Her face scrunched in displeasure. “That will make things a little difficult around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need to replace the oil in the lighthouse lamp and rewind the turntable in a few hours. That’s going to be hard to doone-handed.” She gingerly straightened her arm and flexed her fingers, hiding a wince. “But I think I can manage.”
“You don’t have to do it by yourself. You have me.”
For six more days.
Sienna retreated to her room after giving him stern instructions that he was to wake her before the noon hour. Once her door clicked shut, Casper lowered himself with a tired sigh into one of the cozy armchairs that sat beside the fire. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers in front of his mouth. All of the excitement of their morning had distracted him from his main reason in seeking out Sienna, which had been to inquire if she had seen any strange or unusual activity out on the water in the last few weeks.
Nivem is in the perfect spot for both recruiting fae and distributing any illegal human goods. I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before.
In truth, he and his men had been so busy chasing down the smugglers after they came out of the breach, it was easy to ignore the small fishing town. After all, most of the ships they had chased down had been merchant vessels, not fishing boats. He had assumed that they came from one of the larger port cities up the coast.
But if the Doryss we met is the brother of Sienna’s friend, that means that the smugglers have at least some presence here. They might have been trying to get a last catch before the storm, the way Daland was, but my gut tells me they were thereto act as a decoy for someone else. The question is, who? And if they are from Nivem, where do they hide the goods?
A low knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. He glanced towards Sienna’s room, reluctant to wake her after the eventful morning. The knock repeated, this time with a slightly different rhythm.
Knock, knock-knock, knock, knock. Pause. Knock, knock.
Recognizing the sound, Casper strode quickly across the room and pulled open the door in surprise. “Jem. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve got—”
Casper cut him off with a shush, glancing over his shoulder. “Lower your voice. Sienna is sleeping.”
Jem’s eyebrows rose to meet his cap, but he obediently whispered. “This late in the morning?”
“It’s a long story; I’ll fill you in later.” He stepped back and gestured for Jem to enter, shutting and locking the door again behind him. “But what are you doing here? Where’s Daland?”
Jem pulled his cap off his head, revealing a shock of messy hair that he tried to smooth down without much success. “Oh, he’s still on thePetrelas planned, along with his other friends. Short John and Longest John were more than happy to take over. It seems they’re actually rather fond of fishing.”
Casper nodded slowly, absorbing the information. He would have chosen Richards as acting captain, but the Johns were not a bad second choice. “And you’re not with them because…?”
“I have news.” Jem tossed his jacket and cap over the back of the chair Casper had just vacated and plopped down, stretching out his long legs. “Doryss is in town.”
He looked up expectantly, as if waiting for his captain to react. When Casper did nothing more than grunt in response, he narrowed his eyes. “You already knew?”
“I guessed.” Casper took the seat across from him. “Sienna mentioned this morning that her friend has a brother named Doryss who’s a fisherman. It seemed like too much of a coincidence for it not to be the same fae.”
“So when we escorted them to the nearest port, we were actually bringing them home.” Jem chuckled. “But if Doryss is from Nivem, that means that the smugglers we’re looking for might be, too. At the very least, we have a point of contact now.”
“Those were my thoughts as well. Did he recognize you?”
“I don’t think so. I saw him from a distance and ducked around a corner when I saw him coming down the pier. But he walked right past thePetrelwithout even giving her a second glance, so I doubt that he’ll be looking for any of us. It always amazes me that a little change in color and sprucing up of her sails can make her so unrecognizable. But, as my dear old Mormor used to say, ‘The best disguise is to be unexpected.’”
“Good. Hopefully it stays that way.”
“You want to keep our presence here a secret?”
“As much as we can. At the very least, I would prefer that Doryss and his crewnotconnect the dots between me and the Flying Dutchman. With Daland and his fishermen friends gone, that should be a little easier.”
“What do you want to do?”
Casper leaned forward and steepled his fingers together, tapping them against his chin as he thought. “I can’t do much from here as long as I’m staying with Sienna.” He sent a pointed glare Jem’s way, but his first mate just grinned in response. “But I want you to see what you can find out about Erik.”
“The scheming ex-fiancé?” Jem quirked an eyebrow. “How does he fit into all of this?”
