Chapter Twenty-Three
Perdita
F ather always said that to die rich was better than to live poor.
It was one of the few things we agreed on. Although, now that he had, in fact, died rich, I wondered if he still thought such a thing wherever he was. The Underworld, ideally.
Finding out that he was dead had been jarring—freeing. Now that we had a job to do, and gold to find, he could hold no space in my mind. It was better that way. He did not deserve my thoughts, even if they were hateful and spiteful. So instead, I sought out Dima.
It had been two days since we boarded the prince’s ship. The same amount of time since I had nearly let her die.
“You hesitated to let the Healer save me. Do not pretend you care about anything other than gold. Not when you proved that to be true when my life was hanging in the balance!” she had signed before retreating to her quarters below deck. Dima was holding a grudge, it seemed.
What had she expected me to do? Nothing was more important than my ship and my gold. They had attacked us. Of course I was considering killing the Healer instead of letting him save her. It would have been the strategic move. But then the prince had trapped my crew, and I was forced to accept the help. She saw that I refused his aid for myself in favor of one last attempt at securing their goods. How could she be upset when I was not willing to save even myself?
No matter, she would forgive me.
Lifting my hand, I knocked. My fist hitting the wood made my skin tingle, rattling my bones. Dima was quick to rip open her door and glare at me with her violet eyes. When I tried to step forward, she halted me with a slap to the face. Fire erupted on my cheek, the sting of her smack not enough to deter me.
If I could just get inside, I could make her forget.
“Please, can I come in, Storm?” I asked. She watched my hands with downturned lips, preparing to say no. “Do not make me force my way in.”
Dima threw the door all the way open, stomping away to her bed. She sat, crossing her legs beneath her rose-colored dress. The material clung to her body, some of it hidden beneath her pitch-black hair. I smirked, walking in and closing the door behind me.
“You need to get over your anger, Dima. I would have done the same to anyone. Even you are not more important than our mission— my goals. You know this. So why do you shut me out?” She watched me, becoming visibly more angry as I signed. Gods how I grew wet watching her chest heave in fury.
“You are pathetic! All this time wasted on gold and glory, but you refuse to let anyone share it with you. When you die, your life will have been just as pointless as your father’s. Nothing and no one left to show for it.” Her lips moved faster than her hands. I moved even quicker.
I portaled to her bed, landing above her and shoving her down by the neck. She squirmed, a sort of panic lighting her eyes. My own anger blurred my vision, her words hitting exactly where she hoped they would.
Using her surprise against her, I grabbed both of her hands and held them above her head, willing shadows to tie them together. Then I ordered them to secure to the wood of her bed. Next, I tied her feet. She wiggled beneath me, a tear falling down her cheek.
My hands moved to her breasts, gripping them and squeezing. A moan rattled her chest, making bumps rise on my skin.
She gasped as I ripped her dress in half, my mouth flying down to her left breast. I bit down on the flesh there as I shoved two fingers between her legs. She writhed below me, struggling against the shadows that confined her. We both knew this would hurt just as much as it pleasured.
Pulling out my fingers, I smacked her dripping center. Once, twice, three times. Then I switched to her other breast, licking and sucking and enjoying every moment of her moans that vibrated on my lips as my fingers slipped back into her. When my eyes flicked up to her face, I saw she had already been watching me. Her lips formed a single word, a plea before the end. Truthfully, I could watch her say that for years on end and never grow tired of it.
“More.”
By the time I licked up my final success, tears were running freely down her face and her body was coated in newly forming bruises. I watched her come down from the orgasm with a smile, my tongue swirling inside of her before sliding out and up, flicking her swollen clit. She tasted like victory.
When I stood, wiping my mouth, Dima watched knowingly. The shadows holding her down dissipated, but her hands remained where they were.
“Get off my ship, Storm. You can come back when you have learned better.”
And then I left, slamming the door shut behind me.
I darted up the stairs, still somewhat unsatisfied. Which was made worse by the sight before me.
CJ sat in front of Lian, moving her lips slowly in time with the sign for ship. Lian watched her with greedy eyes, copying the sign perfectly. For some reason, the image of such a thing made me angrier than Dima’s comment about my worthless father.
I put my salty fingers into my mouth, whistling. CJ’s head whipped towards me. She stood abruptly, clearly noticing the stiffness to my demeanor. The anger that swarmed me.
“What are you doing, CJ?” I signed. Briefly, she glanced down at the fae who merely sat and picked at her nails. Then she was slumping forward, knowing she would receive little in the way of help.
“Lian wants to learn sign so she can be of better help to us. She is skilled with her Air power and a quick learner. Over the last two days she has already learned twenty-eight signs.” The look of pride on CJ’s face would have been comical if it were not utterly absurd.
“Why would we need her help? And why learn sign when she can hear just fine? You are probably helping whatever ulterior motive she has!” The fingers on my right hand cramped, forcing me to stop signing momentarily. A growl sought freedom from behind my ribs, the sound probably coming out strained. What I would give to throw all three of the outsiders over the side of the ship and forget about them. “Get to work, CJ. Do not let me catch you helping her again.”
CJ practically ran away after offering a hasty explanation to the blue-haired female, not so much as sparing either of us another glance.
“What is your problem?” Lian asked. Since she realized I could read lips, I noticed that she spoke slower. She was uncomfortably observant. “If I can be of more help, you should let me. It is petty and ridiculous to not take the aid you are offered.”
“What I do with my ship and my crew is none of your business. If you need to know sign to pull your own weight, then you are an even bigger idiot than I thought.” She watched, squinting at my moving hands as if she could understand what I was signing.
