Chapter 47 Serena #2
The Pirate King groans, sinking back against the lip of her desk.
“Good gods, not another one. Look. I don’t give a flying fuck about gold, and I already own enough diamonds to suffocate me.
I want something…bigger. Better. Even more rare.
If King Kylian wants you that badly, he may have to up the ante. ”
Kai manages to spit the rag from his mouth. “Trust me, I know my brother. He doesn’t take kindly to extortion.”
“I’ve been bartering since I could walk. I’ll get more than you lot are worth.”
“He’ll kill you,” Kai rushes to explain, momentarily sober.
She laughs, tossing her head back. “Sweet of you to be concerned, but I’m untouchable. Your big brother relies on me too much. As do the rest of the royals.”
We exchange a confused look.
“What are you talking about?” Zadyn asks.
“Do you know what the largest trading port in all of Solterre is?” she muses.
“Bleakwater Bay,” he answers.
“Correct. A point for the good-looking one. And who do you think runs that trading port?”
“Let me guess. You.”
“Two points. Care to make it three?” Her eyes glint as she circles us. “What do you think it takes to keep commerce here thriving? Little hint—it isn’t farm animals.”
“All out of answers, I’m afraid,” Zadyn retorts.
“Favors,” she whispers, a little too close to his mouth for my liking. “Pirates get a bad reputation—thieves, brutes, rogues. When really, we’re just independent contractors for those whose hands need to remain clean.”
My gaze narrows on her. “You’re mercenaries? For who?”
“Royals mostly. Or anyone with deep enough pockets. We don’t discriminate.”
“You’re employed by the kingdoms?”
“Who do you think reports on the borders? When someone needs to disappear, who do you think makes it happen? They want something? We get it for them—by any means necessary. My job is to keep the royals happy. And in turn, they make me rich and allow me to run my little market without consequence.”
“Your market?”
“Bleakwater Bay. You should have seen it before my father came along. Total shit-hole. And now look at it. Thriving,” she purrs.
“As long as I comply with orders, I get free rein over the seas and the Bay. So unless you can provide me with a startlingly good reason to shatter the fragile alliance I have with the kingdoms, then The Maid of Mercy sails west in the morning.”
I can’t actually believe that Derek would have employed the pirates to do his dirty work. That would require him having dirty work to be done. Although maybe that’s a naive thought—he was a king. And no crown was ever kept with kindness and virtue.
“Look, whatever you want, we’ll get it to you. Just do not steer this ship to Vod,” Zadyn entreats, tugging against his restraints.
“And what if I want the world? Are you going to get it for me, handsome?”
The Pirate Queen—King—trails a finger down Zadyn’s chest, and the fury that attacks me has me snarling, fangs bared.
Zadyn’s eyes flash to me, surprised, but the pretty female slowly turns my way, a brilliant smile on her face.
“Possessive over this one are we?” She stops before me. “Tell me, do you breathe fire like your dragon?”
“Untie me and find out.”
She chuckles, appraising me from head to toe, before speaking.
“Leave us. I think it’s time for a little girl talk.”
It feels like a full minute that we sit there staring at each other from across the desk, each tick of the carved antique clock on the wall dragging by with ironic leisure.
She purses her lips, eyes curiously tracing my face.
“Are you truly the last Blackblood?”
“Yes.”
Her hand unfurls, extending a pretty little switchblade to me. It springs open, boasting its silver brilliance. “I require proof.”
Glowering at her, I rest my elbows on the desk and accept the knife. The rope digs into my wrists as I angle the tip across my palm and flash the onyx slash to her with a phony smirk.
“Satisfied?”
She leans back, bemused, crossing her buckled boots over the corner of her desk. I flip the blade down and toss it to her. She catches it midair, watching as I make a show of wiping my blackened palm on the papers scattered over her desk.
“Oops. Hope those weren’t important.”
She chuckles, pointing the blade at me. “I like you.”
“I would say the same, but you’re about to sell me out to evil incarnate.”
“I’m running a business. You understand.”
“I understand that anyone in business with Kylian is not only untrustworthy but also guilty by association. I meant what I said. He’s going down whether he gets his hands on me or not. And everyone who sided with him is going to burn with him.”
She doesn’t look fazed. Just steeples her hands, elbows resting on her chair. I notice a faint line of blue caked beneath her fingernails. “If only there were another alternative.”
“Just cut the shit, and tell me what it is you want.”
She picks up a coin and sets it spinning on the desk. “Right now, I want to know why you’re wanted by the King of Vod.”
Mentally exhausted, I give her the abridged version, outlining how Kylian orchestrated this whole elaborate plan to marry me and use me to help him conquer the other kingdoms. How we narrowly escaped and why we were hiding in Bleakwater Bay to begin with.
“So you stabbed yourself to avoid going through with your own wedding?” She snorts when I finish. “To Kylian Triori?”
That’s her whole takeaway from this?
“Yes,” I grit.
“You do know that most females would stab themselves for a chance to marry him, don’t you?”
“Well, luckily for them, he has a brother who’s a lot less cruel.”
She shakes her head. “Either you’re reckless or insane.”
“Probably both.”
“Actually,” she says after a beat, “I believe there is a way for us to help each other.”
She plants her knee-high boots on the ground. “Something of mine was taken a while ago. I want it back. I think you and I would make quite a persuasive pair, don’t you?”
“That’s it? You want me to help you get back something you lost?”
“That—and I’ll also take what Muscles was offering. Double the price on your heads.”
“Fine. Then we’ll also be needing safe transport back to Hyrax. Alive,” I clarify. “You can collect your pay then.”
“Perfect, we’re heading in that direction anyway.” She reaches out a hand and quirks a perfectly manicured brow. “Do we have a deal?”
I nod, grasping her palm in mine. “We do.”
She flashes me a blinding grin.
“Bronyn?” The hulking pirate appears in the doorway. “Change of plans. Tell the crew we sail north. To Skull Valley.”