“Suns!” I laughed over the roar of the wind and the sails. “They’re amazing.”
“They hunt wyrmaids,” he said. “And wyrmaids hunt them.”
“Wyrmaids aren’t real!” I cried.
“Oh, they are,” he said, his eyes bright and dancing. “There are creatures in the oceans that would make your head spin. It would take every lifetime to discover them all.”
We race and we chase and we bring it all down.
My skin was awake by his side, and I tried to keep my gaze fixed to the prow.
The wind whipped my dark hair into my eyes, and this time, I didn’t want to hide. I pushed it off to see him leaning far over the rail, feeling the spray of the waters on his palm. He was smiling like the suns, and the crew was laughing along with him. Damnations if he didn’t makemyheart race and chase, and I swallowed quickly, turned my eyes to the creatures at the prow.
Touchstone, help me, I begged, but I could have sworn she laughed.
Thanavar swung back to the wheels.
“Lean into it, Mr. Oakum! We are almost upon them! Ready with your hooks, Mr. Buck?”
Buck stood at the rail, a massive, barbed harpoon in his hands. Neale and Bergy were at his sides, holding a coil of rope and nets.
“Hooks ready, Cap’n!” boomed Buck.
I realized the crew was completely invested in this venture, and I doubted it was simply because of the steak. I was beginning torealize that they would follow him to the ends of the erthe and back if he dared ask. Even one as cynical as Smoke had found his place here.
TheTouchstonehad all but reached the school of leaping, splashing squid, and I leaned out over the fore bulwark, stretching my hand just like he’d done. The spray bit, and the wind howled. The sails snapped, the masts creaked, and the ship was surging into the school when suddenly, Kit cried out from the rigging.
Thanavar whirled.
“Hard to starboard, Mr. Oakum,” he barked. “Hard to starboard!”
Hand over hand, Smoke spun the wheels, and we grabbed the rail as theTouchstonelurched, then heeled deeply to the side. My bare feet slipped as water crashed over the bulwarks, and the captain threw an arm around me to keep me from sliding to the boards.
I squinted through the salt spray as the seas churned before us. Churned, bubbled, and swirled, trapping the sailsquids within a whirlpool of tides. With a great spray of white water, an immense ring burst up all around them, growing higher and wider as it opened through the waves. It looked like a giant hoyster, with a stony outer shell and iridescent folds inside. TheTouchstonegroaned and squealed as her hull scraped along the creature’s hard plates, and beneath the waters, a great, unblinking eye followed us as we swept past. The massive mouth clamped shut, pelting water across the topmasts, and the sound echoed across the currents like a peal of thunder. Finally, the creature sank beneath the waves, leaving white and red eddies in its wake.
Of the sailsquids, there was no sign.
“Port now, Mr. Oakum!” Thanavar shouted over the winds. “Else we end up in the Silence!”
Hands on the rail once more, theTouchstonebanked port, and soon we were sailing level, rising and falling on a deadly sea. His arm was still around me, and I didn’t dare breathe.
“No steaks tonight,” muttered Buck, and the crestfallen crew bled away to their posts, leaving the captain and me at the prow.
An ocean of teeth, growled theTouchstone.We bring it all down.
“What the hels was that thing?” I asked after a long moment.
“I have absolutely no idea,” he said, setting me aside. I immediately missed his warmth. “But I told you your head would spin.”
“Along with the rest of me.”
He grinned, and be damned if my toes didn’t curl at the sight.
With that, he whirled and strode off the main, disappearing through the hatch in a heartbeat. I could feel Smoke’s eyes on me—with scorn or envy, I couldn’t tell.
I released a breath and turned to the ocean with new appreciation for the monsters that lurked beneath her waves.
Later that evening, as I made my way through the galley back to my bunk, I overheard Worley telling stories by candlelight. It was stifling hot tonight, and most of the swabs were reduced to their trousers and kerchiefs and nothing more. At least twenty huddled in the room, holding tin cups with their rations, spellbound by his words.
