Kas moved toward the ladder. “I suppose I should practice my drunken stagger before anyone sees me walking straight as an arrow.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “Might help sell the story better than singing to the figurehead.”
“I’ll have you know I have a lovely singing voice,” he said, eyes twinkling with mischief.
I shook my head, unable to suppress my smile. “Get out of here, you menace.”
Kas swung his leg over the side of the crow’s nest, then looked back at me. The sparkle in his eyes softened to something warmer, more genuine.
“Raincheck?” he asked quietly.
My heart skipped a beat. “Raincheck,” I said before I could stop myself.
He grinned, bright and beautiful in the darkness, before disappearing down the ladder.
11
Kaspar
“Do you think Ariella’s okay?” Willy asked me as I poured a bucket of filthy water over the edge of the ship.
The words barely penetrated because I couldn’t take my eyes off of Reaper—no, Max. I couldn’t help but watch the big, muscly man as he berated Moonie while simultaneously teaching them the proper way to do something—the proper place to tie one of the sails’ ropes, I was pretty sure. Moonie had made a mistake, again, and Max had stepped in to fix it before Viper saw and cut off Moonie’s hand like he’d threatened the last time they messed up.
Viper was oblivious to the whole thing, thank goodness.
I wasn’t really friends with Moonie, but I liked them well enough. They definitely didn’t deserve the punishment—no one on the ship did. They’d been working really hard and trying their best, at least it seemed that way to me.
And to Max, if his patience with them was any indication.
“Hello? Ghost?”
I jumped at the sound of Willy’s voice, and the bucket in my hands slipped, but I caught it before it could fall overboard. That could’ve been really bad.
A sigh of relief escaped me as I glanced at him, noting the rope in his hands. Hawk-Eyes was teaching him some rigging tricks, so he was practicing his knots.
“What?” I spoke to Willy, but my eyes were on Max again, my belly fluttering at the remembered almost-kiss.
Goddesses, what I wouldn’t give to go back to last night and make my move sooner. If I would’ve been even thirty seconds quicker, I would know exactly what Max’s lips taste like. I’d know what they felt like against my own.
I could’ve wrapped my arms around him, felt his arms around me. I could’ve devoured his mouth the way I’d wanted to since the moment I saw him.
Okay, well, maybe more like five minutes after I saw him and realized he wasn’t going to kill me.
“Ariella?” Willy’s voice brought my attention back. “She looks a little off, don’t you think?”
It was a chore to move my eyes past Max to examine the windweaver for a long moment, but I managed it. Ariella was using her magic to push our ship faster, just like she’d been doing all day, for more hours than she ever had.
Viper was standing behind her, watching her, probably being a jerk, like always. His tricorn was hiding his expression, but I had no doubt he was scowling at her. I’d been doing my best to stay far away from him, but even from across the ship, I’d heard him yell at her more than once to push theWraithfaster, faster, faster.
As I looked her over now, I couldn’t help but notice how pale she was.
I glanced around with a wince. It was really cloudy today, and our line of sight was terrible—even Hawk-Eyes couldn’t seeanything from the crow’s nest, which was why she’d come down and sent Greybeard up instead—but I didn’t think it was the fog making Ariella look pale. With a glance at Max, I noted his tan skin. The clouds weren’t doing a thing to make him look anything but gorgeous.
I glanced at the windweaver again. Yeah, Ariella wasn’t looking too hot.
“Yeah, she looks off. Maybe we should get Stitches.”
Willy cringed. “So it’s not just me? She looks bad?”
