And now none of that mattered because if she couldn’t get to the wheelhouse and turn this goddamn boat around, every other person trapped on this boat was going to lose their souls. And then die, probably, because they would go from slightly-more-resilient-than-normal-humans to normal humans. In Antarctica. Famously cold and icy Antarctica, no matter that it was summer this side of the world.
They were all going to die. And none of them deserved it. The dumbass guards she’d tricked into locking themselves in the library. The strange metal bird shifters who’d come with Fairchild, thinking he would save them. They were all trapped here.
Except the bastard himself, and maybe,maybe, his bodyguards, who moved like they were properly trained and not scared out of their entire minds, except the way things were going even they were all probably being strongarmed into protecting him on pain of seeing their families murdered or something.
Fuck.
She wasn’t afraid for herself. She was afraid forthem.Everyone Fairchild was dragging into this insane nightmare.
She had to help them.
How long did she have before someone found the two dumbasses she’d left locked in the office? It had been surprisingly easy to lure them back into the room after she broke into the drinks cabinet.
She felt bad at how quickly they’d taken to the job of emptying it, but it wasn’t like she was the queen of good coping mechanisms. By the time she snuck out in search of the control room, they were too drunk to see beyond the bottles in their hands. They were shifters, so if they noticed she was gone, they would only need to shout telepathically to get the word out, but she hoped they wouldn’t.
They might not know exactly what they were in for with this job, but it was obvious they knew it was nothing good.
The ship rocked slowly, the long, slow incline of open water. Which meant although it was a big boat, it wasn’t big enough to cut through the ocean without feeling its swell.
The bird shifters were trapped below. From the way her two “guards” had complained about their accommodations, she figured most of the staff were housed far below decks as well. Her electrosenses were working again. Maybe the knock on the head had knocked them back on. She scanned the ship, keeping out of the way of patrolling guards.
And hiding guards. And other crew, huddled together where they thought they wouldn’t be noticed, heads bent in hissed whispers of conversation or eyes fixed unseeing as they talked mind-to-mind. The air tasted like fear.
She knew where she was going. Bit by bit, she got closer.
It didn’t work. Fairchild caught up with her right outside the doors.
“You’re here!” she cried out, slumping against the wall. She looked desperate. Helpless. Like she’d spent the last few hours crying, not plotting her escape.
She hoped that he could see that, from behind the handguns his two guards were pointing at her.
“Oh god. You’ve got to help me. It’s getting worse. I know you said you would help me, that the Soul-Eater would fix me, but you didn’t say how long it would be, and I can’t cope like this anymore-—”
People thought she was a freak. They thought she was creepy. Fairchild thought she needed to be fixed.
If she gave him something that needed fixing…
She pressed both hands to her chest. Was he falling for it? She’d let her vision go unfocused, because if there was one thingthat would mean he for sure didn’t fall for her bait, it would be carefully watching him to see if he did.
“Stand down. Miss Zhang—Carol. What happened?”
She slid down the wall, clutching her chest, until she was a slumped heap of knees and trembling breaths. “I didn’t mean to. I don’t want any of this. I didn’t—I didn’t—”
I didn’t realize I’d stopped stuttering until I made myself start again.She kept her head between her knees like she was trying not to pass out.
Mr. Fairchild knelt in front of her. “It’s going to be all right, Carol. I promise. It won’t be long now. I need you to stay strong for a few more hours, that’s all.”
Got him.
“I know I shouldn’t have left the cabin. Please don’t put me back in the cage,” she whimpered. “I don’t want to be down there with… them. And the water. My shark…”
“Of course. I apologize for that. You were… indisposed, when my men brought you in. I wanted to keep you somewhere you couldn’t hurt yourself further.”
What a nice way of saying “I dropped you in the drunk tank because you were screaming in terror after I had you drugged, and I didn’t want to see that.”
She gulped breathlessly. “Please—” She faked a stifled sob and covered her face with her hands. “If I could just talk to someone who understands what happened—Eloise, or, or…”
“I doubt my daughter would make a compassionate shoulder to cry on. But don’t worry. By the time we get there, everything will be ready.”