“I want learn,” she signed back. It was a simple set of broken words, and she signed them embarrassingly slowly. Yet she lifted her chin, staring at me with a challenge that made my heart race, despite the fact I did not trust or like any of them in the slightest. With three quick whistles, I called Ro to me.
“Captain?” she asked, ignoring Lian completely. It was one thing I liked most about her. She did not care about anything other than the success of this crew.
“Translate for the idiot.”
With a laugh, Ro nodded, facing Lian.
“If you want to learn, then you can learn from me,” I signed. Ro spoke aloud as I moved my hands, but Lian’s eyes never strayed from me. She was trying to understand. How absolutely infuriating. “Lessons do not come free, though, Blue. Every time you take me down, I will afford you a new sign.”
Another bark of laughter came from Ro, the sound vibrating against my bare feet. Oh, how I loved a challenge. Anything new that did not require constant vigilance and planning. Something I did not have to stress over.
“That is ridiculous, I am not fighting you to learn—”
I stopped watching her lips and dove forward, tackling her to the ground and forcing her to roll beneath me. A bit of laughter left my lips as she stared up at me in astonishment. Knowing I likely was facing off with someone who knew how to fight, I took the advantage and slammed my fist into her face.
Gods, it felt good to make someone bleed.
Lian spit blood into my face, pulling her arm to the side and then jabbing it into my neck. Pain erupted in my newly healed throat, but I ignored it in favor of throwing shadows in her face and willing them to become solid. She bucked beneath me as she suffocated.
Too easy.
As if she could hear me, Lian stilled. Before I could claim my victory, though, I felt the slice of a blade in my thigh. I fell backwards, gripping at my leg and holding my breath to minimize my movements.
Ro opened her mouth, probably screaming as she watched me fall. She was at my side in seconds, on her knees and inspecting the wound. Shadows wrapped around my thigh just above the bleeding cut. Ro continued to tighten her shadows, but all I could do was stare at Lian as she stood above me and wiped the blood from her nose.
Henry appeared behind her, grabbing her cheeks and inspecting her. Were they together? He had seemed infatuated with the mortal princess over the last two days, but maybe that was for his own gain in this coming war. Perhaps what he really wanted was the little fae before me.
Maybe she wanted him too. Though he was not as handsome as the idiot prince, he had an aura to him. A comforting presence if one wanted it. If I had any interest in males, I would have wanted someone meaner than he seemed to be. More challenging.
It looked as though Lian would disagree. How irksome.
“We have arrived at Isle Shifter, Li,” he said to her. Excellent. We would be rid of him yet.
Blue gave me a quick glance and slowly mouthed, “I win.” Then she walked away.
***
Lian seemed more prone to anger now that her giant pet was away with his pretty little princess. Did she love him? Was she jealous?
I was not sure why I cared other than boredom.
That and Dima had jumped off the deck three days ago, so I was horny and bothered.
“No you idiot, it is like this,” I signed to her before slapping her hands and showing her again. She had beaten me four out of five times since our first fight, her willingness to play dirty surprising me. The only reason I had won the second time was because she was unprepared and sad after Henry left.
They had hugged for ages despite the fact she did not seem like much of a hugger at all.
“You are moving your hands too fast, you bitch!” Her face went red as she yelled, her hands trying and failing to properly sign what she was saying. She sent a gust of wind towards the fire Jazmine was starting on the fae rulers’ boat, making the entire ship burst into flames around us. Jazmine, with her hair the same color as the violent red flames she constantly lit and her ebony skin, was a beacon. Which would most definitely put a kink in our plan. We had to move quickly before we were sighted. So I grabbed them both, portaling us back to the Abaddon.
When our feet hit the deck of my ship once more, Lian ripped her hand from mine. I tried not to let it feel like a rejection. She was just a pawn in this game I was playing with her prince. It was not like she mattered. Not really.
Still, I smirked at her and demonstrated again.
“Thought,” I signed.
“Thought,” she fiercely signed back.
With a nod, I reached forward and mussed her short blue locks. She swatted me away, flashing me her middle finger before standing and making her way to CJ. I had reluctantly allowed them to talk. They worked well together, and we moved at far greater speeds with Lian’s help. That and she seemed…lonely. Like she was not used to not having someone she loved nearby.
“You cannot like her,” Bek signed as she stepped in my line of sight. I huffed, swatting her hands away from me.
“I do not, so there is no problem. Plus, I can do what I want. Do not mistake our friendship for power. I am the captain, Bek.” Her mouth turned down, and her fists bunched at her sides as I signed. I walked away, knowing she would follow, but immensely uninterested in the lecture.
When we made it to the helm, I shooed Fatima away and took control of my ship. Fatima was all too glad to go, the bare side of her head revealing the tattoos she had gotten done after we stumbled upon her all those years ago. The other half of her head still had a bit of her hair left, the brown strands cut short.
“I am not kidding, Perdita.” Bek was in my way. Physically and metaphorically. Who cared if I wanted to fuck Lian? I had wanted to fuck Bek when I first met her, and that turned out just fine, if not a bit disappointing.
“I am not kidding either, Bek. Get out of my way. Go tell Lian and CJ that we need to speed up. That ship will be burned completely very soon, and we need to be there when the queen searches for new transportation.”
With that, Bek stomped away. I caught sight of Lian staring at me from her place on the deck, lying to myself that I was simply looking at the first sign of Isle Healer in the distance.
Yes, Blue, stare away. Watch me do what I do best.