This cannot be normal. I can’t form a bond with every person I touch.
Unless they aren’t mate marks.
The wind is icy against my soaked wet clothes, and I shiver, pushing my hair over my shoulders in a futile effort to tame it. I suck in another shaky breath, ignoring the resulting stabbing pain in my no doubt bruised ribs.
The reminder that I no longer have my skin leaves me frozen right down to my core. Another reminder that I’m practically human right now. Separated from Noush, from the other half of my soul.
I... I don’t know exactly what happens if I’m without her for too long.
I’m guessing I’ll grow weaker and weaker without her. And if whoever has Kit and Noush permanently damages my skin or even destroys it, then I’m the one who’ll take the damage.
Both Noush and I would end up dead.
What am I when I can no longer transform into my other form? A half person.
Which makes me more vulnerable than I’ve ever been before. Skinless, homeless, and stuck on a pirate ship.
I’m trying very hard not to lose my shit as I check in on the heartbeats pounding in my chest. There are three of them. And despite being soaked wet through and Torin looking at me like I’m a wild animal, I press my hand up against his chest. His heart is beating hard and strong.
But it doesn’t match any of the ones inside my chest.
“Raise the anchor!” someone yells from behind me.
“Hoist the mainsail!”
“If you don’t quit your yelling, Dagger, that anchor’s going somewhere you won’t like it!”
There’s a swell of activity all around us as the ship sets sail, and I fight the discomfort that comes with knowing we’re getting further and further from land with every passing second.
Torin stares at me for a long moment, his own chest heaving. “I think it’s time for you to speak to the captain.”
Chapter12
Reva
My meeting with Captain Finch is preceded by a lot of hushed whispers and at least twenty minutes of hanging around as the crew try to get ahold of him. Wherever he is, he’s not inside his office. Eventually, Torin leads the way off the ship’s deck and down a narrow set of stairs until we’re in a passageway so narrow that Torin’s arms brush the walls on either side as he strides along.
By this point, the cold seems to have seeped right through my skin into my core, and I’m losing the fight against uncontrollable shivers. Aster keeps shooting me concerned looks and is keeping close enough that I can feel his body heat at my back but it’s not helping much.
We pause outside a thick wooden door that’s decorated with an embroidered skull and crossbones. Torin knocks and pops his head inside, scanning the room before he steps in and gestures for the two of us to follow.
The inside of the captain’s office is nicer than I expected. I’m not entirely sure what I thought I’d see here. Maybe the skeleton of the last person who wronged him chained to the wall. Instead, there’s what looks to be a lot more embroidered images plastered all over the walls. There’s also a huge wooden desk that has papers scattered all over it, and sitting behind it, whittling something out of wood, is the captain. Pieces of wood go flying as he jumps to his feet, slamming the knife into the desk surface with a beaming smile in place.
“Hello, love, fancy you paying us a visit.” He smirks, the expression dissolving as his eyes rake over me and take in my sodden, half-drowned state.
“What happened?” He looks at Torin with a frown.
Torin gives a quick, vague explanation of why I’m here dripping all over the floor while the captain’s frown deepens. While he’s distracted, I take the opportunity to properly look at him.
In person, he looks every inch a pirate captain. Even though I’ve never met one before, I somehow know that down to my bones. My eyes are instantly drawn to the hat he’s wearing. It’s unavoidable, really. The thing looks like a mixture of a traditional tricorn hat and one of those hats that keep your ears warm in winter, with the long flappy ears.
Maybe he gets cold ears when he’s out on the deck. It’s certainly an interesting look, and I can’t seem to stop myself from staring at it, especially when it seems to shift slightly while I’m looking at it.
He’s taller than I expected, bulkier than Kit, but they have the same strong nose and jaw. Finch looks less put together than Kit, wilder somehow. I can’t see much of the captain’s hair since it’s covered by his hat, but judging by the scruff of beard he has, it looks like he has more grey sprinkled in than Kit.
My eyes dart down, resting on the linen shirt he’s wearing, which is unbuttoned down to the middle of his chest, showing off a handful of leather necklaces with different symbols hanging from pendants.
Torin clears his throat, and I jolt, realising that I’ve been caught staring for too long. I quickly drag my eyes away, and my gaze lands on the captain’s face and his amused expression. One corner of his mouth ticks up as I take in his stormy grey eyes.
