As I hurried to unlock my chest with the key from around my neck, I tried to correct myself. Notus. Bluebeard and his crew.But I was part of this, whether I’d meant to be or not. I’d told them all I’d break the curse.
And when I did, the treasure would be there for the taking—by any pirate.
Dragons blast these fool pirates! How could they care so much for riches and so little for the value of life?
Tears streamed down my face as I fumbled for my “go bag.” A good balancer always had one, ready with her most valuable possessions and enough coin to see her to safety, should she need to leave somewhere in a hurry.
I slung it over my shoulder, paused and grabbed my cloak from the cabin floor.
“I’m ready,” I told an anxious Jovus, now waiting in the doorway. I stepped around Aoki’s body, praying the gods would be kind to him.
So many years under this curse would drive anyone to foolishness. I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t.
For the first time, I felt my anger growing at the Bride. Her curse wasn’t just some puzzle to be solved. It was vile, cast with wicked intent, there to destroy lives and leave the survivors to live with the consequences.
She had to be stopped.
I followed Jovus onto the deck as the ship began to list more severely.
Jax was at the rail, waiting. He held out his hand to me.
Slowly, I met his eyes. They were shadowed, darker than I’d ever seen them. Wracked with grief. I took his hand, nodded, and let him help me over the rail onto the ladder, toward the lifeboat waiting below. Jovus scrambled after me, with Jax following last.
Omar lay in the boat in Safira’s lap, eyes closed, unmoving and soaking wet, while Oasis gritted her teeth and writhed in agony. I shifted to sit beside her, closing my eyes for a moment in order to calm my mind.
I could do this. I could. I couldn’t save the Lady de Gorm, but this—this I could help with.
I pulled together what meager healing spells I could as Jax untied the lifeboat, then began to row, guiding us towards another of his ships.
“Alright, captain?” a voice called down from the rail ofTemerity.
“We’re alive.”
There was a pause. “The Lady?”
“She died in battle.”
I thought I caught a muffled curse. “Gods take her, she won our bet. May the gods of the sea carry your soul home, Aoife!” she shouted across the waters, her voice wavering.
The sentiment was echoed by the others aboard, then murmured by those able to speak in our boat.
I repeated it, too, in a whisper, adding it for Cyan, Mr. Smalt, and for Aoki and Marigold, too.
Just as we turned toward the intact ship, we heard a great cry.
“Man overboard!” the same voice called from aboardTemerity.
Jovus whooped. “Mr. Smalt! He’s alive!”
Jax stopped rowing, cursed, then changed directions, rowing with renewed vigor. “Of course he is.” From the way he said it and the grim look he still wore, it was impossible to know whether this pleased him.
Jax was rowing us in the other direction for a solid minute before I spotted the cook. There, on a piece of shattered wood, bobbed Mr. Smalt’s head and arms, pulled away fromBlue Moon‘s listing bulk by the aberrant current from the whirlpool.
My heart clenched, my healing efforts pausing as I practically held my breath until Jax could reach him.
A gap-toothed smile beamed up at us. “Did you commend me to the gods of the sea, too?” he asked. “Because I think they spat me right back.”
“Brine and bracken, am I glad to see you,” Jax said, his voice still oddly emotionless. He shifted carefully to help Mr. Smalt into the lifeboat without tipping it.
