At my nod, he gets to his feet and gives a sweeping gesture to the door. “Well then, let me give you a tour.”
I extract myself from behind the bench and step up beside him, waiting for him to lead the way.
“Now, word of warning,” Jack continues, his voice dropping lower as he leans closer until his lips are practically brushing the shell of my ear. I jerk away, brushing the skin with the side of my hand. “There are a lot of us, but no one will hurt you, just so you know. The captain’s word is law onboard. Since you have his protection, you’ll be fine.”
I nod again. Somehow all the talk of being ‘safe’ onboard has me feeling the exact opposite. Although I’m not foolish enough to lower my guard here. Especially not someone who looks like Jack.
Not because he’s preternaturally good-looking. No, that’s more of a distraction than anything. A bit of fluff in your eye to shift your attention from the knife in your gut.
What I mean is howsmileyhe is, like he’s genuinely happy to be here, talking to me and showing me around the ship.
No one can be that happy all the time. Which means it’s a front; a disguise.
And who knows what he might be hiding under the gleaming façade.
Before either of us can say another word, there are three sharp whistles from somewhere above us. Up on the deck.
“Shit.” Jack’s eyes snap to mine. “Another word of warning: Cap didn’t take the news very well.”
“The news?”
“The news that I didn’t find Kit,” he replies with a hint of impatience. “He’s... blowing off some steam right now. But you should be safe if you just stay below deck, all right? Just stay here.” He pauses for a moment, waiting for my reaction.
Since I don’t know what the captain ‘blowing off steam’ entails, I just give a shrug. Jack doesn’t seem to care, though. He gives a distracted nod and shrinks in front of me, reappearing as a beady-eyed raven peering up at me from the floor.
He takes to the air, narrowly avoiding battering me in the face with his wings. Hovering for just a moment, he then darts out of the room, heading toward the upper deck.
There’s a chorus of cheers, followed by the crash of wood splintering. Then something collides with the side of the ship and I’m jerked sideways, stumbling into the wall.
Jack’s words ring in my ears as I peer down the passageway, more shouts and taunts filling my ears.
I could stagger back to my cabin and try to get some more sleep. I have no idea what time it is, or even what time of day, but I feel like I could sleep for a week.
I let the thought marinate for a moment, like I’m really considering it. Bending down, I pick up his abandoned clothes and brush out the creases, folding them neatly.
And then I discard it, tottering along the passageway toward the deck.
Chapter 15
Reva
Ipoke my head out of the door leading up to the deck, and all I can hear are teasing shouts.
“You might get further if you were working with bigger wings, there, Jack!”
“Flap those wings, lad.”
“You’re one to talk.”
This is followed by raucous laughter that leaves me reeling.
What is happening?
Jack just shifted forms again, and it’s like no one cares. As though it were nothing out of the ordinary. Who knows? Maybe thisisa regular occurrence here. The thought is blowing my mind slightly. Shifting into your other form in front of people is typically seen as something shameful. Like you’re an animal letting your feral side take over.
No one ever does it just out of the blue like that without expecting to have rocks thrown at them.
Then again, maybe things are different when you’re a pirate.
