped up from their shared bed and came to the door to introduce herself and took over the conversation, much to both twins’ relief.Briar excused herself while Delilah had a brief exchange with Sebastian about what he thought about the ship, if he was settling in okay, and how she’d drop some sweets off at his door after she did some baking later.
Once they’d exchanged nice-to-meet-yous, Delilah quickly reached out and snagged the corner of Kieran’s sweater.
“Can I talk to you for a second?”she asked.Her tone was calm, but Kieran caught a flash of something darker in her eyes.
“Sure.”To Sebastian, Kieran added, “I can grab you when dinner’s ready?”
“I would appreciate that.I might go back to the observation deck for a bit—take in the view.”Sebastian nodded to them.“See you all later.”
Kieran waved as Sebastian exited, only stopping when Delilah pulled him inside, closing the door behind him.
As he stumbled in, Delilah said to Briar, “I seriously might throw up from the smell—can you light those candles I brought?”
Briar dutifully went to Delilah’s trunk by the foot of the bed and dug out a bunch of candles, which she lit with a spark at the tip of her finger.Kieran watched in horror as Delilah took deep breaths through her mouth, looking paler than normal.Kieran had seen her like this only once before, and it had been…
