Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
CYRUS
It takes us a few minutes to wrangle Hago onto the ship and into the brig. Henri following us with the other two, still unconscious, over his shoulders.
He definitely doesn’t want to go quietly, he shouts insults and threats at us, until we leave him behind in the cell.
All I want is to talk to Tally about what she heard.
To finally have that conversation between us.
But Amara and Mabel are waiting for us outside the brig.
Shivers gently wrack Mabel’s frame as she blankly stares at the brig, Amara’s arm wrapped tightly around her waist and holding her close.
I try not to wince at her obvious trauma. One I had a hand in.
Tally’s close behind me, her hand hovering over my back. The proximity burns in the best way possible. I want to be closer to her, yet I don’t know when I’ll next get the chance to do so.
Amara’s the first to break the silence. “What’s the plan, Cyrus?”
I blow out a breath, looking to Tally. Look at those caramel pools of light, and know my answer. “Tally decides what we do next. She takes the lead.”
She smiles, soft and sweet, before nodding and scrunching her nose in an obvious ‘I’m thinking’ pose. “We need to find out who he’s working with. I’ve never seen them before. They aren’t from around here.”
“Which means we need to figure out who found who.”
Tally nods at me. “Exactly, if he went and found them for hire then it might be over. But he never left the island. Ever. Which means…”
When she trails off, I fill in the missing piece. “Someone else has an agenda and this isn’t over yet.”
Silence looms.
It’s thick and cloying. The real question here is: what is it that they’re after? Is it truly the island? Or the people that reside here?
Or is it us?
The Burnt Bones crew took out the most notorious villain out there, one with a big following, who is no doubt angling for their own revenge. And here is where we killed him.
It makes logical sense to come to the place it happened to try and scout us out. It also makes sense on how they figured out when— or why— we would return here. Using Tally to get us to come back when we’re technically indebted to her, after being here for so long last time.
Fuck, this is going to be a ball ache.
Amara winces, coming to the same conclusion as me. “We leave them for the night. Two aren’t currently responsive anyway. Tomorrow morning at sunrise, we start interrogating. Find out the real reasons behind this mess.”
We all nod, agreeing.
I quite like the idea of leaving them to rot in the brig for a day.
The thought of torturing them for information is even more appealing.
“One last thing, Tally. What do you want to do with the bodies out there?” Amara questions, as she wraps her arms tighter around Mabel.
Tally sighs, “We need to search them, see if they had anything on their persons. Then, we’ll burn them. We need to get someone to check Hago’s home too. He’s messy and uncoordinated. There’s got to be information there.”
Amara nods as she starts to move Mabel away from the brig.
We follow behind with no real idea of where we’re going, until we’re on top deck.
Henri appears and we relay the information of the bodies and scouting out Hago’s home.
Then there’s nothing to do. Amara takes Mabel back to their room, the crew is sorting out orders and our guests are to be left till morning.
Which means, right now is probably the best time to talk to Tally. Properly. No more hiding or dodging questions, we need to talk about what she heard. And I need to apologise. For everything. No more secrets.
Breathing in as much courage as I can, I turn to Tally, to find her already looking at me. Caramel eyes glinting in the sunlight. The swirling colours feel like home. She feels like home.
Now to figure out a way to express everything I feel, into words.
“Are you hungry?” Seriously? Out of everything to ask her, that’s what I go with.
She grins, a hint of teasing flashing across the tilt of her mouth. “Not particularly. But I could do with a walk.” Surprising me, she threads her fingers through mine, holding tight. I never want her to let go.
“Would you like company?” The words are a whisper on the wind, she hears them anyway.
With her grin growing broader, she tugs me along. “Well, you are meant to be my bodyguard. Just because we’ve got the culprits locked up, doesn’t mean there isn’t more. I think it would be best, if my big bad protector escorted me.”
An unexpected snort breaks free, and I cough to hide it. A sheepish grin flickers to life across my cheeks. “You’re right, I think it would be best.”
Her smile is blinding with the sunlight behind her, illuminating her like the goddess she is. The picture of perfection.