No, with Viper gone, everyone was more at ease, and that meant they were more willing to work hard and put in the effort needed to get us out of the damn desert.
It was crazy what a little security could do to a person.
Despite everyone mourning for Hawk-Eyes, the overall mood was pleasant, and I was enjoying the vibe, even if guilt liked to sneak up on me over her death. I knew it technically wasn’t my fault—I wasn’t the one who killed her—but when was guilt ever reasonable?
I missed my friend dearly, and I was horrified that she was gone. Horrified, sad, and grief-stricken. I wished I would’ve beenable to kill Hunter during our fight so he wouldn’t have been able to hurt her.
My chest ached every time someone brought her up. But at least with Max in charge, we could all grieve the way we needed to.
My wounds were still healing, so I couldn’t do much, but I was helping where I could and doing anything that didn’t require bending over and opening the damn wound on my back.
Everyone was helping me out and being super nice to me, especially Murray, who maybe felt bad about the wholeplugging me inthing. Max told me that the night before Viper ordered Butcher to grab me, Murray had overheard them all talking about the plan. He’d instructed Sprocket to find every gun on the ship and take the bullets out of them while everyone slept.
I knew I liked that little creature.
From what I heard, Sprocket—and Murray—had saved Max’s life with that little trick.
For that alone, I would forgive just about anything, including hooking me up to that machine. But really, I felt like I owed the two of them.
I glanced up at the crow’s nest as I walked toward the quarterdeck with a frown. Greybeard was up there with a telescopic held to his eye, keeping an eye out for other ships. It was strange seeing anyone other than Hawk-Eyes up there during the day.
I still couldn’t believe she was gone. She’d never again look down at me through her telescopic, making jokes about watching me at work.
I missed her dearly.
We’d had a funeral for her two days ago, and I didn’t think I’d ever forget the sound of her mother’s sobs. It had been… difficult to watch.
Stitches was inconsolable. Her daughter had been killed, and she didn’t seem to want anyone to pull her out of her misery just yet. I prayed to every goddess that she’d come back to us soon. Even through her grief, she’d told me she didn’t regret helping us, that she was glad I was safe and Max was the captain now, and that we needed to make her daughter’s sacrifice mean something.
I planned on making her wish come true.
“You doing okay, Ghost?” Willy asked me when he walked out of the captain’s quarters, carrying one of the dragon foot chairs.
I sent him a smile. “I’m good. Thanks for helping me with this.”
He waved me off and added the disgusting chair to our growing pile. “I’m happy to help you andyour man.” He saidyour manwith a strange inflection while waggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous way. I held in a snicker and a sigh, already knowing what was coming. “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“And I’m still sorry about it. I swear I wanted to talk to you about it, but I didn’t want to put you or Max at risk. If Viper found out, I thought—”
He snorted, cutting me off, and muttered, “Max,” under his breath while shaking his head. “Stop. I know why you didn’t, and I don’t blame you. I just can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together.”
“You know that’s why Ariella said you and I were together, right?”
“Huh? She knew about you two?”
“She guessed.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.”
“She was trying to throw Viper off the scent. She didn’t do it to hurt you, you know.”
He let out a long sigh. “Yeah… I know. But that doesn’t mean she likes me the way I like her.”
“You’ll never know till you ask.”
He grimaced. “Not sure I’m ready for that.”
I gave him a pat on the shoulder as he walked back into the captain’s quarters to grab more of Viper’s belongings.
