“Mind of their own. Apologies.”
Torin huffs out a breath, taking a seat beside me and spreading his legs so his knee is resting against mine. His eyes focus on Finch’s tentacles, and he nudges the one that’s threatening to touch me again.
“All right, Handsy,” he says, then glances at me. “You think his other parts are touchy-feely now, you should see howtheyget after a few drinks. They’re everywhere.”
I snort. Gripping my mug and taking a sip of scalding tea, I quickly put it down and add a healthy dash of whisky from the bottle before trying again.
I still don’t know what to make of the captain. Despite being onboard for weeks now, I’ve barely seen him a handful of times, and the only things I know about him have been gleaned from other people.
“Did I interrupt something?” I ask, nudging the pile of papers and diagrams laid out between them.
“Just our insomniac’s club, back in session, like we are every night,” Captain Finch replies. “We’re planning our attack on Deadwood Cove.”
They’ve overlaid one diagram with what looks like layers and layers of red and orange colouring pencil, like a child’s been busy scribbling. I tap it with my fingernails.
“What happened here?”
“Well, our primary plan is for the four of us to get to the Cove. That’s step one,” Finch tells me. “Step two is where we split up. I still can’t stray too far from the ship, thanks to the curse, but Tor and I will do our level best to destroy the place while you find Kit and get him out safely.”
“Right.”
“And then we burn the place to the ground,” he adds. “These are flames, you see?” He taps the diagram with one of his tentacles, and I have a sudden insight into who was responsible for the drawing.
“Right... and that’s... it? We get there, find Kit, rescue Kit, destroy the place?”
“Exactly.”
I don’t exactly know what I was expecting, but it was a slightly more involved plan than that.
“And the sorceress? I’m assuming she’ll be trapped inside or something while the fire and destruction wreak havoc?”
Finch pauses, head cocking to one side at my bloodthirsty words. “Is that something you’d approve of?”
He leans forward and I see that he’s lost yet another button. I’m left with my eyes darting down to the stretch of bare skin and a tangle of necklaces resting against his chest before deliberately focusing my gaze on his face.
“That woman took my mate. Tortured the other foryearsand tried her best to destroy him and leave him as a husk of a person.” Iclench my hands into fists on the tabletop. “Yeah, if there’s a burning stake we can attach her to, I’d like to be the one to set the fire.”
When I look at them both again, their reaction is... interesting. Finch is grinning widely, trying to high-five me with an overenthusiastic tentacle, while Torin looks something else entirely.
Feral.
Hungry.
His eyes glitter as he gazes at me intently, like he’s trying to peer into the deepest parts of me. “Well, then,” he rasps in a voice even deeper than usual. “That’s what we’ll do.”
I swallow hard, licking my dry lips as my heartbeat picks up. Torin leans closer, his thick thigh pressing harder against mine as he draws a line with his thumb over my cheekbone and along my jaw.
“But, you’re unwell,” the captain says, breaking the charged moment between me and Torin. His tone makes it sound like it’s a revelation to us both, even though my head’s been pounding for hours and I suspect that I must look like death warmed up right now.
I take another long swallow of tea before nodding. “I am.”
“I didn’t realise.” His brow furrows as he stares into my eyes, and I almost lose myself in two quicksilver pools. “What do you need? We could raid the med bay, and I’m almost certain Cookie won’t stab us for it; I am the ship’s captain, after all.”
I snort a laugh. “I suppose you’ve got to wield your captain power somehow. Aside from your choice of snazzy hats.”
“Exactly.” He leans toward me, and I notice he’s lost another couple of buttons. So does Torin, who reaches over as if to cover the captain’s chest. Protecting my delicate sensibilities once again.
“Perhaps if you’re not at your best, you shouldn’t be at the forefront of the action,” Finch says, making my smile dry right up.
