Cali shrugged one shoulder. “Even a slightly manic mermaid deserves closure. I don’t intend to drag an old man back to the sea for her, but I can ask around about the fate of the man who promised to return to the mermaid. Someone must know something, even if it’s what we’d all expect.”
Bonnie studied her as if taking her measure. “That’s more than anyone’s ever done for Arabella before. Do you plan to come back to sea to give her any news you might find?”
Cali shuddered. “Not for all the gold in a castle’s keep. I hoped that was information I could pass on to you to share.”
“And if you find no trace?”
“You’ll tell her a tragic tale of the man who attempted to return to her but was killed by highwaymen, or struck down byillness, or died of a broken heart.” Cali bowed her head slightly. “Captain’s choice.”
Bonnie threw back her head in a throaty laugh. “Well-played, archer. As long as you don’t mind if I coat the story in enough sugar to make it go down easy.”
Cali’s whiskers twitched. “You’d be foolish not to, although if Arabella doesn’t have a lost love to hunt down any more that might make her turn her attention to a new sailor.”
“Yet another reason it pays to sail with an all-female crew. For some inexplicable reason, mermaids prefer men.”
Both women made faces, then exchanged a grin.
“Men are probably easier to lure,” Cali said as she watched Thrain puff out his chest as he assisted a blonde pirate with ropier arms than him.
Bonnie’s gaze fell on the dwarf, and she rocked back on her heels. “We’re going to have to do something with him when we reach the sirens. My crew knows not to fall for the creatures’ tricks, but he doesn’t.”
“Can’t we plug his ears?” Even as she suggested this, Cali suspected it wouldn’t be enough for Thrain. The dwarf had an overly confident opinion of his own fortitude, but when it came to women, he had as much resistance as a palm frond in the breeze.
“Plugging his ears will work right until he decides he has to hear them for himself, pulls out his earplugs, and throws himself overboard.” Bonnie shook her head, her frown pulling into a smile. “No, I have a plan for your friend.”
Cali wasn’t sure if she should feel reassured or worried.
Twenty-One
Shades of orangestained the horizon as the sun sank deeper into the sea, and its golden light gilded the waves. From high in the crow’s nest, Cali took a long breath as her heartbeat slowed and her tail stilled. Her hair was tied back, as the breeze at the highest point of the ship was mercurial.
It had been a while since she’d spotted anything but water, but she didn’t expect to see land. According to Gert, they were still a day’s sail from Claw Island, even if they pushed the ship as fast as she could go.
That was fine by Cali. She was in no rush to encounter sirens or discover Bonnie’s plan for Thrain. She suspected the dwarf wouldn’t be either, if he had any idea what was coming.
She peeked over the edge of the crow’s nest to where Thrain had been working on deck, but he wasn’t there. Actually, few of the crew remained on deck as they sailed steadily toward the setting sun. The nagine walked along the port side railing with her long, black cloak slithering behind her, as if her pacing might ward off the appearance of more uninvited sea creatures.
The ship had been relatively quiet since the mermaids had broken off and abandoned the chase, with only the rhythmic creak of the wood and the rasp of the waves as they licked the hull. The few crew on deck weren’t even humming sea shanties like they usually did, as if even a merry tune might summon unwanted creatures.
Cali reached back and patted the mast, the wood worn smooth and the green and blue swirls faded from salt and wind. “You really didn’t like those mermaids, did you, Tris?”
The ship rocked to one side, the creaks of her hull echoing like a deep-throated groan, as the wood beneath Cali’s paws flushed red, as if the burst of color reflected her opinions.
“Me neither,” she whispered. “But at least they pointed us toward Jolli.”
Another moan as the mast shifted, and the red shifted back to green and blue.
“I know you’re worried, but it sounds like your friend is putting up a fight and making it as hard as possible for the hellkins.” Cali chuckled as she thought about the boat using its own oars to beat the hellkins who’d taken her. “You should be proud she’s so feisty.”
The rigging clattered against itself, the sound almost like clapping. Cali didn’t know if the jolly boat was more of a friend to Tris, a child, or a partner, but she supposed it didn’t matter how the love took shape. She understood that better than most.
She leaned down to rest her forearms on the crow’s nest edge, dropping her voice even though she was too high for anyone to hear her. “I know what it’s like to search for someone you love and worry they’re okay.”
The ship’s creaks took on a questioning lilt. Was Tris asking her about her lost love?
“I haven’t found the person I lost, but I haven’t stopped looking.” She patted the wood. “And I know Bonnie won’t stop looking until we find Jolli.”
A hum buzzed through the wood, warming it under her fur. Having a conversation with a ship wasn’t as strange as she would have expected. The sails went slack for a moment, and the wind whistled through them, as if Tris was sounding an alarm.
