Stitches was working on Bones, who’d lost part of his right arm in the battle. He was screaming in pain, and I couldn’t even look at what the doctor was doing to him. She was helping, but there was so much blood.
I shuddered.
Hawk-Eyes—who’d clearly learned some doctoring from her mother—was sewing up a very large gash on Moonie’s stomach while her mom was busy. Several others were assisting each other with stitches and wrapping wounds.
The damage to the ship was extensive. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure how we were in the air right now with so many of our sails and things down. Luckily, our wings were mostly intact, although there were holes in the fabric, and the starboard side wing was bent at an odd angle. But still, they were able to get us into the air, thank the goddesses.
I could only assume our engine was—at least, mostly—undamaged. Although, I could tell we were mostly just floating in the air and not actually going anywhere.
With a cringe, I took in all the damage to the deck itself. Parts of the railings were missing or splintered, and there were plenty of holes in the deck, not to mention the large chunk of one of the masts that’d fallen through the floor.
It looked like the crew and the ship had just come through a warzone.
Max called out, “We’re as high as we can go at the moment, and we’re not out of danger yet. Sand serpents are good jumpers, so we need to keep watch for any sign of them.”
Hawk-Eyes handed her needle and thread over to Patty before she gave Max a tiny salute and headed up to the quarterdeck—currently the highest point she could get to.
Max continued, “Someone else needs to take watch on the bow.” Toothless Jimmy rushed over to take watch there. “We aren’t going to make it very far without our sails and masts fixed, so I need every capable person on deck with a tool in their hand. Repair things under Pete’s direction.”
My brow furrowed in confusion for a few seconds before I remembered that Puffypants Pete was the ship’s carpenter, so it made sense that he’d be in charge.
I headed toward him, but before I got very far, Max said, “Ghost? You’re needed down below. You can help Pete later.”
He sounded… cold and unlike the Max I was used to.
He sounded like the Reaper, and I couldn’t even remember the last time he’d spoken to me like that. Even when we’d pretended to have him yell at me, he’d still sounded like my Max underneath it all.
But right now, he sounded and looked like a stranger.
His eyes were more guarded than I’d ever seen them.
The thought made my chest tight all over again, and I had to blink a few times to stop my eyes from leaking all over the place.
Max didn’t wait for a reply from me. He simply walked down the ladder without another word.
As I followed him down, I thought he might at least look at me. I wanted so badly for him to give me that little bit of hope, but he didn’t.
He didn’t look back even once.
When we made it down into the hold, I rubbed at my eyes, willing them to stay dry.
Max stopped in the doorway of the engine room, and I stepped in close and whispered, “I’m sorry, Max. I was going to tell you, I swear.”
He stiffened for a brief moment, so I knew he heard me, and then he stepped through the door without responding, breaking my heart all over again.
I stood frozen outside the room, staring at Max’s rigid back. The man who’d held me in the crow’s nest, who’d kissed me under the stars, who’d shared his deepest wounds with me—now couldn’t even look me in the eye.
I’d spent my whole life hiding who I was, terrified of being enslaved for my power. But standing here now, I realized something worse than captivity existed—watching someone you love look at you like a stranger.
My secret had saved us all, but at what cost?
19
Maximus
Icouldn’t turn around. Couldn’t face him. My back remained rigid as I stared at the engine components while my mind spiraled.
Murray’s eyes flicked between us once before he abruptly pretended to be busy, shooing Sprocket to the corner farthest from me.
