“Inu loves you very much,” I said quietly.
Oscar nodded, standing as his smile faded. “I’ll never understand why, but thank you for not letting her throw herself into danger. For coming up with a plan and being smart about it.”
“That’s what you and I do, right? We always have each other’s backs,” I said, wiping at my tears.
Oscar scratched at the back of his head, “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if you could get her to stop yelling at me and calling me anidiot, though. I can’t tell if she’s happy I’m back or if she wants to throw me back into Newgate.”
“I doubt she knows the answer either,” I said
“Fair enough,” he said.
Silence stretched, and I stared down at the fine fabric that lay against my skin. The fabric that no longer felt like it belonged to me.
“I don’t know if I know how to be this person anymore,” I said.
“Me neither,” he said, fighting with his collar. “But we will figure it out together. Speaking of which, maybe you could fill me in on what happens next?”
I could only avoid this conversation for so long.
I took a deep breath and said the damning words.
“I have a plan.”
Chapter fourteen
Breathing
Bash
A captain’s heart is carved into the timbers of their ship. To love her is not a choice—it is a bond older and truer than any vow spoken on land.
— From The Mysterious Deep: A Comprehensive Understanding
The Sea Wraith was still as beautiful as I remembered her. She was standing strong with her masts repaired and wooden deck polished to perfection. I missed the sea air and the sound of seawork. Woodwork mixed with the idle chatter of sailors. Even the seagulls that squawked overhead were a welcome presence.
“You really are a pirate, sir!” Kit said beside me.
He was staring up at the ship with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. I didn’t know much about the boy, but I knew enough to know he wouldn’t have made it out of Newgate alive. Pickpockets who made it out ended up right back within a week. Survival demanded their continued profession, and by the way he’d been caught, he probably wasn’t very good at it.
I sighed. This felt like a mistake. Taking a boy on a notorious pirate ship currently wanted by the Navy.
I still felt the dirt and grime of Newgate clinging to me despite washing up last night. There were some things that never got scrubbed away. Even still, it would be nice to have my own clothes back, even though they probably wouldn’t fit right.
“How are we going to get up there, Sir, with your–”
He eyed my arm as if that was somehow better than saying it out loud. I sighed and made for the ladder. This was probably going to hurt. I grabbed the rope with my hand and pulled up, using what was left of my broken arm for leverage. My muscles ached and protested the movement, and if it hadn’t been for the decent meals Edmond’s provided, I wouldn’t have been able to make it.
As such, sheer determination saw me to the top of my own damn ship. Having lost my arm and then being taken prisoner, I’d failed to consider the ramifications of my injury. How much harder it would be to live on a ship. Except I wasn’t supposed to be living on a ship. I was meant to be awaiting trial and destined for the gallows.
By the time I made it to the top, sweat poured down my face despite the crisp December air. There were few things crueler than the human mind because as I crested the top, I half expected to see Billy’s smiling face coupled with an ‘about time’. It was a bullet to the gut, and I forced down the image of him lying with a fatal abdominal wound coupled with a bullet to the head.
“Welcome back,” Val said, coming down the stairs. “I half wondered if I was going to have to haul your ass up.”
Her voice was a strange comfort, and emotion I didn’t care for pricked at the edges of the barrier I’d spent months erecting. Her wide smile and telltale braid over her shoulder were exactly how I remembered.
“Once of that was enough for me,” I said, recalling how I never would have made it back onto the Wraith back in the Glass Sea without her.
She chuckled and crossed the distance between us, wrapping her arms around me and slapping my back. I choked out a cough and half hugged her. Affection wasn’t something Val and I did. Years spent on the sea together, she was more of an annoying sister than a friend.
