I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “When exactly are you planning it?”
“I’ll let you know.”
I stared at Viper, taking in the subtle shift in his posture, the calculating gleam in his eyes. The slight tightening around his mouth.
It was futile.
He didn’t believe me.
I’d lost his trust.
“Is that all, Captain?” I asked, keeping my voice steady despite the dread spreading through my chest like ice water.
Viper’s gaze held mine for a beat too long. “For now.” He gestured toward the door. “You’re dismissed.”
24
Kaspar
Max had been acting strange since yesterday. He’d been watching me even more closely than before, which I didn’t think was possible. And last night, when I’d snuck into his room, he’d kissed me like he thought it’d be the last time, like he was afraid I would disappear if he didn’t keep me close enough. He’d been shaking a little, and when we made love—because it was definitely more than sex—he’d been so tender it broke my heart a little.
And after, he’d held me tight, tighter than usual, all night long.
I could feel his worry coming off him in waves.
Even now, when he was on the other side of the ship, I could feel it.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the knot I was tying. Moonie was actually letting Willy and me help with the rigging today, and I had to admit I was excited. Never thought I’d be excited about something like this—never thought I’d be on a pirate airship to begin with—but it felt like I was being promoted. And I was proud of that.
Of course, I still had to swab the deck before the day was done, but I didn’t mind the extra work. I liked helping and staying busy.
Butcher, Maneater, Puffypants Pete, Toothless Jimmy, and the Hunter were all working on one of the sloops on the other side of the main deck, which was odd. There was no reason all of them needed to be repairing that small sloop at the same time. And truthfully, other than in the galley at dinner on occasion, I didn’t think I’d ever seen the entire group together.
Butcher typically had one or two of his minions with him, but never all of them, not when there was always so much work to do on the ship.
Butcher’s eyes caught mine, and the big man glared at me, sending me a sneer to end all sneers. Holy phoenix tails, he really hated me.
Shaking my head, I glanced back at the rigging, concentrating on my new—and very fun—job.
“You almost done, Ghost?” Willy asked, giving me his usual sunny grin.
I nodded. “Yep. Just about… got it! Okay. We’re good.”
We shared a smile before getting back to it.
A few minutes later, I glanced up from my work when I felt eyes on me, and surprise, surprise, Max was staring at me. He gave me a look that I was clearly supposed to interpret. But I didn’t know what he meant until I saw Viper tell him something, and a moment later, Max was moving toward the ladder.
That look meantwatch it and stay with Ariella and Willy while I’m gone.
Not a hardship since I liked hanging out with them.
As Max descended the ladder, Ariella moved closer to me. Normally, she did her windweaver thing from the aft quarterdeck, but since Max had taxed her with being mybabysitter, she’d taken to working her magic from wherever I was standing. And Willy hadn’t left my side either.
Even Hawk-Eyes was keeping a close eye on me from her place in the crow’s nest. Since we were out of the wastelands and getting closer to populated areas, she’d been keeping a keen eye out for other ships in the air. So far, we hadn’t come across anyone, which was a good thing—for the other ships and for us after the kraken.
The ship was mostly repaired, but there were still a few little things that needed fixing, so getting into another battle right now would be a bad idea all around.
And everyone on the ship knew that Viper would jump on the chance to attack any ship we came across because he was a greedy, selfish, rotten piece of kraken excrement who didn’t give a single damn about anyone on this ship. He’d let us all die if it meant he could take home another trophy or a boatful of gold.
