“No,” Oskar rumbled, “you will not speak, you will not give some signal, you will walk quietly to the boat, and you will sit, and then we will release you when we are sure that our non-Renai won’t get shot.”
I could practically feel Constantine rolling his eyes.
It was slow going, with Oskar having to crane to see around two heads to navigate us forward, but we made steady progress. We maneuvered into the boat, all three of us sitting in the wet bottom as none of the benches that ringed the boat behind where the captain sat were deep enough for three people to sit on.
Bartosz let out an audible breath when he saw us in the boat. The soldier who had seen everything go down had explained it to his colleagues in what was maybe German. One of the soldiers was bleeding heavily from under his helmet, and he shoved Ettore when he was getting in the boat that held Jin Woo, Constantine, and me.
Jin Woo lunged forward, but stopped in his tracks when Ettore held up an elegant hand.
“You should see what he looks like under his helmet, today he has learned why you don’t put hands on a Da Lodi,” he said smoothly, shooting the soldier, who I could see was limping slightly, a caustic look.
Behind me, I heard Oskar whisper,
“Fuuuuck.”
The scent of the soldier’s blood seemed to agitate the other soldier; they began to shift restlessly, and it unsettled me too. The scent was richer than the usual tang of coppery blood. It made me feel antsy.
“You really,” Constantine began calmly, but was cut off once again by Oskar pressing his knife against his throat hard. Too hard, not deep enough that it was life-threatening, but crimson began to stream slowly down his throat.
I winced.
“Oskar,” I said, “move the knife higher up his neck.”
Oskar grumbled, “Mina, he would shoot you in a second.”
“Oskar,” was all I said, and he did as I requested, moving the knife slightly higher up his neck. I bent down and tore a piece of fabric off my shirt and pressed it gently to the wound.
“Excuse us for that,” I said politely, pouring on my obliging consultant voice, “Obviously, this is not a great situation for any of us; we’ll do our best not to harm you again, and this should be over shortly.”
Oskar scoffed behind me, but I ignored him. It would be stupid to be a dick to Constantine, and getting a random murder charge would certainly throw a wrench in our plans. We were already looking at several weeks of court for this kidnapping.
As we sped westward to the mainland, the soldiers and Bartosz and Ettore continued to fidget. It was Ettore who broke the silence on the boat.
“So, Connie, what’s your mom’s mood like? You think she’ll let us off with a warning, seeing as we’re first-time offenders? I’ll even apologize.”
“Shut up, Ettore,” I ground out. He closed his mouth, but there was something off about him; there was something off with all of them. Oskar’s muscles expanded and contracted, hard and soft and hard again around me. Bartosz’s jaw was going like he was chewing gum, even though I knew he wasn’t. Ettore almost seemed drunk, and the bloody guard next to him flicked his finger on and off and on and off the trigger of his gun.
Bloody.
Of course! Blood.
Bartosz had mentioned that they became more aggressive when blood was spilled. I was a normal human, and even I was on edge when I smelled it. It seemed that the soldier's nose had mostly clotted; there were only occasional drips onto his uniform, but that was no doubt keeping them all on edge.
“Excuse me, soldier with blood on you,”
“Ginne!” Oskar hissed, but none of them were saying anything. I was a human woman, I wasn’t dangerous, I wouldn’t come off as mocking like Ettore or Bartosz would, or like a threat, like Jin Woo and Oskar would.
“Sorry about your bloody nose, would you mind changing your jacket or maybe using something to plug your nose? I think it’s making everyone a little agitated.”
Especially in combination with Constantine’s blood, but I didn’t say that part aloud.
The soldier jumped up from where he had been sitting.
“What the fuck did you say to me bitch!” He spat at me; there went my thought that they wouldn’t take me as mocking. I promptly closed my mouth, but it was too late. Ettore and Bartosz were on their feet, and now there were guns pointed at them, and everything was falling apart.
“What the fuck did you say,Stronzo?” Ettore hissed.
“I said that your fucking whore bitch needs to close her mouth before I fill it with lead.”
