Chapter 29 #2
And then, as if they’d planned it, Aster appears.
He checks me over in the middle of the passageway, even though we’re blocking the way.
It’s like he can’t wait for us to get inside the med bay or even our cabin.
His amber eyes lock with mine, and then he runs his hands over every inch of me, checking my breathing and smoothing my hair away from my face.
When he sees the blood covering the tips of my fingers, he frowns.
“Not mine,” I say. “Torin’s back is shredded again.”
Although I don’t know how we’re going to manage to clean and bandage it without being able to see him.
“Your bear isn’t invisible,” I say idly while Frannie gives me a look I can’t quite read.
“Seems that way,” Torin replies.
“But we can’t clean you up when you're in that form either.”
“Not unless you don’t mind losing a hand.” He grips mine in his and gives a gentle squeeze. “Even if you wouldn’t mind, I certainly would.”
“Well, it seems you’re in good hands,” Frannie says with a heavy sigh. She then squeezes my ankle. “Are you sure you’re all right? I was watching you and you seemed to be enjoying it to begin with.”
“I was enjoying it until I wasn’t,” I reply. “I’m thinking that Finch’s monster is a little too big for me to play with.”
Frannie lets out another sigh that sends a flicker of unease through me. “Are you okay, Fran?”
“Don’t worry about me, Ree. You focus on yourself right now.”
I blink a few times, but then Frannie’s moving away and Torin’s taking me in the opposite direction before I can begin to interrogate my friend on how she’s actually feeling.
It hits me once again that this is much more than she signed up for.
She wanted to test the bounds of her new free life away from the ogre caves by taking over from Kit working at his shop.
And then, without warning, she was bundled off to the sanctuary so she wouldn’t get caught up in the mess now that Kit’s a wanted man.
Seems she’s been caught up anyway. She’s stuck on a pirate ship heading to the capital where Finch is planning to do who-knows-what.
He wants to find Kit and Jack, and then I know he was talking about destroying the king and cursing him to oblivion.
Whether it was just talk or if Kit can persuade him out of it once we find him, remains to be seen.
Torin carries me all the way down the passageway to our shared cabin, lowering us both onto the floor and settling me into his lap while Aster drops onto his knees in front of me, wrapping a towel around my shoulders and carefully placing my sealskin to one side.
“Warm enough?” Aster asks.
“I am now.”
He leans forward until his head is resting on my shoulder, almost like he can’t get close enough without climbing into Torin’s lap too.
I run my hand through his hair, and the three of us just sit there quietly for a moment.
I’m taking comfort from their presence, and from the intermingled scent of the two of them.
Judging by the way neither of them have stopped touching me, I think they’re doing the same thing.
“I don’t think we should mention what happened to Finch,” I mutter at the floor.
“How his monster almost drowned you, you mean?”
“It wasn’t Finch, though,” I say. “And I’m pretty sure he’d be upset if he found out.”
Torin traces circles on my shoulder, letting out a heavy sigh. “As much as I hate to agree with you on this, you’re right. It feels like he’s right on the edge of losing control, and no one wants to see what happens if he does.”
“I’d hoped it would take my mind off things,” I say. “Noush is good at that. She’s more carefree than I am. I suppose it worked to do that.”
Nothing like a near-death experience to bring things into perspective.
“I can see that,” Torin mumbles into my neck.
But now that I’m safe and dry, the familiar bundle of anxiety has retaken its place in my gut and I can’t prevent myself gusting out a heavy sigh.
“What else is worrying you?” Aster asks, taking my hand in his. “Beyond the obvious.”
Letting out a humourless laugh, I squeeze his fingers gently. “Beyond us being at great risk of committing treason when we get to the city, you mean? Beyond not knowing what’s happened to Kit or Jack or how they wound up miles away and traveled there so much faster than we can?”
Aster nods seriously. “Beyond all that. There’s something else, I think.”
Damn him and his perceptiveness. I roll my eyes, but then find words coming out of my mouth before I can check them. “Do you think we’re close enough to land to stop somewhere?”
Torin doesn’t answer for a moment, but then he wraps his arm more tightly around me, carefully rearranging me in his lap just how he wants me. “I thought the idea was to get to the city as quickly as possible. Hence, the monster-powered ship.”
“It is. But... we should give people a chance to get off if they don’t want to get any deeper into this mess,” I say.
“I know that for most of the crew it’s not possible.
But for Frannie, she never chose any of this.
And—” I lick my dry lips, looking Aster right in his beguiling amber eyes.
“You didn’t either. There’s no arrest warrant out for you.
You could go home to your family, let your mother know you’re all right, at least.”
Aster doesn’t answer straight away and instead blinks at me like I just broke into a foreign language that he’s having to parse through to understand.
“And what about you? Your name isn’t on the wanted list either.
Now you have your skin back and Noush too, you could go your own way if you wanted, or come with me to visit my mother at the farm.
See if the place is still standing, considering I never sent any money back to the family like I was supposed to. ”
My spine stiffens, and I open my mouth to tell him I’d never do that, I won’t abandon these men—my mates—when they need support the most.
But there’s a knowing expression on his face, and I see the point he’s trying to make.
“I’m yours Reva,” he says. “Where you go, I go.”
FRANNIE ALSO STUBBORNLY refuses to port.
She folds her arms while most of the crew busy themselves with hoisting sails and trying to get us going at even a quarter of the speed we had while Finch’s monster was tugging us along.
He’s still nowhere to be found, probably somewhere in the deep, and according to Torin, he’ll show up whenever he can pry himself away.
“You’re not being dropped off anywhere,” Frannie says with a pointed look. “Are you?”
I consider lying to her, but I just can’t make myself. “No. But that’s because these people are literally inside me. Noush soul-bonded me to two knuckleheads who then disappeared without a trace.”
“Exactly,” she replies, her lips twitching. “Have you thought about what happens to you if one of them is injured? Or worse?”
A rock plummets into my stomach, and I suck in a breath. It’s certainly crossed my mind, and I can’t imagine things would end well for me if there’s nothing at the end of any of these bonds.
“You’re my family, Ree,” Frannie continues, her words contradicting the way she’s glaring at me like she hates me. “If I were to sit aside and accept an easy life and then discover something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
She then wraps me up in a hard hug, crushing me to her chest before planting a wet kiss on my cheek.
“Into the city then, eh?”
“Into the city,” I repeat softly, hoping against hope we don’t regret that decision.