“I’ll tell the others to avoid it,” she said, turning to leave.
I followed her out onto the deck where the crew was moving around from job to job, preparing the ship for the journey. I reached out, taking Dahlia’s wrist.
“When we get to Thorpes, we’ll be supplying the ship with an abundance of things we need. Do you and Meridan need to feed again?”
“I may,” she said, her eyes searching for more like she knew that wasn’t my real concern. “What is it?”
My attention drifted briefly to the cage sitting at the front of the ship, the contents of which was waiting to be stored back in the hold where she could sleep next to the hemsbane. Her eyes were rooted to the back of Dahlia’s head as I spoke with her.
“What use is Lyla to us without a tongue?” I asked.
Dahlia glanced back at her sister. “I don’t know yet.”
“There are a lot of nervous men aboard this ship, half of whom aren’t hunters. They’re pirates. I imagine accepting three sirens as part of the crew was challenging enough, but they’ll start asking questions and men with questions… well, they end up like Uther.”
“We’ve been killing each other for generations. There will always be reservations, but hunting Akareth is not just for me, Vidar. It’s for us all. Giving free will back to the Kroans could change everything.”
“Wars do not stop overnight. A snake still writhes without its head.”
“But it eventually stops.”
I couldn’t help surrendering my mouth to a proud smile. “Aye. It does.” I pulled her toward me, lifting her chin with my knuckle. “I knew you were fearless from the first day we met. And somehow, I forgot that you were also merciful.”
“I am not as merciful as you think.”
“Perhaps. But tell me again why you freed me from your mother’s cage as a boy?”
“Because I saw myself in you. Someone with hate and violence forced upon them.”
“Now tell me why you want Lyla alive.”
Her eyes flitted back and forth between mine. “Because I see myself in her, too,” she whispered. “Asleep, I wandered many corners of her flawed mind and…” She paused.
I nodded. I already knew what her answer would be. “Then she will remain alive while she is on this ship.”
“You must know, that if anything happens and it is her life or the life of anyone else on the Weaver, I will choose this crew every time. We are sisters by blood. This crew is my family by heart.”
I lifted her hand up between us, pressing my lips to her knuckles.
“I know exactly the monster you can become when you need to be.” Looking up over Dahlia’s head, I could see Cathal and a few other men from the Amanacer climbing up onto the ship to start unloading a boatful of supplies. Immediately, Lyla’s eyes made a subtle shift in his direction like an eagle spotting a fish too close to the surface of the water. “What is it with her and that man?” I asked.
Dahlia turned with a sigh. “Either she wants to eat him or she wants to play with him first. Either way, he’ll probably benefit the most from her staying in that cage. I know what obsession looks like.”
“Obsession can mean a great deal of things. For years, I was obsessed with wanting to kill you. Now I am obsessed with doing a great number of other things to you.”
We shared in a heated look for a moment before we both went our separate directions. I began to patrol the ship, helping where an extra hand was needed and making sure everything and everyone was in order. The new crew members were integrating, finding places to sleep and corners to put their few belongings. Addison had set up her armorer’s kit next to the longboat and was already preparing to continue her work making and repairing weapons. After what happened in Dornwich, she seemed overly eager to make herself useful.
Things seemed to be in order, but they often appeared that way at first. Chaos was soon to follow. Any sane man knew that.
As Nazario finished stacking cannon balls on deck from his ship, I watched him turn to Aeris, who’d been standing out of the way with Meridan near the railing. We hadn’t discussed where they’d be staying, but imagining the little siren and her captainswinging in hammocks amongst the rest of my crew didn’t suit me and I doubted it would suit them.
“Nazario,” I said, strolling toward them.
He turned, removing his tricorn to sweep his hair back from his face.
“Captain.”
“I’d wager the two of you are used to private quarters on your ship.”
