No one says anything, each of us lost in our thoughts. So much has happened over the last few days that I don’t blame anyone for needing some quiet.
The pull of the oars brings us closer and closer toThe Gilded Hart. My chest swells with pride as she sits elegantly in the water, her spruce bow bobbing up and down calmly as she floats on the Adamaris Sea.
My home away from home. The place where I feel more myself.
Father spent a lot of time with Selene, teaching her the history of our race and how to be a royal worthy of the throne, and when he wasn’t doing that he was holed up in his chambers grieving mother. He knew I didn’t care for the royal life, so he practically threw the ship at me when I asked for it. Told me that I had mother’s adventurous spirit. Perhaps there’d been a small part of him that hoped I would find answers about her too.
The rowboat thuds against the hull with a hollow knock, the smell of tar and salt wrap around me like the embrace from an old friend. Weathered but sturdy ropes dangle down the side of my ship, swaying with the tide.
Elio’s already grabbing one, boots braced on the wood as he hauls himself up and over the edge of the railing. Tavi throws me a glance and then follows Elio, her white braids swinging in the wind. The others drop the boat’s braces down, and I hook them on before moving to follow.
Odi still stands, one arm thrown out to steady herself, the other gripping the rope. She flicks her gaze to the looming deck above, like she’s not sure her taxed body is up for onelast challenge.
I step in close, wrapping an arm around her waist while steadying the rope in her hands. “Your turn.” My voice comes out softer than I intended.
She blinks up at me, hesitation obvious in her dark brown eyes. There’s a question there, one I’m not sure I can answer.
Before she can voice it, I guide her forwards, the warmth of her pressed against my palm. Exhaustion evident, she glances between me and the ship one last time before her boots find the first knot, then the second. A breeze snakes between us, swaying the rope, and her entire body tenses, the ocean dark where it laps at the hull. I close the distance between us, bracing her between my body and the hull as the rowboat rocks beneath me.
“Don’t give up now, little doe,” I murmur, my hand sliding from her waist to the small of her back.
Her mouth forms a thin line and I swear I can hear the crack in her teeth as her jaw sets. She moves, and I follow close enough to catch her if she slips.
When she’s over the rail, I plant my palm against the warm wood and haul myself after her in one motion. Odi turns, hair loose in the wind, cheeks flushed from the climb. I let my gaze linger on her face a heartbeat too long. Her lips are cracked, the whites of her eyes red from the salt that clings to the strands around her face. She opens her mouth to speak when the sound of heavy footsteps sound behind her on the deck.
“What the hell happened out there?” Reid sneers. His question is for me, but his eyes are pinned on her. Two men stand either side of him, arms folded over their chests, both carrying a scowl upon their lips.
“Reid, is there something you’d like to talk about?” I ask nicely, keeping my irritation at bay.
He jerks his head in Odi’s direction, who stands beside me, all evidence of her weariness gone, her arms folded, brow raised like she’s ready to gut him the moment he draws a blade.
“You’re not going to let a filthy whore of a pirate influence our moves and kill more of our crew are you?” Reid spits, like Odi’s presence is a stain. “You’ll ruin us. Send us all to the deep on the word of a fucking viper. They’re dead, Rune. Our men, our friends, are dead. And it should have been her.” Reid turns his head sideways, like he’s addressing the crew. “What’s the bounty for a Viper, eh? Thrice that of a Headtaker. Yet she’s cost us so much more. We’re fuckingbounty hunters,” he shouts, not bothering to hide his rage now. “Not treasure hunters. And not fodder for the whims of your mange-ridden bitch.”
A bird screeches horribly in the space of the silence that falls, grating against my already raw nerves.It’s something between a cough and the strangled laugh of a gull,only there to mock the tension between us. Across the deck, Elio and Tavi’s focus is pinned on us. A few others have slowed their loading or rigging to listen, eyes skirting between the conversation and their task.
I know Odi’s tired, but her body practically hums with restrained violence. My dagger sits at her waist, dull and salt crusted, but her fingers don’t even twitch.
Instead, shelaughs, the sound murderous on its own. “At least I don’t have a dick the size of a shrimp.”
Reid’s attention narrows back on her. “You’d still choke on it.”
“Yeah . . . from the smell.”
His face twists. “You fuc—”
I lift a hand as he moves to step forwards. “Reid, I understand your frustrations. The losses upset me too.” My voice comes out low. I already feel the guilt gnawing at my insides, and Reid's glare only drives it deeper. “But this is the risk,” I remind them, more for myself than anyone else. “Every one of us knew what could happen. All who went volunteered.”
“Volunteered to die?” Reid hisses, his bushy brow pinches in the middle.
Odi steps forwards before I can stop her. “Do you think I wanted them to?”
Reid’s jaw works, and then he’s in her face, close enough that something in me snaps. “I don’t care what you want,” he says. “I just want you off this ship. Preferably with weights on your legs.”
I’m moving before I can think, my hand closing around Odi’s wrist, pulling her half a step back. I place myself between them, my gaze locked on the male in front of me. “Back down. That’s an order. Go and get a drink, we all need one.”
Reid doesn’t right away. “She’s—”
“I said go,” I repeat, my voice sharper this time.
