Thirty
Dirt and stone crunched beneath her boots as Erinna paced the small lookout point.
“I cannot believe him,” she seethed for the tenth time. Inez sat on the hard earth with a shirt in one hand and a sewing needle in the other. “Him and his…assholery!” Erinna cried into the air.
“There is more to it than just...assholery.”
Erinna paused midstride. Anger had given way to amusement. She couldn’t stop the laugh from rising. To hear such foul language slip through Inez’s mouth. Out of everyone on that island, Inez was perhaps the kindest. In less than two weeks, they had formed a kinship, friendship even. Something that seemed so foreign to Erinna, lately. A new friend. She relished it.
Her hands went to the bracelet around her wrist, having quickly become a source of comfort. If she didn’t think too hard, she could forget its meaning and what it was for. Her mind went back to Kane, and she scowled. It was becoming a new coping mechanism that kept her from guilt and despair. Fury was an easy distraction.
“We had a deal.” Erinna glared out at the horizon. She had half a mind to storm down the hill and find the pirate, wherever he disappeared to.
Earlier, she tried to tear the camp apart in search of Kane, but Lila and Asher were quick to intercept and remind her she still had duties to tend to.I shouldn’t have let them persuade me.
“You’ll get your answers. I’m sure of it,” Inez chimed.
Erinna turned with more complaints ready to spill, but paused as she looked at Inez’s lap. “Is that…”
“Your shirt? Yes. You ripped a massive hole in the sleeve.”
Guilt sobered her rage. Erinna slumped beside her on the ground. “I can take care of that.” She reached for the fabric, but Inez tugged it just beyond her grasp.
“I insist.” Erinna tried again, but Inez sent her a look that sent chills up her spine.
“I…” Inez bit her bottom lip in thought. “I like to keep busy.”
It was a feeling Erinna was all too familiar with. She swallowed down an argument and let Inez continue her mending.
“How are you doing?” asked Erinna, voice low. During their time on the island, Inez had finally started to look healthier. Her body was still painfully thin but no longer showed signs of malnourishment. Color had returned to her cheeks, and her eyes finally held life, but Erinna knew that such trauma couldn’t be cured in a simple fortnight.
Inez paused her stitching and stared off into the distance. “Every night I wonder if I’m finally going to wake up from this dream. It wouldn’t surprise me if this”—she gestured to their surroundings—“was nothing but a way for my brain to cope. But there are things that are too…certain about this.”
“Certain?”
Inez nodded and resumed her stitching. The threads were far superior to whatever Erinna could do. “You, Afton, Kane…you are too real to be a dream.” Her knee started to bounce, a sign Erinna started to recognize as frustration. Inez still had a hard time communicating her divinatory senses.
She reached out and gave her knee a gentle squeeze. “Well, if there’s anything you need. Let me know.”
“I do enjoy you yelling about Kane.” She grinned and nudged Erinna’s shoulder with her own. It was all the invitation Erinna needed to continue her rant.
“You, shipwright, I have a message for you.”
Scout stepped into the clearing, drawing gasps from Erinna and Inez who hadn’t heard him approach. Of all the pirates, the famed lookout was the one Erinna saw least. Apart from his initial instructions when she took an observation shift, she’d barely spoken with or seen the man. His scowl and glare were deeper than she remembered as he approached.
He glanced at Inez, and Erinna was sure he dipped his head slightly in greeting. Everyone liked the diviner more than her, and in all honesty, she couldn’t blame them. Erinna had a way of rubbing people the wrong way.
“Scout…sir?” Erinna attempted a respectful formality. Maybe it would help him warm up to her.
Alas, it only seemed to sour his mood. His frown deepened, and his hand hovered next to his side where Erinna knew there were a dozen throwing knives. His usual stance.
Heels still in the shadow of the treeline, he locked eyes with Erinna. “Captain Atwater forbids entry into Fort Solitude.”
Erinna’s head spun. The doors were finally open. But Kane promised her entry, didn’t he?
Inez was the first to speak. “They opened the doors?”
Scout softened a fraction of a degree. “Yes. The doors are unlocked, but it is not safe for entry. Stay out untilotherwise instructed.” He aimed the last part at Erinna before disappearing back into shadow. Gone even quicker than he arrived.
